Ancient Vessel Art Blog

2012-01-21T11:53:00.000-06:00

Conrad Wilde Gallery
439 N. 6th Ave #171, Tucson AZ
85705

I am pleased to announce that I am one of the artists whose work is included in this exhibition at Conrad Wilde Gallery in Tucson.

Artists featured are:
Alicia Forestall-Boehm      Molly Geissman
Willow Bader                     Deborah Kapoor
Amelia Currier                   Sue Katz
Peggy Epner       Catherine Nash
Gwendolyn Plunkett         Kelly Wagner Steinke
Margaret Suchland             Robert Treat

Click here for more information about the artists.
Press Release here.

Very Hot and Way Cool!

2011-09-26T11:45:00.000-05:00

Sizzling!


Logo

The air temperature wasn't the only thing sizzling in Houston this summer. Heating up Houston's art scene is Burning Bones Press, a brand new full service print studio located at 1518 Yale Street in the Heights. Artists and printmakers Carlos Hernandez and Patrick Masterson partnered up, leased the space and opened for business this summer. Their inaugural party June 11 was planned to coincide with PrintHouston 2011. If you missed the party like I did, watch their video of that event. Not quite the same as being there but....

Patrick Masterson and Carlos Hernandez

Working along with Pat and Carlos are studio managers artists Cathie Kayser and Nancy Luton.

Cathie Kayser

Patrick, Carlos, Cathie and Nancy are all members of PrintMatters, (see more about that further down) and Cathie is currently serving as president of that organization.

Full service printing studio means just that. Lithography, intaglio, relief printing, screen printing, solar etching and all the ins and out that each printing process brings. Besides doing their own work here, these artists offer printmaking classes, and collaborate with other artists helping them develop their own ideas into a realized edition, as well as doing projects for museums, businesses and other organizations. The goal, according to master printer Patrick Masterson, is to create an open and inviting environment conducive of collaboration with other artists, as well as taking on jobs from institutions, publishers and dealers.

Nancy Luton

A bit of biography.....
Carlos Hernandez has fame for his limited edition screen prints of gig posters of rock n' roll legends such as B.B King, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, to name a few, as well as his Day of the Dead Rock Stars Series. Carlos also has selected works featured in the 2011 Communication Arts Typography annual and the 2011 Communications Arts Illustration annual. Carlos said he started out setting up a studio in his garage so he must be loving this new studio!

Patrick Masterson wears several caps, artist/teacher, artist/printmaker, and business owner. He teaches printmaking at both University of Houston and Glassel School of Art. He served as master printer at both Mad Cap Press in Houston and Flatbed Press in Austin. In Austin he collaborated with artists James Surls, Luis Jimenez, Trenton Doyle Hancock to name a few. You can find his work (Masterson's) in the collections of the Whitney Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art.


Photo courtesy of Jenny Antill. Patrick and Carlos are bounded on right and left by some of their work; next to Patrick is a James Surls piece and next to Carlos, several prints from his Day of Dead Rock Stars series.

One of their goals is to bring more attention to traditional printing processes and techniques. I questioned all three, (Carlos, Patrick and Cathie) if digital technology has impacted their work and business in a positive or negative way and the overall response was positive.
Some of the new technology has really impacted what they can do in the studio in a positive way, saving time and steps.

All of them through their teaching gigs found many students with heavy digital backgrounds have a real longing for the 'hands-on' experience that traditional printmaking methods provide.

Cathie reminded me how photography at one time put the fear into artists and printmakers alike, that photography would render both obsolete. That didn't happen.

New Addition to the family

With half dozen various presses in the studio at opening, their long awaited 4 x 8 foot Takach motorized press arrived this week enabling them now to print large format images. Below are the four of them posing with the inaugural print compliments of Nancy.

Carlos, Nancy, Patrick and Cathie with the inaugural pull using the new press.

Several projects are in the works keeping them busy. Patrick is working on a project with Francesca Fuchs for the Houston Museum of Fine Art's Core Program, for one. Besides several teaching gigs at the studio, Carlos is adding new images to his Day of the Dead Rock Star Series, as well as collaborating one-on-one with artists wanting to learn more about the silk screen process.

Print Houston
If that weren’t enough to create sparks with Houston artists who have been chomping at the bit for sizable Houston-based print studio, PrintMatters, a Houston art organization, after declaring June as PrintHouston 2011 month.

It was a month long celebration of traditional and nontraditional printmaking, held printing workshops, sponsored the Rockin’ Rollin’ Steam Roller event, invited curators to propose print-related exhibitions and galleries and museums to participate with print-related exhibitions. June’s exhibitions spilled into to July, then into to August. Seems PrintHouston 2011 is really Print Houston Summer! See my Nov 2010 post about PrintMatters at WHAM here.

Very Hot and Way Cool!

PrintHouston will happen again in 2012 so all you print makers keep your radar turned on for exhibition calls and announcements.

Founding members, Cahtie Kayser, Andis Applewhite, Ann Johnson, Vivian Hordes and Ruth Shouval, organized with the following goals in mind: to promote traditional and non-traditional printmaking, encourage print collecting, and further the professional growth of our members.

Gallery Talk - Kevin Mullins, Jonathan C. Leach

2011-03-14T16:18:00.000-05:00

Darke Gallery now showing work by Kevin Mullins and Jonathan Leach through March in the upstairs gallery, hosted an artist talk with these two artists this past Saturday. The opening reception was Friday evening, the night before. This kind of event is a great opportunity for us bloggers to get first hand information from the artists as well as providing a possible photo opportunity if the both artist and gallery are supportive.

Image above and below complimentary of Kevin Mullins web site.

Proud Flesh is the title of the Mullins exhibition which includes screen printed images on paper like the one below and smaller paintings/printed images on plywood. Click here to see the slide show of some of these works on paper.

Proud Flesh series Red/Green, screen print

Says Mullins, "I’m a painter and print maker currently living in Wichita, Kansas.
Mechanical reproduction and repetition (I find great truth in the dictum, “repetition is the foundation of clarity”, have been both the subject of my work and the means by which I produce it." Quoted from Mullins' statement here. He works with an oil based inks and paint on various supports, including paper and wood and a type of PVC plastic used in outdoor signs. He spoke of these repetitive marks in relation to meditation, an idea that I have embraced in relation to some of my work. Unlike Mullins, I don't participate in any formal meditative practices.

Kevin Mullins on right talking to visitor about the smaller works.

Artist Jonathan Leach is a Houston resident and currently represented by Sonja Roach Gallery.
The several pieces in this exhibition are with permission from that gallery. About his pieces here, Jonathan uses acrylic paint on canvas and plexiglass supports, in this instance, a plexi box.

On right is Jonathan Leach talking about his work. To his left is Kevin Mullins, and far left is artist Marcelyn McNeil.

He tapes and and paints areas both outside and inside the box. He is interested in allowing evidence of the artist's hand to be visible in the painted areas although I didn't really see any brush marks. One must have to get very close. Although these are essentially painted boxes, the artists must approach the placement of the designs onto the surfaces as a sculptor would.

On right is Jonathan Leach talking about his work. To his left is Kevin Mullins, and far left is artist Marcelyn McNeil.

View shifting to the right

View from opposite side.

You can see more of Jonathan's work here.
This exhibition runs through early April.

You Are Invited II

2011-02-11T11:44:00.000-06:00

I am very pleased to have my work, Sunspots/Solar Minimum, Solar Maximum in Conrad Wilde Gallery's Sixth Annual Encaustic Invitational this year. The dates are March 5 through March 26.

Sun Spots/Solar Minimum (L) Solar Maximum (R, 16 x 8 in. each, Ink on Hosho paper with Encaustic on panel, 2010

Also near Tucson, at the Tubac Arts Center in Tubac just south of Tucson, my painting Under My Skin II is included in the Playing With Fire Encaustic Exhibition that runs March 18 - May 1 with the reception March 18, 5-7pm. Barbara Rogers, Professor Emeritus of Painting and Drawing in The School of Art at The University of Arizona in Tucson was the juror.

Under My Skin II, Encaustic/oil bar on panel, 16 x 16 inches, 2010

You can see my pink painting below on Pam Farrell's Art Blog on-line PINK Show. Great stuff. Check it out.

Baby's Breath, Encaustic on panel, 12 x 12 inches, 2010

You Are Invited

2011-01-26T10:59:00.000-06:00

"BODY LANGUAGE"

Sunday, February 20th 4:00 to 6:00

Wine, food and music too! Show continues through April 2nd.

See the work here at The Encaustic Center, 580 W.Arapaho Rd. #271, Richardson, TX. 75080


“Marked Time” Encaustic and oil bar on panel 18" x 16"

You can also see my work in Houston at Williams Tower on Post Oak. The Assistance League of Houston presents Texas Art 2011 is up through February 25. The exhibition is located in the lobby of the Williams Tower office building, hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 - 6:00.

WHAM and Houston's 18th Annual Art Crawl

2010-11-25T23:30:00.000-06:00

Spacetaker brought their Winter Holiday Art Market (WHAM) to Downtown Houston last weekend at
Winter Street Studios. The Winter Holiday Art Market – Downtown was presented by Amegy Bank of Texas. This is a juried event. Earlier in the season, artists were invited to submit a portfolio of their products they would like to sell. Products ranged from drawings, paintings, sculptural pieces, pottery, jewelry, handmade bags, leather goods, hand made wooden objects, fine art prints, hand died silk scarves, and much more. It was fun, indoors, and busy with lots of people. And things were selling.


Studios at Winter Street are identified by letters and numbers stenciled onto the floor in front of their doors. I got caught up with taking photos of numbers on this day. This was not open studio day. Most of the studios were closed.

Below artist/printmakers Andis Applewhite (L) and Gema Barclay (R) running the booth this day for PRINT Matters a Houston arts organization started by five artists who have exhibited locally and nationally and share a love of printmaking. Their goals are to promote traditional and non-traditional printmaking, encourage print collecting, and further the professional growth of our members.

L. Andis Applewhite, R. Gema Barclay


From Andis's P Series. Image from her blog.

On the Print Matters web site you will find a list of members with links to their web sites. Worth a look-see. You will also find information there regarding membership in the organization if you are interested and Print Matters has a current call for work for exhibition next summer.
Click here for more information about that.

Ichthys, save me
Multiple plates with dry-point etching; Rives BFK
Image size: 24 in X 18 in
Paper size: 30 in X 22 in
Monoprint

The image above was done by member Cathie Kayser. Her work is the yellow green-piece above Gema's head. Click here to see more about her.

Below is artist Steve Campbell making a sale. We stopped and chatted with him for a bit. He was gracious enough to give us a demo on how he creates the textures on some of his pieces. Said he learned it in Korea.


Steve's studio is three DOT pots.

Golden Cat Silk Originals had beautiful hand printed silk scarves and shawls. I wish I could have bought one.

Sparrow Birds Scarf

Y.E. Torres YET: Drawing, Dance and Design. Funky stuffed conjoined dolls, drawings and other stuff. Click here for more about her.

Artist Matt Messinger's booth. He does mixed media paintings, collages from found materials and prints. Click here and here to see more about Matt.

