Trompe L'Oeil - Woodland Sketches

Woodland Sketches
acrylic on gesso board
20"x16"

I'm submitting this piece to a juried show tomorrow morning. I'm hoping it will get in so keep your fingers crossed for me.

I used a ribbon board collage as the still life reference for creating this trompe l'oeil painting. Edward Alexander MacDowell’s musical piece, Woodland Sketches, To a Wild Rose, No. 1, Op. 51 inspired the autumnal theme. The photographs were taken during trips to Alaska and North Carolina in the 1980s. The leaves were gathered on a Fall day and the arrow head was found in an eroding stream bed in Virginia.

Part of me wants to follow the trompe l'oeil direction a bit more. It is quite time consuming and methodical, but I learn so much in the process. I'd like to get a bit more playful with it, and perhaps even explore surrealism a bit more.

Ixmucane (Illustration)

Ixmucane is a jacket cover for a children's book The Journey Home -- the story of a Maya refugee girl's discovery of her community's history and heritage. I used the repeating circular motif of the Maya calendar for the composition. Painting this made me think of the many cycles the Maya documented in the heavens, the earth and in human beings themselves. The Maya cycle of sowing and dawning continues to inspire me and surprise me whenever I come upon a previously unnoticed example of it in life.

Day Lily at Night

(acrylic on canvas, 3' x 1.5') This is yet another flower motif. I orginally started using this motif simply as a way to experiment with the the acrylic glazing technique (see blow), but found myself more and more drawn into the subject. Flowers have long been associated with female sexuality. I wanted to push that idea a bit, beyond passive sensuality waiting-to-be-found, toward more agressive, overt seduction. When one begins to look at flowers in earnest they seem almost pornographic in their garishness. They are so eager to express their life force and extend their potency in the world. I'd like to continue this exploration of the agressiveness of the life force in its different forms and transformations.

Feminina Oscura

This painting is one of my first attempts at using acrylic glazes over underpainting. This is an old technique developed with the advent of oils. It allows the pigment to sit in the medium and the light to pass through it, bouncing back from the canvas to the eye. The technique creates a more luminous color and allows the artist to create sublte manipulations in tone without sacrificing the intensity of color.

Doing the underpainting helps the artist think through the composition and tone first, before developing the color scheme. In some ways it is less spontaneous and more analytical. In fact, this is why I am using it right now. It helps me to refine my understanding of the relationship between tone, color and form -- the age old puzzle pieces of the visual artist

EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARTISTS

I haven't posted for a while, but there are a lot of things happening. I'll try to put them into one posts with links:

21 April 2006 - Russian Realism Show at the Principle Gallery

The aesthetics of our era, our understanding of beauty, must be embodied in every painting, must become the most important part of Soviet art, which powerfully attracts the viewer to itself- Konstantin Yuon, 1957

(article: Aesthetics and the Body Politic)

Other Events & Opportunities
29 April 2006 - Women's Caucus for Art Networking Event
30 April 2006 - Free Grant Development Workshop (DC) (contact dawn.mitchell@dc.gov for info)
6 May 2006 - Capitol Hill Art League - Submission date for "Secret Garden" Juried Show
6 May 2006 - Illustrators Conference - SCBWI at The Writer's Center (info. to come)
12 May 2006 - Bethesda Art Walk Tour
19 May 2006 - Fraser Galler Call for Artists - Contemporary Realism Show
28 May 2006 - Bootcamp for Artists Seminar
10 June 2006 - Calls for Artist - Washington Printermakers Gallery

CALL FOR ARTISTS - Art in City Hall

The Art League and the Del Ray Artisans are partnering with the City of Alexandria as part of the Mayor's initiative to promote the arts in Alexandria. They are inaugurating a rotating fine art exhibit of local artists in Alexandria City Hall. The shows will be juried and hang for 6 months.

Deadlines: January 28, 2006, and July 21, 2006
Contact: The Art League (703.683.1780) or Del Ray Artisans (703.838.4827)

Works in Progress: nearing completion

Isterian Light

Acrylic on Canvas
4'x3'
Memorias
Acrylic on Canvas
4'x2.5'

I'm submitting these to a local show tomorrow. I'm happy with what I've learned from them, but I'm not happy with the style I seem to be stuck in for the moment. I would like to use some of the techniques of learned in light and composition to create some more personal images -- less photographic I guess. Although I like parts of the outcome, I feel a little constrained by this style of painting.

Upcoming Show: Target Gallery

Washington Guild of Goldsmiths Metal 2005

The return of a biennial favorite. This regional guild includes award-winning and nationally recognized jewelers, metalsmiths, and sculptors. This juried sampling of members’ work provides an overview not only of work in the Washington area, but also of broader trends in small-scale metalwork.

