Friendship and Inspiration

A visit from my two artist friends yesterday was such a gift in many ways. It was a huge honor to share my work with these two creative ladies, and I was humbled by their interest in the stories behind the pieces. We mused over what it might have been that brought us together; interests in words, materials, and fiber are certainly something we hold in common. But I think the bond likely extends beyond our overlapping interests to things less nameable. Both of my friends have an inspiring creative curiosity and delight in the world, and both are kind and gentle souls. It was the first time the three of us had gathered, and I was inspired and blessed by their visit and their friendship. Sadly, one of our three will soon move back to her home country after a twenty year stay here. She will be truly missed in Richmond!

Here are a few more of the pieces that I put out yesterday.

 

 

Rewind and Recharge

    

    

 

Tomorrow I will have these and other 3-dimensional mixed media and assemblage pieces out on view for a couple of artist friends who are interested to see them. The timing is good, because I need to spend some time with them too. I am looking forward to the next new thing in the studio, and I think there are clues for me here in these pieces. At the moment I am interested in working two dimensionally with mixed media and perhaps adding in some monotype and other printmaking to that. Another springboard might be the most recent mixed monotype/drawing pieces that I only began to explore in a short summer class. Here are a few of those.

 

For a stretch of time my studio work was focussed primarily on a couple of large landscape commissions, so I am happy to have some space and time to experiment, explore, and research the next thing. Revisiting past work can be a good way to recharge as I move forward.

Alternative to the Frenzy

 

 

If you are weary of the Christmas shopping frenzy or trying to avoid it, this invitation is for you. It is quiet and peaceful in the studio – a welcome alternative shopping experience if you are interested in shopping for original artwork. I am not holding an open studio, but will happily be here by appointment for anyone who wants to stop in. There are drawings (framed and unframed), paintings, collages, monotypes, 3-D pieces, and even clay whistles to have a look at. I’ll brew up some tea or share a glass of wine if you want to come and have a look! If you are interested, get in touch or contact me here and we can set something up.

 

 

Enjoy these days, every one of them and every beautiful minute!

Experiment

In printmaking, monotype is a wonderful way to experiment with materials and open the door to chance and surprise in the process. If you aren’t familiar with monotype, it basically involves making/painting an image on a plate (plexiglass, metal, even paper) and transferring that image to the printing paper by running the two together through the printing press. Unlike other forms of printmaking where multiple images can be pulled from the same plate, monotype results in a unique image with the sometime possibility of a paler ghost print from a second pull. In truth the possibilities for techniques in making monotypes are endless, and I couldn’t even begin to describe them here.

Last summer I took a short four session class just to have an opportunity to play a bit. I suppose it should have been no surprise when my printing did not go at all in the direction I had imagined. Under the guidance of the excellent artist and teacher Chris Palmer at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Studio School, I experimented with something I hadn’t tried before: using newsprint as the  printmaking plate. Caran d’Ache water soluble wax crayons can be used to draw on a surface and when run through the press with wet printing paper, the image transfers. I had tried this in the past using a plexiglass plate and was very disappointed in the result. But I had never tried drawing and layering the Caran d’Ache on paper. This allows the layers of wax crayon to be built up in much thicker layers than are possible on the plexiglass plate, and it also transfers the drawn strokes and marks which have a very different appearance than painted ones. There are, of course, still surprises in the printing, and that’s the beauty of the monotype process. My interest at the moment is to use the monotype as the base of mixed media images, adding in drawing, collage, trace monotype, etc., and this class allowed me to begin to experiment with that.

If you want to see some of the results, Hill Gallery is having an opening of the show CHRIS PALMER: TWENTY celebrating 20 years of Chris’ instruction at the VMFA with work from his students this Friday night, January 23, 5:00-8:00 PM. Stop in if you can!

Friday is a busy night. VisArts will be opening the annual [work] show featuring work by faculty, staff, and board members. Drop by 6:00-8:00!

Return

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This mixed media piece, Second Skin/Pulse and Tremble, just returned from a show Williamsburg, and now you can see it in the studio. There is more information about the piece in this earlier blog.

And here are more clay whistles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The studio is open for visits today (Tuesday) and Thursday 11-6:00, so stop in to see what is up!

