tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322904647001086172024-03-13T12:31:49.414-04:00painting with fireartist Leslie Sobel's musing on art, the environment, art-making and activismpainting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.comBlogger166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-83619660061033624782024-01-31T15:28:00.001-05:002024-01-31T15:28:14.189-05:00Newsletter more than a blog these days.<p> I'm mostly posting this kind of material on my newsletter. Sign up <a href="https://buttondown.email/lesliesobel">here</a>.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSxB4pJueyISSzSBC_Oj52vvDKV7i3okygDoElu04DNGZGRvyAnHLmiR39OXa2a3WPVLQOjnELmiJhoogBnWLw9bmennkWZ7H4P3d-mPx564gwF96pdHng4QfeE6S2lMktEmIX_MoZqPegRAaQBAGdRun-cjVvCkokFkFLXrNy0luefinAJ-9PiV61w/s3833/Hornsund%20glacial%20retreat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Square painting of a retreating glacier from above" border="0" data-original-height="3833" data-original-width="3792" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSxB4pJueyISSzSBC_Oj52vvDKV7i3okygDoElu04DNGZGRvyAnHLmiR39OXa2a3WPVLQOjnELmiJhoogBnWLw9bmennkWZ7H4P3d-mPx564gwF96pdHng4QfeE6S2lMktEmIX_MoZqPegRAaQBAGdRun-cjVvCkokFkFLXrNy0luefinAJ-9PiV61w/s320/Hornsund%20glacial%20retreat.jpg" title="Hornsund Glacial Retreat, mixed media on panel, 12" x 12", ©2024" width="317" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-24618386230553825922021-03-21T21:46:00.003-04:002021-03-21T21:48:10.083-04:00A journal of my plague year<p> In March of 2020 I was in Florida finishing up a residency and headed home just as things started to blow up and lock down with the pandemic. It was a very strange time to be finishing my MFA - writing a thesis while locked down meant time for many more drafts! Then in the fall my cohort pulled off the impossible and managed an in-person MFA exhibition. Of course our campus at the University of Hartford was closed to anyone not affiliated with the university community but the silver lining was putting together a robust online exhibition which you can see <a href="https://www.nomadconfluence.com/">here</a>.</p><p>Since graduating I've been home working, writing grants and proposals and getting ready for my next big <a href="https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/leslie-sobel/campaigns/3987">residency</a> in the Arctic Circle this fall. This residency was postponed for a year but does look to be going forward in October. So in the midst of making work in the studio, curating some exhibitions (more about those in a future post) and waiting - seems like the main thing we've all been doing is waiting - I'm crowdfunding my climate focused trip on a tall ship in the far north.</p><p>One thing this wretched year has highlighted has been the challenge of watching enormous amounts of terrible events with little to no power to make them better. I'm one of the lucky ones with no risk of being homeless or hungry and it's still been a horrendously painful year. Heartbreaking for so many and hard to hold onto gratitude but I'm trying.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5-jWJwh1I0I/YFf2g4RnNrI/AAAAAAAAKao/f0v6hhI32fArWTzGRYN08h6_kDiLlK-UgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/snowgeese%2Bon%2Bthe%2Bwing.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="monotype snowgeese on the wing" border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5-jWJwh1I0I/YFf2g4RnNrI/AAAAAAAAKao/f0v6hhI32fArWTzGRYN08h6_kDiLlK-UgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/snowgeese%2Bon%2Bthe%2Bwing.JPG" title="Snowgeese on the wing, encaustic monotype on Rives Lightweight, 20 x 26" ©2021" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-36712692806656687942020-04-14T16:44:00.001-04:002020-04-14T16:45:33.566-04:00Shimmering<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m5s-J-qroXY/XpYdGcbSeMI/AAAAAAAAHO4/8RQ2fDumMycxC_zUkL-Yz1zh9lcQT61hQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/empty%2Bchannels%2Bslims%2Briver%2B33x66.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="1600" height="228" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m5s-J-qroXY/XpYdGcbSeMI/AAAAAAAAHO4/8RQ2fDumMycxC_zUkL-Yz1zh9lcQT61hQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/empty%2Bchannels%2Bslims%2Briver%2B33x66.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Empty channels, Slims River,</i> shredded scientific papers, resin & pigment on panel, 33" x 66"</td></tr>
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I sit in isolation, looking at a grey sky and high winds, reading
apocalyptic news about the pandemic and thinking about the idea of a “a
protocol of joy.” In February - or approximately 300 years ago - I was
in Miami for an artist-in-residence as part of my MFA program. We worked
with Miccosukee artist, activist and ordained minister Houston Cypress,
who taught us about approaching life’s adversity through a protocol of
joy and finding the shimmer of beauty and impermance in the world.
Riding the airboat across the Everglades on a sunny day watching
waterbirds seems impossibly long ago in a far more innocent time. I
understood joy and absorbing the shimmering quality of the place in that
moment. It took me back to growing up on the shore of Lake Michigan
where I would go to the lakeshore and watch the light play across the
water, listening to the wind and the birds. The light still shimmers on
days less grey and threatening than today and I hope my joy will return
when the pandemic wanes and our days are not full of stories of
suffering and death, incompetence and malevolence.</div>
<br />
For now I
think shimmering and long for the simple beauty of light on water. Soon
the days will warm again and I will take my kayak out on the water and
enjoy the shimmer on the Huron River. I love the light on water - so
insubstantial and changing - inspiring me to thoughts of peace, escape,
meditation on ever-changing impermanence. I’ve long focused on it in my
work and sit surrounded by my paintings of it.<br />
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GVGK7armV_4/XpYd4AJP10I/AAAAAAAAHPA/UeWnegrrdS0GAjHLUqKecd90fNzsg1hOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Wingaersheek-Ripples-I-w-out-frame.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="596" height="295" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GVGK7armV_4/XpYd4AJP10I/AAAAAAAAHPA/UeWnegrrdS0GAjHLUqKecd90fNzsg1hOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Wingaersheek-Ripples-I-w-out-frame.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Wingaersheek Ripples I,</i> Archival inkjet and encaustic on paper, 16" x 20" framed</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
<br />
Today I think of, reach for, a protocol of joy and it eludes me. I am
lucky - secure housing, full pantry. I look out at a garden full of
daffodils and greenhouse and cold-frame sheltering seedlings. I walk in
the woods, reveling in the beauty of early spring - the shimmer on the
little streams and the bigger river. The shimmer will continue no matter
whether we are there to watch it. It makes me think of the land
acknowledgements we do to thank those who came before us and how they
respected and nurtured the land. Here in southeast Michigan that would
be the Anishinabek and Potawatomi peoples. Respecting their lifeways
would be a good start on helping the planet recover from our industrial,
consumptive voracity. Perhaps the silver (shimmering?) lining of this
pandemic is the land having time to heal a bit from our industriousness.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RMCy3uZEPT4/XpYeo03bTyI/AAAAAAAAHPI/DMKuvdgSfbweQDsvdB6-2_ZbGsN4Ai-vgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/mississippi%2Bflow%2BII-horiz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="1600" height="126" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RMCy3uZEPT4/XpYeo03bTyI/AAAAAAAAHPI/DMKuvdgSfbweQDsvdB6-2_ZbGsN4Ai-vgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/mississippi%2Bflow%2BII-horiz.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Mississippi Flow</i>, encaustic monotype on kozo, 72" x 17"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I was thinking about how to find joy and beauty in these times when I read a friend’s <a href="https://lil-lytnin.blogspot.com/2020/04/metastatic-cancer-and-pandemics.html">blog</a>. She is a young mother living with metastatic lung cancer. She wrote that living with cancer and living with this era of Coronavirus have a lot in common:<br />
<i></i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i><br />"Who knows what things will be like in a month or even a week? Think smaller. Think about this day, this hour, maybe even this minute. I am breathing. There is sunshine. I can hear a bird….I like to call my next strategy Grief and Gratitude.<br /><br />Make sure to let yourself grieve.<br />….Take time to honor and grieve for it all….<br /><br />This may be harsh, but living with my diagnosis has taught me that what you have is THIS. Right now. This time IS your time. Don’t wish it away. What you have now might BE the good days. So enjoy what you can of THIS."</i><br />
<br />
I think she is right - find the shimmer in the now, live in the present, acknowledging the past, hoping for the future as we live poised on the edge of I don’t know what.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lcq0dN9LtBg/XpYgXuJk0fI/AAAAAAAAHPU/KQOO3hOHgRc-nkcwzPXuPkEesStBv9vUACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/WIP-we%2Bare%2Balone%2Btogether%2B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lcq0dN9LtBg/XpYgXuJk0fI/AAAAAAAAHPU/KQOO3hOHgRc-nkcwzPXuPkEesStBv9vUACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/WIP-we%2Bare%2Balone%2Btogether%2B4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>We are all alone together</i>, encaustic monotype and mixed media on paper, 9" x 9" </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Interested in the land acknowledgement I mentioned? Look <a href="https://usdac.us/nativeland">here</a>. Interested in finding out about whose land you live on? Check out <a href="http://native-land.ca/">Native Land.</a>painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-90681594875539123272019-11-13T10:14:00.000-05:002019-11-13T10:14:05.313-05:00Exhibition at Michigan Medicine coming up<h3>
