Road Trip: Larchmont, New York, Saturday, September 13th

P a r t  T w o  of the arting weekend    (Link to Part One)

On Saturday Binnie and I drove to the Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, New Jersey to pick up work from Swept Away: Translucence, Transparence, Transcendence in Contemporary Encaustic. We had a very nice lunch in Clinton and then drove slowly back into New York through the rain and traffic. It felt like we had been gone for hours -- and we were. In fact, it was nearly dark by the time we reached Larchmont and the rain began falling more steadily.


Kenise Barnes Fine Art (KBFA)
Larchmont, New York
Opening Reception for Two Shows: Saturday, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

This was the first time I had visited Kenise Barnes' lovely contemporary art gallery, and Binnie and I were very pleased to be receive a friendly welcome and unofficial tour prior to the reception's beginning.  This is a pristine white space, thoughtfully and beautifully organized to display the exceptional art featured at KBFA. The upstairs space has two galleries with a small viewing room at the rear and the world's best storage layout and viewing area in the basement. Even the bathroom has a terrific selection of artwork complementing the dark blue wall and streamlined fixtures.

All the images below are from the KBFA gallery website, and I wish that all galleries would use this website as a model of easily navigated sections with wonderful, large photos and full captions. This website gets an A++. (I am linking to it twice for good measure.)
 
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David Konigsberg was showing "Nigh Season" in Gallery I, and his large, colorful narrative paintings featured conceptual landscapes that seemed to be remembered rather than observed. His website statement says: " His work occupies a nether world of image and memory in his very personal narratives, which are not meant to be deciphered but experienced as emotional possibilities."

David Konigsberg, Fields Near Germantown, 2014, oil on canvas, 45 x 60 inches

David Konigsberg, Fields, Distant Barn, 2013, oil on canvas, 44 x 46 inches

Julie Gross
In Gallery II, Julie Gross and Margaret Neill were showing new work in "Undulate." This show spoke more to my aesthetic because of the color and geometry.  I had admired Julie Gross's work only online, but in person it was so intensely colored and vibrant that I had a new appreciation for it. She refers to these curving forms as "vessels for color" and that was readily apparent.

Julie Gross, Vertical Sine Horizon #4, 2014, oil on linen, 64 x 32 inches

Julie Gross, Vertical Sine Horizon #5, oil on linen, 64 x 32 inches

These large columnar paintings were dynamic and luminous with restrained curves that played with the relationship between figure and ground. There was noting restrained about the thrilling color combinations. The colors were pleasingly sophisticated and unexpected, especially in the gouache paintings on paper that were studies for the larger works. Those dense, matte gouache surfaces were even more chromatically rich and seemed to vibrate as the colors played off one another.  We were gushing over them!

Julie Gross, Vertical Sine Horizon #10, 2014, gouache on paper, 22.5 x 13.5 inches

Julie Gross, Vertical Sine Horizon #20, 2014, gouache on paper, 22.5 x 13.5 inches

Margaret Neill
I was not familiar with Margaret Neill's work previously but became an instant fan. The curves in her paintings are sensuous and created with a full movement of arm and body. It was clear that those curves were felt emotionally and intuitively as she applied layers of meditative paint. Thin veils of paint with striated brushmarks in some areas gave glimpses of forms beneath and added a great sense of depth.

Margaret Neill, Conduit, 2014, oil on linen, 48 x 48 inches

Margaret Neill, Snap, 2014, oil on paper mounted on panel, 24 x 24 inches

Margaret Neil also showed airy drawings on paper that recorded repeated trajectories of looping pathways and pressures, like graphs of emotional journeys or dramatically obsessive responses to music or memories. Her statement says: "My work emerges from an engagement with my materials and is concerned with neither narrative nor image. The medium becomes the vehicle of my expression of transient but ever present tensions and their resolution..."

Margaret Neill, Rondel Series I, 2014, colored pencil and acrylic on paper, 36 x 50 inches (unframed) 51 x 37 inches (framed)

Margaret Neill, Prospect, graphite on paper, 44 x 44 inches

A Perfect Ending To a Perfect Day
Binnie and I met up with our friend, artist Ruth Hiller, and interviewed her informally* about her residency at the Golden Foundation Residency Program in upstate New York. We had a fine time chatting downstairs in the KBFA viewing room surrounded by paintings and other works of art. Eventually we adjourned for a good Chinese dinner just down the street from the gallery and then, full circle, made our way back to Connecticut through the rain and traffic.


*Here is the link  to an actual interview with Ruth about her Golden experience conducted by Milisa Galazzi in ProWax Journal, a quarterly online publication for professional artists working in the medium of encaustic. While you're there, read some of the other great articles and features!


Coming up next:  P a r t  T h r e e  -  no, I'm still not done with the world's longest weekend.