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It was also the weekend of the annual Houston Art Crawl when artists whose studios are located downtown in the warehouse district and nearby open their doors for an open house. The weather was good for it and there were lots of folks out. Many of the photographs I took below are not the art on view. We didn't get to all the studios---missed Vine Street and Diverse Works and probably others. Another time. Anyway, the pictures I took will tell you a bit of what I saw and the flavor of the event. Not all will have captions. My apologies to those artists whose names are missing. Photos are not in order any particular order either. But the first image below is where we began.

Artist: Carter Ernst

Concrete wall with ghost sign.

Above and Below: Photos taken in one of the loft apartments. I don't know whose but the big C above and the strange black animal below are both paintings done by Matt Messinger whose work I saw at Winter Street.

Artist Peter Dickson

John Runnels; House of Bausch ( A Danger to Be Safe In) Chartpack letters on tile & wood


Across the street.

Artist: Carter Ernst

Artist: Corrine Jones (from Nacogdoches)

These pieces were partly drawn and partly stitched. I didn't get the name of the artist.

The photographer talking about the images of Jo Ann Fleischhauer's installation at M. D. Anderson.
Click here to see more about this project. It is quite awesome.

More about Artist Jo Ann Fleischhauer click here and here.

William Reich: Bunny Love

Work by Tim Johnson

Just the floor.

John Runnels; Cigarette Chair, chair and cigarette butts

Streets of Houston

Artist on right, art on left. We were nearing the end of our crawl for the day. This studio housed a sound studio as well as this hair dresser's salon.

Where Have I Been?

2010-10-13T02:04:00.000-05:00

Peonies - Gift from Hayes Parker and John Friedman

What I Did This Summer
It was a summer of teaching workshops, traveling and painting in my studio. In June, to Florida twice, before and after the my annual trek to Massachusetts and the Encaustic Conference. In July, it was workshops all month. In August, a drive to Amarillo in the Texas panhandle for an exhibition then to Southern California to visit family.
And remember the BP oil disaster in the Gulf? Like everyone else in the country, we worried for our natural habitat along the Gulf Coast. We were fearful that this would be end of our pristine white sandy beaches in Florida and the beautiful natural wetlands and coastal environment. Who could forget that? Every place we visited the incredible never ending oil leak was the topic of conversation.
October doesn't always arrive in Texas with cool temperatures so we count our blessings this year because Fall did seem to arrive on October one with cooler temperatures and lower humidity.

Above and below are photos of some beautiful Peonies given to me by friends Hayes Parker and John Friedman. They came from John's floral shop here in Houston. I think I liked the flowers as much as they dropped their petals as I did when they were freshly cut. On down, are some images of my summer with not too much text. I'm back.

May
A fun day trip I took in May with friend Jennie Kimbrough was up to Nacogdoches where Stephen F. Austin State University is located to see the Texas National 2010 exhibition. It is an annual event held every Spring at the Cole Art Center which is part of SFA School of Art. The juror this year was Judy Pfaff, who also had works on view as well. Apologies up front for not having information about the work presented. I was allowed to take photographs so all the images are from me. Artist friends, Deborah Houston from Amarillo (TexasWAX member,) and Eileen Goldenberg from San Francisco, California, (IEA member) both had work accepted into the Texas National exhibition. Below are photos of their work.
To see a larger version of any of the images, place cursor on image and click.
Texas National 2010

Work by Deborah Houston

Piece in center is an Encaustic painting by California artist Eileen Goldenberg.

The exhibition space was full. I was told that Judy had a difficult time turning work away. Not to discredit Pfaff's choices or any of the artists whose work was included, but I felt there was enough work in this space for at least two exhibitions and possibly three.
My pictures don't do the show justice. There were some very engaging floor pieces throughout the gallery but these photographs really don't capture them very well.


Near the back of the right side of the gallery.

In the back of the gallery looking toward the street.

Center of gallery looking back

Some of the sculptural pieces

Looking to the back left of the gallery

One of the 3/D pieces in the exhibition

Judy Pfaff
Below are the images I took of Judy Pfaff's exhibition. I think this must be the first time I had seen her work in person. The work is delicate and yet dense. Looking and absorbing her work takes time. Photographic images just can not do justice to her work. Layers upon layers upon layers upon layers. Sadly, I am familiar with her installation pieces through photographs only. I have always thought of those pieces as overwhelmingly full. If that is her aesthetic, full to brimming, I can see how she had such a difficult time making negative choices as juror. Again, my apologies for not supplying titles and other information regarding this work.

Detail of image above

I held encaustic painting workshops in my studio at home in May and again in July. Check out those images on my Workshop Blog. June and August coming up next.

Alan Storey-Where are you going? Where have you been?

2010-04-30T09:19:00.037-05:00

Recently, an unexpected surprise appeared in my mailbox. A note from Alan Storey with a link to a video about his new work in Bellevue, Washington. Thanks, Alan.
I was introduced to Alan Storey's work last year while visiting my kids in California. While there I visited an exhibition of Storey's work at C4 Gallery in LA. I only had a very small amount of time and that is the only gallery I got to visit while there. Lucky for me. It was my introduction to this artist and his installations. See my previous blog post about that visit here.

This new piece titled Compass, a 63-feet tall compass needle, is installed at the balcony of Bellevue's City Hall.
He says this work was inspired by the history of boating and compass manufacturing in Bellevue, Washington. This "63-foot-tall compass needle...points to beautiful views beyond. Welded in a Northwest studio, Compass is nestled into a gentle inward curve of the city hall balconys guardrail where it turns in place to continually frame new views of surrounding vistas. As Storey explains, the Compass represents direction over changing perspectives of time."

As I investigated further I found that Storey is one of three artists whose work is installed at this location. Below is a image of The Silver Root by artist Dan Corson.

Located in the black reflecting pool at the northeast corner of the Bellevue City Hall plaza is Dan Corson's The Silver Root. click here
This bronze sculptural tree root painted silver is cast from actual tree roots that were dug from this area in the 1800's by immigrant workers. The Silver Root, while reminding one of earlier times in this area, serves also as metaphor for the work and activities that take place in the present city hall.

Below are images of Current the terrazzo concourse floor in Bellevue City Hall.

Inside Bellevue's City Hall is where you find Current, Linda Beaumont's piece, a terrazzo floor that flows the length of the concourse of the building's main floor. Beaumont work is in part a response to an underground river that flows in the area. "Echoing the steady, smooth movement of a river current, the river serves as a visual metaphor for the flowing of ideas and activities within. It is a world created with thousands of tiny pieces that come together to tell a beautiful story." Click here to see more.

The information in the descriptions above is taken from Bellevue, Washington's YouTube site.

Again a huge thank you to Alan Storey for connecting me to his new piece as well as to the work of Linda Beaumont and Dan Corson. These site specific pieces are fine examples of the way thoughtful and creative artists weave history of location into their creative efforts. Congratulations to the artists and the city of Bellevue for this beautiful site. Their efforts certainly do make me wish to travel there to see for myself.

Locating Beauty/Skin Deep at Buchanan Gallery, Galveston

2010-04-18T20:46:00.007-05:00

Thanks to Kathi Buchanan for giving us such a lovely show. Below are some photos from the exhibition. We had a good crowd though my pictures don't show it. They were taken early when we first arrived around 5:30. The evening was cool and balmy with no rain! Great weather for art walk.

L to R: Kathi Buchanan, me and Deanna Wood, looking towards back of gallery. My paintings on the walls.

Front wall, Le Grande Rouge, my painting. To right, Deanna's painting. Both can be seen from the street.

Looking towards back my paintings facing wall and left, Deanna's on right. One Thousand Whispers on facing wall.

Mark, my husband talking with Deanna. Her paintings behind Mark. Must be Sam sitting in the window.

Kathi with some gallery visitors.

In the back of the gallery looking to front.

Back wall with Under My Skin series and Body Language I and II.

This exhibition is up through May 22nd.

Coming Up and Closing Soon

2010-02-23T09:15:00.049-06:00

At Rice University Art Gallery you can see El Anatsui's Gli (Wall). The exhibition runs through 14 March 2010. ( The photo below is from Rice Gallery's website. )

This Thursday evening, Feb 25, Nicholas Gardner, Rice University Senior, Art History and Visual Arts, is giving a lecture entitled “El Anatsui: Fabricating Identity”
The lecture is at 7:00 pm in Sewall Hall 309. (adjacent to Rice Gallery)
I haven't seen the show yet. This weekend, I hope. You can read more about this artist and his exhibition in New York on Nancy Natale's blog, Art in the Studio.
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At Darke Gallery located at 5321 Feagan @ Detering, you can still see Darke/Read Group Exhibition up through end of February.

I liked the concept of this show and beyond that, the informality of the presentation. All the work presented was pinned to the wall unframed. Prices were affordable, none higher than eight hundred dollars. Many were sold by the time I visited.

The works by Ann Resnick and Kevin Mullins are two of my favorites in the show.

Ann Resnick's work below titled The Long Goodbye is a lino print and burnt paper, size 12 x 24 inches. The piece floats away from the wall. The white of the flowers are burnt out shapes so that you see a fleeting version in shadow on the wall.

Kevin Mullins six piece series are screen prints made with beet juice. Each piece is individually titled. Top row: Red Herring, Red Handed, and Red Headed. Bottom row: Red Rum, Seeing Red and David Reed. Up close, each print is more than just the color. Small circular shapes seem to be stamped into the papers, pattern-like in various placements on each piece, along with a bit of hand written text. Just a word or two is all. Click the image or here to bring up a larger photo to see in more detail.

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Coming up in March you can see new work by Lydia Balahutrak. Hide and Seek is the title of her exhibition at Nau-haus Art Space, 223 E 11th in the Heights. Mar 6 is the reception date.

Above: Lydia in her studio with some of the paintings in this exhibition.

Above: Hedge, 60 x 65 inches, charcoal, chalks, acrylic, collage on canvas

Lydia says, "The vines and berries, the flocks of birds, and the tangles of trees and branches in my art work are not exotic nor enchanted, but ever-present and close to home. Life grows out of the layered ground and spreads out over images of war and suffering as well as those of joy and jubilation."
She speaks of our human need for both order and disorder. She also acknowledges our desire for harmony and calm. The undercurrent of imagery in her these pieces, clippings from newspaper and magazine articles, many of a political nature about war and destruction, and political disharmony and dishonesty, is overlaid and woven together with the beautiful renderings of the tangles of trees and vines and nature.
The work being exhibited has been several years in the making and references some of the dark historical moments of the G. Bush era through the present time. Tragedy, despair, distrust, and disgust, along with patience and hope for better times.

Click here to revisit a previous post on this blog at Lydia's studio.
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I will miss Lydia's reception however because I will be in Tucson for the 5th Annual Encaustic Invitational at Conrad Wilde Gallery. Below is the postcard announcement and below that is my painting in the exhibition. The reception is scheduled Saturday, March 6th.
Click here for more information about the artists in the exhibition.
Title: Tracking, 16 x 8 x 2 inches, Encaustic Collage on panel (encaustic, handmade Asian paper-burned, oil bar)

Did You See This? At Sikkema Jenkins & Co, New York

2010-02-18T10:10:00.009-06:00

Wow! Wish I could have seen this in person. See Nancy Natale's post about Drew's work at Sekima Jenkins & Co. in New York and my earlier post about his exhibition at the Blaffer Gallery in Houston. Drew's web site as well.
Birth. Death. Decay. Regeneration. And more.