December 9-January 15, 2006 Closed Dec 25 and January 1
Opening reception December 8, 6-9 pm.

Photorealism or Cheezy art?: Memories (part 2)

Memorias (work-in-progress)
Acrylic on Canvas, 4' x 3'

I've made some more progress on my attempt at photorealism (see below). I still have to remove the blue tape and put in some shadows at the bottom of the envelop, and I misspelled one of the words in the text (yikes!).

I'm still not sure how I feel about this painting. It is a combination of photorealism and Trompe L'oiel, although the Trompe L'oielists would say it's not strickly trompe l'oiel because it is not the actual size of the referent material. My canvas is 4' x 3' -- far too big to be photos and letters.

I wanted to use a combination of the two approaches, drawing the viewer into a simultanously shallow and deep depth of field. I also wanted the viewer to think about visual communication -- the stamps being abstractions of the 'real' palm trees in the landscape. But of course the 'real' palm trees are also abstractions, albiet naturalistically rendered, of the artist. Lastly, I wanted to put in text -- a Ruben Dario poem -- which is a visual symbol and an abstraction or metaphor. I think that why I am drawn to photorealism, trompe l'oiel, anamorphic art, surrealism. They all engage the viewer -- perhaps in a rather cerebral way -- in a in a dialogue on how we as human beings constantly construct and reconstruct the world.

Artist Workshops: Springmaid Resort, South Carolina

A member of the artist critique group in which I participate has highly recommended the Springmaid Water Medium workshops held in South Carolina. They are very reasonably priced -- $700 range for room, board and 5 days of intensive workshops. It boasts a number of well known artists leading the various workshops and they draw a large group of participants so it is also an opportunity to network with other artists. I'm thinking about attending the March workshops.

Fabric Art: update

Just as I am discovering all the wonders of fabric art (see Shows Worth Seeing: "Hardware" at the Target Gallery) it seems the US government is as well. The US Post Office just put out a set of commemorative stamps based on a fabric art exhibit last year at the Corcoran Gallery in DC. The exhibit American Treasures: Gee's Bend Quilts documented the work of the Gee's Bend sewing bee, a group of African-American women in Gee's Bend, North Carolina.

Foray into Printmaking

These are some of my attempts at printmaking. I have found the etching process incredibly challenging. My friend Ann says she sees only possibilities in the printmaking process, while I tend to see only limitations. I get intimidated and totally loose my spontenaity -- something I struggle with in general anyway (control freak, control freak!). I'm thinking about hand coloring and/or incorporating them into mixed media pieces, as a way to salvage all the work that goes into printmaking.

[Titles: Clemencia, and Buen Dia!]

For some reason I have felt more comfortable with relief prints -- linocuts, woodblocks -- and have had a better response to them. The piece, Lagarto Maya sold at the Grace Gallery this September. Maybe because relief is more direct and simple and I know more or less what the outcome will be. More than anything intaglio printmaking has made me aware of how much I still need to try to work with a given medium -- let it lead me to discoveries instead of trying to control it.

For those of you who are more proficient at printmaking then I am, Washington DC has a wonderful printmaking cooperative in Dupont Circle -- The people there are very knowledgable and the artists are committed to community education and sharing their expertise with other artists. Check out:
Very, very cool stuff!!

Gallery: Principle Holiday Open House

The Principle Gallery is having a Holiday Open House this Saturday, December 3rd, 12-: 8:00 pm. This is one of my favorite galleries in Old Town Alexandria, with its eclectic mix of American Realism, Trompe L'Oiel, abstract, and Russian art. The gallery space is inviting, open and bright, and although the gallery makes the most out of every nook and cranny of its historic building -- leaving some works unhung and leaning against the walls or corners -- the seemingly casual organization of the artwork only contributes to the charm and feeling of love for the art work itself. The staff is always welcoming, unpretentious and knowledgeable and the prices are very reasonable -- although I do wonder what that means for the artists. That said, the gallery has receptions for new shows every month and really seems to promote its artists through its newsletter, website and beautiful postcard mail-outs highlighting their work. The gallery seems to move its inventory and change its hangings quite often so it must be working for everyone. If anyone gets to the opening please let me know what you think!

Shows Worth Seeing: "Hardware" @ Target Gallery ('til dec. 4)

My friend Ann and I have gotten into the practice of creating a Day of Art for ourselves. This includes sharing our work with eachother (she is a wonderful printmaker) and visiting gallery shows. Today we visited the Torpedo Factory in downtown Alexandria and popped into the Target Gallery.

