Photos from the opening last Friday

Here are a couple of photos from the opening last Friday night. The show runs through January 26th at the Visual Art Exchange in Raleigh, NC.

Exhibition opening tonight in Raleigh, NC

A few of my paintings are featured in the Exchange Gallery at the Visual Art Exchange in Raleigh, NC this month. The show opens tonight, January 6th, as part of First Friday in downtown Raleigh from 6-9 p.m. and will close on January 26th. For more information about my work and the other artists exhibiting in the Exchange Gallery section of the Visual Art Exchange this month, click here. For information about First Friday in Raleigh, including information about participating galleries, dining, and parking, click here. Hope to see you there!

Studio Update

Over the last few months I have been laying the groundwork for a new series of paintings I will be showing in a couple of exhibitions in Raleigh and Chapel Hill, NC this coming winter. My new work continues to explore the relationships among nature, science, and humanity through shape and color. I will post some new work on my website between now and then but will probably wait to post the bulk of it until after the exhibitions have opened.

I am also looking at options for a new website and blog format that would offer easier access to images of my work. Another option I am considering involves splitting out my paintings and metalwork into separate sections or even separate websites altogether. I will post updates out here as changes are made.

I will also post more information this fall about my upcoming shows. Until then, back to the studio!

Circles Ring with Blue Topaz

I'm very busy in the studio right now working on ways to explore ordered chaos in the realm of jewelry design. As in my paintings, I have found that when working with metal I gravitate toward geometric forms, angles, and lines. Unexpectedly, I have also found myself delighted to work with stones, both cabochons and faceted gems. On a thematic level, I enjoy the contrast between the smooth reflective surface of metal and the warm depths of a cab or the fractured beauty of a faceted gem. On a technical level, I enjoy the satisfaction of watching a bezel or tube setting come together in the studio, culminating in an almost mystical moment when I set the stone to finish a piece. These themes and design elements will form the basis of my first jewelry series that I hope to release later this year. Pictured above is a new ring made from sterling silver, fine silver, and a 4mm blue topaz. I like this one because of the tension created by the ring shank piercing through the two circles. I also like the use of both square and round wire to achieve a uniform, yet varied sense of order.

The bottom photo shows the Circles ring as well as two other rings I created in my studio recently. The oval jade ring contains the first bezel set cabochon I completed entirely on my own, and the ring pictured underneath it features the first faceted stone I ever set - a 5mm CZ tube set in silver, completed with the assistance of my fantastic instructor, Sara Sloan Stine, at the Sawtooth Center for Visual Art. Later I wrapped the ring shank in copper wire for texture, contrast, and just a little bit of chaos. Enjoy!

First layers of new painting - Horses

Over the past month I've been working on several new jewelry designs and will post more on those later. In the meantime, here is a painting on my easel right now. During a recent trip to New York, I was inspired by the juxtaposition of so many imposing style of architecture out my hotel window overlooking 8th Ave. I was bombarded by images of stampeding horses, the city closing in like cavalry. This is how the painting looks after the first few layers.

End Game

End Game, acrylic/board, 12" x 24" (diptych), 2011

After several more layers of work, here is the finished painting.

New painting...new layers in progress

Here is the new painting after a third layer of paint. My process involves lots of tape of varying widths and lengths to mask areas and create the angles that interest me. In this layer I am concentrating on the lower half of the painting. I have left the central arch and upper portion alone for now to serve as a visual reference while I work. In other layers I will focus on these areas in greater depth.


Once the tape is removed, it looks like this:


In case it's not evident from the previous photos, I'm working this painting on two separate wood panels put together. I like the additional geometry created by the division of the two 12" x 12" panels, shown separated here:


I will continue to work the painting in this way until I've incorporated most of the colors and angles I want. As I build up the layers I keep an eye on changes to the overall composition and make adjustments as necessary. These early layers are painted in acrylic with soft gel medium using brushes. Later on I will start mixing the paint with thicker mediums. Also, I may put my brushes away in favor of knives and add any transparent colors I want to use.

Inspired by Red! New Pendants...

This is a pendant I started last week during a metal fabrication class I'm taking right now. My studio doesn't yet include a roll press or a circle punch, so I had fun using these tools to create a new pendant. I produced the mirror-image designs on the copper pieces by cutting a loosely geometric design in glossy paper. Next I sandwiched the cut paper between two pieces of annealed copper and ran it through the roll press. I trimmed down the designs a bit, and after annealing the copper again I rolled one side of each piece around some copper tubing. The red accents were created using copper fabricated with a circle punch combined with soldered jump rings I created in my home studio. I soldered all three circles together, sprayed them with several layers of primer and red enamel (scratching and sanding the pieces after each painting - except the final layer - to add texture). To make the rivets for attaching the red pieces to the rolled copper pieces, I first beaded up the ends of two pieces of sterling wire so that the front of the rivets were a little more decorative. Next I threaded the wires through drilled holes in the metal pieces and finished them on the back using a riveting hammer. Finally, I drilled a hole through the top of the copper tubing for the neck wire. Many steps to create this one, but I love how it turned out. I especially love the accent of the red paint. I also made a pendant using the leftover copper I used for cutting out the circles. I treated the metal in a similar way with red paint but this time used more pronounced distressing.


