Waiting for the Opportunity at the Signature Artist Cooperative Exhibit

In my last post I left you with a cliff hanger. My mixed media piece for the Signature Artist Cooperative exhibition called Earth: Power and Fragility was being created with lots of wonderful blues and browns and then...

it went black.  On purpose.  I get a great patina by using some stuff called bitumen (tar).

It gets rubbed off with mineral spirits.  More paint went on top.  Some oil pastels too.

The finished piece.  Picture shows it a bit more tourquois than it really is.



Me at the show opening on April 9, 2011.  This show is up at the Kalamazoo Nature Center until May 31.  It's a beautiful show space and the work of all the Signature artists is super.    Call the Nature Center for their hours at 269-381-1574.




I like the water a lot on this piece.  In fact, I like it so much that I built upon this idea for my Art 105/Painting final.  Pictures of that soon.

Lorrie

Waiting for the Opportunity

The Artists Co-op that I belong to recently had a show opening at the Kalamazoo Nature Center.  Called Earth:  the Power and Fragility, this show had some super work from about 15 members.  So, in the middle of the basement remodel, my painting class, a trip to NY as well as interviewing for a job and ferrying the kids around, I had a show-quality (shouldn't they all be show-quality?) piece to create. 

I juried into this group as a handmade paper and paper mosaic artist so this is the type of work that I needed to make.  It felt good working with the heavily textured handmade paper again!

My idea on this theme was to highlight the plight of the Great Lakes with regard to the very invasive Asian Carp. These fish are expected to enter the Lakes via the Mississippi River and Illinois Canals.  Currently there are "zappers" in the canals that are supposed to keep the fish from entering Lake Michigan through the Locks but it is inevitable that these fish, with their voracious appetites, will get into the Lakes and alter the ecosystems.  These fish are just Waiting for the Opportunity.

Here's my progression over several days:



Back to working with handmade paper again.  Yeh!  The fish are handmade paper fish glued onto a canvas.  The chair that is supporting the canvas gives you an idea of scale.



A coat of tan paint went over the whole thing then I started to build the colors of the water.

Each fish received it's own color.  My formerly bright and fun fish had to become rather dark and menacing.  Asian Carp are not pretty fish!  The white over the blue on the right is plaster.

Continuing to layer blue on blue on blue on blue.  I used my fingers for about 90% of the water on this piece.  Very little brush work involved.

The fish get a bit of highlighting with copper paint and the Lock is put in.  The lock is more plaster so it is raised.  Lots of dimension on this piece.



The Lock is painted copper as well.



OMG!!  What happened?!?  Stay tuned...

Lorrie

PS. That is what they call a cliff hanger. :)

Signature Artists Cooperative Gallery Sale

In May I was thrilled to jury into an area artists' coop. The group, Signature, meets monthly, has an annual exhibition and also opens a wonderful Gallery each December. The Gallery features the artwork of about 20 different artists. Incredible handmade gifts and artwork is available: jewelry, photography, pastels, ceramics, wood, stained glass, fiber, steel, blown glass, handmade paper, and paintings. If you still need that special something and live in southwest Michigan, check us out.

The picture is of my space on opening day. The work of pastel artist Melody Allen is beyond mine. I didn't take any pictures of the entire space because I wasn't sure about "permissions". Next year I will show you the whole store.

Hours for the remainder of the "run":

Tuesday - Thursday: 10 - 7

Christmas Eve: 10 - 3

Christmas Day: closed

December 26: 12 - 5

December 27: 12 - 7

We're located at 4644 West Main, Kalamazoo, MI 49006. The store is in the Westwood Plaza next to Coney Island. 269-382-4134.

For those of you that have already been there. Many thanks for coming and encouraging local artists with your presence and support.

Lorrie

Blue Sunshine

Look what's blooming in my garden today...

Of course, this fun side table is just on a flowery rug.  In reality, we are getting our first snow of the season and roads are quite icy.  Let's be careful out there!

The Handmade Paper Guild Show two weeks ago went well.  In my next post I'll show some pictures.  Then we immediately left for western New York for Thanksgiving.  And now I'm working hard to get ready for a month-long Gallery Show with the Signature Artists Cooperative.  I was thrilled to get juried into this 30-member group in May so this will be my first time participating in their annual Gallery Show.  I have no idea if I have too much work or not enough.  Plus there's always that whole thing about guessing what things will sell.  Oh my!

I wish you a wonderful month of December filled with family, good food and wonderful thoughts.  Something to strive for anyway...

Lorrie