Tuscan Landscapes

Last autumn, after a wonderful trip hiking in Tuscany, I came home and began work on a series celebrating the fantastic furrowed fields of the area. I loved the irregular patterns created by plows over the hilly terrain. Because it was September the crops had been harvested and interesting stubble accentuated the curving lines.

I began experimenting with a heavy coat of gesso on board. Using small sticks and other implements I traced the imagined patterns into the wet gesso, then applied many coats of acrylic paint. Soon it was time to leave for Australia and I abandoned the work, feeling that it would be easier to figure out the next steps toward resolution when I returned in the spring.

I've been looking at the boards for months and decided that at last I would resume work. And they seem to be coming along. Some of the problems have been solved, others still await my attention. But it's been really interesting to return to this project and I'm curious to see how it will evolve.

Here are several pieces that seem to be working. My intention is to continue with others and see where they lead me!

Three Kirigami Mandalas

Love Daisy

Cynthia Emerlye: I'm getting behind in my displaying of new kirigami. Here are a few I've cut in the past three days (besides the ones I've already shown.) I will be laminating today, so some of these will be available on Etsy in a day or so. The Chandler Gallery is having a holiday Bazaar in December. Some of my kirigami will be displayed there as well.

Sounding Angels

Waving Friends

On the Wall at the Norwich Library

Being an artist is so much more than form, color, design, execution, editing, framing, matting, stretching, pricing, hanging, selling, etc....it also involves dealing people, coordination, face-time at the computer, etc.

Charles and I arrived at 10:30 to hang the show at the Norwich Library, in Norwich, Vermont, and because of a mix-up we couldn't get in until 1 and we had to be out by 3 on the dot. Two stomach wrenching hours of fiddling with fishing line and hooks we managed to get everything up.

Today, I will spend a couple of hours at the computer to create labels, a price list, etc. and the go back to finish setting things in place for the opening reception, Friday, November 6, from 5 to 7.

I'm looking forward to seeing all of you there. The show will be up until the end of December so if you can't make it to the opening I hope you will have time to stop by and see it. - Carol Egbert

Blind Love

This past week I worked on a piece to send to my daughter Liz for her new apartment. She needed something to cover a green wall that seemed a big overwhelming, so the work had to be large, neutral in color, and something I could easily send.

I decided to paint on a length of an old bamboo blind that I had started to work on a couple of years ago. It never seemed to go anywhere, so I was happy to cut it into a manageable 3 by 4 foot size and begin again. I continued to use acrylic paint and also integrated some interesting papers that I bought in Korea years ago.


The finished piece was easy to role up and ship. It is now on the way to its new home in California. I hope the green wall will be more appealing with "Blind Love" hanging on it!
Barbara Bartlett

Bookmarks -a page in my new catalog

Cynthia Emerlye: I have been working on a download-able PDF catalog to put on my art website. This will make it easier for shopkeepers to order my cards and bookmarks directly. After a few days of work, I am nearly done! This beats creating a printed brochure every year. Now I can keep the catalog on a Photoshop file and easily alter it when I create a new product. Changing it online is a cinch and costs me nothing (since I manage my website myself.)

Here are the bookmarks currently in my catalog. Soon I will show you the link to my completed catalog. Happiness is learning how to use internet tools!

Fall Pasture

Two weeks ago when I went out for that last plain air session with Sandy, this is the painting I started. I worked on it in the studio yesterday and thought I would share it with you today. Compositionally, I'm not sure how successful it is. I wanted to show the emptiness of the pasture and the changing colors of fall. But it turned out kind of a half and half piece--the bottom half, empty pasture and the top half, busy fall scene.

Fall Pasture

I've thought of lopping off some of the grass at the bottom--just re-stretching the canvas--but that feels too much like cheating! So, here it is just as I planned it. Successful or not!

A Field Trip

Feeling the need for some art stimulation, last Friday I decided to take a field trip to the Hood Museum of Art. (Remember those school trips on noisy yellow buses?....well, this was much more enjoyable!) I'd read about the exhibition "Modern and Contemporary Art at Dartmouth" and was curious. It was well worth the visit with some extraordinary works on display!

My favorite piece was right at the entrance, a massive (about 8 feet high and 14 feet long, I'd guess) wall sculpture by African artist El Anatsui. It was made with aluminum bottle tops that had been cut and flattened, then painstakingly held together with copper wire. I've never seen anything like it! The artist made use of the two sides of the bottle caps, one side silver or gold, and the other, some variation of red) to create beautiful stripes mimicing fabric native to his region. The entire piece hung in huge undulating folds and seemed to move out from the wall.

I can't imagine the patience and vision that went into creating "Hover". How many bottle tops were collected and how could the piece have been constructed with such delicate materials? How was the artist able to evoke such emotion in me when he used such simple materials? Even thinking about it now fills me with wonder and I'm so grateful to have access to a wonderful art museum so close to home.
Barbara Bartlett