Sacred Partners 2014 UNE Solo Exhibition

On Saturday October 4th, I set up 16 environmental statement pieces at Campus Center on the UNE Campus in Biddeford Maine. I want to thank Diane Noble for giving me the chance to work on an idea I have had for a long time. Although working a full time job, living a full life and painting do not always mesh, this opportunity gave me the push I needed to step forward on my ideas.

During the set up there were many people coming and going. The images generated a lot of comments. I especially enjoyed the children's exploration of the work as they seemed very intrigued by the message. I was so thrilled to share my thoughts about the work with kids and listen to what they thought, for it is them who will be inheriting what ever we have left of this place we all share. It is my hope that they get to witness a global enlightenment that moves in the direction of balance and reverence for the natural world.

After creating "Stranded at Sea" it was difficult to figure out how I was going to proceed, that painting became and, still is so dear to me. It took me most of the summer to distill what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it. I pulled off 14 more paintings in less than a month and I have the research and imagery for many more. There are 16 all together. Sixteen environmental explorations and a desire to keep going.

I learned many lessons while working on these paintings. Some of them are really kind of supernatural. My sketchbook is full of uncanny connections and happenings that I encountered along the way. The biggest outcome of this work is figuring out how to move beyond my first and favorite painting - "Stranded at Sea" - it is that painting that I envisioned first and, it was so different that is held me captive for a long time. Now, I am captivated by the possibilities.

UNE PR Write Up Click Here 

Flickr "Sacred Partners" Photo Album Click Here

Face Book Event Posting "Sacred Partners" Click Here

"Basic Human Rights"
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Birch Panels

"Sacred Partners" Progress

Getting to a place with enough imagery for this series has taken a lot of time. I am now at the stage where I feel confidant to begin support building.  Building up the surfaces can take as much time as the actual application of color. Here are two supports now in progress. All this preliminary work is documented in my sketchbook as notes and thumbnails. These are only bases and not even close to complete. More to come.

Sacred Partners Update, August 15 2014

 Short post on my progress.

 

Painting is easy. Deciding what to paint - not so easy. I use my sketchbook to record ideas and practice concepts. Below is what I have so far - cryptic I know. 

What you are seeing is a thought process. I do so love landscapes but they are not really what I want to say.

My goal is for 20 works in all.

 

Sacred Partners 2014

Sacred Partners

July 18th 2014

Progress has been slow but what I have is satisfying. I seem to have hit an information overload wall. There are so many images, ideas and bits of information in regards to environmental issues all crowding my mind in not enough order to make visual. 

Each time I find a source, book or speaker that resonates it leads me to five more! 

Just when I feel I am starting to see some imagery through the cloud 

a breeze comes along and stirs up the fog in my mind.

 Feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of what is transpiring I struggle with the feeling of hopelessness - but then I find somebody like Charles Eisenstein speak and feel a little sense of order and purpose. The fog settles a bit. I add more books to my list and move a few steps forward. Charles Eisenstein "The Ascent of Humanity" George Monbiot "Ferel"

Not complete but closer.

 

 

Well - off to try and make my way through the fog of my thoughts.

"Sacred Partners" July 2014

"Sacred Partners"

Environmental Statement Series

First stage: Create the Support

2014 "Sacred Partners"
Honoring Environmental Beacons

Having a full time job makes it very difficult to keep up with a blog. I have considered taking it down....but then I look at some of the things that I have posted and decide to plug away - even the gaps record.

I am putting together a body of work on a subject I think about a lot. Our natural world and how we are connected to it. I am forever drawn to the idea of connection and how we fit in.

 

Sketchbook detail.

"Mobius Water Infinity"

I love painting landscapes and I am very attracted to any stunning geographic area but, doing landscape after landscape at times feels incomplete, as if I am only recording one small portion of something that holds a deeper message. It gnaws at me that there is more than a static vision. I want to create imagery that helps people appreciate our world and reconnects us to our place of origin. I want to slice open the numbness we have all come to understand as living and help reveal a more clear understanding of our connection to our planet. Not because it is the modern thing to do but because it is the joyful and fully alive thing to do. Not because I care more for the animal world than I do the human world but because we ARE the animal world. If we cannot correct our path of destruction of our home then we have no hope of creating better human life. In my mind they go hand in hand and, mother earth, as in the beginning comes first. A diverse planet is a healthy planet where all the parts are players in a constant battle of balance. We are now at a point where we have reached a critical mass big enough to tip that balance. My question - Is our collective mass intelligent enough to tip it in the right, corrective direction or will our numbness of life push it over the edge and foolishly bring us right along with it? I often contemplate how ironic it would be if the burning of too much fossil fuel will have us become fossils as well. 

