CONSIDERING CORVIDAE OPENING NIGHT

I was so delighted to be a part of this show, honoring the existence of the Crovidae family which is wide in it's variety of birds and covers so much range of our beautiful planet.  

I was unable to attend the opening to the CONSIDERING CORVIDAE exhibit at Bainbridge Arts & Crafts Gallery so I missed the pleasure of visiting with the other artists and attending gallery patrons. The upside is, through various correspondence with me, one of my collectors expressed she had interest in the piece I used in my show announcement (see previous post).  On Thursday morning I delivered my 4 pieces and shared with the staff about the interest in the piece and asked if the gallery would hold it till she could come over from Seattle to see it in person Friday afternoon. Graciously all the stars aligned as she was able to get there moments prior to the opening. It all turned out well for everyone as it seems the piece spoke to her and she is now the new guardian of CORVUS ENVY, pictured below. Thank you so much C.A.

CORVUS ENVY

PRECIOUS
  

PRECIOUS suggests this mischievous act when light reflected on these treasured items enhances the culprits chances of further irresistible appropriations. The title also comes from the perspective that the diversity of our natural world is precious, special and is of great importance to protect. Photo was taken prior to framing.

DREAMS OF FLIGHT

DREAMS OF FLIGHT - Again as I mentioned with the PRECIOUS piece, I often wish I had the ability to fly like our world of birds do, so since I haven't yet mastered that quality I created this piece, DREAMS OF FLIGHT, with that notion in mind. 

IDENTITY THEFT

IDENTITY THEFT - Stellar Jays love to vocally mimic other birds and are quite talented at it. In this piece a Jay is steeling the visual identity of a Raven assuming it may give it more muscle or authority and maybe even tone down the rather unsavory conduct and silence piercing calls it seems so proud to demonstrate. 

I revel in watching these savvy feathered friends with their intrigue and humorous behavior. I am also entranced by their remarkable intelligence and impressed with their genius and mastery of tasks.  This particular species of birds is one of my favored subjects in my work. One of my best-loved sounds of nature is when I am out in my woods and I hear the whu-whu-whu of a raven pushing air against it's wings, breaking the silence the moment it passes over me...what a gift!

In most, if not all, my 3 dimensional pieces, the achievement of depth is my goal. Cutting out my painted illustrations, positioning and extending them  through the matt opening and over the matt, thus overlapping them, brings the subjects a bit closer to the viewer to create curiosity and pique interest…I want the animal or person to come out of the space, off the background surface so as to appear more alive rather than exist on one plane.

Thanks so much to all of you for coming back to view more of my work and read my musings. Your interest is very much appreciated.

Stay tuned to see what may come out of the imagination next.

Also, be sure to click on each image to see it in a larger format.

MORE BIRDS OF A FEATHER

In this photo I am shown sitting with the three fellow accomplished artist-friends I exhibited with in BIRDS OF A FEATHER as we shared our artistic backgrounds, approaches and techniques. The Artist Talk, which took place on a Sunday afternoon, was part of the education process Northwind Art Center provides the community. We each expressed our artistic experiences with some of our insights and methodology on one or more of the pieces we were displaying. I expounded on the piece in a previous post, DREAMS OF FLIGHT, as well as the other previously pieces you can see if you scroll down. During the presentation there were inquisitive questions from the attendees which allowed for more revelation of our work. One of the participants was Ned Schumann, founder of one of our oldest local Internet Service Providers on the Olympic Peninsula, OlympusNet, which started in 1993. He was filming the event and also took this photo (above) of us while we spoke. We are, from left to right: Kate Snow, Ellen Reichart, me and Rae Belkin. I will be posting other shots he captured of my work from this exhibit at a later date. Stay tuned. Remember to enlarge the image, click on the photo.

DREAMS OF FLIGHT

Layering has always been an intricate part of my work. I like the idea of creating depth. Then within the story that unfolds comes the creation of intrigue. This piece is a bit unusual for me as I do not typically do people. But I was wanting to do a piece that depicted a person wearing a bird mask, but once I had this female image complete I did not want to cover up her dreamlike gaze. So, where do I move with it? I then thought a kite with a bird placed on it might be fun way to add some movement to the contemplative stillness of the woman. I have been using the matte as an extension of the working format and I am really liking the results and how it plays into the whole of the concept. The idea of the wings on the woman came at the end and with the dreamy trance she took on, then, of course, the title was birthed . . . DREAMS OF FLIGHT. Haven't we all, at some time or other, thought of being able to fly? I know I have. I so often imagine what it might be like to sore high on the winds, travel where and as I wish, seeing the Earth below and distances far off. Perhaps the next life has this in store for me.

This photo was actually taken before I got the piece settled into a frame, as you can see the shadow at the top of the matte is a little distorted. This was also part of BIRDS OF A FEATHER show at Northwind Art Center, Port Townsend, that is still on exhibit through Aug. 1. Remember to click on the image for a larger view of it.