Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
matisse, collage, and chaos
student collage
18x24"
acrylic on paper on Bristol Board
2007
We're off to a good start in our class at Pratt Fine Arts Institute. This is a favorite one to teach. Students make amazing collages, and the progression really gets me thinking about how to convey principles of design. Surprises abound.
I found a lovely book on Matisse's collages last night at Elliott Bay Books, then returned to the studio for a productive night, completely absorbed in something new and blue. . .and black. Order from chaos/chaos vs order. . .
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
art dialogue alive and well
"People say the blues is sad, well not for me. Sometimes sadness is happiness cause it gets you somewhere else." - Andree Carter
Last night's digital slide show and artist talk at the Kirkland Arts Center was informative and surprisingly well attended. I mean, folks actually showed up for a slide lecture on art! What a shot in the arm. It was a pleasure to be asked to speak about one's work in the first place; to have a full audience of engaged, attentive people show up to hear what we artists had to say was a surprise and a real delight.
As a member of that audience as well as a speaker, it gave me a sense of connection to hear each artist speak about his or her process, to see a glimpse of the work's development, and best of all, to hear the small revelations that speak volumes about the person's internal responses and inner lodestones.
Andree Carter's description of chaotic dinners as a child at her Italian family's home in New Orleans with "everyone huggin you and kissin you and stuffin you with food", then looking down at the black and white checkerboard floor and thinking, "now there's order!" was priceless. The checkerboard or grid has become her "muse" she said, and sure enough it is visible throughout her work, a personal, recurring theme.
There were so many wonderful parallels in all of our paintings/prints. The grid occurs not only in some of Eric Chamberlain's earlier work (and resonates still in his obscured horizontals and verticals), but in Ellen Rutledge's "windows" (my word for the rectangular vignettes that make up many of her prints) and, to my surprise, in some of Larry Calkins's work, too ("it took me forever to make all those squares!" he commented about one large and handsome painting).
Solitary studio creature that I am (and that most artists necessarily are), I am tempted to call for a conscious revival of the art cafe, the art salon, heck, just some kind of forum where artists can physically get together and share. But it was more than that - it was the invitation to the public, and the fact that people showed up and were interested, that was ultimately so heartwarming and enlivening. There ought to be more visual art venues like this!
Huge thanks to Cable Griffith, Kamla Kakaria, and the Kirkland Arts Center for making it happen and helping to keep the visual conversation buzzing.
Last night's digital slide show and artist talk at the Kirkland Arts Center was informative and surprisingly well attended. I mean, folks actually showed up for a slide lecture on art! What a shot in the arm. It was a pleasure to be asked to speak about one's work in the first place; to have a full audience of engaged, attentive people show up to hear what we artists had to say was a surprise and a real delight.
As a member of that audience as well as a speaker, it gave me a sense of connection to hear each artist speak about his or her process, to see a glimpse of the work's development, and best of all, to hear the small revelations that speak volumes about the person's internal responses and inner lodestones.
Andree Carter's description of chaotic dinners as a child at her Italian family's home in New Orleans with "everyone huggin you and kissin you and stuffin you with food", then looking down at the black and white checkerboard floor and thinking, "now there's order!" was priceless. The checkerboard or grid has become her "muse" she said, and sure enough it is visible throughout her work, a personal, recurring theme.
There were so many wonderful parallels in all of our paintings/prints. The grid occurs not only in some of Eric Chamberlain's earlier work (and resonates still in his obscured horizontals and verticals), but in Ellen Rutledge's "windows" (my word for the rectangular vignettes that make up many of her prints) and, to my surprise, in some of Larry Calkins's work, too ("it took me forever to make all those squares!" he commented about one large and handsome painting).
Solitary studio creature that I am (and that most artists necessarily are), I am tempted to call for a conscious revival of the art cafe, the art salon, heck, just some kind of forum where artists can physically get together and share. But it was more than that - it was the invitation to the public, and the fact that people showed up and were interested, that was ultimately so heartwarming and enlivening. There ought to be more visual art venues like this!