<a href="https://stamps.umich.edu/news/leslie_sobel_shrines_reliquaries_memorializing_climate" title="Permalink to Leslie Sobel: Shrines & Reliquaries: Memorializing Climate">Shrines & Reliquaries: Memorializing Climate</a></h3>
<div class="news_date">
November 12, 2019</div>
Work by Leslie Sobel will be featured in Michigan Medicine’s ongoing exhibit <em>Gifts of Art: Bringing the World of Art & Music to Michigan Medicine</em>. For her series, <em>Shrines & Reliquaries: Memorializing Climate</em>,
Sobel created mixed-media boxes meant to capture memories of places
being altered by climate change. She drew inspiration from Tibetan
iconography as well as her time as artist in residence at Kluane
National Park in Yukon Territory, Canada where in 2017 she camped on an
icefield with a group of climate scientists.The small boxes utilize
paint, monotype, photography, resin and encaustic to invoke complex
ideas and emotions that one can hold in their hands.<br />
<em><a href="http://www.med.umich.edu/goa/dec19pr.htm">Shrines & Reliquaries: Memorializing Climate</a></em><br />
December 16, 2019 – March 6, 2020<br />
Open daily from 8:00am – 8:00pm<br />
Gifts of Art Gallery – Taubman Health Center South Lobby, Floor 1<br />
1500 E. Medical Center Drive<br />
Ann Arbor, Michigan<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-axt1fKisc_c/Xcwc6ky3llI/AAAAAAAAGD4/xCipa9zDv4AmkRXpw4QYg9ukqSQdXoGxACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/climate-change-game.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="237" data-original-width="432" height="175" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-axt1fKisc_c/Xcwc6ky3llI/AAAAAAAAGD4/xCipa9zDv4AmkRXpw4QYg9ukqSQdXoGxACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/climate-change-game.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Climate Change Game, mixed media in found box, ~3" x 16" x 2"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tqtT7JrV3WE/Xcwc7G-4X6I/AAAAAAAAGEE/9RxAy11aLWU_Sc4lRVMyWdyKcVaqRydjQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/kaskawulsh%2Bdescent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tqtT7JrV3WE/Xcwc7G-4X6I/AAAAAAAAGEE/9RxAy11aLWU_Sc4lRVMyWdyKcVaqRydjQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/kaskawulsh%2Bdescent.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kaskawulsh Descent, mixed media in found box</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mGzzIyw5sDM/Xcwc7ceVDZI/AAAAAAAAGEI/S-Xc5ds0k28O-9xwf3QOQMKoU-rVdZE-wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/mountain%2Bshrine-open-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="618" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mGzzIyw5sDM/Xcwc7ceVDZI/AAAAAAAAGEI/S-Xc5ds0k28O-9xwf3QOQMKoU-rVdZE-wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/mountain%2Bshrine-open-web.jpg" width="197" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountain Shrine, encaustic in found box</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YcnZ0axKIMs/Xcwc63iJ9SI/AAAAAAAAGEA/X6qPj4aoflwL9ssL0HN_RV7NB4mB03kbACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Ridgeline%2Breliquary%2BII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YcnZ0axKIMs/Xcwc63iJ9SI/AAAAAAAAGEA/X6qPj4aoflwL9ssL0HN_RV7NB4mB03kbACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Ridgeline%2Breliquary%2BII.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountain Silhouette, mixed media in found box</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-27ZXXVsbHm4/Xcwc6ighWwI/AAAAAAAAGD8/y4L85JXEym8OwfFuIlCNYq2XUhXjNyyGwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Sheep%2BMt%2B%2526%2BKluane%2BLake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1141" data-original-width="1600" height="228" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-27ZXXVsbHm4/Xcwc6ighWwI/AAAAAAAAGD8/y4L85JXEym8OwfFuIlCNYq2XUhXjNyyGwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Sheep%2BMt%2B%2526%2BKluane%2BLake.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheep Mountain & Kluane Lake, mixed media in found box</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-30125219256283488302019-03-18T15:22:00.002-04:002019-03-18T15:22:54.434-04:00Materiality - resin and mixed mediaEver since my residency on the Eclipse Icefield I’ve been exploring ways to make work about climate in different ways. I’ve also started working in resin in the last year and it seems a natural material to explore ideas about melt and the change in lakes, glaciers and watersheds associated with climate change. <br /><br /><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zIRxX4btOGs/XI_tZaTcJvI/AAAAAAAAEPQ/shK4UJ0q220aaSNnOwud71ag-UE4VDbFACLcBGAs/s1600/Kluane%2BLake%2B-resin%2Bcast%2B-%2Bsmaller%2Bfile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="1500" height="152" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zIRxX4btOGs/XI_tZaTcJvI/AAAAAAAAEPQ/shK4UJ0q220aaSNnOwud71ag-UE4VDbFACLcBGAs/s320/Kluane%2BLake%2B-resin%2Bcast%2B-%2Bsmaller%2Bfile.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kluane Lake Resin cast</i> - resin and kozo with acrylic and pigment, ~24" x 50" ©2910</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wM-yWq5h0h0/XI_th-WQwbI/AAAAAAAAEPg/k-vQugSGmfQrTb4rGm-t8-rxugDkFZtzwCLcBGAs/s1600/empty%2Bchannels-slims%2Briver%2B%2B20%2Bx%2B50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="1600" height="145" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wM-yWq5h0h0/XI_th-WQwbI/AAAAAAAAEPg/k-vQugSGmfQrTb4rGm-t8-rxugDkFZtzwCLcBGAs/s320/empty%2Bchannels-slims%2Briver%2B%2B20%2Bx%2B50.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Empty channels, Slims river </i>- shredded climate research papers, resin and pigment, ~24" x 57" ©2019</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kluane Lake Deconstructed</i> - cast resin and kozo with acrylic and pigment on panel, ~24" x 57" ©2019</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-isQZaRpozFk/XI_thCPz6kI/AAAAAAAAEPY/rCmoe8cAKsY97deTLsgJNoapZTacQ2llQCLcBGAs/s1600/Kluane%2BLake%2BDecontructed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="754" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-isQZaRpozFk/XI_thCPz6kI/AAAAAAAAEPY/rCmoe8cAKsY97deTLsgJNoapZTacQ2llQCLcBGAs/s320/Kluane%2BLake%2BDecontructed.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zVGXdFyKIOo/XI_thmxC4mI/AAAAAAAAEPc/PjvtsN1zpEs3gooL_rdwMpPkAcjmvlciACLcBGAs/s1600/Kluane%2BLake%2BDecontructed-%2Bdetail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zVGXdFyKIOo/XI_thmxC4mI/AAAAAAAAEPc/PjvtsN1zpEs3gooL_rdwMpPkAcjmvlciACLcBGAs/s320/Kluane%2BLake%2BDecontructed-%2Bdetail.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">detail - <i>Kluane Lake Deconstructed</i> - cast resin and kozo with acrylic and pigment on panel, ~24" x 57" ©2019</td></tr>
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<br />
I’ve done a number of small, exploratory pieces as I work with resin as
well - letting me try different techniques combining it with glass,
metallic and other pigments and collage elements. Resin for me turns out to be a wonderful unifier of
other media, pulling disparate elements together in what can end up a
more polished, cohesive whole.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_wEAWnLXtXU/XI_tnD1niiI/AAAAAAAAEPk/tvgouEI2GcEI7vR712-ouptQNwdF345KwCLcBGAs/s1600/rect%2Babstraction%2B1-resin-glass-pigment4x6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="717" height="224" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_wEAWnLXtXU/XI_tnD1niiI/AAAAAAAAEPk/tvgouEI2GcEI7vR712-ouptQNwdF345KwCLcBGAs/s320/rect%2Babstraction%2B1-resin-glass-pigment4x6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Rectangular abstraction I</i> - resin, acrylic, glass and pigment, 4" x 6" ©2019</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5P2k0mQnvss/XI_tnMMZd8I/AAAAAAAAEPs/eJCuYfQRBR8gE1uykEkXq-l6o0L4jPRiACLcBGAs/s1600/rect%2Babstraction%2B2-resin-glass-pigment4x6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="705" height="228" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5P2k0mQnvss/XI_tnMMZd8I/AAAAAAAAEPs/eJCuYfQRBR8gE1uykEkXq-l6o0L4jPRiACLcBGAs/s320/rect%2Babstraction%2B2-resin-glass-pigment4x6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Rectangular abstraction II</i> - resin, acrylic, glass and pigment, 4" x 6" ©2019</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UL6rFzrMCHw/XI_tnOq5BfI/AAAAAAAAEPo/UuoaLHPwng4-WzNEAObmAHAtH-Ma7T9gwCLcBGAs/s1600/rect%2Babstraction%2B3-resin-glass-pigment4x6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="712" height="226" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UL6rFzrMCHw/XI_tnOq5BfI/AAAAAAAAEPo/UuoaLHPwng4-WzNEAObmAHAtH-Ma7T9gwCLcBGAs/s320/rect%2Babstraction%2B3-resin-glass-pigment4x6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Rectangular abstraction III </i>- resin, acrylic, glass and pigment, 4" x 6" ©2019</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TbQdQlkgmWw/XI_tnqLrZRI/AAAAAAAAEPw/ioXTiGZAVXsYr7hrPHgdp2EuVMc_5oSGwCLcBGAs/s1600/square%2Babstraction%2B1-resin-glass-pigment4x6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="496" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TbQdQlkgmWw/XI_tnqLrZRI/AAAAAAAAEPw/ioXTiGZAVXsYr7hrPHgdp2EuVMc_5oSGwCLcBGAs/s320/square%2Babstraction%2B1-resin-glass-pigment4x6.jpg" width="314" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Square