Sharing Saturday ~

dose of talent: Cathy Taylor, Double Female Form, collage

For those for don't do FB (bravo) or just like to read get information in other ways,

here are some of the exciting arty happening in the Boston area and this week's 'dose of talent' ~

(& please excuse the weird formatting blogspot and I are having issues :)

This weekend:

 at FOuntain Street Fine Art 

 April 11 - May 19

8x8 All - Members’ Group ShowEach piece is 8" x 8" in size and $150 in price
Closing Reception May 19, 3-5pm

The 8x8 show is officially open! 75 pieces by 38 artists. One size, One price ($150) The show runs through 5/19, but hurry down, some are already SOLD! ~ yours truly has a piece in this exhibit

Just a quick reminder that Roy Perkinson, Greg Heins and Andrew Haines will be in the Gallery for an Artists' talk on Sunday, 4/14, from 2-4. Should be some lively conversation! 

April 10th - May 11th ~ there will be pop up galleries throughout the South End!!! Michelle Willey will be exhibiting the soft sculpture work of artist, Sophie Truang

 

Saturday, April 20, 10:00-3:00pm @ Concord Art Assoc.                                                                 Adria Arch
  Painting "Outside the Box" with the New Acrylics

Mark Your Calendar:

18th Fountain Street Open Studios Weekend - Spring 

April 26 - 28, 201359 Fountain Street, Framingham MA 01702
Friday 5:30 - 9:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Dose of talent: Cathy Taylor.

Cathy Taylor is happily getting back into the art world, again, after needing to slow her studio practice down a bit. But now she is diving back in with gusto.

An artist at an early age, Taylor’s main love is collage and has been for as long as she can remember.  Always looking for new papers and images for her magic scissors to free, she notes how the act of cutting out an image or shape “eliminate the nonessential.”  For Taylor, the act of collaging brings her “happiness and inner peace”, qualities that one finds in her work. Her hopes are that her art will convey non-verbal messages. An especially important message she wishes pass along to women, is a woman’s “sense of freedom and potential.” 

 

She also works with verbal messages, as she is a poet as well. When a poem and her art seem connected Taylor will show them together, fusing the “the verbal and nonverbal message.

The main themes in Taylor’s work are Nature, Dancers and Women.  She also loves to use swirls, spirals, stars, moons and snakes as well.  Taylor discovered Matisse’s cut-outs in her her twenties and one can see his influence in Taylor’s work.  

Cathy's website 

dose of talent: Adria Arch

Adria Arch,  another one of the talented artist from the Concord Art Assoc’s exhibit, ‘A Room of their Own,” is a woman after my own heart.   Her current body of work stems from the exploration and manipulation of DOODLES.  As I understand it, she began this series when she was going through her son’s old notebooks and found them covered in these wonderful and engaging ‘doodles’.  Adria is attracted to doodles “for their unselfconscious quality and mystery.”   Inspired by these “unselfconscious” marks made by her son, Adria incorporated them into her studio work.  For the years that I have known Adria I have watched these doodles grow in size and appear on canvases, panels, banners and stairwells.  Tonight she and her fellow exhibiters from “A Room of Our Own” are presenting a panel discussion titled “The Experience of a Coaching Group for Artists” at 7 p.m (my plan was to get this posted earlier, but alas life called.) But even if you miss tonight’s event  Adria is leading a workshop, Adria Arch
Painting "Outside the Box" with the New Acrylics, on 
Saturday, April 20, 10:00-3:00pm.  Also the exhibit is up until May 5^th and completely worth the trip.

Adria's website

 

MARCH 28-MAY 5, 2013
A Room of Our Own

Concord Art Assoc.

my pencil mug preoccupation, the beginning . . .

With the Fountain Street Fine Art 8x8 show officially opening this weekend, and since my contribution to the show was a painting of my pencil mug, I felt that this may be a good time to share the other pieces that this mug has inspired ~

pencil mug#9 - mixed media on transfer on paper.
Not sure if this version is done, I had further plans but I like the rawness of this state?!?!?

pencil mug #1 ~ phototransfer

I was writing an essay on the work of Jennifer Bartlett at the same time as I was tackling my panel.  I am intrigued by how Bartlett works and reworks a certain theme or image; using different mediums, on different surfaces and in different scales. Once I settled on painting my pencil mug onto my panel, my brain explored with the desire to explore the mug in a myriad of mediums and styles.  

pencil mug #2 ~ painting on transfer

For now I have mostly worked with a transfer of the mug, experimenting with different surfaces and with different techniques. The idea of a series liberated me as it removes a perception of 'preciousness' that can infiltrate my mind and paralyze my work.  And since last weekend I am chomping at the bit to work with this image.

pencil mug #3~ painting on transfer on panel

If time, interest and finances allow, I hope that I will produce many versions of this mug. Right now I have 9, all starting with a transfer one photo of the mug.  However I envision working directly from the mug itself, drawing and painting it, different scales - a large canvas?!?! 

