I’ve had a new large scale painting accepted into the 2009 CVG Show, a statewide juried art show held at the Collective Visions Gallery in Bremerton, WA. My acrylic painting, titled “Firmament” is one of 130 artworks chosen by exhibition juror Gary Faigin, Artistic Director of the Gage Academy in Seattle, from over 800 works submitted by artists throughout Washington State. Accepted artists will be competing for $8,000 in prizes and purchase awards and will be on display at CVG during the month of February. For a complete schedule of events visit www.collectivevisions.com.

For this triptych measuring 24” x 84”, I’ve revisited a technique that I haven’t used in a while. Using modeling paste mixed with acrylic medium I can make my brushstrokes form into three dimensional sculpted elements. This further confuses the illusion of depth in the two dimensional picture plane. The painting of koi fish and fall leaves, has three levels on the canvas: the bottom of the pond, the invisible water with fish (distorted by the water), and the surface. The fourth level is created by the floating “leaves” on he surface.

My triptych "Firmament".The title was taken from the following poem by Denise Levertov.
 

Firmament

Fish in the sky of water -- silvery
as traveling moon through cloud–hills --
down current whisks, or deeper
fins into depths, to rise or sagely
wait in the milky mist of
disturbed sediment, wheeling briskly
at least whim, at one
with the aqueous everything in shines in.

                            -- Denise Levertov   

Firmament(detail)

In February, I’ll be participating in a group landscape show at the Simon Gallery in Yakima, WA. I don’t normally do landscapes but I’ve been intrigued by vineyards as a subject for some time. Vineyards are appealing for their graphic qualities such as the way the vines wrap themselves around the contours of the hills. My husband and I have taken many happy strolls through the farms in eastern Washington around Lake Chelan and Yakima’s Rattlesnake Ridge. The result is this “Vineyard Suite” of five small paintings that try to capture those walks. In each painting the landscape is distilled to the basic elements with fluid brushstrokes evoking the warmth of the place along with specific views. Together, the paintings are designed to move the viewer  through the landscape much in the way we really experience the space around us.

For more information, please visit http://www.simongallery.net/

I have just finished the first in a series of commissioned paintings to be used for Japanese ceremonial fans. This project was begun last August for the Ishizumi Company of Kyoto, Japan. The Ishizumi Company has been making fans since the 1860's and even have some in the British Museum. Check out their website at www.fans.jp. I painted my trademark iris in a water garden in acrylic on rice paper then shipped it to Kyoto where it was made into an incredible piece of functional art. I have the finished fan for a short time before shipping it to New York.

Even the box is beautiful.




 Quite a bit of my original painting was cropped and next time I'll take that and the fan's creases into consideration for my composition.

I'll have to imagine painting on a 3-dimensional canvas.

I've just finished a very interesting commission. I was contacted by the Ishizumi Company of Kyoto, Japan for a painting to made eventually into a japanese ceremonial fan. The Ishizumi company has been making fans since the 1860's and even have some in the British Museum. Check out their website at www.fans.jp.
My contact sent me a fan shaped piece of rice paper and I sent him half a dozen design ideas. We arrived at a good design for a first try. I had never used acrylics on rice paper before but it turned out to be a lovely surface. I hope the paint is thin and flexible enough for the final fan project. I can't wait to see it!