Color and Light From Nature

This week I was surprised to find how much my color choices had been influenced by observing nature -  or is that Nature? The funny thing is that I first made the paintings and then saw the wonderful light and shadow with all that beautiful foliage. Who knew?

"Guest Star", 2014, 14" x 14" x 1.5", mixed media with encaustic on panel

"East of the Sun," 2014, 14" x 14", mixed media with encaustic on panel

"September Blue," 2014, 14" x 14" x 1.5", mixed media with encaustic on panel

For the "Relative Geometries" show at Conrad Wilde Gallery in Tucson (opening October 4th),

More info about the "Relative Geometries" show will follow - along with images of my other paintings in the show which have little or no resemblance to anything in nature but fruit and flowers.

Last Week in the Studio: Part 2 - August 17, 2014

In this post, as promised, I show how I got more ruthless.

Last week I made the decision to put aside one painting and make another one (Part 1). In this post I show you how I dramatically changed one painting to go with another. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. (By the way, these are all iPhone photos and they will expand if you click on them.)

This was last Monday. 

A black gessoed panel (Evans Encaustic black gesso) and a new box of tacks - what more could a girl want? On the wall is the painting I want to pair with the new one.

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
First of all, I have a plan for what I intend to do. I measure and draw it out on the panel and get ready to roll. Assembly proceeds pretty quickly because I'm practiced at this. I have stocks of elements sorted by color. If I need more, I cut them from various supplies or make paintings in the colors I need that I can cut up. I lay out one section at a time. In works like this where I'm organizing by closely-related color, I have to carefully select elements to achieve an overall color tone but still provide some punch from hits of other colors here and there.

In addition to choosing color, I am looking for text (that I usually place upside down), interesting marks, pattern juxtaposition and humor. I want to make the painting interesting on an intimate, close up level as well as from a distance. My overall context is making works that reference memory in some way, but sometimes the layout hints at other things such as architecture, maps, landscapes from overhead, walls, and other geometric constructs.

Looking into a new box of tacks with one package removed. Each pound of this size tack contains
about 1150 tacks. It will take about 1200 tacks to make one 48" x 36" painting.

THE SPLIT WORK WEEK
The way my weeks are scheduled, I work at a day job Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This gives me a block of four days, Friday through Monday, that I can spend in the studio. Most weeks I take Sunday off unless there is something pressing, so I consider Mondays my days to accomplish a lot but still leave plenty to work on during Friday and Saturday. This makes me get right to work as soon as I walk into the studio.

Layout on Friday. In this photo, the orange sections have not yet been tacked in and there's
a blank channel running down the center.

Here's a side view of the piece under construction showing the way I position tacks before
I fully commit to the composition. Of course, even after I commit, I might change my mind. 

THE COPPER TRAIL
You may wonder what is going into that narrow, offset space on the panel where the black gesso still shows through. The answer is copper - used a bit differently than in previous paintings, and that's good. I'm always trying to stay within a series but push it a little bit forward.

Here is the copper laid out in the narrow channel between color blocks. Note the difference in
color of the copper strips. I usually treat the metal I use with various chemical solutions and I
make it a point to never (well, usually) throw anything away. So some of this copper dates
back to paintings made and cannibalized long ago.

Here's a closeup after the copper has been nailed in. Note that the colored elements on either
side of it have not been nailed in completely but just enough so that I can put the panel
up on the wall and study it.

LOOKING, ALWAYS LOOKING
I was fortunate enough to study for two semesters with Rob Moore, a wonderful teacher at MassArt who passed away much too young and with too much knowledge, insight and enthusiasm for painting still to communicate to his students. Although much of what he said when I studied with him went right over my head at the time, one thing I understood then and still recall is that seeing your work instead of seeing what you hope to see is one of the hardest tasks artists have. We become so invested in the making of it that it's hard to take an objective view. I guess that's why we hate to let a work pass out of our possession too soon before we've had time to really get to know it with some of the intimate attachment dissolved.

Two panels as originally finished. But, wait, that's not all.

MAKING A PAIR
The reason I bring up looking is that when in the studio, looking can lead to revision. I was going to say "usually" leads to revision, but that doesn't always happen. When making a pair, I think I can use the usually because there's always some back and forth that has to take place to make them contrast, agree or complete one another. In the case of the pair above, I didn't think they were really complementing each other, so I decided to make some changes.

The first change I made was to separate the deeper blue from the lighter in the new panel.
 I thought this corresponded better with the deep blue section in the second panel.

Here's the pair after I revised the blue in the left panel. I thought that panel was much more interesting
than the one on the right, so, even though it meant a LOT of work, I went for it.

Trying out placement of another dark blue section in the right panel using tarpaper.

SEEKING BALANCE
I thought the pair looked imbalanced because of the darker sections and that the right panel could use a horizontally-placed dark. I had a few ideas of where the new section could go, but I decided to just try out a couple using a piece of tarpaper to give me a visual. The image above is not right: the dark section is too low and too narrow.