abstraction I</i> - resin, acrylic, glass and pigment, 4" x 4" ©2019</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w-3-2-a9gLg/XI_toLfCh3I/AAAAAAAAEP0/GNk8mcVbXFQ1T4vFTaz2ARiydN7K_-kSQCLcBGAs/s1600/square%2Babstraction%2B2-resin-glass-pigment4x6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="504" height="316" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w-3-2-a9gLg/XI_toLfCh3I/AAAAAAAAEP0/GNk8mcVbXFQ1T4vFTaz2ARiydN7K_-kSQCLcBGAs/s320/square%2Babstraction%2B2-resin-glass-pigment4x6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Square abstraction II</i> - resin, acrylic, glass and pigment, 4" x 4" ©2019</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KfiCFnfz1YI/XI_towFskyI/AAAAAAAAEP4/hA0jRPbFeTc8pcg7dSVr8jWQ-nllvZGvACLcBGAs/s1600/square%2Babstraction%2B3-resin-glass-pigment4x6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="504" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KfiCFnfz1YI/XI_towFskyI/AAAAAAAAEP4/hA0jRPbFeTc8pcg7dSVr8jWQ-nllvZGvACLcBGAs/s320/square%2Babstraction%2B3-resin-glass-pigment4x6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Square abstraction III</i> - resin, acrylic, glass and pigment, 4" x 4" ©2019</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />In the course of my explorations <a href="http://artresin.com/">Art Resin</a> gave me a small sample to play with. Support is nice as it’s not an inexpensive material and my larger pieces can go through quite a bit of it. I like their particular formulation - it’s non-toxic, doesn’t heat up as much as some other epoxies while curing and has been pretty easy to work with. I should add I have zero interest in working with anything but the non-toxic varieties of resin. My studio is in my home and material safety is an important concern.<br />
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<br />painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-34535745627554140282017-07-07T17:44:00.001-04:002017-07-08T22:40:22.713-04:00My adventures on the Eclipse Icefield<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Now that I’ve been back for a while I have had a chance to digest the experience. I got back to a family crisis and have been utterly subsumed in caregiving - which has made re-entry challenging and follow-up work temporarily impossible. Now that things are more under control I’m back to work!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> So a long recap with lots of details about the day to day life on the ice but also loads of pix. </span></span><br />
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<span class="s1">There were five of us on this trip - Seth Campbell, Karl Kreutz and two grad students -</span>Will Kochtitzky<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and Brittany Main -<span class="s1"> and me. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Seth works largely with ground penetrating radar for his research. His long time scientific partner and senior scientist Karl Kreutz takes snow samples and ice cores to do chemical analysis to date when snow fell in what amount and where the moisture came from. Karl is a professor at the University of Maine</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">- which is one of the four institutions Seth currently works with - the life of a scientist funded by soft money is complex to say the very least.</span></div>
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Will and Brittany are both PhD students - Will working with Karl at the University of Maine and Brittany at the University of Ottawa. </div>
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<span class="s1">I flew into Whitehorse in the Yukon via Seattle and Vancouver. It turned out that Seth, Karl and Will were all on my flight so we connected in the terminal and hauled a big pile of gear out to a rental vehicle and on to the hotel where Brittany was already ensconced. The next two days were spent shopping - for groceries, maps, some bits of gear various people needed and so forth. Then Tina </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">picked us up in her giant van and drove us 100km up to the <a href="http://arctic.ucalgary.ca/kluane-lake-research-station">Kluane Lake Research Station</a> - talking all the way about the people, history and flora and fauna of the area. Her family has been in the area for generations and I learned a lot listening to her about the Yukon. On the way we passed what would be the only bear sighting of the trip - a small golden colored grizzly bear digging for roots on the side of the Alaska Highway.</span></div>
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At Kluane Lake Research Station (KLRS) we spent a couple days assembling gear for the flights in. This involved setting up new tents to make sure all bits were there, testing stoves, re-packing personal and scientific gear from travel mode to back-country mode (stuff has to be checked on commercial flights and fit in tiny back-country plane) and assembling food while discarding as much excess packaging as possible. Meal planning and assembling was largely Will’s job and we did NOT go hungry!<br />
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<span class="s1">A little about the Kluane Lake Research Station where we staged and where I spent more time after getting off the ice. KLRS is now run by the Arctic Institute of North America. It has a mix of housing, dining hall, work space, lab space and storage for the various research groups that operate there - most of whom are there for relatively brief stints but may need to store gear the rest of the year.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It runs along Kluane Lake and is separated from <a href="http://www.icefielddiscovery.com/">Icefield Discovery</a> by the width of a gravel air strip. The Icefield Discovery folks run both a field camp on the ice and a pair of small nimble planes to transport researchers, climbers and sight-seers in and out of the St Elias Mountains including Mt Logan - the latter being the tallest mountain in Canada and the most massive in the world. They do logistical support for many different groups in the field. All of our flights in and out were flown by Tom Bradley- whose calm demeanor would make the most nervous flier relaxed. The little planes he and Sherpal Singh fly would take us 1 or 2 at a time plus up to 750 pounds of gear (including our weight). </span><br />
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<span class="s1">Flying in took three trips. Seth and Karl went in first with essential camping gear and food. One rule of this sort of expedition is that no one flies in without survival necessities<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>- which makes excellent sense when you think about it. Brittany and Will flew in next with more camping gear and whatever science stuff fit. I came in last with my personal gear and all the rest of the science gear. The science gear included multiple ground penetrating radar set-ups since both Seth and Brittany had their own and the needed equipment to drill ice cores and store samples for later analysis. (I should mention that for this trip Karl was not keeping cores frozen but rather bringing back little sealed bag of samples - all meticulously labeled and logged -<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>which were allowed to melt since he was doing chemical analysis only. Had he needed to keep cores frozen it would have been a much bigger production). Logging data carefully and labeling correctly is obviously critically important and very time consuming in the field. From all this you will gather we did not travel light!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-klW6B7DeLqE/WV2akfhw_II/AAAAAAAACrU/4o6w5zVldMgww97kcTSNVupsGQJrxlSDQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/plane%2Blanding%2Bat%2Beclipse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-klW6B7DeLqE/WV2akfhw_II/AAAAAAAACrU/4o6w5zVldMgww97kcTSNVupsGQJrxlSDQCPcBGAYYCw/s320/plane%2Blanding%2Bat%2Beclipse.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Landing on the icefield</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">When my turn to go came it took more than an hour for Tom, Sherpal and Lance (mechanic extraordinaire) to play a complex game of tetris to get all the remaining gear in the plane. Then an errant gust of wind snapped a hinge on the pilot’s door so Lance calmly took the door off and attached a new hinge-plate. When I arrived 2 hours later than expected camp was all assembled with cook tent dug in and latrine ready, all tents but mine set.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br />
