Tuesday, August 31, 2010

garrett pruter



asylum 9, 2009, graphite, acrylic paint, and collage, 20 x 30.5, asylum 6, 2009, graphite, ballpoint pen, ink, acrylic paint, and collage, 14.5 x 20, asylum 7, 2009, graphite, ballpoint pen, ink, and collage, 16.5 x 11, asylum 2, 2009, graphite, acrylic paint, and collage, 13.5 x 20

fun, engaging collages via artist friend, brenda howell...see more here.

Monday, August 30, 2010

john dempcy



migration, 2010, acrylic on panel, 36x36, garden of earthly delights, 2010, acrylic on panel, 36x36, epoch, 2010, acrylic on panel, 30x40

the link to this artist's work was sent to me by artist, former student and friend, jane tracy and i'm so thankful to her for introducing me to this delightful work...see more here.

Friday, August 27, 2010

matthew cusick



Course of Empire (Mixmaster II), 2006, Maps and acrylic on wood panel, 48 x 77, Fiona's Wave, 2006, Maps on wood panel, 48 x 77, Many Rivers, 2009, Maps and acrylic on wood panel, 48 x 77

utilizing the thing to interpret the thing that the thing interprets...amazing work...see more here.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

val britton



the unknown extra dimension, 2009, ink, collage, graphite, gouache, and cut-out paper, 72 x 96
, northern flight, 2010, ink, graphite, collage, and cut-out paper, 52 x 60, extended macro universe, 2008, ink, gouache, graphite, collage, and cut-out on paper, 71 x 97

i've recently been delving back into my lifelong obsession with maps and just finished reading the book you are here by katherine harmon and it's just amazing how many kinds of functional maps one can draw as well as how many ways artists can interpret the map form. i love the way this artist begins with personal remembrance as a starting point for a map...see more here.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

jovan karlo villalba



the ash, 2007, oil on steel, 14x47, beginning at the waters edge, 2010, oil on stainless steel, 24x24, the lot, 2006, oil on steel, 14x47

absolutely stunning...i need to stand in front of these paintings...see more here.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

rosalie dace



awake my soul, Commercial and hand-dyed cotton, silk, sheers, Machine pieced, machine and hand appliquéd, machine quilted, 106cm x 119cm, journeys 1, finding the way, Hand-dyed and commercial cotton, silk, velvet, synthetics, Machine and hand pieced and appliquéd, machine quilted, journeys 2, are we there yet?, Hand-dyed and commercial cotton, silk, damask, synthetics, sheers, Machine and hand pieced, machine quilted, hand embroidered, journeys 4, night flight, Commercial and hand-dyed cotton, silk, taffeta, brocade and velvet, Machine and hand pieced and appliquéd, machine quilted

there's just something about these quilts that sets them apart from the rest-the color palette and compositions are so sophisticated-she's definitely painting with fabric...see more here.

Monday, August 23, 2010

irina zaytceva




last day of summer, Porcelain, 9 1/2 x 7 x 3, emerging through, Porcelain, 9 x 8 1/4 x 5, bull dog tea pot, Handbuilt porcelain, overglaze painting, 24k gold luster, 8 x 8 x 6, avian conjurer, Porcelain, 12 1/2 x 6 x 5, bird lovers cup, Handbuilt porcelain, overglaze painting, 24k gold luster, 6 1/2 x 3 1/2 x 2 1/2

strangely mysterious, a tad unnerving, exquisitely beautiful...see more here.

Friday, August 20, 2010

lauren rosenthal




Delaware River Anatomy detail, 2008, hand-cut watercolor paper, wood, paint, Lehigh River Watershed, 2008, hand-cut watercolor paper, 16 x 12, Lackawaxen River Watershed, 2008, hand-cut watercolor paper, 12 x 8, Raritan River Watershed, 2008, hand-cut watercolor paper 11 x 20

more cut paper marvels...see more here.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

jennifer hunold





Dream Home Sweet Home (Mature Landscape), detail, Dream Home Sweet Home (Mature Landscape), 2009-2010, Hand embroidery on cloth, 26 x 20, Daily Journaling Project, 2008-2009, Embroidery floss on linen, 54 x 36, Dream Home Sweet Home (Renovated warehouse with 2 artist studios and loft), 2009, Embroidery floss on cloth, 18 x 24, Daily Journaling Project, detail

i can't get enough of stitched drawings...see more here.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

robert greene



scott, 2010, oil on paper mounted on aluminum, 48x72, lapa, 2006, oil on paper mounted on aluminum, 60x60, evie, 2010, oil on paper mounted on aluminum, 48x72

simple, sublime shifts...see more here.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Raymond Saunders




