Porkbelly Press 07.11.17

Porkbelly Press has just published a new chapbook, MEXICAMERICANA, (poetry) by Eloisa Amezcua, and I'm super excited to say my work is on the cover! The incomparable and very industrious Nicci Mechler runs Porkbelly Press, a small independent chapbook press in Cincinnati, Ohio. Besides her jobs as editor, designer, and artist for the chapbook, she does about a thousand other things, all while continously producing a steady stream of gorgeous etchings and other artworks. Her blog bio starts off like this:

"Nicci is a graduate of Northern Kentucky University (BFA Studio Art, Masters in English). Between research, novel revisions, poetic alchemy, reading, retreats, and caring for roomies, rescue dogs, and rescue kitties, she makes art, edits the literary magazine Sugared Water, and runs Porkbelly Press (a micro press in Cincinnati, OH). She is also the editor and maker of several zines, including the body image zine LMLMB.

I was very honored when she asked if she could use my work on the cover, and it really does look wonderful. I have no idea how she manages to get all this stuff done. Here, you can read an excerpt from Eloisa Amezcua's beautiful poetry; you can buy a copy of this handbound chapbook, MEXICAMERICANA, here.

The Taft Museum (part 2)

The Taft Museum of Art is housed in a building that was built in 1820 and is a National Historic Landmark. Home to the families of several millionaires over a period of more than a hundred years, Anna and Charles Taft bequeathed their home and renowned art collection to the people of Cincinnati.

 The museum opened to the public in 1932.

This post is by no means an overview of the museum's art collection. Being here was a somewhat sentimental journey for me, as I have been here many times before.  I didn't realize it at the time, but I was very lucky in that my parents took me and my siblings to Cincinnati's museums often; it wasn't until I was older that it occurred to me that there were actually many people who never went to museums, though we have quite a few high-quality and well-celebrated ones right here in Cincinnati. (I live just across the river in northern Kentucky.)

One of my favorite paintings in the museum is W. J. M. Turner's Europa and the Bull.  But my favorites pieces at the Taft Museum have always been the exquisite Chinese porcelains, some of which go back as far as the Ming dynasty (mid-fourteenth to mid seventeenth century).

As I walked from room to room, I remembered how the opulence of the house had impressed me as a child; the antique carpets and beautiful furnishings made me feel that I was in the presence of something sacred: art.

Some of the pieces were so ingrained in my memory that I felt I was meeting old friends.

The museum also has a large collection of Limoges Renaissance enamels...

... and murals painted by famed African-American artist Robert Duncanson.

A few more of my favorites paintings:

At the Piano, James Abbott McNeil Whistler

The Cobbler's Apprentice, Frank Duveneck

The Song of the Talking Wire, Henry Farny

I hope you enjoyed going with me on my little trip down Memory Lane. Wishing everyone a wonderful week!

The Taft Museum (part 1)

Yesterday we went to the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati to see a special exhibit called Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh: Impressions of Landscape. Since Daubigny was an artist I had heard little about, I was surprised to see how his work, over time, transitioned from realism to an almost Impressionistic style. It was clear that Monet was heavily influenced by his work, though I had never heard him mentioned in connection to Impressionism. Daubigny also urged his art dealer to sell Monet's work, telling him that if any of them didn't sell, he would replace them with his own paintings. He resigned in protest from the Paris Salon when they refused to show Monet's work.

 Sunset Near Villerville, Charles-Francois Daubigny

The Banks of the River Oise, Charles-Francois Daubigny

"Before the Impressionists, French artist Charles-François Daubigny pushed the boundaries of traditional landscape. In the 1850s and 1860s, Daubigny anticipated and helped shape Impressionism by routinely painting outdoors to capture qualities of light and atmosphere, by launching a floating studio boat on the French rivers, and by exhibiting sketch-like works that critics assailed as “mere impressions.” He became a mentor, colleague, and friend to the Impressionists, especially Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro." ( http://frenchculture.org/visual-and-performing-arts/events/daubigny-monet-van-gogh-impressions-landscape )

 Poppy Field, Claude Monet

Van Gogh, of course, took it a step further, boldly putting down distinct brush strokes and using even brighter and more saturated colors than the Impressionists.