Sketchbook Detail - Nanuk

Sketchbook Detail

It feels to me as if we are in critical time, at a crossroads. I want to believe that we are going to see some sort of light and make the better choice, to change habits that make life better for every living thing. We are part of a natural system that has worked well without us for eternity. I want to raise awareness. To help people reconnect to what we seem to have lost touch with.

Helplessness equals hopelessness and I am not hopeless. I can help spread the word, grow food, support local farmers and vendors, consume less, understand the impact of what I buy, show honor and have respect for what we have been provided. There are people all over the globe who are starting to stand up for better ways, better ideas, a better planet and a better - sustainable way of life. I want to add my voice. But most of all, I wish to record my reverence and respect for our struggling planet. I wish to honor my connection. I wish to love what I came from. I wish to embrace that connection. I wish to live a fully alive life.

Sketchbook Detail

Sketchbook Detail

As I wrote this post I realized that "Icon" is not really the right word to match my intent - "Beacon" - fits much better. 

This imagery will represent the "Beacon System" that is in play. 

My work will offer prayers that we see the light. 

Our collective future depends on it.

Sketchbook explorations. 

"Stranded at Sea" 

24 x 60 Acrylic, Mediums and Silk on Birch Panel
The smaller bear painting at the top is a birch panel superimposed
on to the larger panel. The fabric is actual silk, suspended
over the smaller panel like a floating shroud.

Sketchbook explorations.

The notes on the right are about icons, beacons and beacon networks, mobius symbols, infinity, monoliths, illumination, polaris, alpha and omega, and, mana.

"Sacred Partners" - Nanuk

12 x 14 Acrylics, Mediums, Paper Clay on Birch Panel
This work is a birch panel floating within another panel, moat like. The moon phases and bear are both relief made of paper clay and acrylic. All the surfaces are highly textural.

Sketchbook explorations.

The notes are lists of of possible imagery and issues in regards to the listed subject. Right now I am exploring the challenges facing the honey bee. The model to the left are possible parts as I work. My overarching goal is to create imagery that has a certain spiritual expression. Something deeper than the individual parts.

More to come.

 

2013

Vacation next week. I am so looking forward to being able to get into the studio. This school year has been so fast paced it has been hard to carve out some creative time. I have been doing some work in my sketchbook trying to get some environmental ideas to gel into some imagery. I have a direction that I am pretty happy with so that's exciting. I will be posting some rough sketches next week.

It is unfortunate that my adult Acrylics class did not run this winter due to a lack of adequate information distribution. Live and learn. I hope anyone who is interested will be looking for it next fall. I am thinking about running a summer class for CEU credits too. More to come on that later.

One more day and a night collecting student artwork at the Portland Museum of art. Love February break. Here is the work of my student that I will be sending this year.



deb

Acrylics Workshop

This blog post will be a supplement for my Adult Ed. Acrylics Workshop. If there is anything else you would like to know just ask in class and I can write a response in the comment section. If you want to be notified of any updated posts you will need to "follow" this blog.

GOLDEN MIXING KIT

This set includes 8 fluid colors, color mixing guide and application guide. The link is to Dick Blick art supply. As of this post they are out of stock but will be available Feb 13. I also found them at Jerry's Artarama for $20.00.

GOLDEN ACRYLIC MEDIUMS SET
I found this set for $16.00 at Daniel Smith on line. It's a great price and and good selection of mediums. For those who love heavy thick impasto the extra heavy gel would be yummy for this application. The set comes with a product sample card.

PRINCETON BEST SYNTHETIC BRISTLE BRUSHES
These are my favorite brushes. I told one student that I thought they were a blend of natural and synthetic but they are actually a synthetic bristle designed to act like a bristle only better. They maintain shape when holding heavy paint. As far as size and shape goes that is so much an artists choice. I guess I would go for at least one flat and one round for now. As for size, the more choice you have the better but you might start with numbers between 4 and 12 for now. I have some "Blick Studio Synthetic" brushes that behave very well. They have a set of four at a good price. I also like "Silverwhite" brushes. I tend to use these for more fluid applications like washes and glazes. I will tell you that there is nothing that can take the place of a good brush!


