Scroll down for a snapshot of some things I've been working on lately...
|
|
|
Below the Surface
The Delaware Contemporary Museum
February 1-25, 2023
The best way to observe a fish is to become a fish. Jacques Cousteau
To scuba dive is to become a fish. To become a fish is to explore the ocean in all its ridiculous and amazing diversity. To make art is to explore pattern, color, movement and shape. What better place to find inspiration than below the water’s surface?
Come see my latest prints and paintings, all inspired by my scuba adventures underwater.
Art Crawl museum open house: Friday, February 2 from 5-9 pm
Special reception with the artist: Sunday, February 11 from 2-4 pm
The Delaware Contemporary Museum is located in the Downtown Riverfront neighborhood of Wilmington, Delaware and is open Thursday - Sunday from 12 - 5.
The Big Ink at Hatch Show Prints in Nashville, TN
April, 15, 2023
What a thrill to hang out with The BIG INK team, Lyle and Carand in Nashville's famous letterpress studio, Hatch Show Print. Imagine working in the shadow of country music's greatest posters of Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash, where Hatch has been printing since 1879! Seven of us artists from all around the country came to print our giant woodblocks together. The Big Ink's large portable press, Big Tuna, travels to art centers near and far to spread the joy of woodblock printing. I began carving my 36" x 36" cherry plywood block in January 2023 and many, many hours later I was happy to take home 3 fabulous professional prints. Curious? Lyle gives you everything you need to know in an online workshop before you get started. And once you start, you'll be in love with printmaking just like I am!
|
|
|
I can breath underwater!!
I'm a DIVER!
My sweetie and I learned to scuba dive last year. I already loved studying all the creatures of the air and sea, but WOW, being in the water, on the water, under the water gives me a whole new appreciation. All the shapes and textures and colors! Expect to see a lot more fishiness bubbling up from my studio this year.
My sweetie and I learned to scuba dive last year. I already loved studying all the creatures of the air and sea, but WOW, being in the water, on the water, under the water gives me a whole new appreciation. All the shapes and textures and colors! Expect to see a lot more fishiness bubbling up from my studio this year.
|
|
|
Moonlight Collographs
|
Of all the printmaking techniques, I've never quite gotten the hang of collographs. These plates are built on cardboard, with pieces cut away and other textures and shapes glued on. (Collograph, like collage, comes from the French word for glue.) I've been playing with some prints based on phases of the moon and exploring textures.
Thinking about the moon and tides led me to.... |
|
|
Oceans and Sea Creatures
|
I always like to combine techniques and layer marks or papers. I started these pieces with monotypes that referenced phases of the moon. Then I thought the waves needed company. (I think the 2020 pandemic might have affected their attitudes.)
I really got into finding different papers to make the pelican and lobster come to life. This kind of collage is a little OCD with the teeny, tiny shapes, but I love it! 
|
Best Seat in the House
What a fun show to organize! I worked with 13 artists from the Delaware Contemporary studios to see what kind of chairs we could find in our art. We showcased the sublime (Bauhaus design) to the ridiculous (the toilet), conceptual (pieces of an old chair) to innovative (a tropical lounge chair with embedded ceramic cooling tiles). My contributions included my covid inspired yarn bombed chair, Knit Sit, and a painting comparing a hard ladder-back chair with a floral French chair, The Goldilocks Dilemma.
The chairs took over the Delaware Contemporary's Hatch Gallery for the month of February. You can read more about it here and watch a short video interview with me and some of the artists here.
The chairs took over the Delaware Contemporary's Hatch Gallery for the month of February. You can read more about it here and watch a short video interview with me and some of the artists here.
|
|
On Paper: Printmaking, Book Arts and Beyond
|
an exhibit at the Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center, a Smithsonian affiliate, in Solomon's Island, MD
What a joy to have my piece, Quarantine Quilt: Pocket Treasures, included in this group exhibit in Maryland from February - September 2021. "Many years ago I saw an exhibit at The Met in New York about Henri Matisse and his use of colorful textiles. I was inspired by his rich vocabulary of patterns and his ability to use crazy, clashing fabrics as critical compositional elements. A few years passed and I visited the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky. Blown away by the artistry of piecing and sewing, I marveled at the quilters’ use of small, often discarded scraps to make monumental artwork. As I experimented with different printmaking techniques, I built up a vocabulary of favorite patterns using plants, found objects and stencils. I kept proofs and imperfect prints so that I could tear them up for collage. Then came 2020 and quarantine. I found it hard to focus on large work or big ideas with daily news of the pandemic. So I reached for small work to keep my hands busy. I found my box of beads and my old books; I reached for colored thread and fabric; I began putting old scraps together into new patterns, working at my dining room table. Despite my isolation and inability to access my downtown shared studio, I created almost a dozen paper quilts - mounted on wood, sewn onto muslin or simply stitched together - and found joy in the smallest pieces and patterns. |
The Annmarie Arts Center website has photos of all the work in the show, plus some interesting videos of artist techniques. Check it out!!
https://www.annmariegarden.org/annmarie2/content/paper-printmaking-book-arts |
Quarantine Quilt: Pocket Treasures, 2020, sewn, embroidered and beaded solarplate etchings and relief prints on paper and fabric, approx. 6” x 29”
|