pencil mug #4 ~ painting on transfer

So here are my variations on the theme ~ some finished, some, I'm not sure about, some more successful than others and not all good, but I have a definite feeling that this is all working toward something else, a means to an end ?!? or at least that is how I explain my manic passion to do this, the desire to work until 2AM in the morning?!? Thank goodness for coffee!!! 

pencil mug#5 ~ collage on transfer

 

pencil mug#6 ~ pencil on transfer

pencil mug #8 ~ transfer on corrugated
card board

I would love to hear your thoughts or suggestions, a certain treatment or technique in which to depict this mug. 

pencil mug #8 ~ mixed media in a grid

information about:

Fountain Street Fine Art

8x8 All - Members’ Group Show

April 11 - May 19
Each piece is 8" x 8" in size and $150 in price

Closing Reception May 19, 3-5pm 

75 pieces by 38 artists. One size, One price ($150) 

The show runs through 5/19, but hurry down, some are already SOLD!

and here is the link to the earlier post about the 8x8 panel and it also has the story behind this mug :)

progression of a panel ~ a visual journey

progression of a panel ~ a visual journey

'pencil mug 3' painting and collage of cradled 8x8 panel

It is that time of year again - time for the Fountain Street Fine Art's Members’ Group Show.  Each year the gallery gives its members a uniform sizes cradled panel on which to do whatever they want. The gallery then exhibits the panels and offers them at one set price.  This year the panels are 8x8 in size and $150. in price. See below for all details.

The panels were due this weekend and I am happy to say that mine is done and delivered!! However not before a few late nights and many different 'stages' ~ which I thought I'd share here ~

First, I experimented with my recent obsessive drawing, directly on the wood, adding the dress image,

 but I wasn't happy. 

pen on panel

obsessive drawing beats dress

pen on panel

dress image reemerges 

pen and collage on panel

still not happy so I 'play' with the collage; I sanded the piece

pen and collage on panel, sanded

 collage trumps drawing and dress

mixed media on panel

gesso over collage on panel

in comes the photo transfer

photograph of pencil mug

Story of the beloved pencil mug:

 This mug was given to me about 30 years ago by my college roommate.  During one of the breaks she had seen it in a dollar store and thought that I would love it - which I did and do! It survived spending the next 3 years dangling from my backpack as I crisscrossed the Kenyon campus and trudging along middle path to my studio.  It has also survived my nomadic existence.  Being one of my favorite possessions it has moved from Ohio, to Los Angeles, to Iowa, Chicago, New York, finally settling safely in Natick.  And once again it is out and about in the world, as I for some reason, don't like drinking from plastic travel mugs?!?! However this time it isn't hanging from a strap on my bag, it travels safely in a cup holder in my car, as I taxi carpools to school and head to work. 

photo being transferred with matte medium to panel

painting and collage on transfer on panel 

painting on panel (out of focus as it is most likely 2am)

As usual, it was very hard for me to stop, but I finally put the brush down and called this painting, done!! 

However it has inspired a series - but that is for another post  :)

instagram photo of panel

Hope you enjoyed this visual journey of my 8x8 panel.  If you can, make sure you go see the show. I have always been delighted to see how each artist has 'dealt' with their panel, and there are good deals to be had as well. ;)

~ peace.

8x8 All - Members’ Group Show

@ Fountain Street Fine Art

April 11 - May 19 

Each piece is 8" x 8" in size and $150 in price

Closing Reception May 19, 3-5pm

dose of talent: The Drawing Lab by Deborah Putnoi

At the beginning of this year I began a 'feature' on my Facebook Artist page that I call, "dose of talent'.  I realized that I know so many talented people; visual artists, writers, musicians, and I wanted more people to know about them!!  Also it is much easier to write and promote friends than oneself, so I posted a short write-up and an image or two from these talented folks' work, along with many links.

My first post was called "daily dose of talent" but i quickly dropped the daily.  I had found myself wanting to write more about each artist and that was not going to happen every day.  So now I do a 'dose of talent' when I can. I usually time them with an opening or a workshop, to help my friends promote these events.   And I am happy to say that people have told me that they enjoyed these little blurbs. However I realized that only people on FB could read the posts. Since I have this love/hate relationship with FB, I wanted to make sure that you didn't need to be on FB to learn about these talented souls, I wanted them on another venue, where you didn't have to belong.  I thought about having an exclusive 'dose of talent' blog but I am going to test it first on this blog, and se how it goes.

Even though these posts do take time to write (as I am not a speedy writer and need to proof read A LOT) I have really enjoyed looking at the different artist's websites and learning more about their work.  Even with artists that I know well I always seem to  learn an new aspect about their work. I hope you enjoy these glimpses of the works of my wonderful and talent colleagues and friends.

So for today, presenting dose of talent:
The Drawing Lab by Deborah Putnoi

For today’s dose of talent I am focusing on one part ofDeborah Putnoi Art's extraordinary body of work. There are many aspects of Putnoi’s work to celebrate but one aspect is her role as emissary of creativity. 