Brenda Mallory

2010-02-06T10:59:00.028-06:00

I love the way Brenda Mallory relates her very abstract forms to the natural world. They a beautiful and strange at the same time. The piece below is part of an installation titled Offcuts.

About this work she explains:
"A nearly bottomless supply of cloth pieces in the shape of an elongated oval known in geometry and religion as the vesica pisces are stacked in my studio. For Offcuts, I set myself two parameters: one was to use only these pieces as a base; the second was to adhere to a basic law of physics which states “matter cannot be created or destroyed, but can only change its form”. If I cut apart a piece of fabric I had to form something else with what remained. Nothing went into the trashcan. What I did to the shapes was not restricted in any other way. They were variously burned, waxed, sewn, bolted, rolled, stretched, crushed and combined with other materials."

The work above is a snippet of her Porous Borders, an installation piece in collaboration at the Portland Building with Toronto artist Fei Disbrow. Regarding this work she says, "Porous Borders deals with the fears and paranoia that dominate post 911 culture. The work creates is a feeling of discomfort and a lack of ease, even evoking repulsion by using forms that almost seem natural, but are actually deeply strange and offputting."

Below is a detail of work from another installation piece titled Biophilia.

Brenda is one of the featured artists in the Luminous Layers , Exploring Contemporary Encaustic curated exhibition at Lake Oswego, Oregon opening in late June.

Alan Storey-C4 Contemporary Gallery Los Angeles

2009-11-07T23:17:00.039-06:00

C4 Contemporary Gallery, 5647 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028

"Alan Storey: Device for Drawing the Movements of a Ballerina", Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver Canada, 2008.
All images of this work are copyright © Ashley Judge, 2008.

On a recent very short and unexpected trip out to the west coast I had the opportunity to visit C4 Contemporary Gallery in Los Angeles.(5647 Hollywood Blvd.) The exhibition was work by artist Alan Storey who designs and makes drawing machines that become, in essence, the artist's hand. Having seen some of his images on the gallery web site, I was intrigued with the images produced by the machines as well as the process by which they actually come about. I love the lines! Although Canadian artist Storey is best known for his public sculptures which interact with architecture and public spaces like his giant Broken Column located in the HSBC bank in Vancouver it is the drawings and drawing machines that captured my attention. Below is his Climatic Drawing Machine, 1991 in Toronto. Above is a photograph of his Climatic Drawing Machine, 1991 in Toronto and below, the scale model of the Drawing Machine that was in the exhibition.
Above: the scale model of the Climatic Drawing Machine and the resulting drawing on rear wall installed in gallery.

Above: Detail of 'recording paper ' roll. The direction of the wind rotates the paper recording drum via the weather vane on the roof of the building. The drum is moved up and down according to the velocity of the wind.

Storey's first 'drawing machine' above is motorized and rotates at low speed. A bicycle wheel held by the arm is kept inked and stays in constant contact with the wall, creating the marks or drawing.

Alan Storey: Handle with Care,1991.
I particularly loved the drawings above that were done by a much smaller drawing machine. The drawing machine was equipped with a pen designed by NASA and placed inside a shipping crate and then shipped to several predetermined locations. The motion of the shipping vehicle and the orientation of the crate during shipping determine the outcome of the drawing. The drawing above is the folded open insides of the crate.

Alan Storey: Handle with Care, Lithograph, Montréal to Vancouver (Trans-Canada Higway,) 1994.
From the gallery site:
Ostensibly a shipping crate - except when folded out onto it's integral six hinged interior sides it is revealed to be a canvas and drawing substrate for a specially prepared pen carriage which translates the movements of the container, experienced on the journey to the exhibition space onto the 'canvas'.

This exhibition closed Nov. 7th.
All images and information was posted with permission of gallery director JW Dewdney. He was especially helpful the day we were visiting the gallery providing us with information about the artist and his work.

Process, Time, Titles and Leonardo Drew

2009-08-12T12:26:00.029-05:00

Leonardo Drew, No. 33A, 1999, Canvas, metal boxes, oxidized metal, rust, shoes, wire
99 x 96 x 22 inches, Cardboard, In the collection of the McNay Art Museum.

Leonardo Drew, Close-up view of No. 123, cardboard, cast Elmer's Glue, feathers, paint, paper, plastic, rope, string and wood. Installation.

Many of you are familiar with the work of artist Leonardo Drew who has recently relocated to San Antonio or splits time between Brooklyn and San Antonio. The University of Houston's Blaffer Gallery hosted a mid-career survey of his work this summer beginning in May and ending August 15. It was late in the exhibition when I visited the exhibition, prompted by artist friend, Ellen Hart. She was taken with his work and knowing what I have been doing recently, thought I would be too. She was right. I loved his work. I wish my visit would have been earlier in the summer because I am sure I would have revisited several times. Below is one of his installations.

Below: No. 28, 1992 Rust and canvas
Existed: Leonardo Drew, the exhibition, curated by gallery director and chief curator Claudia Schmuckli, included a major installation created in the gallery space, 14 major sculptures made between 1991 and 2005, and 12 works on paper made between 2005 and 2008. These pieces together present a representative survey of Drew's artistic development and point to the relevance of the direction the work is taking today. (paraphrased from the Blaffer Gallery web-site announcement.)

After looking at the whole exhibition I was struck with enormity of tedious labor it must require to make each work considering the scale and multiplicity of each piece. Khrystah Gorham, gallery assistant pictured below, said that because Drew feels that manual labor is really the heart of his work, he prefers to do all the labor himself, rather than hiring assistants to build the components.
An example---No.43 (1994) pictured in the Houston Press article, is made up of 880 hand-built boxes, each stuffed with rust-dusted and twisted scraps of fabric, sometimes trailing out or stretched over sealing them.
Works on paper of molded and pressed papers
Gallery assistant Khrystah Gorham
Above and below are some of the smaller pieces in this exhibition. More intimate and perhaps more poetic than the larger pieces, these hold their own with the larger work.
Rust, molded paper, wood, nails, rusted metals, raw cotton, preserved and stuffed dead birds are just some of the "stuff" Drew uses as art materials. Paper molded into tiny cubes are essential parts of these smaller works on paper along with string, even a pencil line here and there. Below the objects hanging from tied and twisted ropes are made of molded paper. "Ethereal, ghost-like immateriality, a sense of meditation" are just some words and phrases used in describing his sculptural pieces.

No. 94 2005, Cast paper, found objects, paint, rust; 153 x 144 x 12 inches
Curtesy of Skkema Jenkis & Co. I don't have the titles for the pieces pictured below.
I can't post about Leonardo Drew's work and not mention his use of numbers as titles in light of Joanne Mattera's interesting recent post discussion regarding titling of work earlier this summer. For me, his use of numbers as titles fits perfectly with the formally abstract compositions. The numbered titles designate and help one keep track but never get in the way. The work has such strength and "metaphorical weight" that a worded title would seem like mere window dressing.

No. 26, 1992 Canvas, rust, wood 120 x 168 x 6 inches Private Collection, New York

So, what do I like so much about his work? I like crude, unpolished materiality of the work; the ritual-like repetitive process involved in the making of the work; the strength and emotional impact of the larger pieces and of course the "visual poetry" of the smaller works on paper.
The way his work takes us back to the past with empathy and dignity is a plus.

Leonardo Drew, No. 123, 2007, Installation view with Gallery assistant Adam Varner
This installation is comprised of materials that he employed and developed throughout his career then turned into little sculptures and attached in grid-like fashion, directly to the wall of the gallery.

The exhibition was accompanied by a comprehensive monograph, the first on this artist, published by Giles Ltd., London, featuring essays by Blaffer Director and chief curator Claudia Schmuckli and Allen S. Weiss, Associate Adjunct Professor of Performance and Cinema Studies at New York University.

All images posted in this blog were taken by me at the gallery. You can go to Drew's web site or the gallery's web site for better images of his work. Click on the links provided below for more written information about Drew. To see videos of Drew working and in conversation click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page for the links.

Press Related Articles
Beauty in the Abandoned

Blaffer’s Leonardo Drew survey hits a home run

Paper and More

2009-05-25T08:47:00.071-05:00

Above piece is Untitled by Howardena Pindell, 1973 Ink on punched and pasted paper, talcum powder, and thread on paper, 10 1/8 x 8 3/8" (25.9 x 21.3 cm) The Museum of Modern Art. Gift of Lily Auchincloss, 1974 © 2009 Howardena Pindell (Image is from the MOMA web site.)

If you follow Joanne Mattera's blog you've read her recent reviews of the exhibition at the MOMA Paper:Pressed, Stained, Slashed, Folded that is up through June 22. (I am hoping to get to NYC on the heels of the conference at Montserrat and see it myself.) Thanks Joanne, for the posts. This exhibition and Dorthea Rockburn's folded paper pieces brought to mind Folds, a paper and encaustic piece by Denise Stringer-Davis that is part of the Degrees exhibition on view here in Houston until the 31st at M2 Gallery.

Above: Folds by Denise Stringer-Davis, Waxed toilet paper, variable size

Besides Davis, the work of San Antonio artist Michelle Belto and myself also use paper as a major part of our work in this exhibition.
Belto makes her own paper and molds it to suit her needs. Mother's Sewing Basket is a collage of paper, Encaustic and garment fasteners used in clothing construction. She said this piece is part of a series that pays homage to the women seamstresses in her family.

My work, Slow Burn/Skin Deep below, is primarily hand made paper and wax. I didn't make the paper. It is Thai paper made of sanitized abandoned bird's nests. Thick and rough like a grass matt and very organic looking. It is part of a new series of works I call Organic Compounds.

Above: Gwendolyn Plunkett, Slow Burn/Skin Deep, 42" x 24" x 2", Encaustic and handmade Thai Bird's Nest paper on canvas on panel.

Degrees Exhibition runs through Sunday, May 31 so you still have time to see it.

In the MOMA show, the Howardena Pindell piece at the top is one of my favorites but I am intrigued by John Cage's Wild Edible Drawing No. 8, from 1990. It is handmade paper of milkweed, cattail, saffron, pokeweed and hijiki.

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Untitled, 2009 Rebea Ballin

At Joan Wich & Co here in Houston this month was an exhibition by artist Rebea Ballin whose work is not of paper but on paper. Prismacolor (black) pencil drawings of hair. Conversation with the artist in the Houston Chronicle last week is fresh and candid about how she came to this subject matter. Landscapes came to mind with my first glance at the work from the door.
No, but maybe.
A quote from her conversation with Douglas Britt, "What made me want to zoom in a little bit more was an interest in the landscape aspect of hair in the scalp, the textures and things like that."

Thurel Wright's piece above
At A Good Idea on Paper , Eleanor Jane Cardwell's blog, you can always find interesting works made of and on paper. May 22nd post features the work of Thurel Wright.

The May 15th post features Artist Valerie Jolly's work. She says "she casts objects in sticky wet tissue paper."

