Upside down world

The other day in the studio, I found myself looking at a photo of a salt marsh I took in New Brunswick last September and wondering how to make a painting out of it. Because working from photos has never been my forte. I get tied up in the static details recorded by the camera. I feel distanced from the actual landscape as an experience. I tighten up. It becomes NOT fun. My memory of this landscape was of spaciousness, light, warmth, aliveness and freedom, and that's what I wanted to experience and to capture.

Then I had a bit of an inspiration taken from the days when I was teaching drawing. What if I turned both the photo and the canvas upside down? Upside down drawing helps to simplify the experience when one is having a hard time separating descriptive line from, for example, the labels "nose" or "eye".

Well, what can I say? It worked! Suddenly the photo became shapes and colors, lines and values. No sky, no water, no grasses, no clouds. Loosened up by this detachment from "reality" I was able to paint more freely and create a painting that worked.

"Salt Marsh, New Brunswick"

This is a small painting for me--only 8" x 10"--it has become a study for a larger work I started this week. I like this new way of working...

Reindeer Kirigami

Reindeer With Tree - Kirigami Bifold Heart

Reindeer Diamond - Kirigami Mandala

Late Autumn Colors

This series of designs was inspired both by East European folk art and the reds and oranges that tint my world this week. These images are a combination of water colors and Photoshop magic.

I replaced the white with black and resulting design has a richer feel.

More orange - less yellow for a third look.

I am using these designs on my food blog Carol Egbert.com in a series of posts about sweet potatoes.

--Carol Egbert

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