OTHER RESOURCES
My acrylic sample boards on flickr.
My web site.
My acrylics video collection on youtube.
My youtube channel.
My Etsy online shop.
My facebook fan page. 
Golden's youtube channel. 
Golden's web site. This is a fabulous resource!
This is a great Tri-Art fluid acrylic video about color saturation and lush viscous mixes with gel medium.
The Tri-Art web site. This is the Canadian acrylic manufacturer.
Tri-Art non stick palette at Dick Blick. Very Cool!!


When we cover glazing you will really benefit from reading this entry by Canadian Artist Robert Genn. If you LOVE learning Genn's bi-weekly news letters are an awesome resource. THIS is the Glazing Keys entry by Genn.

First Painting of 2012

Here is my first painting of 2012. This is a 9x12 Soft pastel on Wallis paper with a water color under painting. This is the first one of two that I plan to do. The other one is after the same rain storm that ravaged my spring roses last spring. The next one will be the leaves after the storm.

Here's to a productive new year!

What's on the easel?

One of my favorite artists is Stephen Quiller. I really love the way he uses transparency, translucency and opacity all in one painting. He also considers himself a "water media" artist and clearly describes the qualities of each medium. His knowledge of the personalities of each medium is so keen that he can pick the right one for the look he is going for. His color schemes are somewhat objective but subjective as well. The colors glow and interplay with each other in such beautiful ways.



Casein is one of his mediums. I love the flat velvety color that it produces. Quiller uses it with transparent acrylic under washes to create stunning results! I have tried some play with casein but feel really inept at this point. This series will be my next attempt to gain some knowledge of this beautiful paint. The series of three yellow scapes are my setup pieces for some play with Casein.

I have also started some different pastel pieces. I did not get in to the PPOM International show last summer. I am determined to create a piece that will make the grade! These pieces are on my favorite paper, Wallis, and have a watercolor underpainting. I use this process often. I enjoy the loose start and lcoking in the basics first.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My Two Sons and Gallery 5!

This past weekend I completed a drawing that I have wanted to do for some. A portrait of our sons. This graphite drawing is on a full sheet, 22x30 Lenox Drawing paper.

The image is a compilation of both sons at the time of their Senior year in High School. I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I plan on using this image as an image transfer for a Christmas present. I will print it on fine watercolor paper and mount it on a birch panel.

 I also found out this week that all four of my entries into the MAEA show at Gallery 5 in Leweston were accepted into our juried show! Yeeha! This is what I entered.

What I do with all my time!

This time of year is nearly impossible to get in to my room and work! School is especially difficult this year due to many changes. I decided that I would try to connect my school activity to my professional blog - my way of showing that Im not just slacking off!


Check out what is going on in my class room by visiting the class blog. There are some cool links on the recent post. There is a slide show on the right for our 2011 Camp Sunshine pumpkin installation but you can also go here for the still shots.


For my artist friends, you might enjoy the AP / STUDIO art page. Students will be doing some assemblage collage art with inspiration from Joseph Cornell. This page is the actual lesson that they will work from. Check out the interactive links provided for instruction. Students will also be using some form of image transfer system in this piece. I have a youtube folder with tutorials for them to self direct with.


So - THIS is what I do with my time!
Enjoy!

The Magic of Haystack

 Two weekends ago I got to have one of my dreams come true. I was honored to have the opportunity to teach fellow artists and teachers. I had 15 fantastic artist / educators in my workshop at Haystack Mountain School and, had the time of my life.

Teaching a group of highly creative and motivated people is like being on some kind of drug. The energy is contagious and the work output is nothing short of spectacular! People worked until after midnight and got up early to work more. One participant even got up at 4am to get to the studio! The whole weekend was magic, even more magic than it always is.

 My mother and two aunts came up to see what I rave about so much. They got to see prints being pulled in the print studio, clay being thrown in the ceramics studio, freshly cast molds in the wood shop, beautiful pastel paintings in the brand new artists studio, movies being created in Gateway and a blacksmith demo in the hot shop.

I was not nervous during my slide show (click here) presentation. It felt great to be there with such inspiring people in such an inspiring place. Check back soon for images. I will be asking my participants to send me at least one photo of work they did in my workshop. This experience will be hard to beat! Thank you Haystack and thank you for the opportunity M.A.E.A. Take a look at the movie (click here) that my Co Worker put together! There is a sound track but for some reason it does not play - we are trying to figure that out!

