Although I'm not in my studio as much as I'd like to be, I am still wrapped up in the process of assembling from old pieces of junk. I've always enjoyed saving things from the trash bin and have amassed quite a collection of stuff that most people would definitely have thrown away. Luckily I have a very generous work space and can afford to not be very choosy about what I keep. Surely at some point this will catch up with me, but I always imagine I'll find some use for those old bamboo blinds, wooden (and beautifully stained pink) strawberry containers, all sorts of recycled papers, bits of fabric from old curtains and clothes. I feel a great deal of satisfaction when the "junk" can be somehow incorporated into a piece of what I call art.


So the wooden pieces continue to emerge and I seem to have plenty of materials that beg to be finally put to use. I may soon be ready to bring out the paints and brushes, but for now I am happily working.

Barbara Bartlett

Art & Food Intersect

A treat for our art group meeting today.

Carol Egbert

Clock People in Colored Pencil

Cynthia Emerlye:
A decade ago there was a period when I worked exclusively in colored pencil. I like the control one has with this medium and the precise detail that can be achieved. It is more difficult to lay down large areas of color, however, and when I began to do larger work I found it unbearably slow. (Strangely, it hadn't occurred to me to use another medium as an underpainting.) My hands would cramp up after hours of penciling. So eventually I switched to watercolor for my illustrations.

Today I use mediums more interchangeably. Although I haven't tried it, I am fascinated by K.Y.Craft's method of using watercolor as a base for oil painting. She applies a watercolor underpainting to heavy paper or canvas, then sprays it with acrylic to make it waterproof, over which she paints her very detailed work in oil. This seems like a great way to cut down the time needed to illustrate using oil.

Likewise, I now like to mix my mediums, not only to save time and effort, but because I can often get a more elegant look. Watercolor is a great base for the detail of colored pencil. Pastel adds a dreamy look to watercolor and smooths out its roughness. Of course, watercolor washes added to or underneath india ink has been a staple of illustrators for centuries.
The paintings shown here are all from my colored pencil period.

"Clock Face," shown above, is one of my favorite colored pencil paintings, done several years ago. She looks much better in person (as most colored pencil does) and hangs in my bedroom, watching me as I sleep. She is one of several clock people. Back then I was fascinated by clocks and time. I was in my forties and suddenly "Carpe Diem" had become relevant!

I was beginning menopause as well. "Eve Everywoman," below, is a meditation on the mystery, mythology, and miraculous nature of the feminine body. This is a larger work which, again, was more difficult in colored pencil than it needed to have been had I mixed media. Nevertheless, I am happy with her.

These four represent works or a more visionary nature, a subject I would like to return to. I have always been fascinated with mythology, fantasy, and symbolism. Must do more of this.

A Dark Day on Locust Creek

A few days ago, we were back painting at the Locust Creek swimming hole and it was a misty, gloomy morning. Unlike our first session there, everything looked to be made of camouflage colors--and so did my painting! I took it back into the studio and used my reference photos to complete the painting, punching up the contrast and toning down the greens. Below is the finished product....

Swimming Hole at Locust Creek

oil

12" x 18"

There was nothing I could do to alter the basic composition which I judged to be only fair--a bit lop sided. But the more I've looked at it, the more I like it. Asymmetrical and interesting is now how I think of it! Below is my reference photo from that day. You can see that I eliminated the foliage in the foreground and added the rock instead.

Stroking the Artist Ego

Several years ago I came across some graffiti on a Sydney street that went something like "The artist must be will willing to stand naked on a stage." This impressed me at the time as being very true, and when I held an Artist Reception for my current show on Sunday, it once again seemed so relevant.

It's wonderful to hang a body of work after it has been waiting in the studio for months, maybe years. It looks different somehow, more professional, and hopefully seems to relay something as a whole rather than just a bunch of individual pieces. There can be a sense of culmination of a great deal of effort and emotional input.

But there is a darker side to this exercise too. It can feel suddenly quite vulnerable to open myself to the opinions of others. I know that the work may not have meaning for others and it certainly doesn't "fit" with more traditional definitions of what art might be. There is risk involved, exhilarating but also a bit scary. So it was with many varied emotions that I invited friends to view my work.


I felt so grateful for the warm and positive feedback I received. It was delightful to share the work with others and to know that the work is out in the world. And how happy I was that people actually showed up! The artist ego is tough and fragile at the same time, and it feels good to be "stroked" and recognized.

Barbara Bartlett

Anne Dean Featured Artist at Sculpturefest

At long last the Heron is installed at the Woodstock Sculpturefest. After three years of working on this piece a week here and a week there, it feels good to see it finally standing upright on its pedestal. As a featured artist this year, I also will have other sculptures at the Sculpture Park.

Sept 5 - Oct 15 Sculpturefest: Featured artist Anne Dean

An annual show of outdoor sculpture featuring

New England Sculptors held each year during foliage season in Woodstock, Vermont.

Opening Reception

September 5, 2009,

4:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Prosper Road, Woodstock, VT
Open daily from dawn to dusk

Anne Dean

Gearing Up to Paint and Sew

Studio Update for Cynthia Emerlye:
It looks like a busy holiday season is ahead this year. I am woefully behind, however, except in kirigami inventory. I was very ill last year and fell behind in everything. Now I'm running uphill! Here's a report (mostly to organize my own thinking) on what's up for Emerlye Arts:

• Cards: I have now completed (finally) the updates to all my card collections. This week I will be listing new ones in my online shops. Look for them in my EmerlyeArts shops on Etsy and 1000Markets. I hope to have a new catalog put together soon. Then I will go on some selling road trips.
  
• Custom Work: I am finishing up sketches for a tattoo design. After that I won't be taking custom orders for a while. Too busy.
• Coloring Pages: Moving ahead with adult coloring pages - I have enough designs now and am just pondering what paper to print on and how to package them.
• Kirigami: Enough kirigami for now. I have a hundred in reserve and my family is tired of having them all over the place. My daughter saw me cutting one the other night and said, "Enough with the Kirigami, Mom. I'm sick of it. Do some painting FGS." I'm taking the hint.
• Story Portraits: I want to do some bigger illustration projects. A gallery is interested in my story portraits (designs which symbolically represent a person's life) but I need more to show. These are complicated works. I need to build up a body of work. (More about story portraits later.)

• Art to Wear: I am now gearing up to sew more hats and jackets for the holiday season. A local gallery wants to have a fashion show but my inventory is woefully low. This is a huge job, though. Once I commit to sewing wearables, I have to stick with it for a few months. There is too much set up involved to do this work sporadically. Shown here are some items I've made in the past.