 Wheat Field with Cypresses, Vincent Van Gogh

 The progression is pretty noticeable if we look at the handling of similar subject matter by each artist:

 Apple Trees in Blossom, Charles-Francois Daubigny

Orchard in Bloom, Claude Monet

Orchard in Blossom Plum Trees, Vincent Van Gogh

If you're in the Cincinnati area, this exhibit is well worth seeing. I learned a lot about a subject I thought I was well-educated about, and an artist I hadn't really known anything about, and, of couse, the paintings were breathtaking. To see a slide show of the exhibit, go here.


Tune in for my next post, when I'll show you more of the impressive Taft Museum of Art.

Three Person Exhibition "Figuratively Speaking"

My work is part of a three-person show in Sharonville (a suburb of Cincinnati), Ohio, along with the wonderful art of Suzanne Fisher and Jan Boone.  It's called "Figuratively Speaking", because the pieces by all three artists depict the human figure, albeit in very different styles and media. For some reason, my work is not pictured on the invitation.  It's kind of strange- I don't really know how to interpret that.

Anyway, I'll be at the opening reception on Thursday evening, and you're all invited. Hope to see you there!

Transformation 31

I actually finished this piece a couple of weeks ago, but just didn't post it because I wasn't 100 percent totally sure it was finished. Making decisions is not one of my assets as a human being, but let's just not go there... I have a couple more of these in the works, but as I might have mentioned before, I feel like this series has almost run its course, or come to an inevitable conclusion, or is stale and boring (at least to me). I really want to move on to something different, but I'm not sure exactly what. Once again, the old indecision problem has reared its ugly head. If any one has ideas or experiences you can share about how to handle this transition, please let me know.

American Style Magazine

This ad featuring several members of Artists Who Teach will appear in the February issue of American Style Magazine. (My piece is in the upper right corner.) This is really a nice, high quality arts magazine with great images and articles, and I'm happy to be included in the ad. Hopefully it will provide some exposure if nothing else, which can't hurt. Also, I can't say enough about the diverse originality you'll find in the work of the members of Artists Who Teach; check out the site for some inspiration. I feel honored to be a part of this organization.

Reflections

I thought this photo (top) looked a bit like stained glass. It reminded me of Kathleen's beautiful glass work. The second version is my attempt to make it appear more glass-like. The upshot of all this is that I'm using Photoshop as a diversion from my other work because I'm blocked- absolutely no idea what to do. Sometimes I find it's best not to try to force it, but instead to step back and do something else for a while. I'll let you know how that goes. But I am having lots of fun with the photos, for now.

Abstracts

I've had a lot of fun lately (and frustration, too, I must admit), trying to expand my Photoshop abilities beyond just re-sizing things. I'm kind of in a 'stuck' place with my art, so I began to play around with some of my photos. I guess there's less pressure with them, because I've never really considered myself a serious photographer, or exhibited my photos as "ART" (whatever that means). Anyway to get to the point, I was thinking of photos as abstracts. I know many people use the terms "abstract" and "nonrepresentational" interchangeably, but when I was in school, I was taught that abstraction was making images that had a basis in reality. For example, Picasso's figures may have two eyes on one side of their faces, but you know they're based on people. In contrast, the work of Mark Rothko or Jackson Pollack would be considered nonrepresentational because they don't reference anything in the real world. Of course, all of this is arguable and pretty vague; they may have based their work on something real at times.
But now I'm rambling. What I've tried to do, essentially, is take real things as recorded by the camera and see how far I could push them into abstraction by altering them with Photoshop. None of these photos are cropped, by the way. Let me know what you think. Can you tell what they are?

To logo, or not to logo...

That is the question. It seems that I should have a business card and letterhead, so I'm trying to design something. Here are two I've come up with so far. What do you think?

Four Buddhas

I'm not sure what to call this; I mean, I've never done anything with multiple images before. I'm not an Andy Warhol fan, so I don't think that's where this is coming from. Maybe it's from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of deities having multiple aspects- such as the Medicine Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, etc. I once took the initiation of the twenty-one Taras, which was quite lovely, but no one has ever explained to me why there are so many of everything. Tibetans seem to have an obsession with numbers, but I find it a bit confusing, myself. But I digress, I guess. For whatever reason, I just like these images together; I hope you do, too. Namaste!