Summer Work 2011

 Allan and I took short day trips this summer. We explored Lands End on Bailey Island. No luck fishing but the weather was beautiful and we had never been there before. The crib stone bridge is quite a sight and the only one in the US. This is a small pastel that I did for the day.

We took several day trip together this summer. Much enjoyed after the summer spent in the hospital last year. One trip was a particularly beautiful afternoon at Winslow Park in Freeport - again, no fish, but, the light and scenery was fabulous. This is one of our favorite camp spots.

6x9 on Wallis Paper, looking towards the camp sites from the NEW stone pier.

The next outing was a glorious day painting with Pastel Painters of Maine. The weather looked awesome but it was a very hot day. The things I learned that day were amazing and made me long for more time to paint with this group. They are fantastic teachers and very giving. I long for the days when I can join them MOST of the time.

both 6x9 on Wallis Paper, looking out across the water on the bridge before the farm.

The last piece is something I have wanted to do for my self for some time now. This drawing is not complete. It is about 80% done. It is a composite of our sons about the time of graduation. I still have some fine tuning to do and some personality to add but I'm pretty happy with the progress. Have to go for now! First REAL week of school starts tomorrow.

Step by Step Quote Series

Step 4 Quote Commission / Collaboration
This is a step by step documentation, creating a Quote Panel

- another layer of violet washes
- addition of some iridescent pearl acyclic color
- the digital images have been varnished and adhered to the surface
- the quote is printed on vellum, varnished and adhered to the surface
- in this photo, self leveling clear gel is allowed to sit in droplets on the surface....tomorrow, these will retain the circle shape and round dome so that I can add color rings

More later.

Step by Step Quote Series

Even though I am on step three of this commission quote panel I thought I should post the process. When I teach, I can use these posts to support teaching and learning. This work involves two images on the same panel, violet colors and a motherhood quote by Abraham Lincoln.

1. prepare and prime the support by sanding and then coating both sides with gesso
2. print out the images, seal them with varnish and coat the support with requested acrylic medium...in this case, acrylic fiber paste (Golden's video library, the fiber paste video is in the second row down)
3. apply the first layer of color using flow release and acrylic colors / the flow release allows the color to really run around fast, just like it does on wet watercolor paper

Watercolor is actually a great medium to learning painting techniques. Many of the same processes used to create a watercolor are used in other kinds of painting processes. This layer has wet into wet, controlled bleeding and a water spritz for added drama. This is just the under layer. More later.

Summer Moves So Fast!

After two weeks of cleaning my class room, getting it ready for floor scrubbing and a new school year, I could officially start my "Summer Break"

It took a week to complete the MAEA Fall conference at Haystack registration packets. If you click on the link you can see the studio space that I will be teaching Acrylics in for this conference! I'm very excited about this opportunity and already have some products donated by Golden. Fun fun FUN!!!

Next - a photographer pal of mine, Pam Davis asked me if I would be interested in being in the local Community Days. She got a booth and I said sure! Good practice! I prepared 6 new quote series and 8 small (6x9) pastels to have in my booth. I now have fine art card reproductions available and I also got a display tree that I had seen to display my work. Fair booths take a whole lot of work! It ended up being the hottest weekend of the summer! I had a great time and now I know how much I can fit in my car. All in all a good experience. No buyers but lots of interest and many cards passed out. We shall see. Below is a small sample of new work. I tried to keep things $100.00 or under. To see all of the new work click here.

Commissions Complete

AC series is now complete! They do look lovely. This is really what I had in mind for my quote series. The client tells me what image they want or gives me a photo and picks out the text then, I combine the parts to create a whole. This was a lot of fun!

JS still life is also now complete. I love working with glazing! I am pretty happy with the color and the symbolizm. I hope the people who are getting these like them!

What's On the Easel

Break is over and my two commisions are about 95% complete. These little 6x6 inch squares don't look like they take a long time but they do. The biggest challenge is to focus on the text and yet allow the visuals take part too. I really love the textural qualities of these. I hope the client likes them.

This piece has a few color layers now. Glazes are so beautiful and rich. I love the way they shimmer with color and allow the under layers to show through. This work will likely be darker around the edges so that the interior glows.