TexasWAX Artists Show Their Stuff

2009-04-18T09:57:00.008-05:00

TexasWAX artists from Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio are exhibiting new Encaustic works at Gallery M Squared during the month of May. The reception is Saturday, May 9 from 7-9 p.m. This is the first joint exhibition of all four groups.
About TexasWAX:
TexasWAX Houston was the first group to organize in November of 2007. The Dallas group followed shortly after. In February of 2008, these two groups held an exhibition in Dallas that coincided with the College Art Association Conference held there.

The Austin wax group formed not long after. San Antonio artists who were driving to Austin for meetings decided to form a chapter of their own so by the end of 2008, TexasWAX had expanded to four chapters.

Each chapter is active with its own projects and exhibitions, sometimes in collaboration with a sister chapter. This is the first collaborative project of all four chapters.

Gallery M Squared is located at 325 W. 19th Street in Houston Heights.
Gallery hours are Wed - Sat 10-6, Sunday 12-5.

Interactive Blogpost-Rituals/Collections-Time: Rebecca Crowell

2009-03-03T21:59:00.016-06:00

Contemporary Abstractions
What is predictable about nature is change---change of seasons, birth, life, death and ultimate decay. Built into that predictable cycle of change seems a core of randomness that ultimately enlivens existence and life's experience. But it isn't nature so much that Wisconsin artist Rebecca Crowell is addressing in her paintings. Rather, the random effects of nature's cycles on man's intrusions into nature. Our walls and buildings. With her process of selectively adding and scraping away, she makes paintings that at first glance, resemble aging and ancient walls. But the palimpsest-like surfaces of her work take us beyond "the wall" to another level of thought becoming parallel markers of the passage of time.

Old Wall: Pyrenees, oil and wax on board 24 x 18 inches, 2009

Rebecca Crowell's Statement:
One of the remarks people have about my work is that it seems to embody a sense of time--that my surfaces often appear ancient, eroded and weathered. This is a result of a process in which I build up layers of paint mixed with cold wax medium, and then selectively scrape, scratch and apply solvent to portions of the upper layers. I like the idea that form/process and concept merge in this process--although my work draws on many sources, weathered and worn surfaces in nature and old human-made objects are among the most important--and the way I interpret this source is by building up and then tearing down the paint layers. As in nature, there is a random quality that results from this process, though of course, I also edit and select in order to reach aesthetic goals.

Recently I spent time at an artist retreat in a small, medieval village in the Pyrenees Mountains of Catalonia, Spain, and later a few days in Barcelona. These were perfect places for feeding my love of ancient surfaces--old stone and plaster walls, worn paths, crumbling slate cliffs, and ruins of old barns--all very beautiful to me. Abstracted interpretations of these surfaces have become an important thread in my recent work.

Lisa Pressman - "Searching the Narrative-New Encaustic Works" at Jack Meier Gallery, Houston

2009-03-02T10:32:00.020-06:00

Time, Memory, Abstract Narrative
Continuing the conversation about time and ritual, New Jersey artist Lisa Pressman, whose works are on view at Jack Meier Gallery this month here in Houston, speaks about her work as
"reflect(ions) on the passage of time and the internal events that change and shape us."

Shift in Time, 24x18 inches, Mixed Media Encaustic

She says that "The paintings reveal how, over time, memories are given broader scope and are incorporated into an ongoing abstract narrative. "

Lisa Pressman: Page 3, Mixed Media Encaustic, 11x14 inches

Nature-based and light-infused as are the paintings of Diane McGregor, Pressman's paintings tell a different story, one about memory and significant moments of our past that somehow leave a mark in our lives, embedded there but not always remembered.

The process of living an abstract narrative? Yes. I like that.

Above and Below, Mixed Media Encaustic

Pressman works in various media including Mixed Media Encaustic, Oil and Acrylic. Most of the paintings in this exhibition are Mixed Media Encaustic.

Jack Meier Gallery is located at 2310 Bissonnett in Houston. Lisa's work is on view there through March 7th.

Time/Ritual/Collections Interactive Blog - Diane McGregor

2009-02-28T22:37:00.022-06:00

Collections/Rituals - Time
Artist Diane McGregor recently responded to this Interactive Blog invitation with a very eloquent description of her studio routine and painting process. She describes her recent body of paintings as "reductive abstractions that reference nature and the landscape." Read what she wrote below:

"Your invitation to your interactive blog posts inspired me to think of my own rituals as I create one of my oil paintings. My paintings are reductive abstractions that reference Nature and the landscape."

Diane McGregor: Conferring With the Moon, Oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches, 2009

"In the morning before I start work at the easel, I light a candle and write in my journal, including affirmations. I usually spend a lot of time beforehand looking at the painting that I am about to work on, figuring out where the painting is taking me. I will often read poetry at this time as well, finding inspiration in the words and imagery of Neruda, Rumi, Mary Oliver, and others.

My glass palette is always spotlessly clean before I begin to paint. I pour out 2 cans of oderless mineral spirits for washing the brushes. Then I squeeze out the colors from the paint tubes. I select my color palette for the painting ahead of time, and I usually stick to that palette for the entire painting.

My technique is repetitive and process oriented. Vertical and horizontal brushstrokes, applied in many layers, form a grid structure and slowly build up the abstract composition as the brushstrokes accumulate and transform the canvas. The application of the paint is methodical yet allows for chance and unplanned discoveries. Time is an element of the process, as each brushstroke represents a moment, a gesture, a connection.

As I paint, I usually always listen to the music of Hildegard of Bingen (or anything by Anonymous 4), which in itself is ritualistic and repetitive, with soaring harmonies and meditative melodies. The music mirrors the painting process in its repetition and meditative qualities. In fact, I often listen to the same piece of music over and over while working on a particular piece. The repetition of the music adds a subliminal lyric element to the imagery.

When I am finished for the day, usually around sunset, I scrape off my glass palette and clean my brushes. I have a ritual for washing my brushes too. It's kind of odd and obsessive, actually. I wash each brush exactly 3 times. I then lay them out to dry, and I always let them dry at least 24 hours. I do this every time, I don't know why. "

She continues by sharing an interesting blog called Daily Routines, one worth checking out.

"It includes descriptions of all sorts of rituals and habits of writers, artists, composers, etc. Like many artists and writers, at the end of my day I enjoy a glass of wine as I reflect upon the day's work and consider the next day's direction."

You can see more of Diane's work on her blog and a peek at her very tidy studio on Pam Farrell's Interactive Studio Blog Project.

Hand and Foot

2009-02-04T23:06:00.018-06:00

Two Lost Soles. We walked past these shoes every day from our parked car as we headed over to the Encaustic conference last June in Beverly, MA. The last day there, I took these photos.

This photo by Randall Louis Hamilton

Recently I came across an announcement about an art installation at Berry College Moon Galleries titled The Hand and Foot Show a collaborative effort by artists Randall Louis Hamilton (The One Shoe Diaries) and Linda Bill Shirley (FOUND GLOVES.) Both artists are from Pensacola. Made me think of the lost soles we walked across every morning heading to the first meeting of the day at the Encaustic conference last summer in Beverly, MA.
Taking to the road after hurricane Ivan hit Pensacola and demolished his house, Randall began to notice random shoes along side the road. With an artist's eye and sensibility, he began to photograph these finds creating a collection just for fun.

Some of Linda's gloves. Picture from the The Hand and Foot Show official web site.

Linda Bill Shirley says " I probably picked up my first glove sometime in the late 1980s. As an artist, for many years 'found objects' had intrigued me and I often incorporated them into my artwork. However, I continued to see random discarded gloves..."

What I like about this project, The Hand and Foot Show, isn't so much the display even though that must be very interesting. (I didn't see it.) It is the simple idea of just finding something interesting and saving it, keeping it, collecting, marking it---a souvenir, a memory marker. An unintentional witness. Evidence. The collection expands and becomes more than than a sum of its parts. It is another thing altogether.

Click here to see the CNN interview video.

Interactive Blogpost-Collections, Rituals, Time: Eleanor Caldwell

2008-12-23T10:26:00.024-06:00

Collections, Rituals - Time
Eleanor Caldwell is an artist living in the UK. She studied fine art at Loughborough and received her Master's degree in Book Arts at Camberwell Art College in the UK. I have never met Elanor but have been reading her blog for a while - A Good idea on paper . I would love to see her work first hand, having only seen images on-line. I find it intriguingly subtle and thoughtful. She is the first responder to this interactive posts. Thank you, Eleanor.

Below are pages from one of her book Encore made of drawings on Japanese tissue paper.

She says,
"I use the book to create sequences that allude to visual narratives through space or time, or both. ‘Reading’ a book is a process of waiting. Waiting for something to change, for something to happen, for some kind of conclusion. This never happens in my books. The book’s structure and inherent tactility has become an essential element of my work. Each page of a book suppresses the view of the next and previous page, the length of the book deciphers the length of the wait, and the paper itself has a memory."
(excerpt from Eleanor's statement)

Images: pages from Eleanor's sewn Inkjet Book. (sewn Inkjet images on Japanese paper)

I also want to thank artist and blogger Pam Farrell for her ISBP postings (among her other interesting posts) who gave me the idea for the interactive post. She is not the only blogger who does interactive posting but one that I read often and whose work I admire as well. Another artist and blogger, Joanne Mattera, offers interactive posts from time to time as well.

Rituals, Collections and Time

2008-11-11T11:04:00.082-06:00

Above: Work by Jill Sylvia (Image from Bob Calloway 's Blog Art Fever)

Recently, I had an idea for a blog post about other artists whose work is somehow connected with a repeated activity or image and is also related to my idea of rituals and collections, however slight. Amy Stillman and Jill Sylvia are two artists whose works touch on these themes.

Coincidentally, the exhibition Thrive popped on the scene last weekend and after looking over that exhibition I decided to expand the discussion here to the broader theme --- "notions of time."

Thrive is curated by Mary Ross Taylor and is currently on view at Diverse Works Art Space through December 20th. It was held in conjunction with a conference presented by The University of Houston Women's Studies Program, Gender, Creativity and the New Longevity, that took place November 13-18---last weekend. Below is a listing of the participating artists and the short description about the conference and exhibiton taken from Diverse Works web site. Clicking on the highlighted names will take you to the artist's web site. Clicking on Kathy Hall will take you to Mary Ross Taylor's short YouTube video about Taylor's work in Thrive.

Notions of time play through the work of 16 notable artists from Houston in Thrive, an exhibition organized in conjunction with a conference at University of Houston: "Gender, Creativity and the New Longevity." The exhibit and accompanying programs are a co-presentation of Diverse Works and Women's Studies program at University of Houston. Artists include Elia Arce, Laura Bennett, Ellen Berman, Suzanne Bloom, Joanne Brigham, Kathy Hall, Roberta Harris, Rachel Hecker, Mary Jenewein, Lauren Kelley, Charles Mary Kubricht, Lynn Randolph, Debra Rueb, Toby Topek, Kelli Vance and Dee Wolff.
(from Diverse Works web site)

Charles Mary Kubricht is the only artist from Thirve that I will discuss here. Both Amy Stillman and Jill Sylvia were found on the internet.

