catalina viejo

letter to mama y papa, collage, 10 3/4 x 8 1/4, 2008, letter to god, collage, 10 3/4 x 8 1/4, 2008, letter to hans hoffman, collage, 10 3/4 x 8 1/4, 2008, letter to barack obama, collage, 10 3/4 x 8 1/4, 2009, letter to summer, collage, 10 3/4 x 8 1/4, 2008, letter to a poet, collage, 10 3/4 x 8 1/4, 2008

catalina viejo's colorful correspondence...

Literal words are turned into shapes of color, and specific palettes and structures arrive in each letter. It is exciting to see the finished letter, not only as a form of communicating to the specific person or thing, but it is interesting how the letter also becomes a portrait of the person or thing itself.

books i love: pieces of a pattern

i love sketchbooks because they give me a peek into the workings of the artist's mind--the work itself holds a secret to decipher and the sketchbook just tells you the secret without anything else getting in the way. pieces of a pattern-lacroix by lacroix is an older book (1997) that i found in great condition in a used book store. even though it's paperback, it's a heavy book with glossy pages filled with inspiration and images of lacroix's actual sketchbooks.

Amanda Wojick

swimming hole, 2005, 11.5 x 16 x 12, ink, gesso, foam, paint, wood, nails, distant orange cliff, 2005, 5 x 5 x 3 inches, gesso on foam, wallpaper, ink, bandaids, nails, gel medium, picnic at hanging rock and detail, 2005, 10 x 7 x 7 inches, paint, ink, nails, bandaids, foam, gesso, medium chevron cliff, 2005, 21.5 x 21 x 12.5 inches, ink, gesso, foam, nails, paper, paint, green cliff and detail, 2003, 35 x 18 x 53 inches, paper paint chips, striping tape, nails, foam, wood, enamel paint, mirror

amanda wojick's whimsical sculptures suggest architectural models, overcrowded landscapes, extreme terraces--complex structures that are almost functional, but become precarious because of their excessive extravagance. make sure you check out her fabulous drawings, too.

judy pfaff

New Morning, 2008, Perforated/burnt bond and Crown Kozo paper, silk flowers, coffee filters, wire, 91 x 91, The thing with feathers, 2008, Burnt/folded and perforated Crown Kozo paper, ink, dyed coffee filters, found images, silk flowers, binding wire, pressed fauna, framed: 96 x 96, Koyna, 2008, Layered/cut paper, Joss paper, found images, ink, wire, artificial flowers, wire, Crown Kozo paper, umbrella parts, framed: 94 1/2 x 94 1/2, Untitled, 2007, Layered perforated paper, found images, ink, acrylic paint, framed: 18 1/4 x 23 1/4, Untitled #37, 2007, Ink, found images, acrylic paint, framed: 18 1/4 x 23 1/4

i'm sure judy pfaff needs no introduction to this art savvy crowd. i'm blown away by her monumental installations and what attracts me to them is not just her uncanny affinity for putting materials together, but the fact that she does it in such a way that makes perfect compositional sense. i marvel at her collages for the same reason.

divas & iron chefs

(show postcard), lorraine glessner, 2007, nexus series of 20 panels, 12x12 each panel, reni gower, divot, 2006, encaustic, collage on panel, 15 x 18½, timothy mcdowell, hidden valley, 2008, pigment on beeswax on panel, 36x44, peter dykhuis, may 7 22:55Z (YHZ Series #1), 1999, encaustic, enamel on 6 panels, 36 x 36, kristy deetz, song of sorrow, oil and encaustic on wood, 40x66x2, joanne mattera, ciel rouge, encaustic on four panels, 48x67, 2006, cheryl goldsleger, reveal, 2006, wax, oil, pigment, wood on linen, 40 x 40, heather harvey, i've seen where the rest of me is going, wax, plaster, spackling, fiberglass, gouache, 12.5x11.5x6.5, 2008, jeffrey hirst, water, land and sky, encaustic, collage on panel

i'm part of a group called the divas and iron chefs of encaustic and as you've guessed, we're all artists who work in the medium of encaustic. the group was organized by reni gower, a professor in the painting and printmaking department at vcu. we originally met as a group at secac where we spoke on a panel, completed a workshop and had an exhibition. since then, we've done panels, workshops and exhibitions at caa and six other venues. i've really grown to enjoy my little encaustic family and look forward to our next meeting together. although we won't be getting together for this show, reni will be giving a talk at the stanier gallery at washington and lee university on april 22 at 6 pm and the show runs from april 20-may 15.

members of the group are me, kristy deetz, peter dykhuis, cheryl goldsleger, reni gower, heather harvey, jeffrey hirst, timothy mcdowell. joanne mattera and richard furness of r&f paints have joined us on panels.

allyn cantor

red canyon, pieced and assemble fabric, embroidery, collage, 18x18x1.5, water under the bridge, pieced and assembled fabric, cast resin with pigment inset, rivets, collage, 22x26x1.5, resonant order, pieced and assembled fabric, embroidery, oil paint, collage, 12x12x1.5, elusive boundaries, pieced and assembled fabric oil paint, collage, 14x14x1.5, translucent sky, pieced and assembled fabric, stretched and primed, oil paint, collage, 14x14x1.5, harmony, pieced and assembled fabric, embroidery, collage 18x18x1.5

i'm a map person--i love the lines, dots, marks, shapes, colors, symbols, everything--i'm fascinated with the language, the 'reading' of a place. these simple fabric assemblages by allyn cantor create a mapped language of their own...

I am attracted to the rough edges of fabric remnants and how tactile material responds to liquid creating movement and gesture. The aspect of piecing reclaimed materials together reminds me of Depression era quilts where it was a necessary act, and had an element of survival. I feel that need now in our society’s standards of excess. Reclaimed fabrics also contain traces of life that has been lived, so their history feels warmly familiar, like discovering an anonymous person or lost occasion.

studio visit: colleen mccubbin stepanic

i went to my friend colleen mccubbin stepanic's awesomely crazy studio to see her fabulous new work--large paintings on canvas that are painstakingly cut in patterns, sewn together and repainted. the layers of marks, paint, form and process suggest time narratives relevant to the maker, yet speak poetically to the viewer as well. visit colleen's web site to see more of her great work and also visit her inspiring blog.