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<span class="s1">That skips over the flight in - <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">which was one of the high points of the trip for me. Kluane Lake is - or rather - was - fed by the Slims (trad. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A'ay Chu) River) </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 11px;">which used to flow out of the Kaskawulsh Glacier. Last summer the glacier receded far enough that it changed where it drains so the river no longer feeds the lake but rather flows in an entirely different channel to the Bering Sea. As a result the lake level has dropped more than a meter leaving boat ramps high and dry. The lake is quite deep - maybe 160 meters so from an ecosystem standpoint this is not yet disastrous but it is a problem for the local fishermen who can no longer easily put into the lake and many First Nations people count on that for at least part of their living. So I was very interested to fly over the river and Kaskawulsh outflow and to photograph it.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1aHRdfHNDT8/WV2ajZKDpuI/AAAAAAAACrU/d9nXolLSHa4f34iBa5LgG1fCw4WhsOOUwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/mostly%2Bempty%2Bslims%2Briver%2B12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1aHRdfHNDT8/WV2ajZKDpuI/AAAAAAAACrU/d9nXolLSHa4f34iBa5LgG1fCw4WhsOOUwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/mostly%2Bempty%2Bslims%2Briver%2B12.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mostly empty Slims River channels</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">The flights in and out were very dramatic. The St Elias Mountains are both extremely tall and rugged - and very massive. I had watched a fair amount of video of flights in them but of course experiencing it was far more intense as the little plane bounced on the wind. I’m not a particularly nervous flier but was happy to be flying with someone as vastly experienced as Tom. After almost an hour's flight and about 160 kilometers through the mountains we abruptly dropped over a ridge and landed.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bkqyRjR89xU/WV2ajVSW3VI/AAAAAAAACrU/2JrDgXuAHsQKjrEVgRIfWTvtovjIgjhDgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/kaskawulsh%2Bvista%2B17-out%2Bside%2Bwindow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="1600" height="220" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bkqyRjR89xU/WV2ajVSW3VI/AAAAAAAACrU/2JrDgXuAHsQKjrEVgRIfWTvtovjIgjhDgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/kaskawulsh%2Bvista%2B17-out%2Bside%2Bwindow.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2 arms of the Kaskawulsh Glacier</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cOQUSjaA3Lw/WV2aiiXSkEI/AAAAAAAACrU/2QdFp2I7HOoFFqYuf_OMh6lh_g8UTuXlACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/flying%2Bout%2B-%2Bdramatic%2Bshadowed%2Bmts%2B7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cOQUSjaA3Lw/WV2aiiXSkEI/AAAAAAAACrU/2QdFp2I7HOoFFqYuf_OMh6lh_g8UTuXlACPcBGAYYCw/s320/flying%2Bout%2B-%2Bdramatic%2Bshadowed%2Bmts%2B7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Above icefields</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">Our campsite on the Eclipse Icefield was essentially in a shallow bowl surrounded by good sized peaks including Mt Donjek and Mt Badham. Seth and Karl have been returning to this area for a number of years to gather data. It’s a relatively safe, sheltered glacier at 10,000 feet - a good place to train people in the requisite skills to do radar and ice core work and glacier camping. Neither Will nor Brittany were the kind of novice I am but Brittany commented to me that a PhD in glaciology is in part an apprenticeship in both field and research skills. Seth in particular is a deeply expert teacher of the kind of wilderness skills required to work in extreme settings and I am deeply grateful for his and Karl’s willingness to take me along.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pb0gr4SKE4E/WV5E_e3I-KI/AAAAAAAACr4/yqH7uesVeb4yyxMHBepYziSI-YMrJI7MwCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_5026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="1600" height="123" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pb0gr4SKE4E/WV5E_e3I-KI/AAAAAAAACr4/yqH7uesVeb4yyxMHBepYziSI-YMrJI7MwCEwYBhgL/s320/IMG_5026.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camp with view obscured by snow</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">Seth helped me set up my tent, imparting some key information along the way. I’m an experienced backpacker although most of my backpacking is in the desert. There are some key differences about setting up a tent on an ice field 750 meters deep! For starters we don’t use normal tent stakes but 2 foot long pieces of bamboo with climbing pickets at the corners. (A picket is a right angle length of aluminum with tie-down holes. It’s about 20 inches long and is a far more stable anchor than a stake). We used every tie-down attachment on the tent so that a big storm would be unlikely to tear the tent or break a pole. While we had a fair amount of snow and wind, Seth and Karl would experience far worse a few days later in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>more exposed location on Mt Logan and we heard from the pilots about 140 knot winds in that location destroying climbers’ tents.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seth and camp - note large amount of science gear in center</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">You may be wondering how one sleeps in a tent on a glacier without freezing. The answer for me was sleeping ON two closed cell foam pads plus a thermarest and IN two nested sleeping bags with a liner and the tent itself was a 4 season tent. Add a hot water bottle and two layers of merino long johns and I was warm enough. Omitting one layer of long johns or the hot water bottle not being hot enough meant a chilly night. In the morning everything inside the tent has a layer of hoarfrost so clothing gets put away or kept in sleeping bags with one. I also slept with ALL of my camera batteries in the sleeping bag and my sunblock (so it would not freeze) and my headlamp. Yes it was lumpy!</span></div>
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<span class="s1">This brings me to a general point about gear. The scientists all do multiple trips a year to this sort of environment. As a result they had specialty gear that I didn’t purchase because I was trying to make do with things I could re-use in less harsh environments. Examples of specialty gear include sleeping bags rated to minus 40, down filled pants and winter over-boots which go on top of ski or hiking boots. I had serious winter gear but not those items. I wore the aforementioned two layers of wool long underwear, a heavy wool sweater knitted for me by friend in Norway years ago, down sweater, down jacket and gore-tex shell when it was really cold. On the bottom went 2 layers of heavy wool hiking socks, soft shell pants over the wool long johns and gore-tex pants over that. I had winter hiking boots allegedly rated to -40 and added hand warmers between socks when needed (brought to keep batteries warm - all my camera batteries were carried in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>my inner pockets). I had a heavy Nepalese wool hat lined in fleece and a merino neck gaiter. When it was really cold I wore those and had my down hood up and my gore-tex shell hood up over that as well. In the afternoon it might be warm enough to just wear a baseball cap for several hours. The sun was up for 19 hours a day and it never got really dark but it definitely got a lot colder by late afternoon. I had a pair of windstopper gloves and heavy over-mittens (wore the latter as little as possible since they made it impossible to do anything precise like photography). My hands felt numb for days after getting off the ice but I did not have frostbite. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">We didn’t get up early - waiting until 8 or so to get started on breakfast was warmer and melting enough snow to make hot drinks and cook took a while. So a typical day would start with something hot to drink - instant coffee for a junkie like me and tea for non-addicts. Breakfast was oatmeal or pancakes. If the weather was cooperative the scientists would collect data. One day that was digging a deep pit to collect snow samples (stacked, going the entire 4 meter depth in the exact location they collected last year, marked by a tall pole which was mostly buried). I helped minimally with the digging - that was day 1 and the altitude was kicking my behind. Was impressed with everyone else’s ability to dig given the altitude. Other days they pulled radar arrays on sleds with skis. Except for skiing pretty near camp they went roped together wearing climbing harnesses. I didn’t have a harness or the right kind of skis so did not go on extended ski trips with them. One day we drilled ice cores - 17 meters worth if I remember right. Three and a half of our eight days on the Eclipse it snowed hard enough that we stayed put, reading, chatting in the kitchen tent or sleeping. One morning we had to dig out about 2 feet of snow but it didn’t snow and blow hard enough to require running lines between mess tent and sleeping tents or latrine. It was bitterly cold but I don’t really know exactly how cold since the thermometer I brought never budged from about 45 degrees F - which was obviously wrong! Lunch and dinner were both always hot meals. Sometimes quite elaborate meals - chicken curry, naan (go Will!), other times soup and grilled cheese but always hot with lots of carbs and lots of protein. We did NOT go hungry nor was it freeze dried camping food since we were flown in and out.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Will & Brittany digging one of multiple pits - to measure snow accumulation or for latrines - they did a lot of digging!</td></tr>
