Painting: "I Rely on My Illusions"

“I Rely on My illusions” 11 x 14 inches, oil on panel

What at first glance could be a simple arrangement of a seashell and a floral spray, reveals upon a closer look to be damaged objects, tattered and chipped. However, the inherent structural beauty required to sustain life resonates with the sense of life departed, yet celebrated.

The Vanitas theme exhorts us to focus on the brevity of earthly life, and we delight in the details of the insignificant and ephemeral. The attention given to these torn and damaged objects is an exploration of our own humanity: Insignificant, brief, and yet somehow important.

The plant fragments are Luneria, known for their seed pods which remind us of the moon, or silver dollar coins. They are are the seed pods of a eucalyptus plant, stripped of their brown husks to reveal the silver transparent petals which protect the seeds.

This painting will be included in

Susan Powell Fine Art’s Annual Still Life Invitational 

April 6 - May 6, 2012

679 Boston Post Road Madison, Connecticut 06443
203-318-0616

The show has become a focal point for painters and collectors of still life, and I am thrilled to be participating again.

Back Study of Eric

Back Study of Eric
14 x 17 inches, graphite on paperThis drawing was done over 4 sessions with the model, about 20 hours. It was a great opportunity to study the forms of the upper back.

OPEN STUDIO

My studio will be open to the public for Mission Open Studios, April 16th and 17th.
Since I teach a painting class on Saturday, my open hours will be limited to:

Saturday April 16th, 4pm-6pm
Sunday April 17th, 11am-6pm

Please enter around the corner at 2111 Mission St, where there will be a doorman to open the building for you. Once inside there will be a map to all the open studios in the building.

Download a map of all the Mission open studios
My studio is part of the “Blue Studios” marked on the map at 16th and Mission.

Arcadia Small Works Show

Last week I flew to NYC to attend the Arcadia Small Works show. It was a whirlwind 2 days, wedged between my teaching and studio commitments here in SF, and even though New York managed to be sweltering and steamy even in late September this year, I'm so glad I went!

I can't find a list of all the artists represented on the show, but here are several of them: Daniel Sprick, Brad Kunkle, Jeremy Lipking, Nancy Depew, Malcom Liepke, Daniel Adel, Michael Kline, Julio Reyes, Natalie Featherston, Robert Liberace, Joseph Todorovich, Kerry Brooks, Cesar Santader, and many more I'm missing I am sure....

I am lucky enough that one of my best and oldest friends, Kyra, has a fabulous studio flat in Brooklyn and she graciously lets me crash on her pull-out whenever I need a NYC fix, which is a couple times a year. I am also lucky that many old friends have ended up in Brooklyn, so I had a wonderful group of friendly faces to meet me at the door of the show.

My fabulous co-founders of Women Painting Women, Diane and Alia

12 of us have rented a house and are painting for a week in Charleston, SC,

and 4 of the 12 of us  were at the show:

Alia El-Bermani, Alexandra Tyng, me, and Diane Feissel

I feel so amazed and blessed that my impulse last year to create the WPW blog has connected me to such an amazing network of women artists. I look forward to meeting even more of them in person next month in Charleston, SC at Robert Lange's Women Painting Women show!

And thank you Garth Herrick for taking so many great photos and documenting the evening.

Women Painting Women SHOW at Robert Lang

Women Painting Women
Robert Lange Studios
http://www.robertlangestudios.com/
November 2010
2 Queen Street
Charleston, SC 29401
Opening Nov 5, 5:30-8:30 pm

Last year I started a blog called WomenPaintingWomen.com where I highlight the work of  living, realist women painters who use the female subject in their paintings.

Amazingly the blog became much more than I had ever imagined, and I soon invited my artist friends Diane Feissel and Alia El-Bermani to help me manage the flood of incredible artists who were being nominated for the site.

We now have almost 300 artists represented, we have started a FaceBook page for fans of WPW, and we are planning ways to expand the concept to find new ways to support and highlight the work of contemporary women artists.

Earlier this year I was contacted by the Robert Lange Gallery in Charleston, SC, who decided to organize a juried exhibition inspired by the theme of my blog. As you can imagine I was thrilled, and even more so when my piece "Mary with Silver Dish" was accepted into the show.

The exhibition will showcase the work of almost 50 women artists. I will be at the November 5th opening at Robert Lange, I hope you can join us, 5:30-8:30pm.

The list of all participants is on the gallery's blog.

There is also a writeup on the show in the Charleston City Paper

In addition, Alia, Diane and I have organized with several artist friends to rent a beach house together on Sullivan's Island, just off of Charleston, to coincide with the show. A dozen of us will be painting together in the beautiful landscape for the week of November 5-12. I'll be blogging the trip near-daily I am sure, so you can follow along with our adventures. These are the 12 women who will be painting at Sullivan's Island:

Alexandra Tyng - Narberth, PA

Catherine Prescott - Harrisburg, PA

Cindy Procious - Chattanooga, TN

Diane Feissel - Philadelphia, PA

Linda Tracey Brandon - Phoenix, AZ

Lisa Gloria - Aurora, IL

Mia Bergeron - Chattanooga, TN

Rachel Constantine - Philadelphia, PA

Sadie Valeri - San Francisco, CA

Stefani Tewes - Laguna Beach, CA

Katherine Stone - Toronto, Ontario

Alia El-Bermani - Cary, NC

It's an incredible group of artists and I am sure we will all be inspired by one another!

I am amazed and touched by how my initial idea has sparked a growing movement, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Women Painting Women will continue to evolve.

Finally, in a serendipitous twist, M Gallery where I show my work in Florida has recently moved to Charleston, and my ARC award-winning painting "Bottle Collection" will be on display, including others soon. I'm excited I'll be able to visit M Gallery's new location in person when I visit Charleston in November!

M Gallery
http://www.mgalleryoffineart.com/
11 Broad Street
Charleston, SC

Women Painting Women

Robert Lange Studios

http://www.robertlangestudios.com/

November 2010

2 Queen Street

Charleston, SC 29401

Opening Nov 5, 5:30-8:30 pm

Open Studio: October 9/10

I'll be participating in this year's Artspan Open Studios for the weekend of October 9/10, so please come check out the studio, see some artwork, and learn more about my classes!

I'll actually be teaching classes that weekend, so my studio will only be open to the public for these limited hours:

Saturday October 9: 3pm-6pm
Sunday October 10: 4pm-6pm

Mission and 17th Streets

For a map to the studio building, see my profile on ArtSpan here