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Earth Measure Blues series (2010-12), oil on linen, either 36×24 in. or 45×30 in.
For more about these paintings: Artist’s Statement.
I am very pleased to announce that one of my Earth Measure Blues paintings (number 12 in the series) has been accepted into an exhibit at the Albuquerque contemporary artspace 516 ARTS, with the opening from 6-8 p.m. on Saturday, February 4, 2012. The exhibit will be on display through April 28, 2012.
The highly selective show, called “New Mexico Showcase,” was juried by guest juror Peter Frank, an acclaimed curator and art critic based in Los Angeles. Mr Frank is currently Associate Editor of Fabrik magazine and art critic for The Huffington Post.
If you don’t know 516 ARTS, it is a great venue: an independent nonprofit which is a hybrid between a gallery and a museum, with a beautiful two-story space in downtown Albuquerque. Info: 516 Central Ave. SW (between 5th and 6th Streets); www.516arts.org; 505-242-1445.
A roomful of my new Earth Measure Blues paintings will be shown at the Fisher Press in Santa Fe in an exhibit opening on Friday, Sept. 30, 2011, from 5 to 8 p.m.
If you can’t make the opening, please drop by the following day, Saturday, Oct. 1, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.–I expect to be there for most of that time.
The show will be up until Nov. 5 and runs concurrently at the Press with the “Don Roach Memorial Show.” For the first two weeks after the reception, the gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. After that, the gallery is open by appointment.
The Fisher Press is at 307 Camino Alire, Santa Fe, between Agua Fria and West Alameda and next to the Desert Academy. Gallery info: www.thefisherpress.com, 505.984.9919, email: fisherpress@comcast.net
I am showing at New Concept Gallery in a group show that opens Friday, May 6. The gallery is at 610 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, and the reception is from 5-7 p.m. This will be a great chance to see more of my new Earth Measure Blues series of oil paintings, as well as the fine work of the other members of Catalyst Arts Santa Fe.
“Catalyst: Ten Artists’ Work” showcases the work of a diverse group of mid-career Santa Fe women artists. We meet twice a month and see ourselves as part of a long tradition of New Mexico artists coming together to exhibit their art. (The Taos Society of Artists, in the early 20th century, was only the first of a number of influential artist groups–including Los Cinco Pintores, the New Mexico Painters, the Transcendental Painting Group, and the Taos Moderns–which have given New Mexico its place in American art history.)
Our group includes painters, sculptors, digital artists, a book artist, and a photographer. The other members of Catalyst Arts Santa Fe are Carol Sky, Clare Lighton, Joyce Dant, Leah Siegel, Marna McKenzie, Nancy Udel, Pamela Frankel Fiedler, Rosa Silbert, and Susan Herdman. (More information about the group is available at www.CatalystSantaFe.com. The gallery’s website is www.NewConceptGallery.com.)
A diptych from the Earth Measure Blues series is being shown for the first time at Santa Fe’s Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA), as part of “18 Days,” an exhibit of contemporary art by New Mexico women artists. The Gala Opening is Friday, February 11, from 5:30–8 p.m. Cosponsored by CCA and the New Mexico Committee for Women in the Arts, “18 Days” also features films, performances, readings and more. The show runs through March 20; check CCA’s website for hours and other information: www.ccasantafe.org
"Eldorado Blues" collages, 6 of 100 total, each collage: 6 x 4 in.
In the last several months, I have created 100 small collages, using reject inkjet prints that were the byproduct of making a new portfolio last winter. I am such a maniac about accurate color that I ended up with a stack six inches high of prints whose color wasn’t quite right. I didn’t want to throw them out–too much money in ink and photo paper–so I just tucked them away, figuring I’d use them somehow.
Then came a weekend when I had a cold, which was the perfect time to sit around and make collages out of those rejected prints. Creating the collages turned out to be like eating popcorn–so addictive that I didn’t stop until I had 100. The collages related closely to my earlier multipanel paintings (they are literally made out of parts of those recent series), but they definitely have their own presence. In fact, the collages look like they ought to be much bigger than 4 x 6 inches.
So I am now creating a series of larger oil paintings (36×24 or 45×30 inches) based on the collages. I am really enjoying working on stretched portrait linen on an easel, after almost five years of working flat on a drawing table, on panels or paper. I’m starting my sixth canvas in this series, which I see as a companion to the multipanel works. I don’t feel like I’m done exploring the terrain of almost-the-same-but-not-quite, though. Some of the new paintings seem to be crying out for near-identical siblings, which they will get eventually.