This photograph is one in a series of works by Charles Mary Kubricht. Her work in Thrive was a series of black and white photographs of Mt. Livermore gridded on one wall. Each photo documented a particular plant, a distant view, or some other object/artifact found at the site.
She speaks about the mountain's location in relation to Mexico and how it is being used today as a border crossing and as a route for drug smugglers. However, the mountain has also been designated a "sky island" by the Nature Conservancy.

Amy Stillman "investigates concepts of time, memory and our interaction with nature." She is interested in the "everyday, often meaningless or overlooked objects and fleeting moments of experience, and the ways in which they are collected, preserved, and remembered." (Taken from her statement.) This is one in the series "Daily Painting" of pieces of the sky.

Daily Paintings (detail): September 2006
2006
acrylic and gouache on paper on panels
26” x 25” x 3/4"

‘August’ Garden-in July
2001/2004
photograph of garden installation
8" x 12" on 11" x 14" paper
In this installation, Stillman documents the garden at different stages of growth and deterioration.

Both Stillman and Kubricht draw our attention to things in our surroundings we often take for granted. Both use the grid format as an organizational strategy. Stillman's in Daily Paintings is suggestive of calendars. Kubricht's work seems to be concerned with the convergence of historical moments technological stages and political agendas at Mt. Livermore.

I am particularly drawn to the work of Jill Sylvia, below. Monotony comes to mind as I visualize her cutting page after page the little rectangles from the ledger page but perhaps meditation is how she sees it.

Jill Sylvia
detail, Untitled (Book 2)
Hand Cut Ledger Paper
11 x 17 x 2, 2005

Jill Sylvia
Hand Cut Ledger Paper & Matte Board
Dimensions Variable, 2007
As you can see from the few images I have posted here, ledger books are transformed into sometimes "ghost pages", sometimes three dimensional structures. Organizational strategies, time management, loss of time seem part of her concerns.

Here is where you come in. I am interested in finding other artists whose work is related to any of these issues. If your work is concerned with "notions of time", with rituals or collections in in any way, feel free to share your work by sending me a Jpeg image or two of your work (identified with title, size and medium) along with a short statement that I can post and I will share it on this blog. Include your url address for you web site or blog and I will post that too.
(Send in an E-mail marked Interactive blog response to gplunkett@rocketspeed.net)

Below are links to more of Mary Ross Taylor talking about Thrive.
Mary Ross Taylor
Mary Ross Taylor

Hidden Rhyme - Kay Ryan on Charlie Rose

2008-11-07T20:20:00.024-06:00

A conversation with Kay Ryan, U.S. Poet Laureate and James Billington, Librarian of Congress

About her work, J. D. McClatchy has said: "Her poems are compact, exhilarating, strange affairs, like Erik Satie miniatures or Joseph Cornell boxes."

Poet Laureate Kay Ryan and James Billington were on Charlie Rose last evening. If you didn't catch it and have the time now, click on the link for the YouTube recording. Kay Ryan reads some of her verses. So does Charlie. She does a better job.

I don't often read poetry but I often use the analogy of the brevity of poetry to some of my painted abstractions. Sometimes I refer to my paintings as non-narrative narratives but I think they are related more to short verse than narrative.

Dr. Billington uses words like wit and humor, brevity, depth, and hidden rhyme when describing Ryan's verses. She uses the analogy of condensed powdered soup.

I like that.
Condensed soup!

I will read her poetry.

Two Exhibitions and the Gift of Time

2008-10-12T12:07:00.032-05:00

Song Birds and the Birds of Humility, Monotype
Artist: Rick Bartow

There is never enough time to get around to all the galleries hosting artist receptions on any given evening in Houston unless you plan to spend much of your time in your car driving (fast) from place to place and with little time to spare for looking at the art. Choices have to be made up front. Last evening Lydia and I made good choices.

At Nau-haus Art Space, an extension of Texas collaborative Arts in the Heights on 11th, we met Rick Bartow, an artist and musician and were gifted time; time to share his vision and time to listen to his song. In his brief but eloquent gallery talk, time was the subject. Not himself, not his monotypes or drawings, nor his music. He thanked us for gifting him our time we spent with him and his work, listening to his music. In return, he gave us his time by sharing his images, his vision, his song. Time, he said, is the most important thing we have. We need to stop thinking our time away. Put our time to good use and do.

Rick Bartow is part Irish, part Native American. His "tribal affiliation and heritage is Wiyot of Northern California." Transformation and mythology are integral to his life and much of his work.

This exhibition featured mostly works on paper including large strong colored mixed media drawings on handmade papers, monotypes --- a portfolio of some that were made in collaboration with TCA studio, as well as a few small paintings on panel.

I felt, looking at the images, that these were strong responses to private and/or shared events full of personal iconography---iconography that threads through this body of work.

Though not derivative of them, two artists came to mind when I walked into the gallery. Frances Bacon and Nathan Oliveira. In conversation with the artist, he did mention Bacon. But the images presented are Bartow's own personal statements.
For me, it is the way he blurs out parts of images, the way he layers one image on top of another, and the way he is so creatively moves back and forth between the positive and negative spaces that creates the connections for me. Having said that, they remain part of Bartow's voice and not Bacon's or Oliveira's. These "visual devices" seem appropriate and useful to him in describing transformation and myth.

Rick Bartow, For Ireland, Mixed Media on paper

Rick Bartow, Wind Over Cantebury, Acrylic Painting on panel

The opening reception for this exhibition was held on October 3rd. This evening was a private champagne reception celebrating the artist and set aside for his talk. As an added gift, Mr. Bartow along with artists/musicians Ed Wilson and Bob Russsel presented us with an informal and personal musical treat. Old Lead Belly tunes and some of Bartow's own were on the play list and the listening was as enjoyable as the viewing.
Thanks to Dan Allison and Nau-haus Gallery for this experience. Runs through October 26.
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Our next and only other stop was to visit M Squared Gallery on 19th in the Heights. "Conspire" is the exhibition on view there, a collaborative exhibition of works by artists Ray Phillips and Michael Arcieri.

The exhibition included works by the individual artists in the back part of the gallery and their collaborative works in the front part of the gallery.
As you can see in the images below, many of Michael Arcieri's paintings are very realistic--- these in particular influenced by the Dutch Still Life tradition.

The work of Ray Phillips ranges from quietly abstract like the one below to much busier compositions like Edit. Some of his work is very similar to what is presented in this collaboration.

above: Edit, by Ray Phillips

Paintings below are part of the "Conspire" collaboration. In many, that old phrase
"Something old, something new" comes to mind with layered images from the present along with familiar imagery from the past. Text and pattern play an integral part in these collage-like paintings as well.
For instance one painting (sadly not pictured here,) a diptych, the image is a still life. A bowl of apples is on one side and a bowl of oranges on the other. (I am thinking Michael Acieri's hand in this part but there is much more that fruit.) On top of these realistically rendered still life paintings are other things, among these, diagrams or schematic drawings floating around. Then the text. The text (Italian and painted on backwards) is layered over the lower part of the whole painting. Apples and Oranges it says.

Rukus, Collaborating artists Ray Phillips and Michael Arcieri, mixed media

I have seen collaborations before but usually in the form of diptychs. In these, the two artists took turns it seems, painting on the same canvas. Interesting concept. Interesting work.

This exhibition runs through October 26.

Going Pink

2008-10-04T11:57:00.005-05:00

Offered by Selene M. Bowlby

Without Words - Paper Artworks by Kyoko Ibe

2008-09-07T10:02:00.020-05:00

I often find it difficult to come up with the right words in a statement about my work that really gets to the sensibility of the visual image. As John Tallman said in his July 10th post on Color Chunks, musicians are not asked to paint a picture to go along with the musical composition...nor writers, or poets. But for visual artists today, it seems essential, required.

Below is Kyoko Ibe whose exhibition, The World of Yugen: Japanese Paper Artworks, is on display at Krannert Art Museum located at University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign through Jan. 4, 2009. "The Japanese concept 'yugen' is used to describe the profound, the remote, and the mysterious. Yugen is that which cannot be easily grasped or expressed in words, but rather revealed through spiritual strength and grace." Click on the title of the exhibition above to read more.

This concept speaks to me. Without Words!
But at Color Chunks, John Tallman offers artists an opportunity or perhaps a challenge, to write about a word not your art.
He says: "Below you’ll see a list of words in no particular order. Read over the list. If a word jumps out at you, if you feel there is a word that might relate somehow with the art you do, please write a few sentences on it(maybe a paragraph or two—more?), send it to me with a jpg of your work and I’ll post it on “Color Chunks.” (July 10th post)

As I see it, this offer is to relate a word to some part of your creative process, not use it to explain your painting. I see this as a creative opportunity to be playful with words, to make a creative "word document" that perhaps parallels your working process in some way.
I'm thinking about taking up the challenge. Artist Pam Farrell is one artist who has taken this challenge. And Joanne Mattera. Check out these and more at Color Chunks.

One of My Favorites-Louise Bourgeois-Thanks Joanne!

2008-08-31T01:28:00.013-05:00

"In the classic Mapplethorpe image of Louise Bourgeois, the artist is holding a giant plaster-and-latex penis under her arm like a brobdingnagian baguette. The irony is that if she had an actual penis, if she were Louis Bourgeois, she’d be bigger than Picasso. Bourgeois is an immense talent who has been making art for over 70 years. Her arc spans Surrealism, Modernism, Post-Minimalism, Feminism and Installation Art, and her oeuvre—essentially organic and increasingly narrative—includes work in wood, stone, metal, wax, resin, fabric and found (or chosen) objects." This is from the most recent post from Joanne Mattera's blog. Read the rest along with great images at Joanne's blog. I just wish I were in New York to see the exhibition.

I do love Louise Bourgeios's work and mind. It isn't just her ability to continue to work into late age that impresses me so. It is the strength of the work in her late years that is so amazing.

I am not sure Louise Bourgeios thinks of herself as a feminist as the rest of us do but she sure sets a good example of how to do it.

How appropriate to have this post snuggled right next to Joanne's sidebar post "OXYMORON OF THE DAY: . . . . . ANTI-CHOICE FEMINIST", her reaction to John McCain's VP pick. I love it!

Summer Exhibitions in Texas

2008-07-30T23:06:00.048-05:00

I didn't get pictures Saturday night at the events in the Heights...White Linen Night Heights
Most shops and galleries were open and lots of people were enjoying the night out in spite of the heat and humidity, and some...yes....dressed in their whites. Read more about it here. We arrived late and didn't linger but did visit galleries on 11th....G Gallery, Red Bud Gallery, and The Texas Collaborative plus we stopped by Koelsch Gallery on Yale before we gave in and went to dinner.

At G Gallery artist Todd Allison was showing work and at Naü-haus Gallery artist Lydia Balahutrak had two paintings in that group exhibition (that gallery's one year anniversary.) We had a yummy frozen mojito at Koelsch but didn't stick around to listen to the band.

