Been Busy

After visiting the Met and their fabulous collection of medieval art, I made this paper mosaic 'Byzantine' Madonna and Child. It's 3.5 x 2.5 inches - made on an Artist Trading Card. I painted the paper on both sides and just dropped them onto the glue which was put in selected areas. I wound up putting a layer of matte medium on the finished piece because I didn't want the little pieces of paper (layers of them) to fall off.


Architectural elements and bas reliefs from churches I saw in England made me want to try to be more three dimensional. I was having a really hard time trying to figure out how to do that. I decided to use cardboard. I think the collagraphic plate made from cardboard brought that on. The above piece is inspired from a Romanesque relief of the Flight into Egypt. Notice the baby boys being rolled over by the holy chariot.


Here I am adding the tree of Jesse (Mary's royal family tree) to the Madonna and Little Betty Jane collage. I just love corrugated cardboard. But, I think there needed to be more on the collage. It is still a work in progress.

Updating my website

I have been updating my website. I felt like there were too many links on the menu list. I changed them into drop down menus with two categories: gallery and about. I does simplify the layout. I hope it does not make it more difficult for people to get around.

I like this

I printed last night at the RBPW. I made several prints of Little Betty Jane. They were just made from a paper doll that is sealed with gloss medium. I decided to cut the collograph LBJ's out and then I decided to glue them to reproductions from an art history book I found in the laundry room a while ago. I'm really liking these. The next one is the best - I think. But, I think they all work fairly well. Little Betty Jane is hanging around with ....

New Work

I made a webpage with a lot of my newer work. Recently, I felt as though I was not getting much done... but there is more than I thought. There is more than this. I will add some drawings. And, the prints are on their own page of my website.


Now, I'm just tired from doing all this web work :-(

Collographs

I took a workshop in collagraphy at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. I think this method is a good fit for my work because I can use discarded pieces of painted paper collages as plates. Here are some of the prints I have made either in class or using the press time that came along with my tuition.

"Pears" - these pears are made from 3 pears that I made as an experiment is just how much detail was needed to create the feeling of a pear in painted paper collage. I glued these ppc pears onto a piece of styrene and then scratched in the vertical stripes. In the following plate you can see that I also painted onto the plate with acrylic gloss medium and carborundum a dish with a decorative pattern. This did not show up on the print because the pears were too thick. I plan to rework the plate and try again.



This print is made from a discarded frament of a collage I made back in 2006. I kept the fragment because I just couldn't bear to throw it out. I simply coated it in gloss medium, inked it up and used it as a plate. Here is a detail image.


These flowers were made from some painted paper flowers I had sewn together. I was thinking of making a large cloth-like piece - kind of like a drape out of these flowers but I abandoned the idea. I didn't like it. So, it was just sitting around - without a purpose. Here is a detail image.


This "cup and flower" was made by simply painting a piece of plexiglass with acrylic gloss medium and carborundum.


And, this piec is made of corrugated cardboard with a silhouette glued on top. The lower section I peeled off the upper layer. The bottom part and the silhouette were coated with gloss medium and I left the upper area uncoated allowing it to soak in the ink. Below is the plate.

New Studio

Richard and I spent the past few days moving our things from studio 317A to 311. It was essentially a move from one space to another on the same floor. There was just one step between sections 3 and 4. As you can see this space is at twice as big. My space is in the second picture. I have sooooo much more room. We also moved all of my stuff out of my living room studio. Now, we will have a nice living room again.

Open Studios

I you cannot see the images click here.

NARS Foundation Open Studios
May 30 - May 31/ 11am - 6pm
Sunset Park, Brooklyn
(only 2 express stops from Manhattan)
Join us for the Opening Party
Saturday, May 30th, 6-9 pm

The Cup

Little Betty Jane stars in "The Cup."

Experimentation: Stop Action Video

I have been thinking of how to make a paper doll video. I made this paper doll of "Little Betty Jane." Then I was just playing around trying to see what she can do. I need to refine my method but I think there is something interesting about her - she wants to dance.

Adorable big brother

My new grandson

Here he is! Isn't he adorable! He was born on May 7th weighing in at 6 lbs. 5 oz. He is beautiful. My daughter Christine and her husband Julian are very blessed.

New Gouachies

In the studio today:

I finished another set of gouachy and ppc of the primroses. This time I think I kind of like the gouachy better.

These are small - around 5 x 3 1/2 inches. The top one is the gouachy and this one is painted paper collage. I have been enjoyed doing these. This will probably be the last set because the primroses are dying. Oh well.

Combo

I made some changes to the second found source collage of Pumpkin. I added painted paper. Now I would call this a "combo" piece. It combines the found source and painted paper collage. I thank everyone for their feedback. As a result of that feedback and a lot of thought - I made these changes. Let me know what you think.
It's approximately 8 x 9 inches (including the tail).