Huge thanks to Cable Griffith, Kamla Kakaria, and the Kirkland Arts Center for making it happen and helping to keep the visual conversation buzzing.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
dream
aquarelle pencil & gouache collage
5x7" 2007
I made this the day after waking from a vivid dream about a friend being in Hollywood.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
new abstracts - from the deep
from the deep
aquarelle pencil & gouache collage
5x7" 2007
This is one of many little paintings done over the winter. They started as greeting cards. Something about the fact that they were cards and not >paintings< freed me up, and I am now making some much larger versions involving layers and layers of translucent paper and paint. My heart is in these and something is happening I can't quite put a finger on. . .
I'll post more soon.
Friday, January 18, 2008
15 seconds of non-art related fame
Read NYT article here
Being interviewed about my Alaskan experience has got me thinking about it again. Who knows what might float up and into the studio?
At Exit Glacier with friends, Mary Mears, and Dave Atchison, on snowmobiles, circa 1989.
Being interviewed about my Alaskan experience has got me thinking about it again. Who knows what might float up and into the studio?
At Exit Glacier with friends, Mary Mears, and Dave Atchison, on snowmobiles, circa 1989.
Artists Talk
Monday, January 21
7pm
Looking Out, Looking In
KAC Instructor Exhibit
Curated by Kamla Kakaria
January 10 - February 9
Slide show, woo hoo! Come on over, it'll be interesting.
Did I mention it's a well-curated show, and the artists are fun to listen to?
Okay, this time we really ARE going for food and beer afterward. . .
7pm
Looking Out, Looking In
KAC Instructor Exhibit
Curated by Kamla Kakaria
January 10 - February 9
Slide show, woo hoo! Come on over, it'll be interesting.
Did I mention it's a well-curated show, and the artists are fun to listen to?
Okay, this time we really ARE going for food and beer afterward. . .
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
the large collage - a glimpse of process
Here's a bit of the progression, starting with the original photo of Georgetown through many phases of painting, cutting, sticking and painting more to form the final collage.
great opening!
photos by Rob Angus
Thanks to all who came out on a sloppy Thursday night last week - the room was warm and buzzing, and the work looked terrific.
The elements that unified this show were even more apparent to me after seeing the work hanging together in person. In particular, I noticed variations on verticals and horizontals, collage, and subjects implied and obscured.
Andree Carter's dynamic drips and tabs, the evocative windows of Ellen Rutledge's prints, and the painterly implied landscapes of Eric Chamberlain, each offer a well-developed and distinctive vision. Larry Calkins's room full of works in metal, wax, paper, photographs and other found material, is powerful, personal and dark yet somehow playful at the same time - like the ring of charred sections of romance novels, titled "Unrequited". It was fascinating hearing him talk about the heavy braid of a woman's hair he included in the show, and the single streak of gray in it that moved him in it's humanness.
It was a pleasure to be in such great company, artistically and socially.
Thanks to Kamla, Cable, Quinn, KAC and sponsors for a great show!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Looking Out, Looking In
Kirkland Arts Center
Curated by Kamla Kakaria
January 10 - February 9
Opening Reception
Thursday, January 10
6-8 pm
-----------------------------------------------
Guest curator, Kamla Kakaria, makes a strong case for hanging the work of these artists together, and I am excited about being in this show.
I will be unveiling my first ever four-by-five foot urban collage, and showing five smaller ones. Only two of these have ever been shown before.
Make an evening of it and visit the other Kirkland galleries - it's their second Thursday Art Walk - and join us for a beer/dinner afterwards! Hope to see you there.
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http://www.kirklandartscenter.org/contact.html
(Sorry, my hyperlinks don't seem to work in Blogger from the Mac.
If anyone knows about this, please lmk)
Kirkland Arts Center
620 Market Street
Kirkland, WA 98033-5421
KAC is accessible by bus on
Metro Routes #255 and #234
TEL: (425) 822-7161
FAX: (425) 889-2963
EMAIL: Kirkland Arts Center
Gallery Hours:
Monday through Friday 11am - 6pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm
Second Thursday each month until 8:00pm, in conjunction with the Kirkland Gallery Association ART WALK
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