New series, but still BLUE!

I had a lot of success in the past with this series, in which I painted marks (in this case, with spray paint) onto fabric, then cut it into shapes and pasted it onto stretched canvas (this painting, "Twist," is from 2001):



Now I've decided to revisit the techniques from this series, using my newly acquired knowledge of the color blue and my fabulous ketchup squeeze bottles!! Here's my first effort in this direction, a painting I completed today, that's 20" square:



Here is a closer view of this painting:

Opening reception for "Walls and Webs"

I had a wonderful time at the opening reception of "Walls and Webs," my two-person show with Jeanne Williamson at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, MA. Here are some views from today's event.

Jeanne and I checking our "information table" to make sure everything is just right:



And posing for my husband Kevin's camera:



And of course, the obligatory "Hi, Mom!" shot:



A big THANK YOU to all of our friends and family members who attended today, to support us and view our work!

Jeanne and I will be having an informal "artists' day" on Friday, April 9, from noon to 5 PM, when we'll be at the gallery to meet and greet those who were not able to come to today's opening. If you'd like to stop by then, we'd love to see you!

Video of "Walls and Webs"

My husband Kevin Seward, created this video of "Walls and Webs," my current two-person show:

Artworks by Mixed Media students

Here are some of the wonderful artworks created by students in my professional development "Mixed Media" class at the Danforth Museum School. Our last class meeting was today; it's been a productive and pleasant semester!


Maribeth Amber:




Colby Caravaggio:




Lisa Erdekian:




Alexandra Etscovitz:




Lisa Feldman:




Jane Hogan:




Jennifer McCarthy:




Erin Cotton Straight (detail):

Plan A bombed, Plan B a success

Had an interesting day of battling it out with these paintings.



I've gotten such a good reaction to the Tides series, which are pictured on the home page of my website, that I decided to create a variation on the theme: a range of blues, layers of loops, five pieces each at 50" x 20". I stretched the canvases last week and had the first few layers of alternating blue washes and white lines. I completed three and set them beside each other. Nice. But nothing particularly interesting, that I didn't feel like I had done before.

I got an idea when I woke up this morning that I could add some splashes of color in rough chunks, so I applied a layer of gel medium, squirted a variety of blues, greens and even alizarin crimson into the wet gel, and brushed and scraped the colors together roughly so they were chopped not blended.

This new application looked great ... until the new top layer dried. UGH. It had obscured all the good things about the underlying lines, and added nothing but a confusing mass of unrelated color blobs.

I decided to try the same affect with watered down paint rather than paint floating in the gel. That looked like crap, too. In frustration, sensing that all the light areas had been obliterated, I grabbed a bottle of white paint and squirted some lines over the top. Because the surface was still wet, the new lines softened their edges and pulled in some of the blues and greens underneath.

I liked that look, so I did the same thing to two other pieces, hoping to keep the connection of a series. I'm finally happy with the way they've turned out!

Walls and Webs in today's New Bedford Standard-Times

"Walls and Webs" is mentioned in today's New Bedford Standard-Times; please click here to read.

It's Opening Day!

Today is the official Opening Day of "Walls and Webs," my two-person show with Jeanne Williamson. Below is "Honeysuckle Rose," one of my works in the show (acrylic on fabric on canvas, 30" H x 20" W). Details here.



Jeanne has posted a number of setup pictures and various views of the show on her blog, here.

Check it out!

Views of Walls and Webs

Here are views of my new two-person show, "Walls and Webs," with Jeanne Williamson. Please note: For the sake of space on this blog, I have included mainly shots of my work. For images that highlight Jeanne's work, be sure to visit her blog, here. Thank you to my husband, Kevin Seward, for taking these (and many other) photographs.

Our opening day is set for Wednesday, March 17. The gallery's hours are Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 5 PM. Our opening reception is scheduled for Sunday, March 28, from 2 to 4 PM. All are welcome!

Walls and Webs goes up!

Yesterday, my friend and co-exhibitor Jeanne Williamson and I met at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, MA, to hang our upcoming show, Walls and Webs.

What seemed like a lot of work in my dining room, when stacked and ready to transport, was soon swallowed up in the huge space at the gallery! I felt overwhelmed when we arrived! Here's a section of the gallery, as it looked before we began to set up. (This and following photos taken by my husband, Kevin Seward.)



Luckily Jeanne has a sharp eye, and we soon placed our works in a way that reveals what we have in common as artists, and what is different about our two styles. Here we are, beginning to arrange the work.



As we worked, we were amazed to find that, time after time, the color and pattern choices in our various series led clearly into one another, or contrasted interestingly with one another. It was like a carefully laid out plan, that was never planned!

During the setup, I realized the great value of seeing one's work in a range of settings. You simply can't get a true feeling for a painting's or a series' impact from viewing in just one location. Different space, different light, different energy, TOTALLY affect the way a painting comes across.

Working from mid-morning to 5 PM, we managed to get the vast majority of the work hung. Just a few additional pieces today, plus finishing-touch tasks like adding labels and the wall title. Phew!

My fab photographer husband has agreed to accompany us again today (yesterday he was recruited as a transporter), to thoroughly document the show. So I'm looking forward to posting the results over the weekend.

Shifting gears

I’m currently shifting out of “making mode” and into "moving mode,” as I prepare to transport a raft of paintings to the Narrows Center for the Arts for my upcoming two-person show. My co-exhibitor, Jeanne Williamson, and I will be hanging the show next week. The gallery is a large space, so we can exhibit quite a number of pieces.

I figure, while so much of my work is out of the studio, this is a good time for some spring cleaning in there: breaking down packing boxes, throwing out old paint containers, rearranging, sorting, organizing, strategizing.

This is another unique aspect of being a visual artist, that might not be apparent to the non-artist. Not only are we constantly moving back and forth from our art career to the non-art career that (mostly or partly) supports it, but we’re also constantly shifting gears from creating mode, to promotional mode, to exhibition mode, to career evaluation mode, to pressing the reset button mode, and back to creating mode again.

And not always in such a clear-cut segments! Sometimes these activities overlap and intersect. For example, you’re in the middle of a new painting when you unexpectedly get invited to exhibit. Or you’re in the midst of a major studio rearranging session when you figure out a solution to a career-related issue that will require hours of computer time. Or (everyone's favorite), you get an idea for a new series which involves materials you don't happen to have on hand, and your next paycheck is two weeks away. Etc., etc.

It’s a crazy life, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!!!

New Fan Page on Facebook

I have just created a Fan Page on Facebook, as an ongoing source of information on my latest career news and images of new work.

Feel free to join by clicking here.

New show, opening soon!

New two-person exhibit, coming soon! For details, click here.