Strange and Stranger

My studio time was spent experimenting. I made another small gouachy of the primroses. And, a corresponding ppc version.

I also made two collages of Pumpkin - our cat. The 'found' source was the April 2009 edition of ArtNews. The first began on blue painted paper. I cut out the shape of the cat's body out of a reproduction of a painting by an abstract expressionist painting. There was a reproduction of a painting by Picasso on the reverse side of the page. When I turned over the cutout cat body, I saw the shape in reverse made from the Picasso. At this point I had already placed Pumpkin's face on the paper and given her eyes (cut from a repro of a Sargent portrait) facing the original direction. I decided to use the Picasso side anyway and the body is therefore disjuntive. I put a Burchfield painting in as the rippled blanket - but then added it as the space around the window? And, then put a picture of a big white horse sculpture out the window. It is strange - but somehow I like it.

I decided to make another run at the idea. This Pumpkin is made from a Sargent portrait and her face from an African ceramic. I put the rest of the image of the African ceramics behind the cat. The people on the right are from an ad for travel to Spain. The folded arms come from a picture of an Indian artist and echoes the figure used for the cat's body. The tale ends in the face of the Sargent portrait. Another Sargent portrait was place behind the Spanish tourists. She is missing her eyes because they were used in the first Pumkin collage. This one's eyes are from a repro of the famous Fairey poster of Obama. For some reason I like the first one better. It has less rhyme or reason, but just works better. I have no idea what it means.

Primroses

I got a little potted primrose in the flower district. I wanted pansies, but you had to buy a whole tray. I just wanted one plant - so the primroses. First I made the gouachies. (This is a term I made up - it is for a gouache painting that is washy.) Then, I make a PPC (painted paper collage) version using the gouache version as the drawing. The first two - are about 12 x 12 inches. (I was trying to work a little larger. The next two are about 6 x 5 inches. These I made after seeing the Bonnard watercolors. They are small and they are great. So, why fight it?

Beautiful Day at the Cloisters

Yesterday was soooo gorgeous. Richard and I went to the Cloisters. It was unseasonably warm - as the say - about 75 degrees and sunny. We packed a picnic of cheese, prosciutto, bread, fruit, and wine.

I went into the Cloisters because I just love it there, while Richard stayed outside to draw. It was really crowded inside but I still managed to do some drawing.
I'm thinking about Pietas. The Cloisters has several.


Then we went to the Met to say good bye to the Bonnard exhibition which closes today. (Bonnard is one of Richard's favorites.) I was not really aware of his watercolor and guoaches. These are quite wonderful. I fell in love with them. I found this image of one posted on http://www.thecityreview.com/bonnard09.html


It's quite small. But, there is so much going on in that small space. Like all of his work - it is very tenderly made.

New Work

I have been getting a new set of Veil Cards together. Here are the most recent ones:

1. Eve (after Antwerp Master after Durer after Botticcelli ...)
2. Myself as Madonna (after Charonton)- [this is experimental]
3. St. Denis
4. The Dutch Bride (after Petrus Christus)

Experimentation: Found Source Collages

While my recent exhibition was still up, I was experimenting with found sources. These are junk mail, fliers, and magazines that I found in the laundry room. (In our laundry room there is a bookshelf where you can put books and magazines that you don't want anymore. And, they are free for anyone to take.) This first one is a still live of an apple, baby cup, and vase. It was made out of the December mailer from the Rubin Museum of Art. I loved using all the patterns.
This is "The Virgin & Child (after the Gerhard David workshop)." I made it from a magazine called "Brio" which I found in the laundry room. This magazine is for teenage Christian girls. It talks a lot about how to "save" yourself for marriage. It's kind of like a Christian Seventeen magazine.

This is "Portrait of a Lady (after Van der Wieden)" which is made from the March 2008 brochure of the Red Dot Fair in NYC. I am using reproductions of contemporary art to re-interpret a 15th century painting.
This last one is the biggest - it's 10 1/2 x 8 inches. It is based on the same Virgin and Child painting as the one above. This is made from the March 2009 Vogue magazine.

My Studio Space in Brooklyn

Here is my studio space in Brooklyn. I share it with Richard (my husband). On the top you can see the entrance and his still life set up and one of his paintings on the wall. The second photo is my little corner of working space. That's my messy work table and a few pieces in progress pinned to the wall. It was a gloomy rainy day - so I had the light on. Normally, there is plenty of sunlight - since we have 2 walls of windows.

I also have a work table in the living room. I'll post photos of that space at another time. I was working solely at home, but I found that I needed some alone time and space. So, I went back to going to Brooklyn. It is better. The light is better and there are less distractions - if you don't mind the traffic and construction noise. But, after a while you don't really hear that. I like working there.