I’m tentatively calling the series “Eldorado Blues,”because I live in a community called Eldorado, near Santa Fe, New Mexico, and because the collages explore the color blue more intensively than any of my other work. (I was really fascinated by Matisse’s blues when we went to Chicago last May to see a big Matisse show at the Art Institute.) When the new work is dry enough to take to the photographer, I’ll post photos. In the meantime, the collage images above will give you an idea of the energy currently filling my studio.
Black Chord, my most recent multipanel work, consists of seven horizontal panels measuring 16×20 in. The three previous Modular Rhythms series used 14×11 in. vertical panels; it’s amazing how even such a small change of scale creates different painting problems. It was interesting to give the color black such a large role. (Like my hero Matisse, I have always used black as a color…) Click on the photo to see more images.
Last week I had the interesting experience of seeing myself in the rough cut of a video documentary called Invitation to the Muse, by producer/director Karen Cantor. Karen’s challenge was to find visual ways to explore inspiration and the artist’s process, and she did it very creatively. About 10 other Santa Fe artists, including writers and musicians, also participated.
The screening was at the Santa Fe Art Institute, where Karen has been an artist in residence for the last three months. Based in the Washington, D.C. area, Karen has produced and directed two other documentaries that have been shown on PBS stations: the award-winning video The Danish Solution: The Rescue of the Jews in Denmark, narrated by Garrison Keillor, and Last Rights: Facing End-of-Life Choices. Of course, two hours of taping boiled down to a very short scene in the rough cut, and there’s still a chance I’ll end up on the digital equivalent of the cutting room floor.
Part of my color pile, which I use in my work (and teaching), is shown in the video
Back in April, when Karen and her videographer Matt came to my studio, I was afraid that I would be awkward and self-conscious in front of the camera. But I really enjoyed the videotaping process.
But participating in Karen’s project made me articulate my process in ways I don’t usually do, and made me realize that my muse is really color–for me, there’s no such thing as an ugly color. (Color combinations can be ugly, but that’s different.) The completed documentary should be shown in Santa Fe this autumn, and I’ll post information on screenings.
My latest multipanel series–Earth Red Field–will be exhibited in a group show at Linda Durham Contemporary Art is Santa Fe beginning next week. The exhibit, called “The Wonder Salon,” opens on Saturday, November 21, 2009, with an all-day reception with the artists and runs through January 4, 2010.
"Earth Red Field," 12 panels of 20 total, oil on board, each panel: 14x11x1 in.
Earth Red Field, which consists of 20 panels, is the latest of my large multipanel series in which every panel is just a little different in composition and color from every other panel. I don’t think Donald Judd would like my paintings, but his installation of 100 milled aluminum boxes in Marfa, Texas, provided the jumping-off point for these works.
In addition to my new work, “The Wonder Salon” features the creations of a diverse group of Santa Fe women artists: Lynda F. Braun, Marina Brownlow, Rachel Darnell, Anne Farrell, Shaun Gilmore, Sondra Goodwin, Barbara Ingram, Jennifer Joseph, Joanne Lefrak, and Patricia Pierce. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm. The gallery is at 1807 Second St. #107, Santa Fe, NM; 505.466.6600; www.lindadurham.com I hope you can come by and see my work in Linda’s beautiful new space.
(Photo: Sean McGarrity)
I’m now working on my third multipanel series, which I call Earth Red Field. Like Blue Gate and Orange Arc, it’s oil on 14×11 in. panels, and right now I’m planning on 20 panels total. As in the two earlier series, each panel will be a little different in composition and color from every other panel.
It took me quite a while to settle on the right composition and colors. I did around 20 small studies in gouache on Claybord or heavy watercolor paper before I finally developed a design that I love. (If I don’t love it, there’s no way I’ll be able to paint it over and over again!) Some of the studies, which are 8×10 in., may end up in future paintings. But I needed something that would continue the feeling of the first two series, and persistence paid off–I finally found it.
Along the way, I rediscovered how much I like working in gouache (opaque watercolor). For me, gouache is the medium closest to oil–you can paint light over dark, unlike watercolor, and it dries matte, unlike acrylic. I used to do a lot of work in gouache but haven’t for years.
For artists: I’ll put in a plug here for M. Graham gouache: it has a luscious feel, stays wet on the palette for quite a while, even in dry New Mexico climate, and rewets well. The manufacturer says it contains honey rather than sweeteners like corn syrup that are in other brands of gouache, and I’ll believe it (though I don’t intend to taste test). The line is oriented to artists rather than designers, so it uses lightfast pigments and omits the beautiful but fugitive colors of many other brands of gouache. M. Graham is a small artists’ paint manufacturer in West Linn, Oregon; their paints are pretty widely available both in stores and online.
As soon as some panels are dry enough to photograph, I’ll post them on this blog.
