"It's Elemental" at Szozda Gallery

detail of Evening, Blue and Gold, now at Szozda Gallery

It's a "Night 'n Day" arrangement, I really love these together

Just before the reception

Wednesday before the lighting was finished.

Four in a row

Fred Wellner, Animus Ferrum, 2010, acrylic on canvas 20 x 20

I'm exhausted! We've been in the middle of a heat wave (along with everybody else it seems), tipping into the high 90's and touching 100 (which is a rare thing for Upstate NY), so the turn out at the opening wasn't as good as hoped, but better than I expected because of the heat. It was a good time overall, I talked to a lot of people about my painting process, inspirations, and of course, the weather...more pictures to come as I've been promised a few from friends who were snapping shots throughout the night...Caroline did a good job hanging and lighting the show, and the space is lovely, my Fred and I feel so fortunate to have such a wonderful venue and advocate for our artwork! The exhibition is up until August 28th, and our book, Elemental is for sale there as well. We've had excellent press the week leading up to it, and we will be doing events throughout the month, possibly a demonstration of our painting process in the gallery, possibly a collaborative effort melding both of our processes together...it might be messy, but it would be a good time.

We still have the rest of this month and next month left on our lease on Moonlighting Gallery, and have our monthly reception on Friday night, July 29th, I have a couple of small new pieces that I kept aside for that, and I have some older ones to fill in the gaps that I left behind. I thought I'd mention here that we've decided to not renew the lease (for various reasons), which also includes disbanding the partnership (amicable), but I'm remaining positive about the overall experience. We learned a lot by doing than by not doing, so it was worth the investment of time and money to do it. It's going to feel good to slow down for a bit and plan for our next project...one being a book of our drawings. I wouldn't mind exploring a new shared space at another time, making it more like a working studio space than a gallery space, a place to work on larger projects and room for storage, but nice enough to throw a reception and invite people in to come see what we've been doing lately...I see it as an investment...but right now, I want to put my feet up and rest, and dream about new paintings...have you ever noticed that paint doesn't work well when it's way too hot...or is it just the heat exhausted artist having trouble applying the paint? Maybe both.

Press for the upcoming show at Szozda Gallery...

Thursday, July 14, 2011, "Neighbors", the Post Standard (Syracuse, NY) we got a full page spread featuring three of my paintings, but not all of it fit on my scanner...

...so here's the rest of the piece from Thursday's "Neighbors"

My Fred's painting made it into the "Stars" section of the local Sunday paper

We dropped off our paintings on Sunday and tomorrow the soft opening happens, and then we'll be attending the Third Thursday event at Szozda Gallery, and then the opening reception on Friday night (whew!) It's also going to be in the low to high 90's for the next few days too...oy, I fear that people will wilt and not show up...but it is an air-conditioned gallery, so maybe they'll come for the A/C and snacks! We're very excited...it's going to be a very nice show...

Painting some more...

There is more than blue going on in the sky... 627/2011, acrylic wash, monotype, rice paper on canvas, 40 x 16 inches

My latest painting evolves like all of my paintings do, with an under wash of color to add depth to the next layer, with my Blue Sky series, I select warm tones, burnt sienna, yellows, greens, turquoise, purple, orange...the washes of blue radiate differently...oh, but it was hard to paint over this under wash...it was so beautiful it almost hurt to cover it up...

"The Wash" stage...yes, that's my little portable studio table, it's just an old drying rack with boards on it, easy take down and put away...yup, my porch floor is paint spattered (that's okay, I need to repaint it anyway)

but I did...
Here are some detail images for comparison...

detail of top wash

detail of top finished painting

It was a fun painting to make, larger than I usually do...it's mighty pretty...it really glows in my dining room, can't wait to see it in the gallery!

I've been a busy lady this week, my vacation has been very productive...wonderful...a little bit of everything happening, a little bit of everything getting done...a show with my Fred and I is coming up this month at Szozda Gallery, Its Elemental! opens on July 20th with a reception on the 22nd, and runs through to the 28th of August...so I'm making more new work to add into the mix as the following week is yet another reception at our little Moonlighting studio...

Seth Apter at The Altered Page has the 5th Edition of The Pulse up and running this weekend, and as always, inspiring, beautiful bits of this and that to look at and read about...love it!

I recently found out about America: Now and Here, which is a traveling exhibition currently on view in Detroit until July 24th (was in Kansas City in May) that has pulled together artists of several disciplines, visual artists, poets, playwrights, filmmakers, and musicians, it's going to be on a two year tour of the country, it's going to Chicago in October. For more information where to catch the show or to join the national conversation here's a link to their website: http://americanowandhere.org/

There are more paintings on deck to work on, I'm feeling quite satisfied (mostly), yet itching to keep going...

