show on Martha's Vineyard!!

Well......FINALLY Summer has arrived!! Beaches and barbecues await! Should your travels this year take you to beautiful Martha's Vineyard, I hope you will stop into the Belushi Pisano Gallery in the heart of Vineyard Haven. The gallery is filled with wonderful original art and fine crafts. I am excited to be having a show there this year. The opening is July 18th. Would LOVE to see you there! But even if you are unable to make it that night, my work is on hand throughout the season.

distillations

I have been working on some paintings using acrylic. Before I begin, I usually tone the surface and/ or use a palette knife to smear on some textured gel medium. Once the surface is dry, I begin to put color on top of it. I am thinking about color, light, texture and paint. I am thinking about rock formations, the ocean, currents, the wind and sky. AND......I am trying NOT to think too much, but to just respond to what is already on the surface. One mark goes down, which inspires the next, and so on. While these paintings might not be recognizable as landscape, they are distillations many years of observation. They celebrate paint for its own sake and more directly express emotion purely by use of color.

left bank gallery in wellfleet

I recently delivered a new body of work to the Left Bank Gallery in Wellfleet. What a gorgeous spot, right on the marsh. The gallery is filled with amazing original art, fine crafts and furnishings and jewelry. It's true, the cost of gas is through the roof, but go anyway!! Summer is short. Go to the beach, barbecue, ride bikes, garden, eat ice cream and BUY ART! :)

why abstraction??

WHY, one might reasonably ask, after many years of study and development, of honing the ability to make a two dimensional surface look like "something", in my case a landscape in three dimension.......WHY then would you wish to disregard that skill in favor of abstraction?? Paint, texture, color, on a two dimensional plane. There are several ways in which to answer this question. One is that when looking at the work of other painters, I found myself drawn to abstract work. The other is that after many years of exploring the landscape, I am needing something new to keep me challenged creatively. On some level, I have always used landscape as a vehicle for expressing emotion through color and light. With my abstract work, I am still using the same elements of composition, color, light, value, rhythm, texture. Just in a more direct way. And believe me,it is incredibly challenging. I'm not exactly sure where I am heading, but the journey is exciting. It is that unknown that pulls me forward.

blog neglect

...........guilty as charged. There is NO excuse. And yet, I will offer this. I have been working REALLY hard in my studio!! My solo show at Nahcotta was such an exciting experience. As I have mentioned before, Nahcotta is a wonderful gallery, right here in my FAB hometown. And.......the show, Explorations, introduced some of my new work in acrylic. The opening was amazing!! The show is up through June 8th, so there is still time to see it!!

Currently, I am working on deliveries to two other incredible galleries, a bit south of here. The Left Bank Gallery in Welfleet on the Cape ..........and the Belushi-Pisano Gallery on Martha's Vineyard. I am very excited about the upcoming Summer season. Stay tuned!

fabulous monotype workshop!!!!

This weekend I had the wonderful opportunity of attending a monotype workshop in the studio of Roger Goldenberg. I have been curious about monotypes for a long time and thought it could be a good way to expand my creative language. My good friend, Jean, who was way overdue for a Portsmouth visit signed up, too! (We went to art school together some gazillion years ago) And only when I arrived at the studio, did I realize that one of my neighbors was also a participant! It was a great group and a couple of FULL days. On the first day, we worked on lexan plates. These are a bit thick to go through the press and so require hand rubbing or pressing with a heavy rolling pin onto the paper. The beauty of this method is that it can be easily replicated at home. We worked initially in reductive manner, which was a great way to explore mark making with a variety of implements, and then by applying inks to the plate in additive approach. Day two brought aluminum plates, which were better suited to going through the press and afforded experimentation with embossing. Possibilities are infinite! Roger did a wonderful job of teaching many methods in a relaxed manner and in helping us all to maximize our printing time by doing the grunt work of cleaning our plates and tools, so that we could focus on creating. What a treat!! He is a very generous instructor and I would encourage anyone with an interest in printmaking to look into his upcoming workshops.

acrylic explorations

I have been working for some time now, off and on for several years, with acrylic paint. Inevitably, I would become frustrated and / or have a show commitment, so the acrylics would get put away and I would be reunited with my beloved pastels. Ah……..like coming home. So familiar and comfortable. In recent months, however, my study of acrylics has intensified. I have been spending the majority of my studio time socking it out with this unfamiliar medium. So many new things with which to contend. For instance, drying time: With pastels, there is NO drying time. So in SOME ways, the speedy drying time of acrylics is well suited to my working style. But what about when I want to blend color in a large area? I am moving that brush around like crazy!! And when the colors do dry, they are somewhat darker. I will put down a nice highlight at what I deem to be the ideal value, and when it dries it is darker an almost disappears. Then there are the issue of transparency and fluidity, both new for me. And the choice of substrates on which to work…….and the huge number of additives that can be mixed into the paint to alter its texture. Possibilities are infinite. This is both the good news and the bad news. Much to figure out and so many exciting possibilities, which, in case you were wondering WHY I was pushing myself into this new territory (and believe me, I have asked myself that very question many times) …..is the reason. Stay tuned……..(hint: think Nahcotta in May)