Good News

Well, I've been busy and I wanted to update everyone on what I've been up to. I have some good news to share.

Exciting news! My work has been selected to be featured in the book "Art Buzz: The 2009 Collection." An annual, full color, hardback, 'coffee table' type book, this publication showcases the work of professional artists from around the world. I'm honored to be included in the 2009 Collection, which will be available for purchase directly from the publisher later this winter.

In October, my work was juried into the Artist Guild of Northwest Georgia 1st Annual Open Online Art Competition. "Moonshadows" was awarded 1st place for mixed media. You can view the show at their website.

I was fortunate to be accepted into the organization "Artists Who Teach", a group of fine artists who are also teachers. Membership is juried, and there is some very nice work on this site. You can see my profile here, at the bottom of the page. Also, if you have a chance, look for my work in their ad in the December issue of American Style Magazine.

While I sometimes get frustrated with the lack of sales (which is understandable in this economy), I guess this just goes to show that if you just keep pluggin' away, eventually something will happen. I am definitely the tortoise rather than the hare. I'm developing kind of a zen attitude about all this- enjoy the process and don't worry about the outcome, or something like that. Maybe it should be "Ride with the tide, and go with the flow" as James Taylor and Carly Simon sang so long ago. Well anyway, I'm trying.

Tree Cathedral 3

Tree Cathedral 4

Where does the Divine reside? Do we keep our idea of God inside the confines of a box, a building, a church? Where does God begin, or end? Is spirit within us, around us, within every thing? Which is more holy, a tree, or a building? Which inspires you more, on a spiritual level? Have we constructed our God the same way we construct a building?
I can't answer these questions for you; each of us must answer them for ourselves. For myself, though, I choose to think outside the box.

Tree Cathedral 2

Medieval Christians built cathedrals that soared into the sky as if reaching to touch God. The peaks of the ribbed groin vaults gave Gothic architecture a feeling of endless vertical space pierced by shafts of light from a multitude of arched windows. They are truly an inspired sculptural representation of the spiritual. My cathedral in the woods with it's exquisite sweeping spires and endless vault of pure blue put even this beautiful masterwork to shame.

It was a dark and stormy night...

Well, it was! The crazy weather from Hurricane Ike reminded me of this photo I took of the sky from my back yard during a strange storm. Nature is beautiful, but she can sure pack a wallop. Just when we arrogant humans think we have everything under control, she puts us in our place.

Glowing Buddha

Yes, another in the Buddha series- I'm sort of obsessed with this piece and all its permutations. I hope you're not too tired of it, because I'm not finished yet, so stay tuned for further developments! By the way, all of these will be for sale as soon as I can figure out the cost.

1st Place Award

Some very nice things have happened in the past couple of days, one of them being that I found out I won a first place award for this mixed media piece, MOON SHADOWS, at the AGNWG 1st Annual Online Art Competition. There is some very nice work in this show, and you can still vote for the PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD until the end of the month. (Shameless plug: Vote for me! Vote for me!)

Another nice thing is that I was juried onto the Artists Who Teach site; you can find my profile here.

And, last but certainly not least, I finally got my electricity back after 6 days. Even though I'm in Kentucky, Hurricane Ike was able to reach out its long arms and knock down countless trees and power lines, leaving 90% of Duke Energy's customers in the dark. You have no idea how wonderful hot water can feel- and my computer still works, too!!

Neon Buddha

A little more Photoshop fun. I took this photo of a statue at my friend's house, and have been playing around with it to see what I could come up with. This is the 3rd of 5 or 6 versions. Which do you like best so far?

NKU Alumni Exhibition Invitation

I was honored to be accepted into the juried alumni exhibit at Northern Kentucky University, where I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1993. The reception was Thursday night, and it was sort of strange, but nice, to be in the gallery again. If you're in the neighborhood before September 25, stop by and check it out. I'm sorry this invitation didn't upload very well; I think it had to be shrunk so much that most of the text does not show up.

Pink Blacklight Buddha

Is it just me, or does this kind of remind you of a seventies blacklight poster? Of course, those memories are a bit fuzzy, so I could be wrong. Let me know what you think.