Vacation...part 2

Elemental, abstraction 6/16/2011, acrylic wash, monotype, rice paper on canvas, 24 x 8 inches

I'm back on vacation again, a few days off, a few days at work...it's a little hectic at the office. (I don't really want to talk about it.)

Yesterday I painted all day outside, my little porch studio was a contemplative space, the first painting fell into place quickly (in stages of course), but it was inspired by a small acrylic monotype sketch in my sketchbook from two years ago, I've been meaning to put it on canvas, but sometimes these things need to be worked out in their own time.

detail

 The second piece...oh, fun!

This was done on a whim...

 I painted over the 2006 Calendar from one of the Chinese restaurants that we frequent that was hanging on our kitchen door (for a little too long), but I didn't throw it out...the idea wheels turned. I tried painting over it, but it just wasn't right, so I adhered some rice paper to it, and then it got some body to it. I've been layering color on it for a few weeks, it wasn't doin' it for me...well, you know how that goes, so I went into "that mode", you know the one, the state of frustration that very often can make or break a piece..."oh, fuck it" I said, and went at it...the blue circle was preceded by a white one that disappeared rather than being something ethereal and lovely, so I slathered on the blue, stepped back and said "There ya go!" I am painting the back, but it's not finished.

detail

A work in progress. 24 x 24 inches

This last piece is a work in progress, oh it's so pretty, I'm enjoying my yellow-on-yellow phase, tho' I wound up adding a touch of green to this one to give it a little more contrast...I'll finish it soon, I'm almost there.

Detail

 

 

 

There are more in progress, surfaces prepared, washes laid down, and such...I'm juggling painting and writing, and working in the garden...I've been dodging raindrops today to keep up with the weeds, at least the asparagus bed looks better than it did! I'll post more as they come into being. I have a show to get ready for next Friday at Moonlighting, and a show coming up in July at the Szozda Gallery (can't wait!) So I must work hard to get these pieces ready to hang!

Vacation...

Found objects collage, grape vine coils on canvas, digital photo, 6/2/2011

Found object collage, grape vine coils on canvas, digital photo, 6/2/2011

 I've been fooling around with my camera again...see what happens when I have time on my hands? (I've had a lovely week off!) I wanted to do this for years, I would look at the little coils on the grape vines and they reminded me so much of the lines I make in my drawings that I thought it might be fun to gather a bunch together and make a "drawing" with them...so I started collecting some this spring (I have quite a few), then I pulled a piece of canvas out of my scrap bag of saved scraps from pieces trimmed off of stretched canvases that I made (ironed it to get the wrinkles out) and made a few swipes of white paint on one of my monotype plates and printed a background for my little bits to lie on...once that dried and I got the lighting set up to my liking, I snapped dozens of photos...first I tried being "neat" about it, lining them up in rows, making them look like Chinese characters...that was cool, but it's been done...then I connected them like my random drawing lines (first image), and then at the end, I jumbled them up and let them fall in a heap (second image, I liked that best of all!) I'll continue playing with this and see what else I can make...I do have some fancy paper to print the photos on when I'm done...might frame up a few for Moonlighting...

Amber Dawn, 5/22/2011, acrylic wash, monotype and rice paper on canvas, 16 x 8 inches

 I kept this one simple, that gold color is just so juicy I am enjoying it...I have a fascination with yellow, partly because it's pretty, but also, it's a difficult color to paint with, keeping it "clean" without it turning green is always a challenge...shoot...why not do yellow-on-yellow paintings? (I'm currently reading about Robert Ryman's white-on-white paintings, which is giving me more ideas...like I need more ideas!)

Saffron Sun Scroll, acrylic wash and monotype on rice paper approx. 8 feet long x 12 inches (with a grape vine twig at top.)

 We hung the show last Thursday night and I put the scroll up on the purple wall near the door, it was quite the "oooo-ahhh" of the show as the yellow and purple absolutely glowed...we joked that whoever bought the piece would have to hire Suzanne to paint their wall (it didn't sell, yet)...but I think I should come up with a special panel to go with them (since I can't take Suzanne's pretty purple wall with me), possibly a canvas, and a tube for rolling and storage. I'm still working it out...I might have some canvas kicking around somewhere...