She encourages all to do art. She created a school in her studios, Artheads Studio, as well as written books about silencing your inner critic and releasing your creative spirit. She has also created a space in which people can practice what Putnoi preaches, The Drawing Lab.

I was introduced to Deb Putnoi and her Drawing Lab at the New Art Center in the spring of 2008, at the exhibit, On Drawing, which showcased different artists’ interpretations of drawing.

It was a beautiful show, and to enhance the magic of this already enchanting chapel-turned-gallery, Putnoi and fellow curator, Jessica Burko, added a soundtrack. As you walked through the show you were accompanied by the sounds of ‘drawing’ – the scratching of pencil, the scuffing of charcoal and more. It was bewitching; yet, there was another element of this exhibit that fascinated me even more, and got me to return with friends and my girls ~ Putnoi’s Drawing Lab!!

In the middle of the gallery, Putnoi had created this amazing and encouraging environment which encouraged all to explore drawing. The inviting space was supplied with a myriad of drawing materials, different papers, drawing prompts, inspirations and so much more.

I, myself, was in heaven, and those I brought, who weren’t as comfortable with drawing, also enjoyed themselves. I remember it was hard to get my girls and their friends to leave!!

Putnoi ‘s Drawing Lab was thoroughly satisfying and illuminating experience then and one that Deb has brought to many communities and venues since I first experience it in 2008.

Now, in 2013, Putnoi’s Drawing Lab is at the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, in Lincoln, MA. The lab will be there from March 30 – May 19, 2013, however this coming Saturday, April 6 from 3-5, is opening reception and Deb will be there drawing and signing copies of her book, The Drawing Mind & Deborah Putnoi. The Drawing Mind. I highly recommend experiencing this interactive installation.






link to drawing Lab:http://www.thedrawingmind.com/the-drawing-lab
 link to ArtHeads: http://www.thedrawingmind.com/classes
Deb's website:http://www.thedrawingmind.com/

an obsession progression

CARD#8

transfer on CARD#8 onto BFK cream paper and then worked on, with pen and whiteout pen

use gesso on transfer

work over gesso with pens, gold pen,...

reworking more . . . . (yuck)

added collage elements, then worked in with pen, gesso . . .

Not sure if it is completely done BUT I am happy with where it is - I am feeling just a bit more emphasis of some of the lines but NOT much!!! 

any thoughts?!?!?!

The dresstag story, installment #2

the dresstag story continues . . .

the first official dresstag, made at Me & Ollie's cafe, Portsmouth, NH

from my daily dress journal
click here to see more

first dresstag placed

4. when did you start dresstagging?

it was Labor Day of 2011. I was in Portsmouth, NJ with my daughter, Maya when we had stumbled upon a package of charming origami paper. In the past months I had mastered the act of making an origami dress, using the folded dresses in collages.   I was also had been intensely working with different size origami dresses with my daily dress journals.  It seemed a natural step to start leaving them in different places!!

as i folded a dress Maya made this lovely cicada

some i hide in books . . .

When I started ‘the dress project’ back in 2006, I saw the dress as the mark of Virginia, like the mark of Zorro.  I built dresses to celebrate something beauty or protest an injustice. Years later the origami dress was a smaller, more manageable dress to leave behind.  But as i played with the origami paper in Portsmouth I liked the idea of using the dresstag as a vehicle of good fortune.

i made this dress in protest
for  the crazy amount of fencing
and 'stay down' signs

while visiting my hometown I came across an old path thru a ravine that I took many times as a kid, to get to the beach.

the idea that they needed to put up this many fences, creating such an eye sore, really irked me. 

5. why are they called ‘dresstag’s??

From the first dress that I left behind I was hooked. I felt that this new endeavor needed a name.   

may this dress bring u a smile

hope this dress keeps you warm ~ put on a car with the bumper sticker saying, "hate is not a family value"

may this dress bring u ur dreams come true ~ placed in an ice cream shop in the bershires

There was a street art/ graffiti aspect to this act of dropping dresses, even though they were small and carried good fortune.  Looking to the jargon from the graffiti world I considered dressbombs/ dressbombing. However I didn’t like a violent, destructive word attached to these dresses.  There is much literature about how using violent language adds to the negativity and violence in our lives.  My aim was to add positive energy, so with the aid of many friends I decided on dresstag.  This name alluded to street art as well as to the dresses that are made, sold and worn. 

dresstagging makes it to the MOMA!!!!

 6. how do you come up with the ‘fortune’??

I usually don’t have any preconceived idea about what I am going to write.  By the time I finish folding the dress I have an idea of what fortunes I will write.  I have noticed that many times I make a dress with the intention that I myself might need at that moment., like courage, clarity, strength.  Interestingly those dresstags usually get the most responses on FB?!?!?  maybe on those day there is a more universal need for a certain intention?!?!?

may this dress bring u satisfaction 

Next installment will be about the places that the dresstags have gone and the directions that these treasures have lead me.  Also if you have any questions about this practice , or any questions about my art either leave them below in the comment area, or on facebook or email me . . .

thanks for reading!! 

peace