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Science activities were different every day - some days were radar focused - skiing locally or longer distances towing sleds with several different radar arrays. Those sleds were quite heavy and when going any distance people were roped together for safety as well. A lot of time was spent collecting snow samples. How? One digs a deep pit (in the exact same spot as last year, marked by a tall pole and gps coordinates. Using a little square shovel one collects a precise 5cm cube of snow which gets bagged, labeled and logged. One day was focused on drilling ice cores. Each sample was carefully bagged and logged, drilling 17 meters down. The core drill is heavy and one hauls it back out of the hole with each core segment. And half the time the weather was uncooperative and snowed too hard to do anything so on good weather days the scientists worked like mad to get everything done. On bad days we stayed in.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scientists heading off to collect radar data</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting ready to ski with radar sled - note big packs and ropes connecting everyone<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Will kept us in treats when the weather was bad</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seth and Karl enjoying Will's work products. Always a good plan to feed your PhD advisor well!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brittany</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hanging out in kitchen tent on a snowy day</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">skiing with radar</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snow coming in and dressed for colder conditions</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scientists heading out for yet another data collection trip</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">The last full day we were at Eclipse the scientists all skied down and back up Donjek Glacier towing multiple radar arrays. They skied a round trip of 24 kilometers - roped together in climbing harnesses and towing heavy gear. I did not go since I was lacking the correct equipment. This was the one outing I did not regret not having the gear for - it was an extremely long, physically demanding day and they were all utterly spent when they got back. Being alone on the ice that day was magical and likely the most alone I will ever be. The four of them were the closest humans - anyone else was more than 100 kilometers away. There was no wind that day - it was utterly quiet - just me, mountain after mountain and the ice.</span><br />
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<span class="s1">We stayed on the ice for one day longer than originally planned so that all the science objectives could be met. The original plan was that Seth and Karl would be flown to base camp on Mt Logan and Will, Brittany and I would fly out. Seth and Karl would be joined by Adam and Aaron to spend 3+ weeks on Mt Logan getting data and ideally summiting. From the get-go this was challenging. The forecast the day we flew out was a limited window before weather was coming. The Mt Logan campsite was far more exposed as mentioned earlier so Seth and Karl hunkered down on the Eclipse to wait out the storm. It took multiple days before it cleared enough for Adam and Aaron to join them and to move everyone and their gear to Mt Logan. Their entire time on the mountain was made difficult by lousy weather and they never did summit but they did get good data and everyone got out safely.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The day we flew out Will and Brittany flew out first with most of their gear. Tom came back for me and my stuff and kindly flew me around a bit more so I could do more photography.</span><br />
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<span class="s1">More about the experience, my time at Kluane Lake Research Station and art-making in separate posts to come...</span></div>
painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-86526741290311146692017-07-05T17:34:00.002-04:002017-07-05T21:40:47.627-04:00Wilderness based science-inspired art and why I need to go<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Anyone who has followed my work for any length of time knows about my deep interest and concern with climate change. My work has incorporated and been influenced by scientific images and data for many years over a variety of subject matters but especially since I've been making climate/environmentally focused work. And people who know me also know that I'm an avid hiker who loves to get out into the backcountry. People have asked me why I like to get into the field and what the relationship between that lived experience and scientific concepts have in my art-making.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">There are a number of reasons. First and foremost is my need to connect a deep emotional experience with scientific understanding. I'm the daughter of two scientists in a family full of scientists so I grew up always expecting a scientific baseline to discussing things. I am not a technical illustrator nor do I want to just make graphs and charts. To make art about climate I need to experience it, be in it and see what we are losing as we do a variety of highly unhealthy things to the planet. (This is also where I acknowledge that habitat and species loss are also extremely problematic and are connected with climate issues - basically we are terrible stewards of this planet and it's not like we have a spare.)</span></div>
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<span class="s1">In 2013 I did a month long residency at Canyons of the Ancients National Monument (CANM), working with scientists as part of a <a href="http://aldoandleonardo.blogspot.com/">program</a> pairing artists with scientists in 6 different biomes as part of the celebration of the centennial of the national parks. This residency turned out to be all about learning how the Ancestral Puebloans disappearance was largely due to climate change - they deforested, overgrazed and overhunted the area and when resources became scarce society fell apart. Archeologists showed me the evidence - late Puebloan burials which were massacre sites, middens with mouse and chipmunk remains rather than deer and antelope from earlier more prosperous times. It was a sobering trip punctuated by enormous rainstorms which caused $2 billion of damage in Boulder and kept us out of the field on multiple occasions. I've written extensively about that experience on this blog and it led to multiple series of paintings and monotypes.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">This May I went to <a href="https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/yt/kluane">Kluane National Park</a> in the Yukon Territory accompanying a group of climate scientists who study ice to find out about how the climate is changing over long periods of time. Karl Kreutz and Seth Campbell led the group and very generously allowed me to join them.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Karl is a Professor who uses ice core chemistry to study the Earth's climate history primarily within the last 15000 years. Seth is a Research Assistant Professor who uses geophysics and modeling to study glacier systems in the Arctic and Antarctic. We were on the <a href="http://icecores.org/indepth/2016/fall/ice-flow-and-ice-cores-in-saint-elias-mountains.shtml">Eclipse Ice Field</a> - the largest non-polar ice field on the planet where they and their team took ice cores to measure changes in CO2 levels over millennia and did ground penetrating radar to study the changes in the ice - they have worked on this site for many years.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Coming back around to that question of why go - the high latitudes are quite different than the parts of the world where most of us spend our time. And they are places that are endangered thanks to climate change. One example many are familiar with is the paucity of glaciers remaining at Glacier National Park. There is an emotional and a visual hit to going someplace dramatic, beautiful and endangered. I want to make artwork that resonates both intellectually and emotionally about a complicated scientific set of ideas – how better than to go to the places in question with the scientists studying them and bring that experience back into the studio?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">From the photos in this post you can see that it's a stark and beautiful landscape. It was very cold, very quiet and very remote. Spending time there was challenging and inspiring and I am very grateful to Karl and Seth for letting me join them! </span><br />
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<span class="s1">Coming up - posts about what the trip was like, what I learned and more including the week I spent at Kluane Lake Research Station after time at Eclipse.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Also an article in the REI Newsletter in the near future. All photos in the post are mine and are of the Eclipse and its surrounds.</span></div>
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painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-90584633830072199262016-11-14T16:09:00.001-05:002016-11-14T16:09:50.832-05:00Too much elapsed time, lot going onWell posting once a year whether I need it or not seems far too rare. Will endeavor to get better but this last year has been a doozie with lots going on. We moved for the first time in 27 years. Not a great distance - less than 20 miles but to a much smaller house with a much bigger studio. Big win all around but the process has been more than a little strenuous.<br />
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I have had a couple solo shows in the past that didn't make it here. New one up right now at the <a href="http://www.dexter.lib.mi.us/">Dexter District Library</a> in Dexter Michigan. The show, <i>Field of Vision part II - paintings </i>will be up through mid-December. This show was curated by Joy Naylor of <a href="http://distinctdesignsinc.com/">Distinct Designs</a>. The opening is Friday November 18 from 6-8pm if you're in the area.<br />
