New Work

Here are a couple of finished pieces

Children of Light Children of Darkness

Never Forget

While I am not a big fan of explaining, since this is my blog I can talk about the imagery of Never Forget (as it is something that shows up repeatedly in my work). 

This piece is based on a map of Warsaw in the post WWII reconstruction, and especially important to me for its connection to my past.  In 1972 I went to Poland as part of my Junior year abroad.  We went to Auschwitz:  and it was there, standing next to a room piled high with  discarded suitcases, that I learned about Shoah.  It was a lovely autumn day, bright sun, and the low brick buildings of Auschwitz look like a school until you got inside and saw the rooms:  one of suitcases, one of glasses, one of human hair.

I grew up in a totally white bread farming town in rural Ohio, and my right wing mother would probably be considered a Holocaust denier in current terms so I have an excuse for not knowing until then.  It was a transformative experience, as was the next day's trip to Old Town Warsaw.  The most remarkable achievement--despite all the unspeakable destruction, they managed to restore their city to the way it was--every building, every architectural ornament, every street.  As inspiring as the previous day was depressing. 

On the Design Wall

The long put off Kitchen Reno project has begun, and my immediate reaction has been horror about the disruption!  Which is super minimal at the moment, but does involve starting the wiring which means lots of dust in my basement art studio. EEK!  However, this made me take down the many pieces in process on my design walls.  There is still a lot up (pieces I am trying to get ready to post for a class with Jane Davies).

I am reminded that I frequently talk about how disturbing I find "visual noise" and yet I have created a studio full of visual noise!  Perhaps I need to experiment with putting up a more curated selection to help me focus and not be overwhelmed by all the possibilities.....

Here are pictures after taking most of the stuff down--and you will notice that there is still a lot of stuff up:

I am lucky to have four large design walls, so being minimal in this regard will take some effort.  These are all pieces in which I challenged myself to use that shield shape in as many ways as possible.  They are mostly sketches/experiments, not finished work.

I did also see this, which is recent work based on another class exercise.  Really like this one:

10" x 11", graphite, paint and water color crayon on paper.