BANG TIME!

It's time for BANG* - the annual small works show at 1978 Maplewood Arts Center...

The artsy show with the bawdy name is back! 

Saturday & Sundays, December 3rd & 4th and 10th & 11th         

11 AM - 5 PM each day.

 

This year there are over 45 artists, hundreds of works of art - small and affordably priced for holiday giving. 

Or, even better, you can be just like Herb and Dorothy and start or embellish your own collection with artwork from local and regional artists. 

I have a few Strange Tales and encaustics on display, as well as prints of the large scale drawings. 

Some of my favorite pieces from local artists this year include Maya Bloom's lovely jewelry made of seeds and pods, as well as her Beads of Peace necklaces:

Jo Bradney has prints and notecards of the pink donuts painting, Sugar Spiral (the original of which is also on display, and a painting that I adore and want, but I am just not sure about living with a work of art that makes me want to lick icing...)

Suzanne Henning has a great selection of embellished prints:

And, there is the local treasure, ceramicist/painter Phyllis Carlin...I have my eye on Stravinsky Immersed In The Creation of Spring:

Drop by, say hello, enjoy the hot mulled cider, and, better yet, avoid the mall and support local artists and 1978!

*Bawdy?  absolutely...and, just because someone complained several years ago and insisted on changing the name, I now refuse to - so BANG it is! 

Limitations

I found a rather timely little message in my fortune cookie this week:

Perhaps I find it so timely because I am not letting a little matter such as a size limitation get in my way: the current drawing in progress needed to be big, so it is big.  I will deal with the problem of framing a 4 x 6 foot drawing later…

Plus there is my upcoming project, the beginning of which is simultaneously in progress with the big drawing (well past the planning and sketching into the gathering and preparing materials stage).  This new project revolves around creating artwork with subject matter illicit enough that it gave me a momentary pause over whether or not I could post the completed artworks on my website (I will - with a little disclaimer, of course). 

I have had this new project on the backburner for nearly four years and then along came an exhibition opportunity that gloriously lifted my own self-imposed limitations, leaving me to wonder why I had set the idea aside in the first place.  Perhaps it is one of those curious things having to do with timing and waiting for the perfect moment for all of the separate parts to fall into place; regardless I could not be more energized about the new endeavor.  I know that I am being cryptic, but this little embryo of inspiration has moved out of the freezer and matured into the toddler stage, and yet it is still too delicate to discuss outside the studio.

And, speaking of limitations – in this case the limitations of media - I am still beading paper.  This paper is black Stonehenge - a gorgeous printmaking paper which has a surface that is ideal for pastel and colored pencil (for this drawing I have used graphite and silver colored pencil).  I reinforced the back of the paper with archival black linen tape (usually sold with the bookbinding materials) so the paper is tear-proof (hopefully) and I am currently beading away….here are some close up shots:

Still drawing...

Yep, still drawing....

Actually, this photo was taken a month ago - the background is now covered in pencil. I am currently beading/stitching the collage elements. 

To keep this 4 x 6 foot drawing from being too overwhelming, I did a couple of little pieces over the past week to appease the Pre-Raphaelite, fairie, Arthur Rackham-loving side of my personality.  Frankly, I needed a break from the big one; I have found that too much time on one piece can make it hard to make objective decisions.  I started the drawings for these little ones a couple of months ago (mentally started them much earlier, as I spent most of the summer with one eye to the ground, gathering four-leaf clovers).

The first is The Luckiest Girl - encaustic, drawing, four-leaf clover on board:

and here is a detail:

and the second is as of yet untitled -encaustic, drawing, butterfly wings, pressed columbine:

and here is a detail:

Now...back to beading, stitching, beading...

"Counterparts" Fall Art Salon

I have four drawings on display in Alfa Art Gallery's New Brunswick Art Salon "Counterparts". 

From the gallery's press release:

“Counterparts” is an exhibition that highlights the collaboration of opposites. Contained in this collection of works is a variety of contrasting elements that complement each other:  representational with abstract pieces, conversations from past to present, narratives from experienced to imagined and styles that are dynamic and tranquil. Featuring Ellen Weisbord, Jamie Greenfield, Lisa Pressman, Nilufer Ozturk, Sarah Petruziello and Theodosia Tamborlane, this exhibition, varied in style and medium, demonstrates an extensive scope of aesthetic sensibility, where concept is executed into art from different viewpoints, and brings together an explosive showcase of cooperative diversity.

Opening Reception:     Friday, October 21st   6:30 - 10:30 PM

Exhibition Dates: October 21 – November 10, 2011

Alfa Art is located in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Directions are here.