Untitled, 2009-2010, mixed media on wood, 48x75, Untitled, 2009-2010, mixed media on wood, 48x48, Untitled, 2009-2010, mixed media on wood, 48x48

lovely, enigmatic, velvet black...see more here.

Monday, August 16, 2010

beverly fishman



Dividose: P.B.Y.R., 2006/07 (detail), Silkscreened vinyl and collage on powder-coated metal, three panels, 53x84, Untitled (Kandyland Series), 2009, Acrylic and enamel on polished stainless steel, 26 x 18, Untitled (Kandyland Series), 2009-2010, Acrylic and enamel on polished stainless steel, 26 x 18, Dividose: redyelblu, 2008, Silkscreened on polished stainless steel, two panels, 47x72

ooo, it's definitely candy for the eyes...sticky sweet color...see more here.

Friday, August 13, 2010

what i'm working on




yellow flower bridge (and two details), 2010, found fabric, found papers, plastic, faux fur, encaustic, gouache and graphite on mylar, wire, thread, machine sewn, 45x27x1.5, little landscapes (and detail), 2010, encaustic monoprints, paper, sewn, 30x24, profound lucidity (and detail), 2010, encaustic, horse and human hair, mixed media on composted and branded silk on wood, 36x36x1.5

after a crazy june of traveling, teaching and conferencing, i had a july without obligations that i spent gardening, reading, writing and of course, making work. i wasn't in the studio as much as i had would have liked simply because it's been extraordinarily blazing hot here in philly and having a third floor, non-air conditioned attic space studio doesn't help things. but i got used to it and made work anyway.

the first piece at the top is a continuation of those smaller sewn drawings i had posted a few months ago (see this post). i've done a few more of these, but have yet to photograph them. these pieces are now much larger than the first ones and i'm thinking of them more and more as maps--translations of urban landscape in the way that everything relates to the grid and how the rows of boxes that make up the grid relate to one another one after the next and how this begins to form a narrative of sorts. these pieces are fun for me and in no way are they resolved, but i feel i'm heading somewhere with them.

the next piece is a collaborative effort between me and my encaustic workshop students from the two introductory sessions i taught at the society for contemporary craft in june (see this and this post about these workshops). along with most of us, art centers are struggling financially these days and because of this i like to give back a little help to those who have hired me to teach. i asked each of the students if they would donate an encaustic monoprint on paper toward this project and they were so generous to do so!! i didn't know what i was going to make, but i knew it was going to be sewn in a quilt form. i cut the monoprints into little rectangular pieces, laid them on top of some decorative translucent paper i had, then covered them with more of the same paper. i then carefully ironed the pieces to the paper to keep them in place and sewed around each of them. it was so easy and it came out pretty good! i titled it "little landscapes" (because that's what the monoprints look like to me) and it will be auctioned off in december at the scc in pittsburgh. the participating artists in this collaboration were: charlotte toal, john skrabalak, linda dieringer, monica zettler-segal, michelle maroni, elaine morris, joyce ross, christine fondi, martha skarlinski, rhoda taylor and robert villamagna.

the last piece is part of my new encaustic series called rows, which stems from the same ideas i'm playing with in the sewn pieces (see this and this post for some work from this series and the rows portfolio on my web site here). while the sewn pieces are inspired from the idea of the grid, maps and the graphic nature of these things, the rows pieces are inspired by the facades of the row homes which i've intensely photographed over the past year and a half. (see this, this and this post for some of these photographs). my encaustic work in the rows series is more textured, more painterly, but still extremely layered. i've employed a build up technique where the wax is dry brushed onto a texture so that it clings to that texture. i'm also using more transfer paper drawing, incising and scraping, less color and meticulous-ness. i like this new approach and i like this new piece. the rows series is part of my solo show in november at watchung arts center.