Some of the work in the show below:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B7JA6qge4Nk/WCoc-M-XMMI/AAAAAAAACXs/coyjSYyMpyEY-33zcj-gyZ0p3-mhLVy1wCLcB/s1600/summer%2Bblues.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B7JA6qge4Nk/WCoc-M-XMMI/AAAAAAAACXs/coyjSYyMpyEY-33zcj-gyZ0p3-mhLVy1wCLcB/s320/summer%2Bblues.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Summer Blues,</i> 12" x 24", encaustic & mixed media on panel</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ehDdgIYCngs/WCodMx2rqtI/AAAAAAAACX0/Hwuc7FldBoMSbIR6d6b98SKo2DMtpnm3wCLcB/s1600/above-the-teal-sea-IV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ehDdgIYCngs/WCodMx2rqtI/AAAAAAAACX0/Hwuc7FldBoMSbIR6d6b98SKo2DMtpnm3wCLcB/s320/above-the-teal-sea-IV.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Over the teal sea IV, </i>encaustic & mixed media on panel, ~15" x 15"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fe6WMzj2P54/WCodM5-Jo6I/AAAAAAAACX4/yiWWe3J3ejouso41BPqkONaJ5aLhJE0WgCLcB/s1600/cottonwoods-looking-UP-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fe6WMzj2P54/WCodM5-Jo6I/AAAAAAAACX4/yiWWe3J3ejouso41BPqkONaJ5aLhJE0WgCLcB/s320/cottonwoods-looking-UP-web.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cottonwoods Looking up</i>, encaustic & mixed media, 19" x 28"</td></tr>
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And also have a lot of work in <a href="http://www.annarborartcenter.org/exhibitions/art-off-the-wall-2016/">Art Off the Wall </a>at the Ann Arbor Art Center - also on Friday November 18th.</div>
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And watch this space for more info about the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WestsideArtHop/">Westside Art Hop</a> coming up Saturday December 10th from 11-5 and Sunday December 11th from 12-4pm. I will be in downtown Ann Arbor in Margaret Parker's studio at <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">210 S Ashley St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 above Downtown Home & Garden.</span></div>
painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-6193685530450156702015-09-30T12:06:00.000-04:002015-09-30T12:06:46.941-04:00Upcoming solo show at the Village Theater at Cherry Hill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">
I'm having a solo show at the <a href="http://www.cantonvillagetheater.org/">Village Theater</a> in Canton Michigan in November. These works are a mix of aerial and ground based landscape abstractions, all in encaustic and ranging in size from about 11 x 30" to 24" x 48" in size.</div>
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I connect deeply with the outdoors. Places I’ve walked, hiked, sat, lived and imagined figure prominently in my work. As the only non-scientist in my family I have lived with scientific discussion of the world from a very early age and it profoundly affected the way in which I understand the world and how I make art. I've spent a lot of time looking at scientific visualization from the macro to the micro in scale and have been fascinated with aerial views of landscape for many years - often beginning work from satellite or astronaut photography.</div>
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I am drawn to painterly abstraction even when I am painting in a representational way. I enjoy the materiality of working in encaustic and want that lushness to come through whether I am painting from an aerial or a conventional perspective. The pieces in this show inhabit a space that hovers between representation and abstraction - they can be read somewhere in between and are as much about painting as they are about specific places although they almost all do refer to a specific location not a generic idea about place. That relationship with place is important to me and these pieces, even the aerial views, are all places I have been and have strong feelings about. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WZRdqnBODxU/VgwDYoFbzRI/AAAAAAAACGs/KKA2fblvn20/s1600/sky-ground-postcard-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WZRdqnBODxU/VgwDYoFbzRI/AAAAAAAACGs/KKA2fblvn20/s320/sky-ground-postcard-web.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
Below you see some of the work in the show. It's a big space - there are 34 pieces in the exhibition and I will post more of them as the time gets closer.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mDbrhv1h1UM/VgwD3hfJTLI/AAAAAAAACG4/GUvscsQQ2KM/s1600/Arapaho-Sky_18x24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mDbrhv1h1UM/VgwD3hfJTLI/AAAAAAAACG4/GUvscsQQ2KM/s320/Arapaho-Sky_18x24.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Arapaho Sky</i>, encaustic & mixed media, 18" x 24" ©2015</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-awqHugA9ias/VgwD3iarWcI/AAAAAAAACG8/5kBD2WRNhJc/s1600/Green-Hillside_20x24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-awqHugA9ias/VgwD3iarWcI/AAAAAAAACG8/5kBD2WRNhJc/s320/Green-Hillside_20x24.jpg" width="276" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Green Hillside</i>, encaustic & mixed media, 20" x 24", ©2015</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WALGGfNt4pA/VgwD3gLMLxI/AAAAAAAACG0/wFKoEsaRJW4/s1600/Overlaid-Rivers_11x29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="119" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WALGGfNt4pA/VgwD3gLMLxI/AAAAAAAACG0/wFKoEsaRJW4/s320/Overlaid-Rivers_11x29.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">encaustic & mixed media, 11" x 29" ©2015<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tWJt6988PyE/VgwD85du3wI/AAAAAAAACHQ/69LRCfbI98o/s1600/Blue-black-white-braided-channels_24x48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="142" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tWJt6988PyE/VgwD85du3wI/AAAAAAAACHQ/69LRCfbI98o/s320/Blue-black-white-braided-channels_24x48.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><i>Blue/black/white braided channels</i>, </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">encaustic & mixed media, 22" x 48", ©2015</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vMsKyAO7mtQ/VgwD86XKq7I/AAAAAAAACHM/6S7xc8n8LKc/s1600/Platte-river-Point-3_18x24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vMsKyAO7mtQ/VgwD86XKq7I/AAAAAAAACHM/6S7xc8n8LKc/s320/Platte-river-Point-3_18x24.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><i>Platte River Point III</i>, encaustic & mixed media, 18" x 24", ©2014</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oGr-X3_06pU/VgwD8-9fn0I/AAAAAAAACHU/HGvQW3H0_V8/s1600/Scribed-Canyon_24x24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oGr-X3_06pU/VgwD8-9fn0I/AAAAAAAACHU/HGvQW3H0_V8/s320/Scribed-Canyon_24x24.jpg" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Scribed Canyon</i>, encaustic & mixed media, 24" x 24", ©2015</td></tr>
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<br />painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-68654546467426266612014-08-18T14:03:00.001-04:002014-09-24T21:28:06.409-04:00Blog-hop<div class="p1">
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<span class="s1">I’m late in getting this up - anyone who thinks of summers as lazy calm time is living in a different world than I am. At any rate thanks to <a href="http://supriasdesigns-encausticmusings.blogspot.ca/">Supria Karmakar</a> for inviting me to participate and here is my long overdue post.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>What am I working on?</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></b>I’ve been working on a group of linked series in response to a monthlong residency at <a href="http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/nm/canm.html">Canyons of the Ancients National Monument</a> last September. Lots more about that residency <a href="http://lesliesobel.blogspot.com/2014/02/canm-residency-blog-posts-in-one-place.html">here</a>. The residency was wilderness based and left me with a strong sense of being between ground and sky as we spent days hiking in high desert during a month of dramatic storms. In response I have been working on paintings and monotypes which are somewhat abstracted but experiential in mixed media and encaustic. The monotypes in particular are very storm focused but loose and painterly in approach.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YOzmLIypB0E/U_DSL-Y-JAI/AAAAAAAABkA/z163nkmGv0s/s1600/2-trees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YOzmLIypB0E/U_DSL-Y-JAI/AAAAAAAABkA/z163nkmGv0s/s1600/2-trees.jpg" height="272" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>2 trees</i>, encaustic monotype on kozo</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Storm over desert II,</i> encaustic monotype on kozo</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;">How does my work/writing differ from others of its genre?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">My work connects me with science and environmental understanding of the environment while not always directly incorporating data or scientific imaging. In the past I have incorporated these elements more specifically but these days it informs what I do without necessarily directly showing up in the work. So I do landscapes - from both aerial and conventional points of view which are somewhat abstracted and science connected. My work is influenced also by my interest in Asian sumi brush painting and color field abstraction - I want the pieces to read as successfully as abstractions as representational images. These are pieces about texture, composition and color as well as environment and the experience of being in that environment.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Desert Clouds III</i>, encaustic monotype on Rives Lightweight<br />