Before I started experimenting with paint on metal, I had worked with red in a different way. I found some red silk thread to use as an accent on this pendant in sterling silver with wrapped copper wire:


I like how the finished pendant resembles a seated figure (I picture a woman), the red section invoking a shadowed area or maybe a rug on which she is siting. I also like how the copper wire along the right side of the pendant gives a sense that sun is glowing across her back.

Red seems like a perfect complement to the warm pinkish tones of copper and I anticipate using the combination again. I am especially intrigued by the use of paint on metal and would like to experiment with various layers and distressing of paint in combination with patinas and also as a contrast to polished and oxidized metals. I need to learn more about the durability of these techniques and also ways of fixing the paint so that the finish with last.

The Power of Layers

This is the first layer of a new painting I'm working on. I tend to show finished work out here because the mixed lighting in my studio is not very cooperative for good photography. Instead, I usually haul my work outside to take photos - a tedious interruption when I'm deep in a painting. But I think it's useful to see the different stages that some of my paintings go through. Often the lower layers establish the structure of the painting and contribute to the overall visual impact of the final layers of color and shape. Much of the time I leave traces of each layer behind as a visual artifact to add texture and call attention to the process of painting. However, some colors become completely blocked by new colors placed over them. Sometimes I'm making corrections. Sometimes the painting is leading me in a different direction than I set out to accomplish. I think intuition and serendipity play a larger role in the development of non-representative paintings, and I try not to bludgeon a painting into existence simply because I'm determined to forge a certain outcome.

Sometimes I'm simply striving for that depth and complexity that is often more sensed than actually viewed directly. As I've mentioned out here before, one of my favorite painters is Giorgio Morandi, a 20th century Italian artist famous for his earth-toned still life masterpieces. His paintings seem so simple at first glance but they are incredibly beautiful studies of light and form, painstakingly created under identical light conditions day after day. I mention Morandi in the context of this underpainting discussion, because I recently learned that Morandi used vibrant colors under all those neutrals and earth hues. After his death, some of the artist's unfinished canvases were discovered to have been painted in intense primary colors. You would never know this fact looking at his paintings - the terra cotta tones are so calming and restful to the eye. His rendering of form and light create a euphoria of ordered beauty seemingly dependent on those wonderfully mellow tones. However, without the bright colors underneath, I think the neutrals would look flatter and the earth tones would appear duller. These are my impressions not as a critic or historian but as an artist and an ardent admirer of his work. I was filled with indescribable joy when I viewed one of his masterpieces for the first time - Bottiglie e fruttiera at the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice. This is the power of layers that may not be seen in a finished painting but can impact the viewer profoundly.

A couple of shiny new silver pieces

Drop earrings I worked in wire and sheet sterling silver. I added a brushed texture to the curved central pieces to add interest.





Continuing with my interest in atoms and orbits, I worked up this rather geometric pendant in sterling silver and malachite. It was challenging to forge the wire in such a way that the bead would stay central in the orbit ring and not slide around. I added a square rolo chain with just the right amount of weight to not overpower the delicate pendant.

Sketchbook Interlude

Taking a break from showing finished pieces to share some designs I've been working on.



I'm intrigued by the idea of restraining something loose and soft like fiber in partially enclosed metal containers. I would like to try traditional bezel settings using felt, instead of stones, but I would also add perforations or slits into the metal, open sections loosely defined by wires, or other elements to allow for some fibers to move freely. This may involve incorporating thread or woven fiber in addition to the felt, however, because as much as I love the solid, three-dimensional potential of felt, I dislike its fuzziness.



I would also like to start making chenier and domed shapes. These would be new ways to add dimension to metal elements and offer more options for displaying fiber or other loose materials.



One of the ideas that has piqued my interest the most is the use of grids and mesh. These materials are easy to acquire but I would rather make my own. However, the art of making sturdy grids or mesh from basic wire appears to be more complicated than I realized. I have always been attracted to the depiction of space in my work and grids and other architecturally and mathematically derived models intrigue me greatly. I am still working on how to translate these ideas into jewelry.

Studio Visit

A glimpse of where I've been working these days. The flex shaft motor and rotary tumbler are new additions, plus I now have a new dapping block set, better riveting hammer, sheet, and wire...big thanks to some very generous elves! Starting to need additional storage for all the odds and ends as it seems every project requires different tools and materials! By the way, I set up my soldering equipment in a different area with better ventilation. I use a rotating annealing pan with pumice gravel and a heavy fire brick. You can see my little butane torch in this photo. It lacks some precision and probably wouldn't work on very large or thick pieces of metal, but so far it has met my needs quite well.