Earlier in the day some friends and I had driven to Galveston to visit the exhibition at Buchanan Gallery and lunch. (See Below)

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C. Ellen Hart and Sandra York - Two Solo Exhibitions at Buchanan Gallery
220 26th St., Galveston Island, Texas Exhibition continues through August 16, 2008

C. Ellen Hart , L.Shadow Study #62 (ShootingStar) 30"x 24"; R. Seafarer 30"x 24" both oil on canvas

C.Ellen Hart, Botany Bay, 54"x72, oil on canvas

C. Ellen Hart, Sea Shadow#106, 30" x 24" oil on canvas

Sandra York, from left to right: Sea Glass (30"x24"), Meditation (24"x24"), Chinati Marfa (24"x24"), Saint of the Animals (24"x30") all oil on canvas.

Sandra York, Ama de Casa, 45"x 76.5", oil on canvas

Sandra York, Meditation, 24"sq, oil on canvas
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Craighead-Green New Texas Talent Dallas
Juror: Julie Kronick, Corporate Art Curator for Neiman Marcus
Exhibition runs through August 30th

The recepetion for this event was Saturday, July 26th. It was hot, hot, hot, in Dallas but the art patrons were not deterred. Unlike Houston where the humidity equals the temperature sometimes, it was relatively dry and speaking from that perspective, not so unbearable.
Most of the artists selected had two or three images presented.
Below are some of the paintings in the New Texas Talent at Craighead-Green Gallery that impressed me.

Mel Hombre, Sea of Cortez series, acrylic on paper.

Roma Misra, ....shifting...., Mixed Media on canvas, 36" x 48"

Janet Wayte, works on paper

Lee Ken Tan, Rorschach Humor No. 1, China ink on rice paper, 40" x 78"

Shelly Porter, The Smallest thing Will Not Be Forgotten, watercolor on paper, 27" x 24.5"

These three pieces very coated with a smooth glossy resin. Very nice. Apologies to the artist for no name or title.

Donna Perkins-Graphite on paper, Detritus Aggressor, Detritus Aquatic, Detritus Amuse, 14"x 11" each

Nathaniel Glaspie, Aspen Lane, Ink on Wood and Plexi, 20" x 30"

Julia Kiovumaa, Diptych, Encaustic on panel

Gwendolyn Plunkett, L. Garden/Red; R.Garden/Intruder; both oil on canvas, 36"x 36"

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Red, White and Blue at Darke Gallery July and August
It was a hot and humid night in Houston but the band played on. Unfortunately, not long enough for me to get pictures. I only got shots of the band as they were leaving. (My camera came late!) It was a well attended event and the band was great!

L. Linda Darke Swaynos (wax and oil on canvas) & R. Julia Koivumaa (Encaustic on panel)

Gwendolyn Plunkett: Ritual Series, Encaustic Collage, 12" x 12" all

Detail : Joseph Cohen, Proposition 22

L. Joseph Cohen, Proposition 22 R. Linda Darke Swaynos

Congratulations Are In Order

2008-07-05T00:33:00.006-05:00

The images below were painted by artist John Schiro formerly from Houston. The two gallery shots are part of his thesis exhibition that took place earlier this year at Rutgers in New Jersey. I don't have titles or sizes. You can get a sense of the size in the gallery shots. This post is a personal congratulation to him on his completion of his graduate work there. It is also a nod to his conversation with color. While his work would not be considered geometric it certainly participates in the dialog about color that is an on-going part of Joanne Mattera's conversation with color in her own paintings as well as on her blog.

Montserrat Report - Encaustic Conference

2008-06-13T12:31:00.049-05:00

The 2nd Encaustic Conference has come and gone. It was as good this year as last....maybe better. Right off the bat, with Kay WalkingStick the keynote speaker on Friday night, the tone was set for more conversation about the message our work sends. She is a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and has been an active part of the renaissance of NativeAmerican fine art in the United States. It was truly a pleasure to hear her speak about her work.

There was plenty of art to be seen at Montserrat this year. "Hue Again", Joanne Mattera's exhibition was displayed in the Schlosberg Alumni Gallery on the first floor of the school.

On the second floor hallway was the "Diptych Project", an exhibition of work by artists from both the International Encaustic Artist (IEA) and New England Wax (NEW) groups.

In the Montserrat Gallery you could see the exhibition "Therefore & Because: Decoding Norman Laliberté"

The 301 Gallery again housed this years juried exhibition "On the Edge" juried by Laura Moriarity. These are just a few of the images that I loved in this exhibition. There were others. These two paintings on paper are by Russell Thurston.

Work by Cari Hernandez.

Paintings by Paula Roland.

The flowers planted around Salem and Beverly were as beautiful this year as last. I particularly loved the Peonies and Rhododendrons. Deanna Wood and Kate Miller and I took a break on Monday for a visit to Rockport where this picture was taken. Little gardens in front almost every shop were filled with all kinds of flowering plants. I had fried clams for lunch there and they were wonderful! We drove over to Rockport to see "Waxing Well: Encaustic Painting", an exhibition of work by artist's Lynda Cole, Chris McCauley and Mari Marks Fleming but the gallery was closed. Still, it was a nice respite from the bustle of the conference.

Below are pictures from the two after conference workshops I attended. Tuesday was Critical Feedback with Joanne Mattera and Shawn Hill. It was an intensive day with every one there eager to get critical dialog about their work. The criticism was constructive and considered and well worth our time. I only got images after it was all over when we were all packing up to leave for the day. Below is Karen Freedman packing up her painting. Karen had work in the "On the Edge" exhibition.

This is Nancy Natale packing up.

Below is George Mason who instructed the workshop "Painting with Stencils" that I attended on Wednesday.
There is much more commentary to follow, mostly about the conference sessions that I attended. These will be posted later on the texaswaxhouston blog.

Hunting Art Prize Rehash

2008-05-25T10:22:00.018-05:00

Apologies for such a bad photo but it is the only one I shot of the "atlas" figure mentioned in the article "Unintentional Surrealism at the Hunting Art Prize Gala." I thought you could at least get a glimpse of the "surrealistic atmosphere" mentioned.

Unlike arriving guests, artists were instructed to park on the top level of the parking garage and enter through a back door so I wasn't privy to the "tooting horns" welcome described in this article. I did, however, hear and see some commotion down street-side as we artists posed for our group photo (see below) on the front steps.

Hunting Art Prize gala handed their car keys off to embarrassed-looking valets sporting red and green "artist" berets. As they stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the Decorative Center, a guy in a Roman soldier-style miniskirt blew a horn, while the toga-clad guy next to him unrolled a "scroll" and read aloud:

"Friends, Patrons, Countrymen, lend me your ears...come I to welcome you to the Hunting Art Prize by order of Caesar Pontius Maximus." (from Houston Press)

Other "events" I didn't see, probably because I was standing near my work....("In addition to being coached on their wardrobe, artists were asked to stand next to their work to "to sell themselves and their artwork") was the toga-clad woman who was painted white nor the artist Anthony Butkovich "painting abstracted portraits of a model reclining on a chaise lounge in an evening gown and feather boa."

All that aside and back to some points brought up the article challenging the honor's prestige regarding the methods & procedures used for selecting the finalists.
The official call states "established artists, talented newcomers, and promising amateurs" are invited to submit. It seems to me that the here-in lies the problem with some of the above criticism. My question is do all art competitions need to follow the same footprint to maintain validity and prestige? How is the purpose of this particular award different from other "large money" awards given around the world?
I agree with Rainey Knudson of Glasstire, that at this point in time the Hunting Art Prize honor isn't quite as lofty as say, the Hugo Boss Guggenheim prize Turner Prize that offer approximately the same about of money. Those prizes bring more prestige and career opportunities to the awardee. But I am not sure I agree with all her suggestions for improving the prize. Maybe "getting rid of the "absurd" single image selection process" would help. Limiting the finalists to ten or so artists," maybe, but then this prize becomes just like all the others. Yes, I agree that "[treating] the artists as you would be treated" would be a step up but don't know how that affects the "prestige" of the honor.

My complaint is that only invited guests could see the work and only during that evening. The exbhibition was up for only that night's reception. Artists whose work didn't sell could take their work home with them that night or pick it up later in the week from a designated place away from the exhibition location.

There was no opportunity for the general public and other potential patrons or collectors to see the work presented.

An extended exhibition time would allow more exposure for the artists and thus provide finalist and winner alike more beneficial career opportunities.

Even so, the evening was "gala, the food was delicious, the flowers were quite wonderful
and I have line on my resume--- Hunting Art Prize Finalist! (Hmm...I'd rather the fifty grand and a line declaring "Hunting Art Prize Winner.")

More photos of the gala evening plus the finalist images can be seen by clicking "photos" and "finalist images."

Artist Wendy Wagner 2008 Winner of Hunting Art Prize

2008-05-05T09:53:00.018-05:00

Wendy Wagner Takes Home the Hunting Prize

Every year, a Texas artist receives the Hunting Prize, a cash award in “the boner-inducing amount of $50,000” (as the inimitable Buffalo Sean puts it on his blog). The results are in – this year’s (read more from Houston Press article)

It was a gale evening. Lots of folks looking at the art, eating the good food and enjoying themselves in general. Only one prize amongst 129 artists but it was still an honor to have been a part of that group. Congratulations to Wendy. Todd Allison's painting was next to mine. Here is his below, Threading the Frontier.

Below is my work Garden/Together Again.

Powdered Graphite and Fairy Rings

2008-04-27T22:57:00.020-05:00

Since I was ambushed this weekend by some kind of flu bug and didn't get out to I C Art's open studio tour, I did a bit of on-line gallery hopping instead. My last discussion of media brought to mind the mixed media work by New Jersey artist Pam Farrell.
I visit her blog frequently, enjoy her comments and love her work.

You will find this piece on her blog along with several others in which she has used powdered graphite and oil paint. Surprisingly, considering the graphite seems to have all but blocked out most traces of color, the tactile surfaces remain quite luminous.

Below an installation piece by artist Julia Latane from her Fairy Ring Series.
A few years back I ran across some photos of Tube Worms in a National Geographic and wanted to do some kind of work in response to those creatures. Never did it....but she did. You must check out her web site gallery to see what other interesting things she has created. Vinyl and felt, along with much other stuff comprises the media list for this artist. I don't think these pieces actually move like the tube worms sway with the flow of the water, but this photo sure makes one thinks otherwise.

Mixed Media, Mixed Blessing: A Visit with Lydia

2008-04-22T18:26:00.032-05:00

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the studio of artist and friend Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak here in Houston. In the recent past when I first moved back to Houston, we were studio neighbor's at Summer-White Studios, an entity that no longer exists due to the rapid "renovation" of older neighborhoods here in this town. Sold, torn down, new structure...BaBing!! New condos! But that is a story for another time.Lydia and her husband did some renovating of their own with their old garage in back of their house. Tore down and rebuilt into a two story wonderful space both up and down. Up is her studio and down is his shop and garage.

In this corner you can see some of the new "mixed media" pieces she has going. Besides me oooing and ahhhing over her great space and the amount of new work she has under way, (and I did plenty of that!) and just having a good visit between friends, (which we did,) we were also getting together to talk about the use of Encaustics with other media in paintings, specifically her paintings. And while our conversation did not include exactly the topic that Deanna broached in her most recent blog entry, (Different Media,) our conversation about Lydia's work, her media and her shift in content from her previous series clearly relates to this issue of being labeled as "a this or that" kind of artist.

