'Sidelines' at the Clausen

Last night was a joy, welcoming the community to view my 'Sidelines'.

Thank you again for the flowers, Mother and Dad!

Such fun to show some work I have done for the Drawing Challenge along with paintings and oddball sculptures.

I shared some of my artist books - this one made with gelliprint papers...

...and the one I made for our 'Philip' DC.

'Inventory' - acrylic collage on canvas, 20"x24"

'The Connect' - acrylic collage on canvas, 68"x47"

'Miracle' - acrylic collage on canvas, 24"x36"

Best of all was seeing people's delight as they browsed the six sketchbooks I made available for viewing.  

Outside of my family and blog readers, no one had ever seen these drawings. 

My friends Don and Karen encouraged me to post this link to the radio interview I did with Petersburg painter and radio reporter, Joe Vichnickie.

PS - Flossy regrets that I have been a 'Blog Hog', and says she is ready to do a post of her own again soon if she can ever get a word in edgewise.
Happy weekend, All!

 

Daily Drawing

'Apple' - pigma pen and prismacolor pencil in 8x6 gamma

pigma pen and inktense pencil in 8x6 gamma

I am pretty much all set to hang my exhibit tomorrow at the museum, and excited to do so.  Always a new perspective to see work out in the world away from the studio.  I will post pictures...

Making Bugs

I took a flight of fancy in the studio last week and made a set of creatures for the upcoming Rainforest Festival art show.

Making Tyvek beads is a blast and I knew that this technique would make dandy bug bodies if I cut the Tyvek strips wider.  I included Angelina Fiber and left-over thread scraps in the twist.

The day before, I made wing material by Gelliprinting on Pellon stiffener, to which I fused Angelina fibers.

Here is the green body after being heat-gunned; wing material for the green bug is in the background.

A roll of very fine brass wire has been laying around my studio for years and proved exactly the thing for wiring on the bug heads and forming the antennae.

The green bug head.

Another old spool of wire was the perfect gauge for legs. 

I just twisted the leg wire around the bodies.

When the bugs were completely assembled, I hot-glued on their wings.

The Rainforest Festival art show hangs at the Clausen Museum here in town from August 31 through September 9 with an opening reception during September's First Friday art walk.

Halloween Exhibit

Our museum presented an art show with the theme 'Day of the Dead' in celebration of Halloween.  All ages were invited to participate and the work contributed was fabulous.  I went to the opening this evening and share the following tour with you.

One of the three pieces I entered, a plaster casting with acrylic and scrap fabric dreadlocks.

My shrouds in the background with my accordion book foreground.

The high school art class created an entire wall of fabulous paper mache masks.

Acrylic paint was finished with spar varnish which gave the masks a marvelous glittery appearance.

It impossible to pick a favorite!

The mask wall, with paper plate skulls flying above.

Samantha's excellent tea pot.

Trent's zombie couple

drawings from the elementary school

skeleton mural, also from the school kids

Robert's masks and Kim's mirrored skull wall hanging

Joe's painting hanging behind Sue's fabric and flower covered skulls

Lizzie's well-dressed skeleton

Sculpie and cardboard hangings from Mr. Sullivan's class hang next to Miss Tice's skull

I hope you had a fantastic Halloween - or last day of October if you don't have the ghoulish holiday.  See you later in the week.

Special Project

The past two weeks have been a detour into a special project for an up-coming group show at the Clausen Museum here in town. The curator is my friend, local painter Ashley Duross in partnership with our excellent museum director, Sue McCallum.
I show you here a little glimpse of one of the things I am doing for the exhibit.

Laying out the prototype accordion book using paper.

Using overlays of transparency film to figure out stitching lines.

The pages stacking up as layers are completed...

Inkjet transfer on haboti silk with machine stitching.

This work is very specific and personal to our little town.

I will be posting the finished piece along with my statement about this work in early November after the exhibit opens on Halloween Night.

'Archipelago' and Studio Progress

Friday afternoon we hung the Tongass Rain Forest Festival 'Archipelago' exhibit at the Clausen Museum.  Here are the two pieces I have in the show, which you have seen details of in posts over the past couple of weeks.

'Archipelago Jewels' - hand dyed cotton with beads and hand stitching; 9"x12"

'Eye Land' - hand dyed cotton with beads and hand stitching; 3"x5"

This coming Friday my solo exhibit of 20+ new dye paintings opens at Miele Gallery here on the island.  I am excited to see the work hanging together, out of my studio.  Always seems to look a little different in a formal setting.

Now that these two shows are done deals, I am continuing to paint toward my December exhibit with Pia Reilly in Juneau.  There are new acrylic-on-paper collages taking shape on my work table.  

Just starting out... these are about 9x12 inches, cut from one of my old water colors, gessoed over

The same three paintings, late in the day

detail of the far left painting, as I left it last evening

I am having a wonderful time immersed in paint again, appreciating the directness of the process.  Can't wait to get back to the studio tomorrow.  Happy Labor Day those of you in the United States. and happy September to ALL.