Christmas Necklace

Had fun whipping up this necklace as a Christmas present for my beautiful little Stella. Probably foolhardy to give jewelry to a feisty preschooler, but I couldn't resist! Simple design of soldered and formed copper wire and lightweight silver sheet pierced into a freehand star shape. I love how one point on the star juts out like it's kicking something...that's my girl! Assembled with a jump ring I picked off some old earrings and a new sweet little chain. If this thing lasts a whole week without getting lost, broken, or turned into some kind of a magical projectile, I'll be impressed! Happy holidays!

Fun with Fiber

I am working on designs that incorporate both fiber and metal, so I am spending my studio hours sketching as well as researching materials and techniques that will help translate these ideas into finished pieces. I feel drawn to fiber as a living, breathing counterbalance to the cold smoothness of metal. To take shape it needs something to give it form, a role elegantly supplied by metal components. I also like fiber's lightness, a quality that lends itself to larger scale designs without the added weight. This pendant looks substantial but weighs less than an ounce. It is comprised of silver, copper, and dyed wool roving that I needle-felted into a fantastic modeling clay called Paper Clay (Thanks to artist Thea Clark for the tip!). I enjoyed making this pendant and especially using the clay for forming the 3D shape - I envision many future uses for this stuff! - but I'm left with a sense of preciousness when I look at the finished piece. Using felt as a stand-in for stones, gems, or beads is a bit too tidy, too contained for my sensibilities. It's the looseness of the fiber and its potential to be very loosely bound that interests me the most.

Atomic Pendant

This pendant made of brass, copper, and plastic is designed to hang from a neck ring or chain through the largest copper loop. It was fun working with base metals and recycled plastic beads that had the metallic color and sheen of aged copper. I used a thick gauge brass rod to display the beads. After sawing the rod to length and then filing and annealing it, I strung the beads and then hammered the rod flat on the ends to keep the beads from falling off. This hammered end technique is a simple, modern way to display strung objects and keep them in place. After securing the beads, I also wanted to add some movement and give a rather "atomic" quality to the piece, so I wrapped 18 gauge copper wire in a loose, angular way around the brass rod. I think it gives a sense of orbit to the round beads and focuses the eye on the center of the pendant. It also provides an easy way to hang the pendant that does not involve bails or jump rings, additions that I feel would overly complicate the design. The only trouble I had while making this piece was trying to polish the brass rod on either end of the beads after assembly. It was hard to keep the beads away from the polishing wheel and one of the plastic beads has a small burn mark on it where I got too close! If I ever design something like this one again, I will probably switch to a rouge cloth - a more manual way of polishing that takes longer but does not create the friction and heat of a polishing wheel - or better yet, do most of the polishing prior to assembly.

Rings

I've been working on some simple stacking ring designs in copper and silver. Rings offer such great practice in so many basic metalworking skills - sawing, annealing, soldering, forming, forging, and finishing. It has been difficult for me to hold back from trying to execute all the designs written in my sketchbook and floating in my head and to devote these many hours to practicing basic skills, but I feel that precision is crucial in any creative field. I think that accuracy is particularly important in fine craft where sloppy execution is rarely written off as artistic license. So, I sit at my bench and practice these basic skills for hours at a stretch and have come to love the feeling of annealed metal yielding so easily under my hammer and the electric moment when solder starts to flow. What magic!

Metal

This fall I have taken a break from painting to pursue interests in metalworking and sculpture/jewelry design. During the last few months my studio time has been devoted to learning fabrication, forging, torch work, etc. Using metal's dimensionality and texture, coupled with the small scale particular to jewelry design, I am finding new ways to explore the interplay between science, humanity, and nature. Look for more posts out here as I start sharing new designs and finished work. Your comments are always welcome.

Working Water

Working Water, acrylic/board, 18" x 24", 2010

This painting, another exploration of the geometry of water manipulation, emerged as I was admiring aerial photographs of English canal locks. These systems are so simple, yet elegant in their control of water, and the angles they impose on the water invoke a sense of order that spills into the surrounding topography.

Poolhouse

Poolhouse, acrylic/board, 12" x 12", 2010

Poolside Vernacular

Poolside Vernacular, acrylic/board, 12" x 12", 2010

Continuing my studies of control and chaos through water containment forms. I just received word that this painting has been juried into the 2010 n.e.w. show at Visual Art Exchange in Raleigh, NC. The juror is Steven Matijcio, Curator of Contemporary Art, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA). The First Friday reception is September 3, 6-9 pm. Show runs through September 23rd.