Using Lydia as example:
Lydia is primarily a painter. She also makes three dimensional pieces from time to time. She work in oils....sometimes. She works in mixed media....much of the time. Her concern is the stability of the particular media being mixed.
Wax is a medium that Lydia enjoys because it is organic and looks organic. It has a natural translucency that is much different that the translucency produced with oil or acrylic glazes and she was hoping to use Encaustic with these new pieces.
She has used wax in previous paintings and those are holding up well.
So, our conversation revolved around the issue of stability and the specificity of materials that could best be used to get the translucency she desired. If not wax, then what?
My point: Most artists come to a particular medium because of its compatibility with their idea or must eliminate a particular medium because of incompatibility with the substrate or other media used.
I remember Louise Bourgeois speaking to that issue in a film about her and her work. Regarded primarily as a sculptor, Bourgeois makes things in a variety of media....marble, clay, wood, assemblage, bronze, etc. When asked why one piece was in marble and another in bronze, her response was that the form an idea takes often dictates a particular medium, or eliminates media when issues of fragility come into play.

Well, Lydia is not labeled an "encaustic artist" even though she uses wax in some of her paintings. I think most people including her galleries think of her as a painter, even though some of her work is dimensional. I consider her a artist who works is a variety of media. She works through an idea using whatever medium helps to make her statement. When I think of Lydia's work, what comes first comes to mind are strong personal responses related to issues of identity, spirituality, social, and political situations. Not medium!
I agree with both Joanne Mattera and Deanna Wood regarding labeling ourselves so specifically as something to avoid. I see artists using the term "combined media" as well as "mixed media" in reference to descriptions of particular works. Maybe "various media" is more accurate a description for us artists whose visual vocabulary is not limited to one medium.
I am an artist who works in various media; sometimes wax?

I do know that some galleries try to cover all bases...or media. I was told once by a gallery they already had an artist who worked on paper so they weren't interested in my works on paper. Just the paintings on canvas or wood.

Pam Knox and Karen Smith at Darke

2008-04-14T11:35:00.009-05:00

The images below are from Karen Smith's exhibition at Darke Gallery located at 5321 Feagan and Detering in the New Military area of Houston. "Joe" is the name of her exhibition....and "Joe" is the character who takes stage in all Karen's paintings with his or her many configurations and multiples .
Except that Joe is really just the name for the iconic type character populating Karen's images. Sometime Joe is female, other times, Joe is male. Sometimes there are three Joes and sometimes there are eight.
One liners of sorts, these 10" x 10" acrylic paintings are fun. Together in this grouping one thinks of running narrative but "Joe"doesn't speak that way here. Each image is more its own entity and not related speifically to the story in the images to its right or left....well, except it is "Joe" having all the fun. You gotta see!

Karen with some of the guests at the Saturday reception....a cup of "Joe."

Below are works some of the paintings by artist Pam Knox also at Darke Gallery. She works acrylic and mixed media in both her paintings and three dimentional pieces.

Left: Codes, 40" x 30", Center: 0, 60" x 48" and Right: 28, 40" x 30".

L. The title is 28 and is 40" x 30"....and one of my favorites. The pedestal pieces
are titled 776. They remind me of sentinels standing guard. I like these too. Sizes of the pedestals are 48" x 5" 12" , 72" x 6" x 6", and 65" x 8" x 8".
This exhibition runs through April.

Conference Post, Late But Not Forgotten

2008-04-05T09:00:00.044-05:00

Late to report (life happens) but here it is.
In Dallas this year, the conference, as usual, was crammed with interesting on-site and off-site programs and presentations that made it difficult to choose just which session or what program to attend.
Highlights for me were he retrospective of J.M.W. Turner was at the Dallas Museum of Art. Wonderful! And by-the-way, this exhibition is up through May 18.
I was particularly pleased to see sessions by artists working in wax...Divas and Iron Chefs, in particular, was a great panel and session. Divas and Iron Chefs is the title of a traveling exhibition of work from artists who range in age, gender and age; who hail from different parts of the United States and whose work presents a variety of messages. The tie that binds is that all the work in this exhibition is made with wax in some way. They began with a gallery talk at their exhibition at The MAC (McKinney Avenue Contemporary) on Wednesday evening.
All artists were in attendance though some came running in just in the nick of time because of flight delays. The MAC, by-the-way, is a great space in Dallas
Divas and Iron Chefs panel session at the conference hotel on Thursday afternoon, included all exhibiting artists as well as Joanne Mattera, (artist, instructor, curator, author) whose topic was Contemporary Encaustic Painting and Richard Frumess, owner and co-founder of RFPaints, whose topic was Encaustic Painters in Ancient Times.
On Friday morning some of the artists held a hands-on workshop at an off-site campus.

This announcement is from Pegasus News:
Curated by Reni Gower of Virginia Commonwealth University, the exhibit features contemporary encaustic paintings from eight artists representing Canada and the Midwest, Southeast and Northeast regions of the United States. Made from pigment, melted beeswax and resin, encaustic paint is fixed with heat after it is applied to the canvas. While an ancient technique, the exhibition highlights the diversity of hot-wax painting, produced in a detailed, sensuous style with exquisite beauty. Once an obsolete technique, encaustic (hot wax) is now recognized both for its exquisite beauty and incredible versatility. The featured artists include Kristy Deetz, Peter Dykhuis, Lorraine Glessner, Cheryl Goldsleger, Reni Gower, Heather Harvey, Jeffrey Hirst and Timothy McDowell are among those who helped turn this legendary paint of the Fayum mummy portraits into a mainstream contemporary medium.

Another personal highlight was the collaborative exhibition of the two newly formed Texas WAX groups in Houston and Dallas. The opening reception was Friday night at Collaborating Artists Media Projects...CAMP. It was exciting for me to finally meet the artists in the Dallas group and see their work in person. See images at TexasWAX/Houston site.
A big THANKS to CAMP for hosting our exhibition and to Deanna Wood, founder of TexasWAX/Dallas and that whole group who did all the ground work for this project.

Heading to Dallas

2008-02-16T19:16:00.008-06:00

Next week promises to be busy with the CAA Conference taking up most of the week. I look forward to all the professional stimulation but mostly to visiting with friends I haven't seen in a while and to making new ones.
Our TexasWAX/Houson-Dallas exhibition coincides with the conference. The reception is Friday night, the 22nd, from 6-8 p.m. I am excited about meeting the artists in the Dallas group who did all the ground work for this exhibition. Congratulations to them all and many thanks from us here in Houston for all their efforts.

Other news to report is that I have been chosen as one of the finalist for The Hunting Art Prize, the winner of which will be announced May 3, 2008 in Houston. I don't know at this time the number of finalists in this year's group but last time there were 104 finalists chosen. Competition is steep and I am honored to be one of the artists selected this year.

Darke Gallery Features Houston Artists Micah Simmons, Tra Slaughter, Van McFarland

2008-01-13T13:27:00.000-06:00

Above: works by Tra Slaughter
Above: works by Micah Simmons
Above: works by Van McFarland
January is the month to see paintings by three talented young artists, Van McFarland, Micah Simmons, and Tra Slaughter at Darke Gallery, a new exhibition space located in the area of Houston known as both the West End and newly renamed, Rice Military. The two galleries on the upper level are brimming with their bold abstractions. Below in the office/storage gallery you will find works by other gallery artists.
The gallery space itself is in one of Houston's "metal" buildings you see dotted around town, expecially in this neighborhood. Linda Swaynos and her husband, Don Swaynos recently bought this space along with the adjoining house where they reside. The gallery itself ---described as an "intimate space" in an article in New Doors--- is a 1400 square foot two level space with maple floors and vaulted ceilings, very contemporary, open, and bright.

Houston enjoys a thriving artist community. Studio spaces like Mother/Dog Studios, Diverse Works, and Winter Street Studios are available for rent or lease to artists who don't have spaces at their homes. My personal opinion is that while Houston is a good community for artists with spaces to work, they vast majority are under-represented. Linda, herself an accomplished artist, until her move to this present location, was part of the artist community at Winter Street Studios. Part of Linda's mission for this gallery, according to New Doors article, is to represent some of the underknown talents in the Houston area.
I wish her well. It is a great space. Check it out!

New Year's This and Thats

2008-01-04T00:33:00.005-06:00

Resolutions list finished, goals set, reservations made and the new year has begun. If I keep all my promises, I will be a busy girl.
First things first...new grandchild is due this month and I will catch the plane on the 15th and hope I get to California before He/She ? arrives. Due date: Jan.24. My daughter's first child.
CAA in Dallas comes near the end of February and I plan to attend. And then there's the Encaustic Conference in June up in Beverly, MA. Is there time in-between to get work done in the studio? There better be!
In between travel time and studio time I blog now, and this has added a new dimension to my in-house time.
I am not so patient to spend hours reading on the computer....too long winded and I'm out of there...but some blogs have caught my fancy. The ones I enjoy the most are those that are informative, witty, not too personal and have good pictures.
So far, my favorite is Joanne Mattera's blog. Exhibition reviews-informative, witty comments, good pictures, not too personal. Great! From there, Joanne has a long list of pretty interesting links on her site. I check them out occasionally.
The Forum at RF Paints, is also a good place to visit, with all kinds of good information. Besides, you can shop there too!
When I'm bored or can't sleep, I check out the artists' newly listed web sites. Beats solitaire!
But sometimes I publish a new post on my blog.
Happy New Year 2008!

See: Fair Factor: Report from Miami at Joanne Mattera's Blog

2007-12-14T01:03:00.000-06:00

Louise Bourgeois bronze sculpture and Joan Mitchell painting at Cheim & Read, New York
http://joannemattera/blogspot.com

Studio Shots - Encaustics Mostly

2007-12-07T23:18:00.000-06:00

Mapping Series Encaustic and collage

Ritual Series on Right
Lg framed piece-encaustic monotype

Another small piece...

2007-11-30T20:28:00.001-06:00

Encaustic on braced birch plywood.
7" x 6"

Not a Drawing!

2007-11-28T17:30:00.001-06:00

A small encaustic piece.....

Drawing for Day Nov. 21

2007-11-21T00:21:00.000-06:00

Drawing for the Day Nov. 20

2007-11-21T00:08:00.001-06:00

Dark Mood...Drawing for the Day

2007-11-19T19:06:00.001-06:00

Art and Elitism

2007-11-17T11:15:00.000-06:00

Check out this very interesting discussion regarding art, elitism, & pattern recognition
at Britannica Blog posted Nov. 14. Comments are invited at that site.
As I read through the article I was reminded of several instances in my experiences with art when these same issues confronted my own previously established values and pattern recognition.

Regarding the value of art by women and "the female" voice, Mary Kelly suggested that because the established pattern recognition has for so long reflected a male or masculine voice, and since all of us, men and women, were trained in that set pattern, we women artists have no set patterns established that allow for difference. When we speak...visually...we are more likely to use the already established patterns and not even be aware. We may say different things but will still use the same patterns.

Several years ago I visited an art museum in France featuring only Impressionist art, some by American artists. I hadn't seen any of those artists works before and was impressed. However, my feeling was that I could see how Monet's work stood far and above those pieces. And then I began to question: Was my judgement biased because of established pattern recognition? Or flawed by my familiarity with Monet's work and his established reputation as a master codified by the system?