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<b>Why do I do what I do?</b> </h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">lively juniper - from sketchbook</td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><b><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></b>My work starts outdoors with drawing, photography & journaling. Those elements come back to the studio where I develop work using collage, encaustic paint, mixed media, digital printing to make monotypes and paintings in series. I work in layers on multiple pieces at once, adding and subtracting elements and a process that involves scraping away as much as adding media when painting. Monotypes are more direct and spontaneous in process and the dynamic between working on paintings and monotypes is very stimulating for me with one being loose and the other more considered. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aEzsnD6CoQw/U_DYTBpMSdI/AAAAAAAABlU/P6iX6mNcEGA/s1600/storm-ground.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aEzsnD6CoQw/U_DYTBpMSdI/AAAAAAAABlU/P6iX6mNcEGA/s1600/storm-ground.jpg" height="314" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Storm/ground</i>, encaustic on panel </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Storm over Cannonball mesa</i>, encaustic on panel, 24" x 48"</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">I have invited 3 other artists to participate in the blog-hop and their information is below. They are Candace Compton Pappas, Kim Trail Rhoney and Natalie Abrams.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.natalieabramsartworks.com/blog/">NATALIE ABRAMS</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"> </span>NATALIE@NATALIEABRAMSARTWORKS.COM<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"> WWW.NATALIEABRAMSARTWORKS.COM<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s2"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span><span class="s3">ARTWORKS </span>BIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVE<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Through exhibitions across the country, Abrams’ work has increasingly focused on symbolic use of materials to explore environmental and social issues. Her process utilizes both organic materials such as beeswax and wood, and increasingly inorganic materials otherwise destined for landfill, to create works representing theoretical landscapes.The incorporation of these new materials creates a more thorough representation of the issues Abrams explores, as well as will become the foundation for a long term life-as-art project focused on the parallels of life and viability amongst bio-diverse ecosystems and the urban landscape. In its simplest terms, <span class="s4">a circumnavigation exploring environmentally threatened areas and the populations dependent on those areas, with the findings being used to develop site specific installations, exhibitions and publications.</span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Abrams’ work has been exhibited in national invitationals including the Third Annual Encaustic Invitational, as a highlighted artist at Ball State University with Encaustic Works 07, as well as the 2010 book “Encaustic & Beyond”. “Losing Ground, Gaining Perspective”,Abrams’ first curatorial project, was held at <span class="s4">Gallery X at Castle Hill, </span>Provincetown, MA including work by noted artists Laura Moriarty, Lorrie Fredette and Paula Roland and herself. Additional exhibitions include “Dear Nature” at Artspace, Raleigh and “Objects in Perspective” with Aspen Hochhalter at the Gaston County Museum, a solo exhibition “Beneath the Fold” at City Ice Arts in Kansas City, MO and an expanded presentation of “Objects in Perspective” with Aspen Hochhalter at CPCC in 2014. Residencies including the McColl Center for Visual Art, Escape to Create and the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation for the Arts have helped Abrams’ further explore our relationship to our surroundings in the form of multimedia sculptural landscapes and topography.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><a href="http://www.kimrhoney.blogspot.com/">Kim Trail Rhoney</a></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Kim Rhoney is a painter working predominantly in oil paint often mixed with cold wax medium. She paints with brushes and painting knives in layers that develop into a textural surface. Bees wax adds luminosity and depth to her subjects. She paints predominately regional flora and landscapes with recent special interest in wild flowers, prairie flowers and the bees that pollinate them. Kim finds her inspiration in rural Michigan both at her family's small farm in Milan, MI and on her travels camping and hiking along the Lake Michigan shoreline. "My family plays on the beach while I am over looking at the beautiful grasses and wildflowers". Kim earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Eastern Michigan University. You can follow her at </span><a href="http://kimrhoney.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">kimrhoney.blogspot.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, serif;">I work at home in Michigan, in a studio overlooking a beautiful landscape with a lot of bird and wildlife activity. My work is influenced by this landscape, as well as the quiet and space that surrounds me in my studio. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, serif;">I work in both 2-D and 3-D using imagery that is close to me. The birds outside my studio have shown me what flight and return, character and persistence can be. Chairs represent a solitary place, a throne, a place to land. Houses are templates, made of solid or disintegrating materials, raising questions of permanence.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, serif;">The search for home, both literally in my surroundings and metaphorically in my Self has been a constant theme underlying my work.</span></div>
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painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-76058993807984137482014-06-17T14:59:00.000-04:002014-06-17T14:59:57.144-04:00Some thoughts about the Eight International Encaustic Conference<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Far too long since my last post and I’ve been busy.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I recently attended the <a href="http://encausticconference.blogspot.com/">8th International Encaustic Conference</a>. I had not been for a number of years since the timing has coincided with kids graduating from high school and college but this year was finally able to go. Better still, I had a professional development grant from the <a href="http://www.michiganbusiness.org/community/council-arts-cultural-affairs/">Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs</a> (MCACA) to help with the costs.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I attended two pre-conference workshops as well as the conference and return home overwhelmed with the amount of information I need to assimilate and incorporate into my studio and professional practice. Sessions on art-making, on expanding the reach of one’s practice, on the business of art, the history of the medium, teaching standards and pedagogy, of course technical sessions on materials and techniques and lots of looking at work both in person and on screen gave me a great deal to think about. Networking with other artists and gallerists was tremendously useful. I sold some work in the hotel fair, bought some work, traded some too. Of course bought lots of paint at the vendor room too.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">It’s a funny thing - often the most useful and memorable things one takes home from a conference are the encounters that happen around the sessions. This in no way is meant to denigrate the sessions which were outstanding - <a href="http://joannemattera.blogspot.com/">Joanne Mattera</a> and <a href="http://cheriemittenthal.com/home.html">Cherie Mittenthal</a> put together a wonderful, mind-expanding range of programming but one of the great things about an event like the conference is the chance to talk to so many other focused artists about what they do and why. It’s interesting too the way social media has changed and expanded the reach of this kind of connecting since the conversations start well in advance of the event and continue well afterwards.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The last time I attended the encaustic conference was year 2. At that conference I saw <a href="http://www.rolandworkshops.com/Contents/paula-roland-artist-a-teacher.html">Paula Roland</a> demonstrate encaustic monotype which led to a major change in my work allowing me to work more fluidly and spontaneously, hearkening back to my training as a printmaker and painter with a deep affinity for paper. Since then I have studied further with Paula and focused much of my work in monotype. This year’s conference did not produce anything which will deeply alter the direction of my work but rather provided more depth and knowledge to my current practice, especially in both art business and project scope. Somehow that seems appropriate since attending was funded by a professional development grant!</span></div>
painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-66800541751539292942014-02-17T16:31:00.002-05:002014-02-17T16:31:35.520-05:00CANM residency blog posts in one place.In the interest of making it easier for those who are interested I am putting links to the blog posts from my September 2013 residency here in one place since there are multiple bloggers at the Aldo & Leonardo <a href="http://aldoandleonardo.blogspot.com/">blog</a>.<br />
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The Aldo and Leonardo Project placed artists in wilderness settings in 6 different biomes across the USA. The project blog includes all of the artists plus posts by the directors of the organization behind the project <a href="http://www.coloradoartranch.org/">Colorado Art Ranch</a>. The project was also funded by the <a href="http://leopold.wilderness.net/">Aldo Leonardo Wilderness Research Institute</a> which is part of the Forest Service. There is a lot to see on the blog and it's worth a look. My two co-resident artists were Esther Rogers and Benjamin McCarthy. Esther in particular posted a great deal on the blog and her insights are very worthwhile.<br />
