I recently had my new work professionally photographed. I have not done this for a long time because of the expense. But the surface of encaustics plays a major role in the finished piece whether it be smooth or rough as mine is. Jim did a superb job. Since St Gaudens Memorial pays for all of the publicity, I thought I should spend the money for really good photos. Starting to pack everything up for FL. Need to take all the studio materials with me. I tried to work with the burning shellac method last week but the fumes were going to kill me or the fumes would blow up the studio being ignited by the gas heater pilot light. I will continue that method out of doors when I get to FL!
I am currently working for my upcoming show next June at the lovely St Gaudens Memorial in Cornish NH. I am one of several artists chosen for solo shows in 2012.
the tile of my show will be ‘Sensitive Chaos’. The theme will all be a closeup view of nature. Some of the images will be taken from photographs I shot this fall at the site. It’s a beautiful place. The gallery rooms are pleasant filled with light. The work will mostly be on large birch panels the smallest being 30 x 60 inches. The attached image is one of my first completed. As well as the Lotus, I am painting milkweeds that are open and exploding with the feathery white seeds with monarch butterfly images embedded in the lower layers of wax. I may do some drawing on yupo paper as well.
Summer is great. My studio door remains open. My dog guards the step. I go out, heat up the hot try and wait for the wax to melt.
I am currently working on three panels 60 x 30 inches. One is the black dress, other is the decaying wedding dress and the third, the orange/yellow chiffon dress. All three are coming along nicely. today was beastly hot but I was able to get about 4 hours of work done. Tomorrow I may photograph them even if they are not completely finished. I started a panel with Giacometti like figures on it. Not sure this is going to work. I’ll try not to get discouraged and give it some more time.
New works are currently showing in Manchester VT until January 3rd at the Southern VT Art Center. A lovely place to show works in a town that supports the arts. This body of work is the result of two years of trying every medium I have ever worked in. I was trying to translate the dress in a meaningful manner. I am using the dress as a symbol of the impermanence of life. This one image is a photograph of the 1880’s lace dress printed on a sheet of music. Appropriately the show’s title is “Dance me to the end of Love”. People often ask me why music appears so frequently in my work. I can only say the I love and work to music as most artists do. I do not play any instrument but am a life long devotee of all kinds of music. Dancing has also been a large part of my life so I thought the title appropriate for this show.
My previous show title was ‘Vanishing Landscapes‘. The show comprised of large multi media landscapes on panels. This year I find myself focusing on the people of the landscapes. Many of the images are reproduced from family tintypes and sepia photos my grandmother gave to me. Little did she know what a gift she had given me. Material to work with for years.
I inherited a black lace dress from the 1800’s. I struggle with it not representing just the women of my heritage but men and women. The title of this show is ‘Dance me to the End of Love’. Love is something we all need and want. The dress is nothing but a beautiful symbol of a person or persons who once wore it. Some of the other elements of the show are the detail and workmanship that went into the simplest of things such as the dress. Oddly enough, I am using modern technology to represent history. Such dichotomy! My favorite images are on plexi floated over gold leaf over old music. The more layers the better.