The current show is called Hardware, a collaborative exhibition created by the New Image Art Quilt Group. The show not only highlights the versatility of fabric arts, but the creativity that occurs when a group of artists works together to push the envelop of a theme -- in this case "hardware."

Earlier in the day, in another gallery, I had asked Ann, " If you were a collector which piece of art would you choose from this exhibition?" By the time we had come to the Target Gallery I had forgetten the question until Ann stopped in front of Sue Pierce's Closed Circuit, and proclaimed, "This is the piece I would choose!"

Sue Pierce, Closed Circuit(detail) 15" x 24"

All the pieces in Hardware express a sense of play, as well as thoughtful analysis by the artists. Some artists dealt with the hardware theme head on, such as B.J Adams' Tireless Tools, while others were more oblique in their approach. Sue Brown's Unlocked used key metaphors, while N. Amanda Ford used old denim to express the theme in the piece Well Worn - Hard Wear. Sandra LH Woock has four pieces in the show and expressed a painterly quality and luminosity I never thought possible in fabric art.

Sandra LH Woock Nails: Patina 15" x 26"

The works were all relatively small, but created dramatic images when viewed from a distance. The Target Gallery provides a lovely open space for this show. Hardware is an clever show and made me think of how new mediums will push you as an artist, taking you to previously unexplored places and ideas if you let them. In this sense Hardware is a celebration in artist collaboration and individuality!

Memories: photorealism or cheezy?

(acrylic on canvas, 4'x2') Detail of a photorealist exploration of memory. This is definitely a work in progress. I'm not at all sure about it. It could end up looking pretty cheezy, but I've already done a lot of work on it (sigh) so I'm committed to seeing it to its completion. I will post the larger piece as it comes together.

Isterian Light

(acrylic on canvas; 4' x 3.5') This is still a work in progress as they say. It is off the coast of Croatia, on the cusp of Spring -- and peace in the region. It was a hopeful day -- after delivering a 3-day workshop to about 15 community advocates -- and I wanted to create a hopeful painting that still acknowledged the wounds of the past.

Here I also used the under -painting and glazing techniques. I wanted to 'flatten' the composition by bring the background forward. By creating a shallow depth of field, I wanted it to read simultaneously as a naturalistic rendering , as well as a more abstract composition of color and form. I don't think I suceeded. Some of the colors are too hot, and the renderings confusing. I will continue to work on this, perhaps using some coler red or purple glazes over the 'hot spots'. I will keep you posted.

Belinda Del Pesco Fine Art Blog: Illustration Friday topic for 8-18-06: "MATCH"

Belinda Del Pesco Fine Art Blog: Illustration Friday topic for 8-18-06: "MATCH"
Belinda's blog is just gorgeous and is full of wonderul descriptions of the processes she uses for combining linocuts and watercolors as well as monoprints. The way she captures light in some of her still lifes is just phonomenal!

UPCOMING ARTISTS OPPORTUNITIES

Here are some of the opportunities I've found for the up-coming months:

11 AUG 06: WPA/C EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA SERIES

22 AUG 06: GRACE C-NOTE EXHIBIT - DEADLINE

16 SEPT 06: ART IN CITY HALL II - Disply your artwork from 18 Sept 2006 to 24 March 2007 in Alexandria City Hall.

16 SEPT O6: ARTS ON FOOT - DEAD LINE - Washington, DC

12 OCT 06: FALL INTO ART - Leesburg Art Festival - DEADLINE

CALL FOR ARTISTS: Grace Gallery Champagne Auction

GRACE’s Annual Champagne Art Auction is an annual event where art lovers (and buyers!) bid on artwork from local artists.

Artist Information: All submitted work must be current — within the last two years. Artists may deliver a maximum of three pieces for jurying; one piece per artist will be selected. Entries must be received in the gallery no later than 5:00pm, Friday, January 20, 2006. All entries will be juried and 40 pieces selected by a review committee. Artist notification will be made by email Monday, January 23rd. Art which is not selected should be picked up by Friday, January 27th. There is no jury fee.

Artist Benefits: Reserve prices are set at 50% of the retail price. Art will not be sold below the reserve price without specific artist approval. Artists will receive 50% of the final sale price and 50% will benefit GRACE. Artists may also choose to donate full sales price. All participating artists will receive one ticket (valued at $85) for the event; those choosing to donate the full sales price will receive two. Each participating artist will be listed to the extent possible in all pre-event publicity, in addition to event program listings and artist statement. Pieces chosen will be displayed in the main GRACE gallery from February 9th to March 2nd with an opening reception Friday, February 10th.

This is an excellent chance to get your work in the gallery, network with potential clients, and sell your art.