A Fragile Life

Interesting work going on now. I'm catching up on details, finishing a painting for the Hambidge auction and finishing a three dimensional piece to continue the series "A Fragile Life". When my aunt died at Thanksgiving last year, she left me a number of books. Some were very old, she was 91 years old when she died. I didn't know what to do with them at first. Most titles were not ones that I would read or re-read but I couldn't part with some that friends had given her as a teenager. They were inscribed with the givers names and were important for that reason. Many were books of poetry; she like to write poetry. I realized that her love of poetry spanned a lifetime. So what to do? Not that hard to figure out really, I decided to preserve them with encaustic and the title for the series was born from her last years. I'm learning as I go. Although she had been full of wonderful energy for most of her life, her last years were difficult. Still to the end she stayed engaged in any way possible and I celebrate her.

Spring and Renewal

"River Birches" 40 x 30 inches

"Shifting Light"

It's spring here in southland and the blooming trees have bloomed and moved on. After my January exhibit it has taken some time to move on. That is not new for me though I didn't stop working. To paraphrase Chuck Close you don't wait for inspiration you just work everyday and I do. I'm interested in drawing right now and finding the time is beginning to be easier. A blank piece of paper is always a challenge but with a little encouragement from my inner child (she's fierce) I have embarked on a rest of the year programs to go back to what I loved from the first time I held a drawing tool...drawing. Not to say that I don't drawing all the time but I want to put more intensity into the process, really pay attention...experiment more, spent a long afternoon with nothing else on the agenda.

"After Midnight" 40 x 30 inches

"Light Walk"

"Grey" 48 x 36 inches

My painting has taken a most fascinating turn as I have begun to see a more blatant geometry emerge and a somewhat more vibrant palette. The hue of red is creeping in to more paintings. I need red right now, small doses but there is a definite hunger for it's richness. Strange to say I find it almost grounding. It's heaviness reassuring. For many years, I studied and received crits from Joseph Perrin, a master of geometry and color. So here I am once again going back to another first love with a renewed intensity, purpose, and seeing afresh just what magic color can bring. The vibrations are leading me on.

January 2012

"Deep Memory"     24 x 30 inches    Encaustic/silk photo/paper

"Strolling Deeper"      24 x 30 inches     Encasutic/silk/paper

"To Float A Little"      24 x 30 inches      Encaustic/silk/paper

The new year has brought such promise. With my solo exhibit behind me, I'm back in the studio ready to work again. I started with three paintings that satisfy me on a deeper level than expected. The work is less abstract than when I last worked but the work seems to be for me transition images. Inspiration comes from many sources but I often find mine from reading Mary Oliver poetry. Along with poetry from many sources is the music of Zoe Keating. "Into the Trees" plays constantly as I dream and draw. I hope she records more music as I now own everything available.

New Paintings

I surprised myself. At this time of the year I have always found it difficult to create anything in the studio but today I finished two paintings with a third already completed in a new series. Excavating, reducing, looking at the light.

Shallow Water
Encaustic on banana silk paper on  wood panel

At The River
Encaustic on banana silk paper on wood panel

A Tribute to Bootsie

Yesterday was a sad day. We lost Bootsie. She had been with me for over thirteen years. A rescue cat she was already six months old when we got her from the Humane Society. They had rescued her from a dumpster. From the very beginning she was a great studio companion and only once did she jump up in the paint. She seemed to know what was out-of-bounds from the very beginning.

Every week she came into the studio when my model arrived for a session and usually ended up on the model stand asleep. She liked Laura. She is the invisible presence in all the drawings and paintings I did in those sessions. I will miss her.

ARC Open House

Last evening was the opening reception for studio tours at the Artisan Resource Center where I have my studio. I've had a studio at the Center for so many years; I'm not counting anymore. There are 23 studios and they vary from fine art to film production. The energy at ARC is always positive and there are many collaborations that go on all the time. A huge building, I always feel as if the studio is my private retreat.

This year Kennesaw University art students have a juried painting exhibition in the halls and I didn't count, but there are so many interesting works to see. Since we have very wide long hallways there is plenty of room to see the art and enjoy. I like seeing art in the halls.

Last evening we had a steady flow of visitors stroll thru my studio and I am always amazed at the interest and questions I get. I have a chance to talk to people in depth about the work I'm doing and many times they "get it". I can't count the number of people who connected with the abstract landscapes I'm working on now. Since I'm so sequestered most of the time (except at exhibits of course) I rarely have the opportunity to go into depth about what  I am doing. I find  I love talking to people at these events and yet all week while I'm in my studio working I do not like talking. Music on and I'm working.

My work is going well and I'll be posting more info about my solo exhibit at dk Gallery which is scheduled to open on January 6, 2012. I have three more large paintings to finish over this holiday month. The hardest time of the year to work yet the work is so compelling to me it should be no problem to finish the last paintings I want to show.

Southern Living

Just got the copy of the new book "2011 Christmas with Southern Living". Aha, my painting is featured above the mantle on pages 64 and 65. They did a great job incorporating the painting with the decor. My three dancers became angels. I like that.