I say to my students when they are horrified by very abstract work that when they learn more about art and see more art they will likely come to understand the abstract and maybe even love it.

An interesting situation.

Please enter the discussion. Post comments here or at Britannica's Blog.

Houston Encaustic Artists Forming Houston Chapter of International Encaustic Artists

2007-11-14T20:30:00.000-06:00

If you are an artist who lives in or near Houston and you use molten wax in your work, this may be for you. Several of us like-minded waxy artists have decided to form an association and link ourselves with the International Encaustic Artists on the West Coast. We have scheduled our first meeting for December 1st at 2 pm. If you have the urge to become a part of the waxy organization, or just want to find out more about it and us, please contact Gwen Plunkett at gplunkett@billburg.com. If you want to speak on the phone, leave a number where you can be reached.
We are interested in extending and sharing our knowledge of the medium, providing opportunities for exhibitions, workshops and retreats, and to further educate the viewers about this ancient medium. gplunkett@rocketspeed.net

Don't Know but Wanna Learn!
If you are an artist who doesn't work in wax but wants to, CyFair College (North Harris County)holds an Encaustic Painting class in the spring and fall of each year. It is offered through Continuing Education. Robert McGehee is the founder and instructor of that workshop. To find out more about that workshop, see the NHMCCD CyFair College web site and look for Continuing Ed courses listed for Spring. www.nhmccd.edu
End

Encaustic Workshop, Living with Art

2007-11-11T22:37:00.001-06:00

Last Friday Nov. 2nd, I held an encaustic demonstration at Houston Community College Southwest as part of the Living with Art Series Cynthia Millis organized for this year. Artist faculty have been invited to hold talks or workshops sharing information that doesn't get addressed in our classes. I teach studio classes like painting, drawing and design but rarely have the opportunity to share with my students media that I use other than
what they use in class. This was
scheduled as a
drop-in type session and rather informal. I wanted the attendees to participate in some hands-on activity. During the last hour, we all began making memorial tags for those close to us who have passed. It was a fitting activity for November the second. Everyone attached their tags to a piece I have. It is an on-going and collaborative work that will be exhibited next semester with other works that were made during the Living with Art workshops.
For those who don't know, encaustic medium is beeswax, pigment and tree resin. It must be melted to be used as paint.
Pictures from top to bottom and left to right: Gwen working at the heat box used in printmaking; Gwen painting; Display of works by Gwen Plunkett and Linda Walker;
Row 2: Some of the attendees; Cynthia and Gwen attaching tag on memorial piece (titled May's Wall;) an attendee dipping tag in molten wax; Gwen working the wax with hot iron.

Something Old, Something New

2007-11-11T19:00:00.000-06:00

Top two pictures: works by Grace Magnet at MSquared Gallery, Houston Heights

Houston Heights 19th Street has been one of my favorite haunts ever since I moved back to the big H. I love rumagging through the quasi antique and junk stores that line both sides of the street. Recently, besides junk and antiques, you can fine really good meals and art. The newest gallery addition is named 18 Hands Gallery representing artists who work in clay. Their enaugural reception was last evening and I stopped by. The crowd of visitors were excited and the buyers were participating as well. Folks were trying to hang on to their purchases while nibbling on the very tasty food treats and hold a glass of wine at the same time. (Top L-Gallery, R.- work by Betsy Evans. 2nd row L.- Loes Berendschot & Chris Silkwood...Mosaic, R.-Kathy Blossom)
I particularly enjoyed the work of both Betsy Evans and Loes Berendschot. (See photo) The sculptural and whimsical elements their works appealed to my senses. There was plenty of high quality work to go around from more utilitarian objects to the decorative. Congratulations to all the artists participating with 18 Hands gallery. I wish you much success.
Check out their web site www.18hands.com

Another gallery on 19th, not as new to the steet as 18 Hands is MSquared at 325 W. 19th Street run by Max Harrison. WW-3 a three women exhibit by artists Grace Magnet, Joyce Harlow and Linda Huff just came down today. I was particularly taken with Magnet's lush works on paper. I love the way she saturates the images in color while maintaing that beautiful textural quality of the handmade paper. Other elements besides color...text, abstract shapes drawn in pastel make very poetic suggestions. These works are part of Magnet's “GeSchichten” series inspired by "wisdom and poetry of The Little Prince by St. Exupery." (See statement http://www.m2-houston.com/moreinfo/ww-3web.pdf)
They very much reflect a poetic and passionate vision in my mind. Check out the MSquared web site at http://www.m2-houston.com. The next featured artist at MSquared is Earl Staley.

Another new in the old is a newly opened gallery on 11th (also Houston Heights district) ... Dan Allison has hop-scotched across the (side) street from G Gallery, Red Bud Gallery and Texas Collaborative with Red Square at 223 E. 11th Street. His enaugural exhibition features works by artists Zoanna DeLuz Maney, Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak, Heather Chase and new works from the TCA Studio. I love the old space made new again and the space is good for showing art. You can find Balahutrak's work at her web site in my links. Her work is poignant and edgy at the same time. Textural, earthy, yet strong in form. Maybe it is the grit of the dirt and charred elements played against the beautiful transluency of the wax that suggests suffering, the saintly and sacrifice. I think even unaware of her references (Chornobyl) one would still have this connection with her work. Check out Red Square Gallery information on line at http://www.texascollaborative.com/.

Hello Guthrie

2007-11-05T22:15:00.000-06:00

Guthrie Trapp is one of the musicians in Jerry Douglas's band these days. In days past, Guthrie was the young son of friends of mine in Florida. He was in my 4th grade art class...I watched him grow and become a fine blues harpist. (Even in the 4th grade he could do some harm to that hamonica!) I left town before he became the fine musician he is today but it was in the cards. We could all see it. His uncle, Jerry Trapp, was his primary music teacher but his whole family lived and breathed music. We, friends, hung out at the Trapp's on Sunday afternoons and evenings, circled around playing bluegrass. He was there playing the guitar or whatever. I heard him recently on Prarie Home Companion playing guitar & mandolin with Jerry Douglas. How time flies. How things change. I don't pick up my mandolin as much as I did then. I paint more than I pick, but I do miss those vibes. If you don't know...Jerry Douglas is probably the best Dobro musician around these days. Don't take my word, take a listen.

Second Annual Encaustic Conference June 2008

2007-10-30T02:47:00.000-05:00

Announcements are posted on Joanne Mattera's site, Linda Womack's site, IEA site and Montserrat College site. Check them out for further information.

CERF Responds to California Wildfires

2007-10-30T02:41:00.000-05:00

CERF Responds to California Wildfires

The Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) is taking action to respond to the community of craft artists affected by the Southern California Wildfires. They say:

We are reaching out to artists, arts organizations, galleries, businesses and others in the affected areas to offer assistance and to locate information about the arts community. While it is still too early to know the extent of damage, we do know that the situation is severe as news reports indicate. We also know that this area of California has a significant population of craft artists. We have already heard from a jeweler who lost both her home and studio and CERF Trustee and clay artist, Lana Wilson, had to be evacuated from her Del Mar home.

Please help us spread the word that CERF is available to offer assistance to craft artists in Southern California. Please also be aware that your support of our work during these times is essential so that we can deliver aid quickly and effectively.

I encourage all those so inclined to copy and paste this to your blogs and link to CERF at http://www.craftemergency.org.

Degrees of Definition

2007-10-28T20:23:00.000-05:00

What gets said and what gets left out is always an interesting porposition. I wonder if
Mr. Finch’s unflattering descriptions of art bloggers and art blogs really reflects more about him and less about the bloggers. Admitedly, I have lived most of my life blogless, and happily so, but recently, I find myself feeling the need. Not to blab but to listen....well...read. And I learn things. I admit to having little patience when it comes to spending hours and hours reading stuff off the computer screen. I am more apt to save a document for reading later, but I, the non-blogger, am find blogging interesting, even fun, to read about and see what is happening in other other parts of the land besides my little corner. (Joanne Mattera’s Blog, for one.) Maybe Mr. Finch is right ... bloggers write for bloggers. For instance, it was in Mattera’s blog where I was directed to his article in ARTNET and it was in Sharon Butler’s (I don't remember how I got to her, but I found her blog being knocked around in his article) where I was directed to an article in The New Republic by Jed Perl about (sadly) the recent passing of one of my long time favorite artists, R. B. Kitaj. I suppose you wouldn’t call ARTNETa blog, nor the New Republic, would you? Is he saying there is too much art criticism? or bad art criticism? Bloggers aren't smart enough or too conservative to critique, too self referential...Hmmm! Well, blogging isn’t for everyone. That’s okay. For some, it may just be public theraputic journaling. That’s okay too. In one of newsletters I receive artists are encouraged to blog...for professional reasons, it suggests. Blowing your own horn, Mr.Finch suggests. I figure one of the things artists need most is exposure. Well, their artwork needs it and maybe their ideas. Why let someone else do all the talking.
Signing off...first blog entry ever!
ancientvessel

Ancient Vessel Art Blog

Very Hot and Way Cool!

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You Are Invited II

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WHAM and Houston's 18th Annual Art Crawl

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Alan Storey-Where are you going? Where have you been?

Locating Beauty/Skin Deep at Buchanan Gallery, Galveston

Coming Up and Closing Soon

Did You See This? At Sikkema Jenkins & Co, New York

Brenda Mallory

Alan Storey-C4 Contemporary Gallery Los Angeles

Process, Time, Titles and Leonardo Drew

Paper and More

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Interactive Blogpost-Rituals/Collections-Time: Rebecca Crowell

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Hand and Foot

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Two Exhibitions and the Gift of Time

Going Pink

Without Words - Paper Artworks by Kyoko Ibe

One of My Favorites-Louise Bourgeois-Thanks Joanne!

Summer Exhibitions in Texas

Congratulations Are In Order

Montserrat Report - Encaustic Conference

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The 301 Gallery again housed this years juried exhibition "On the Edge" juried by Laura Moriarity. These are just a few of the images that I loved in this exhibition. There were others. These two paintings on paper are by Russell Thurston.

Work by Cari Hernandez.

Hunting Art Prize Rehash

Artist Wendy Wagner 2008 Winner of Hunting Art Prize

Wendy Wagner Takes Home the Hunting Prize

Powdered Graphite and Fairy Rings

Mixed Media, Mixed Blessing: A Visit with Lydia

Pam Knox and Karen Smith at Darke

Conference Post, Late But Not Forgotten

Heading to Dallas

Darke Gallery Features Houston Artists Micah Simmons, Tra Slaughter, Van McFarland

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See: Fair Factor: Report from Miami at Joanne Mattera's Blog

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Another small piece...

Not a Drawing!

Drawing for Day Nov. 21

Drawing for the Day Nov. 20

Dark Mood...Drawing for the Day

Art and Elitism

Houston Encaustic Artists Forming Houston Chapter of International Encaustic Artists

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Hello Guthrie

Second Annual Encaustic Conference June 2008

CERF Responds to California Wildfires

CERF Responds to California Wildfires

Degrees of Definition