Once I decided where the section should go, I had a lot of work ahead.

REVISION AFTER COMPLETION
Or - Well, I thought it was completed! Since the right panel was fully tacked and painted, I had to dig out each tack one by one, remove the elements and then scrape the wax off the panel. You can see the ghost tracks of elements I took off and my implements of choice. In the plastic container are tacks with wax on them. But that's another story.

The final panels - except that the one on the left needs to be fully tacked and painted.

THE FINAL, FINAL REVISION
What I was looking for in the final revision is a pair that went well together but were two strong panels individually. They needed to balance when combined and also balance on their own. Adding a strip of copper to the one on the right tied in the two, I thought. Now besides having to tack in and paint the left panel, I have to add some occasional copper elements within the color blocks. I also need more interspersed copper in the right panel. You know that saying about a woman's work never being done?

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK
I hope you'll find a post from me.

"Reflections and Shadows" at Arden Gallery, Boston

NOTE: I am starting NEW ART IN THE STUDIO because I wanted to change the blog layout without affecting all the posts in the original Art in the Studio blog that I began in 2008. If you want to read some of those posts, here is the link.

Here I am at Arden Gallery with the somewhat distorted "Red Pair." I look like I just had a Hollywood facial, but I think it was the lighting. (iPhone photo by Greg Wright)

Reflections and Shadows at Arden Gallery, Boston, August 5 - 30

Arden Gallery is presenting a small solo show of my work during the month of August. Here are a few images of the installation and of the work in process in my studio.

Installation shot at Arden: Left are the Red Pair, Cugat on left and Montalban on right, each 24" x 24".
Painting on the right is Shimmer, 48" x 36". (The sculpture in the center is by Michelle Knox.)

About My Work 

First of all, about my work in general: I am drawn to making order out of chaos and that order usually takes a geometric form. I love juxtaposition, materiality, color, and the challenge of compositional problems.

A few years ago I began a series I called The Running Stitch because of the strong horizontal organization that reminded me of the way small stitches appear on a textile. Instead of sewing, I construct this work with elements that I cut from various found and prepared materials such as: books, record albums, packaging, treated metal, rubber, and paintings on cardstock that I prepare for the purpose or recycle from old works on paper. I attach the elements to wooden panels using tacks, hundreds of tacks. Yes, I had a grandfather who was a blacksmith. Did I inherit the blacksmith gene? I have my suspicions.

I began thinking of this series as a collection of memories, organized not consecutively or to relate a narrative, but rather as strokes of paint on a canvas. Memory jumps around sometimes and juxtaposes yesterday's movie with the crush you had on a movie star at age 12. I like surprises, weird combinations, hidden text, and lush color. My medium of choice, in addition to the elements, is encaustic paint, applied to the work in a liquid state and then fused to the panel with a heated tool called a shoe.

Shimmer in progress: decisions, decisions.

How I Work

When I think about making a new work, I usually think COLOR first. I have bags of elements stored in the studio by color and I have bins of old books also sorted by color. If and when I need more of a particular color, I make paintings using ink and encaustic gesso that I will cut up as needed.

A painting I made to be cut up and used in Shimmer

Making work for this show began right after I returned from the Encaustic Conference in June. Trying to catch up with everything and get back in the studio groove was a little tough but I managed.

A little surprise in Shimmer

Installation shot at Arden Gallery, Shimmer left and All Good Intentions, 2013, 30" x 30" at right.

Here is a professional photo of Shimmer that shows more detail.

Shimmer, 2014, 48" x 36". Photographed by John Polak Photography.

After a marathon session of hammering tacks on this piece, I bought a new lighter weight hammer. It's made a big difference to my arm and my stamina.

Old one inherited from my father on left and new, lightweight one on left -
on top of some paintings made for Shimmer.

Green Shade

Green Shade, 2014, 36" x 36"

This green one was the next piece I made. I always like to put in a secondary color, in this case turquoise, along with the main focus. There are also slices of copper in this that reflect the light.

A little air freshener guy waiting for some tacks and paint in Green Shade.

Here is Green Shade in the Arden installation on their lovely brown walls that seem to go with everything.
The three small pieces on the left were painted earlier this year.

The Red Pair, Cugat and Montalban

Bringing you full circle in my blog post and creative process, we arrive at the Red Pair, the last works I made for the Arden show.

Here you see Shimmer and Green Shade hanging on the wall in my studio and the two
gessoed panels that became the Red Pair in the foreground on the table.

Some of the elements laid out for these works. I was lucky to find two good Latin album covers
 in my stash - one by Xavier Cugat and the other by Ricardo Montalban. - lots of red.

The official portrait of Montalban and Cugat, each 24" x 24".

I am hopeful that I will resume regular posts again in this new blog. I usually take on a post as if it were a graded assignment, but maybe I can ease up on myself a bit and feel free to omit the essay and concentrate on the images. I hope you will be there with me!