In The Studio: 2013

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Marking Site, Site Specific Installation at The Jacksonville Arboretum, Fall 2013

One of the three site-specific pieces I installed at the Jacksonville Arboretum. The piece consists of three round mirrors, approx. 6 inch diameter, placed under the water, next to a foot bridge. The reflection of the tree canopy is seen as the viewer walks across the foot bridge, distorting ones sense of space.

Inspired by the histories of throwing objects in water.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

TACTILE SYSTEMS, Kent Gallery, 2013, Curated by Mark Creegan and Dustin Harewood

Formal elements such as color, line, shape and texture melded as well as the sensual and spiritual context of our work. Thank you to Mark and Dustin for making the vision happen.

Red Pillows With Pearls

Three pillows. Felt, wax, pearls, thread.
Details of the pillows on my website. Link is to the right.

A total of four tables with steel legs are in the show.

Sacred Terrain

View of felt piece on top of table. Stitching on dyed felt.

Sacred Terrain

Detail.

Blue Weeping.

Felt, dye, yarn, thread. An ode to the weeping willow tree.

Pink Cradles Sheltered and Exposed.

Ceramic and air dry porcelain clay.
Details of the clay forms on my website. Link is to the right.

Pi's Ocean

This piece floats in space. Stacked felt dyed with indigo ink, silver thread flows

over the side. Various stitches are on sewn into top layer.

Examined and Forgotten

Stitching on felt. Felt is stacked on table. Below is a detail view.
Pink is dyed paper with colored pencil under a domed magnifying glass.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Lost in the forest… by Pablo Neruda

Lost in the forest...

Lost in the forest, I broke off a dark twig
and lifted its whisper to my thirsty lips:
maybe it was the voice of the rain crying,
a cracked bell, or a torn heart.

Something from far off it seemed
deep and secret to me, hidden by the earth,
a shout muffled by huge autumns,
by the moist half-open darkness of the leaves.

Wakening from the dreaming forest there, the hazel-sprig
sang under my tongue, its drifting fragrance
climbed up through my conscious mind

as if suddenly the roots I had left behind
cried out to me, the land I had lost with my childhood---
and I stopped, wounded by the wandering scent.

Pablo Neruda

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Sara Pedigo, Artist

Friend and colleague Sara Pedigo is a prolific painter. I am always intrigued with Sara's paintings: I examine each brushstroke, study the play of color and light. I admire the elegance in her work: figurative poses and domestic scenes are portrayed to communicate grace and solitude. I think Sara's work is generous in that she takes such great care to share those moments of being that we often overlook and take for granted.

Much more to see on her website, sarapedigo.com

Steel, Felt and Dye

This is NOT fun. Polishing steel poles with steel wool. Five more to go.

Hard to see in the above picture, but these babies are shiny.

Felt drying.

More felt drying.

Some results from last weekend's Dye Fest - that took place in my garage. Once I have dye baths set up, it is difficult not to use all the dye. As a result, I have a large collection of dyed yarns and fabrics.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Great Directors

"Great Directors, directed by Angela Ismailos, features conversations with ten of the world's greatest living directors: Bernardo Bertolucci, David Lynch, Liliana Cavani, Stephen Frears, Agnes Varda, Ken Loach, Todd Haynes, Catherine Breillat, Richard Linklater and John Sayles. The film documents Ismailos' voyage of discovering the creative personalities behind the camera. She explores the filmmakers' artistic evolution and personal identity, the role of politics and history on their work, and the agony and dilemmas in the creative process. It also examines the challenges of being an artist in an age of commercialism and globalization. The film traces the influence of cinematic movements and iconic directors on these directors' work-from the role of Neo-Realism in Bertolucci's evolution to the influence of Federico Fellini on David Lynch, Ingmar Bergman on Catherine Breillat and Rainer Werner Fassbinder on Todd Haynes". Written byAnonymous from the imdb site.

Hand Drawing Collective

Found a wonderful drawing blog. A few of my favorites are below.

More to see on the blog. Link here.

Cendrine Rovini

Jane O'Sullivan

Jenny Brown

Jacksonville Arboretum

Scouting out locations for my site-specific work. Excited to be part of an event that has 25 sculptors installing on the grounds of the arboretum. As I post these images, I realize I did not photograph the sites I selected. These images are from the Rosemary Ridge section and lake area.

My ideas for this project are inspired by the research I collected from the book “Oak: The Frame of Civilization” by William Bryant Logan.

Sculpture #1, Tree Markers – Sanded and carved sticks are leaned against a tree. The number of sticks will depend on the size of the tree. Sticks will vary be approximately 4 feet. The leaning of sticks around a tree was a method used to mark trees for acorn gathering.

Sculpture #2, Post Office – A handwritten letter placed inside a recessed area of a tree. The letter will read as a poem with a nature theme. During the Civil War, trees were used as makeshift post offices.

Sculpture #3, Precious – Throwing precious objects in fens, lakes, wells, and rivers was a common tradition from Neolithic to the Bronze Age. I will be working with mirrors in a creek that has a walk over foot bridge.