Something Different

Beyond the representational work in the studio, there are several groups of abstract pieces. These include soft pastels, collages, and 3-D sculptures/assemblages. The soft pastels are small (3″ x 3″) and large (14″ x 14″ and 18″ x 15″), and three samples are shown below along with a couple of collages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morning After Dreaming

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Veil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nestle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Space Between

 

 

 

You can see this work and more by stopping in for a studio visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11-6:00, or by appointment. Contact me here for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pulse and Tremble

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This new piece was made for an invitational group show at Linda Matney Gallery in Williamsburg, Virginia. The show, called Matter, was put together by Elizabeth Mead, Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at William and Mary. The guidelines were the size (8 ½” x 11”) and a consideration of the use of color in one’s work. My friend and poet Kasey Jueds and I had hoped to work collaboratively but were unable to do so because of time and schedule constraints. In the end my piece, Second Skin/Pulse and Tremble, was a sort of collaboration with Kasey, as I used her poem “The Selkie from Shore” as a starting point. The text itself is an element of the piece, although not completely readable. As I copied the poem numerous times, the words began to murmur and hum in my mind while I worked on the piece (much as the hum of the bees in the poem!), thus weaving into and becoming part of the making. (I loved the good luck that there were bees busy coming and going in the flowers outside my studio window at the same time!) The piece is made from paper, ink, and oil stick on wooden panel. The show opens next Friday, September 19 at 5:30. Stop in if you are nearby!

Although it is not necessary to read the text of Kasey’s poem while viewing the piece, I can’t resist including her lovely poem here for your delight:

 

The Selkie from Shore

 

You will tell me what I long for is God.

But I say it is bees, their pulse and tremble

in flowers slackening toward summer’s end,

daylilies spreading rust under dusky oaks.

I say I want a garden for them,

so what is small might return

and be sufficient again. Not God, or sky

streaming light, cathedrals, a wish

I am not big enough to hold – not those

but the slightest tremor of air, and a humming

that has no need of me.

 

Kasey Jueds in Keeper

 

Monotype (What I Did On My Summer Vacation)

 

This summer I took a short course in monotype at the VMFA with artist/printmaker Chris Palmer. It was only four classes – an appetizer, a teaser – just enough time to distract me from the work in my studio and make me want to be in the print studio with the press all of the time. If you are unfamiliar with the term, monotype is a printmaking technique that produces a unique print when an inked or painted plate of some sort is printed onto paper using a printing press. That is an extremely limited definition; in truth, the techniques and possibilities for monotype are many, if not infinite. The scientist in me just can’t resist experimenting with different materials, techniques, and ideas. Consequently, I never really got around to doing what I had imagined I might. I was intrigued by the possibility of using newsprint as a plate that I could work on at home using water-soluble wax crayons and then printing with the press on paper that had been soaked in a water bath. The images above are two samples of my experiments; the second print is still in progress. There will be more, and I can’t wait to get back to it!!

Learning How To Make the Work

Learning how to make the work is one of the primary aspects of a creative life. It might even be right to say that it is the whole point. Every drawing, painting, or project involves learning: learning how colors mix or work together, learning how a new material goes down on the paper, learning what the work is about, learning the ways that I work best (or the ways I don’t!), and on and on. I am fairly certain (and I tell my adult drawing students) that if one ever feels as though it is all figured out, understood, and under control then that is the time to worry, because the work will die – quite literally cease to be alive. Making art (and I mean here all creative efforts) is messy and uncomfortable stuff, and that awkward and unfamiliar place, that is where the learning and the life reside.

Beginning a new project often involves an especially steep curve for learning how to make the work. And it is not unusual to encounter the conundrum that it is difficult to begin without knowing what the work is/is about, but one can’t know what the work is without beginning. Apparently this puzzle can be just as true for a collaboration as for a solo project. My friend Kasey (a poet) and I have just begun working on a collaboration that we know very little about. Actually, our conversation began about two years ago, and finally we have begun to trade bits (my scraps and scans of fragments) and pieces (Kasey’s word combinations) as a way to learn how we will make this work and have this conversation. This is a lovely way to roll into the New Year: a delightful adventure with a dear friend as fellow traveler!

Read more about our bits and pieces at Kasey’s blog (http://kaseyjueds.com/pieces/) and find other treasures there as well! The images above are some of the bits that I sent Kasey, and you can see them in the photo on her blog as well.

Take a Break

Taking a break can be energizing even if the break is only a small one. This is true for life and art. Over the weekend I took a short break from home and went to Blacksburg to help my friend Christy celebrate her birthday. Although just an overnight, it was rich with wonderful people, beautiful weather, breathtaking landscape, fabulous food, and warm hospitality. Before the trip, I took a break from the pastel drawings I have been working on in the studio to put together a small collage to take along for the birthday celebration. It is the one posted here called Circle Note. The greenish dots are the holes punched from the piece I made last year with the help of friends, Collected Stories, which is described in earlier posts.