Some Pretty Paintings; a collection of flowers and figures in paintings and prints
I buy myself flowers because they make me happy. They are colorful and fragrant, and have no purpose other than my enjoyment. As temporal sculptures, flowers mark time by dropping petals, and are to be enjoyed without procrastination. No matter how busy I am, the time to appreciate a flower is gently now.
As flowers shift my attention towards the now, so do people. Collaborating with models is a creative joy. For this series we used blankets and kimono patterned with flowers. We set up in diffused morning light, and the models moved slowly as I captured images in my camera. Photographs allow me to take more time with my paintings, and layer images to carve one moment’s form with another. The figure is now an abstract of overlapping sensual shapes, now with an element of time. As each pose shifts, and we take advantage of the light, day to day, moment to moment, no person is exactly the same.
Drypoints were printed in collaboration with Nikki Barber, printmaking instructor at the Seattle Artist League. I scribed the plates and Barber printed them. Each image sparked a discussion of line, tone, and texture, and each print is a hand worked original. Since each print is hand inked with so much personalization to the wiping of the ink, no drypoint print is exactly the same. Each print is slightly different, and with each print the burrs that cause the velvet areas compress, and for this reason the marks that differentiate drypoints from etchings also mark the end of an edition. Once the burrs are compressed, the print is finished. Drypoints are known for producing editions of only about 10 and then they’re gone.
Some Pretty Paintings; a collection of flowers and figures in paintings and prints
Show opens January 5, 2019
Show up through January 27th
Artist Talk Saturday, January 5th (3:30-4:30pm)
Opening Reception to follow (5-7pm)
One of the most exciting aspects of teaching is that I get to see what a variety of artists do with the ideas I bring. These ideas are gleaned directly from artists and artworks through history, and from artists teaching and making engaging work right now. This shared information functions as seeds for new artworks, …
Marina Abramović is a Yugoslavia-born performance artist based in New York. Her work explores the relationship between performer and audience, the limits of the body, and the possibilities of the mind. I realize not everyone admires the work of Marina Abramovic. She’s been called an attention seeker, a bullshit producer, an egoist. Dr. Lisa Levy, …
Blemmyes are mythical creatures without a head, with their facial features on their chest. Blemmyes are said to occur in two types: with eyes on the chest or with the eyes on the shoulders. Epiphagi, a variant name for the headless people of the Brisone, is sometimes used as a term referring strictly to the eyes-on-the-shoulders type. One of the creative …
These days seem to be built for introverts. Stay at home, don’t congregate in groups, avoid contact. While the rest of the world goes stir crazy, introverts quietly read a book. …Unless their family is trapped at home with them. Call for Art: 6′ of space At the end of this collection of people quietly …
Some Pretty Paintings: Figure “Z” and Artist’s Statement
Some Pretty Paintings; a collection of flowers and figures in paintings and prints
I buy myself flowers because they make me happy. They are colorful and fragrant, and have no purpose other than my enjoyment. As temporal sculptures, flowers mark time by dropping petals, and are to be enjoyed without procrastination. No matter how busy I am, the time to appreciate a flower is gently now.
As flowers shift my attention towards the now, so do people. Collaborating with models is a creative joy. For this series we used blankets and kimono patterned with flowers. We set up in diffused morning light, and the models moved slowly as I captured images in my camera. Photographs allow me to take more time with my paintings, and layer images to carve one moment’s form with another. The figure is now an abstract of overlapping sensual shapes, now with an element of time. As each pose shifts, and we take advantage of the light, day to day, moment to moment, no person is exactly the same.
Drypoints were printed in collaboration with Nikki Barber, printmaking instructor at the Seattle Artist League. I scribed the plates and Barber printed them. Each image sparked a discussion of line, tone, and texture, and each print is a hand worked original. Since each print is hand inked with so much personalization to the wiping of the ink, no drypoint print is exactly the same. Each print is slightly different, and with each print the burrs that cause the velvet areas compress, and for this reason the marks that differentiate drypoints from etchings also mark the end of an edition. Once the burrs are compressed, the print is finished. Drypoints are known for producing editions of only about 10 and then they’re gone.
Some Pretty Paintings; a collection of flowers and figures in paintings and prints
Show opens January 5, 2019
Show up through January 27th
Artist Talk Saturday, January 5th (3:30-4:30pm)
Opening Reception to follow (5-7pm)
Smith & Vallee Gallery
5742 Gilkey Ave, Edison
(360) 766-6230
Open Daily 11-5
www.smithandvalleegallery.com
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