June Dawn, 6/1/2011, acrylic wash monotype and rice paper on canvas, 16 x 8 inches

detail of June Dawn

 I worked on this little bit the other day, setting up the portable studio table on the porch, we had such fine summer-like weather earlier in the week, reaching high 80's and nigh 90, perfect! This canvas has layers of bright cerulean blue below the pale greens and blues...it's a sweet little piece...I love this size canvas. (After my art school days where everyone painted BIG paintings and ever since I started working in an art collection, I promised myself that I won't paint anything bigger than I can move by myself, so I have a special appreciation for small paintings.)

My "coloring book" started 5/31/2011

I bound this book with scrap paper ages ago and have been planning to do something with it...well, I got busy with it at long last and decided to make it my "coloring book" to just splash around, play, scribble and enjoy... this is just the first pages...I think next time, I'll paint the paper first and then bind it...but maybe that would be too much like planning...

Three more days left of my long time off, I'm going to keep making new art, work on filling up my coloring book, and I have several canvases to prep for future paintings.

Transition...well, kinda sorta

Detail the black and white scroll (unfinished, there is so much more left to do!)

Unrolled (the table is 8 feet long)

 I took a break from painting and finally...well, look at the trouble I got into! I'm making scrolls on rice paper...

Dawn Scroll detail

This is a wee one...about 3 feet? Give or take a few inches. Not finished, still detail work left to be done.

 These were not started from scratch, they were started 3 years ago, so I've left them rolled in a drawer at a stand-still, not sure what to do next. I'd take them out to look at them, roll them back up and put them away.

Detail of the Night Scroll

A long one! Lots left to do, I've barely touched it since the first layer was laid down.

 Then one day while at work, thinking about work things...these scrolls came to mind again...

Detail for the Sun Scroll

Of all of the scrolls, this is the one almost done, just a few details left to give some structure to the center...

 I pulled out the yellow one, put my little temporary studio table up and started slathering the red/gold safron color that I love so much all over it, and then...and then I had fun...

detail of the Water Scroll

Another long one, more to do...lots more!

Well, I hope to at least have the yellow one ready for the opening this Friday night at Moonlighting...I still have to figure out HOW I'm going to display it...

The rest will come together over time...much to do!

The one lone canvas...Moonrise, 5/14/2011, acrylic wash, monotype, rice paper on canvas, 12 x 12 inches

Oh, look, I've made a...a bean! Well, it's going to be a sleeping kitty someday.

My Fred gave me some soapstone for my birthday a few weeks back, and this bitty block of stone has slowly taken shape...the little navy bean kitty...I've never done this before, and always wanted to try it so here I go...and I don't know if you noticed in the scroll photos the chunks of soapstone holding the scroll edges down...yup, those are mine to carve (someday!)

So during my month long thoughts about transition, I've done a great deal...and I also made an e-book out of my novel The Fractured Hues of White Light to celebrate the first year anniversary of its publication as a paperback original, so it's now for sale at Barnes & Noble for the Nook! (YAY!!)

Here comes the sun...

Here comes the sun... 4/23/2011 acrylic wash monotype, rice paper on canvas 16 x 8 inches

Detail

I finished this little one yesterday afternoon, the multiple layers of paint create such stunning depth...it's so much prettier in person...I have it finished just in time to include it in our end of month reception at Moonlighting this Friday night (4/29), I might try to finish up one more, maybe...just maybe...

Left to Right, Ken Nichols, Fred Wellner, Laura Wellner, Suzanne Masters

 Last Sunday afternoon, the four painters of Moonlighting Gallery visited Cafe 407 on Tulip Street in Liverpool NY to paint a painting for a fundraiser for Ophelia's Place (event yet to be determined.)

The finished painting

detail

detail with critter that My Fred made

I think this is my favorite spot...

Another favorite spot

It's just interesting to see how we blend our styles on the canvas

another detail of a favorite spot...

 So many nifty little places for the eye to wander into and rest for awhile, thinking...

We've been doing this project since we started our partnership at Moonlighting, starting a painting, and then passing it around amongst ourselves or to other painters we know...we have about a dozen paintings so far, and it is our intention to do a reception at the gallery someday, have a silent auction, and donate the money to a good cause...fun stuff!

From my sketchbooks...

Untitled, (Finished on St. Patrick's Day), 3/17/2011

I keep several sketchbooks, different shapes, sizes,

Untitled, 4/14/2011

I always have something in the works, my little graphite meanderings,

Untitled, 9/26/2010

 ...pencil point, sharp or broken, worn down, the edge of a graphite stick, graphite dust, grit...

Untitled, 2/10/2011

 ...they're about mark making...

Moonlighting, 9/9/2010

practice and patience...

A work in progress starting with the hard 'H' pencils, don't know which way is up yet...