37 posts tagged “art”
After moving past illness, I am spreading my wings a little more this week. I've had lots and lots of ideas that sort of keep me awake at night. I remember when Gameboys first hit the scene and I was a teenager (you can guess my age now)... I played that darn Tetris game till I was seeing shapes in my sleep. Well, it is that way now, only it's splatters of paint, flecks of pastel and drops of ink that dance across my eyes. I'm not kidding. Maybe it is some sort of condition. Ha. After a hike a couple days ago, I am intrigued by some native colors/shapes I was privileged to observe. We'll see where they appear in sketch and paint.
Here's some fun news. I AM going ahead with a show next month, Friday, August 1st, 2008. The show runs 5 pm - 9ish during the downtown ArtWalk in Flagstaff, AZ. I'll tell more details as the date gets closer. If you're around then, well, just pop on by. You can see my stuff in real life and nibble on goodies. I might make some home-made cookies, and I promise good wine. ;-) I have had thoughts about whether to frame my work, but alas, my budget isn't made of gold, so, I am opting for a nifty bohemian show, very eclectic. I will be generous and show lots of paintings, a collection of sketches and am even considering doing a very large india ink illustration to cover one wall. I had initially planned on a two-man show with my darling and uber-talented friend and artist, but she has been beckoned by another local gallery on the same night. So it is up in the air whether we hoof it together or not. Either way, it will be an interesting evening. I'll link to her gallery at a later date as she is still getting that all together.
What I have here is a collection of lots of ideas, study paintings and sneak peeks of a largish project I am working on:
xo,
Sally ;-)
There are moments when one peers into the face of the future and it is so good and so fine and it completely makes clarity of what must be done right now. The past is a trickster and we have to reckon with it, tinkering around with it to pull out the good and relinquish that which hinders.
This is titled "Cusp". It is watercolor with ink and pastel, 140 lb archival paper, 7″ x 10″.
We have, you know. And here we are now, all of us, in this space of time looking at each other through words on a screen, or in person when we hug, or passing others through the windows of our cars which are only illusory windows. Because we have always been and still are a part of each other... and we always will.
"We have always been", 9" x 14 1/2", watercolor with ink and pastel.
The title of this post is a slant rhyme for a place I was published just today: Juxtapoz Art and Culture Magazine, online. I'm doing sloppy pirouettes and feeling giddy because this is a huge honor.
Also, I was happy to get linked by ROJO Magazine. This is a pure art magazine.That's right. No fillers. No junk. Just art. Mmmmmm. Happy. You can find it in fine book stores or galleries. Below you see a piece of Linn Olofsdotter's work which is linked at ROJO. An amazing artist!
In the meantime, my email box fills up with queries, proposals and gracious comments. I'm not sure where this road leads, but this is exciting. Here's what's on the drawing board:
You are one year old.
I love you, little one.
I am officially open for business.
Many of you have followed my art process from the beginning, inspiring and encouraging me every step of the way. And, amazingly, that was not so long ago (January). After several inquiries from you and others, as wells as gentle nudging from my husband, I am stepping out into the art world; several of my originals are for sale at my gallery, www.charmagnecoe.com. The modest prices range from $120 to $400.
Other news from the artistic part of life... I am still considering doing a two-man show in early August and am working toward that goal. Here are some previews of that work:
Thank you, VOX friends, for your graciousness and kind words always. Come along with me and let's see what else happens.
"Before we were here", approx 8"x10", watercolor, ink and pastel:
Here is a detail picture:
There is a question I asked as a child and now my children ask it of me...
What a thrilling weekend for creative inspiration. My husband discovered a Salvador Dali and Wassily Kandinsky traveling exhibition in our neighboring city, Sedona. He proposed I take the evening and attend this exhibit with a close friend, who happens to be a very talented artist. We drove into Oak Creek Canyon along the switchbacks. We stopped into Garland's gallery so I could show her my father's work - original jewelry. Each piece of jewelry is an original artwork created from years of exploration, hard work, his reflections on growing up in a Native American/Hispanic home, oral history, mythology and his personal spiritual journey. Here are photos of Larry Vasquez' work from another gallery, Blue Rain, in Santa Fe:
We continued our journey into the heart of Sedona and arrived at the front door of Visions, a modern art gallery. When we walked in, we immediately came face to face with a Dali tapestry and a huge collection of his etchings. I have never truly been a Dali fan, per se, but looking into the scribbles, scrathes, swathes and brushstrokes, I converted. There is something so visceral about sketches and etchings; these show the inner-workings of an artist's mind in a completely different way, and, I often find, this kind of art can portray something more raw and uninhibited. The following etching was my favorite piece in the exhibit; the etching (found online at Gallery of Surrealism) appears to be made in a frenzy, an altered state, another dimension. I could not help but be emotionally moved. "Old Faust":
There were six block prints by one of my very favorite artists, Kandinsky. I felt the arrangement and location was somewhat awkward and without enough context or biographical sketch (his career as a print-maker or his ground-shaking publication Concerning the Spiritual In Art). Because of this, these precious small prints by the father of the abstract movement seemed swallowed up by the larger collections. People passed them by with very little attention, a mere nod or confused expression. I was very excitedt to see a block print entitled Le Cavalier Bleu, The Blue Rider! I half-joked with my friend, inquiring if I could borrow $8,000... viewable here. Another Low Brow/ Pop surrealist artist worth mentioning is Daniel Merriam; his many other-worldy, fantastical originals and prints were part of the permanent exhibit. Because I live in a relatively small town, the ability to travel only a short distance to view masters of the art world is rare. After a glass of white wine, my cheeks were rosy and my heart felt full.
Now I settle down today with the children and tend to the little garden we've made, cooking meals, folding little shirts and pants... I love that life can be so varied and rich. Also, tonight, I plan to work a bit more on sketches and a larger painting in progress featuring my lovely bird-mother friend:
Have a great day, all of you.
Here's a small art post for the weekend. I'm working on an idea that involves a character from another original painting I did some months ago. The below is more of a study. I'll be experimenting with palettes and balance and doing more study paintings. Then I'd like to do a larger final painting. It involves the themes of human evolution, spirit and motherhood/childhood.
"The beginning". Approx 16"x10", watercolor, ink and pastel:
Sketches and layers:
I wish you all a wonderful weekend with your family and friends.
The other afternoon, Jaz awoke and told me he had dust in his dreams. "Dust?", I asked. "Yes! Dream dust!". How these beautiful ideas and images are trapped in a little one's mind will always surprise me. These thoughts and others inspire a whole host of images in my own adult mind... tho I'm sure they can't compare. Sometimes they make it into the sketchpad and others in ink and paint.
This new painting is called "Hither and thither". Watercolor, ink and pastel, approx. 24"x18"
For the newest work, I focused on a darker palette. I am so fond of indigo lately. Especially juxtaposed to colors such as orange, red, magenta and deep ochres. Thinking of how the complexity of the universe includes us in it... that is a deep well from which to drink creativity.
Here is "Then we tilted". Approx 12"x18", watercolor, ink and pastel:
Detail pics and the original thumbnail:
I really enjoyed chipping away at this piece - thinking of the wonder of just existing here, with my family and all the unknown things that spiral around us. Have a great weekend.