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My posts are below, in chronological order.<br />
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<a href="http://aldoandleonardo.blogspot.com/2013/06/i-am-thrilled-to-be-part-of-art-science.html">Going to the desert</a><br />
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<a href="http://aldoandleonardo.blogspot.com/2013/08/as-i-get-ready-to-head-out-to-canyons.html">On the way</a><br />
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<a href="http://aldoandleonardo.blogspot.com/2013/09/first-few-days-at-canyons-of-ancients.html">First few days</a><br />
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<a href="http://aldoandleonardo.blogspot.com/2013/09/well-today-was-our-final-presentation.html">Discussion of our final presentation</a><br />
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<a href="http://aldoandleonardo.blogspot.com/2013/12/reflections-on-my-month-at-canm.html">Reflections afterward</a>painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-41188474511680664562013-06-07T22:32:00.000-04:002013-06-07T22:32:13.995-04:00Been a long time...but have some exciting news.I found out earlier this week that I've been accepted to the <a href="http://coloradoartranch.org/AldoandLeonardo.htm#">Art + Science + Wilderness residency</a> at <a href="http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/nm/canm.html">Canyons of the Ancients</a> sponsored by Aldo + Leonardo. I'm blogging about this residency <a href="http://aldoandleonardo.blogspot.com/">here</a> - at the residency blog.painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-74574080464464553432012-10-12T13:36:00.002-04:002012-10-12T13:37:05.677-04:00Images from Paula Roland's Advanced Encaustic Monotype workshop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">
Recently I was able to spend a couple weeks in New Mexico culminating in taking Paula Roland's Advanced Encaustic Monotype workshop. What a wonderful experience! Paula is a fabulous teacher and was ably assisted by Hylla Evans. Hylla's deep knowledge of color and paint-making added a great deal. The other participants in the class brought interesting ideas and work to share making for a tremendous, immersive art retreat with lots of interesting discussion of technique, materials and approach to art-making. </div>
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I have been fighting with being blocked for months after completing a large body of work for a solo show. Best possible cure: surround yourself with other artists and wonderful teachers, bringing focus and clarity while exploring new ways to use a medium I've worked in for many years. </div>
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Below are a few of the pieces created in that week in Santa Fe. They clearly continue to build on the aerial landscape theme I've worked with for years. My interest in the form and meaning of landscape and waterways continues. I'm working to combine my formal interests in painterly abstraction of landscape from on high with my concerns about climate change and how human intervention in the environment puts us all at risk.</div>
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<i>big river bend</i>, encaustic monotype on hosho</div>
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<i>blue arcs,</i> encaustic on kozo </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AwpIHKi_yuE/UHhOGYsiAAI/AAAAAAAABUc/YmylQ2W_mi0/s1600/river-+wax-on-bfk-greens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="227" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AwpIHKi_yuE/UHhOGYsiAAI/AAAAAAAABUc/YmylQ2W_mi0/s320/river-+wax-on-bfk-greens.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<i>river branches I</i>, digital print & encaustic monotype on Rives BFK</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-znOVSPcUDDQ/UHhOGxOTPeI/AAAAAAAABUk/FKQV95dYxB4/s1600/river-+wax-on-bfk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-znOVSPcUDDQ/UHhOGxOTPeI/AAAAAAAABUk/FKQV95dYxB4/s320/river-+wax-on-bfk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<i>river branches II,</i> digital print & encaustic monotype on Rives BFK</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ajJSUc5l_Jg/UHhOHQPSo2I/AAAAAAAABUs/v0wtQm3s8ZY/s1600/river-+wax-on-kozo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ajJSUc5l_Jg/UHhOHQPSo2I/AAAAAAAABUs/v0wtQm3s8ZY/s320/river-+wax-on-kozo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<i>river branches III</i>, digital print & encaustic monotype on Rives BFK</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AZjHWC4ZuNM/UHhOH-wsXuI/AAAAAAAABU0/YFdMVTi9fx4/s1600/rivers-in-rivers-transfer+monotype.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AZjHWC4ZuNM/UHhOH-wsXuI/AAAAAAAABU0/YFdMVTi9fx4/s320/rivers-in-rivers-transfer+monotype.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>river and inset river,</i> monotype and graphite transfer on Shikoku paper</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S9bGeOeiO2E/UHhOIV2I25I/AAAAAAAABU8/K3lzCx-hWNU/s1600/rust-&-green---long-horiz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="99" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S9bGeOeiO2E/UHhOIV2I25I/AAAAAAAABU8/K3lzCx-hWNU/s320/rust-&-green---long-horiz.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>green figures, rust ground</i>, encaustic monotype on kozo</td></tr>
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While in Santa Fe I was able to connect with two other artists who also work with aerial landscape with interest in both painterly concerns and environmentalism. <a href="http://www.jeandaveywinter.co.uk/index.html">Jean Davey Winter</a> is an English artist. She found me online and we were lucky enough to overlap in Santa Fe. She had some interesting work with her - paintings on paper that folded like a map, expressive images of landscape from above.<br />
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Jean and I also met <a href="http://www.trunity.net/jeanarnold/">Jean Arnold</a>. Her recent paintings of strip mines painted from an aerial viewpoint are raw and political in tone - powerful and inspiring work. <br />
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painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-89520121344099943192012-05-17T21:34:00.001-04:002012-05-17T21:44:41.921-04:00Water Ways<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dwd9CYOqXOI/T7Wk1x-Hi2I/AAAAAAAABTU/Y7OFipLewR4/s1600/waterways-card-front+back-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dwd9CYOqXOI/T7Wk1x-Hi2I/AAAAAAAABTU/Y7OFipLewR4/s320/waterways-card-front+back-web.jpg" width="244" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">card for my upcoming <a href="http://www.kerrytownconcerthouse.com/index.php/events/event/gallery_reception_leslie_sobel/">show</a> at Kerrytown Concert House</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n-DGGuz-Fww/T7WjMeRBLzI/AAAAAAAABSk/NWcn53uh9po/s1600/big-bend-near-Natchez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n-DGGuz-Fww/T7WjMeRBLzI/AAAAAAAABSk/NWcn53uh9po/s320/big-bend-near-Natchez.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Big bend near Natchez</i>, encaustic monotype on Rives BFK, 22 x 30" ©2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O6y2oy6WiAw/T7WjM0NdtYI/AAAAAAAABSs/3wFSniOj1f4/s1600/big-bend-near-Natchez2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O6y2oy6WiAw/T7WjM0NdtYI/AAAAAAAABSs/3wFSniOj1f4/s320/big-bend-near-Natchez2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Big bend near Natchez 2</i>, encaustic monotype on Rives BFK, 22 x 30" ©2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C4HnCMAGCuY/T7WjNaif0HI/AAAAAAAABS0/gRGrMoUxEQU/s1600/black-river-on-pale-green1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C4HnCMAGCuY/T7WjNaif0HI/AAAAAAAABS0/gRGrMoUxEQU/s320/black-river-on-pale-green1.jpg" width="244" /></a></i></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Black River on Green, </i>encaustic monotype on Rives BFK, 30 x 22" ©2012</td></tr>
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These are some of new monotypes which will be in my upcoming show at Kerrytown Concert House. They are pieces playing with the dramatic curves of the Mississippi River as seen from both satellite images and antique maps.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C3ML6Qu833M/T7WjPTWGYVI/AAAAAAAABTE/9XHG0I-63sc/s1600/calligraphic-channel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C3ML6Qu833M/T7WjPTWGYVI/AAAAAAAABTE/9XHG0I-63sc/s320/calligraphic-channel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Calligraphic Channel</i>, encaustic monotype on Kozo, 22 x 30" ©2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lsWK88s4sso/T7WjSl9-eEI/AAAAAAAABTM/nCFyDeIHrC4/s1600/sketchy-vigor---river-monotype.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lsWK88s4sso/T7WjSl9-eEI/AAAAAAAABTM/nCFyDeIHrC4/s320/sketchy-vigor---river-monotype.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sketchy-vigor - river monotype</i> , encaustic monotype with charcoal on Rives BFK, 22 x 30" ©2012</td></tr>
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<br />painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-44207781488378615922012-04-25T16:44:00.001-04:002012-04-25T16:44:22.326-04:00Dynamic Digitals - 2 person show at Dexter Library<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This morning <a href="http://judithjacobs.com/">Judith Jacobs</a> and I delivered our work to the Dexter
Library for our two person show curated by <a href="http://distinctdesignsinc.com/corp_art.html">Distinct Designs</a>. That is a
lot of D's - awfully alliterative! Judith and I have both incorporated
digital tools in our art-making for many years. We're also two of the
founding members of the now moribund Art Alchemists collective of
digital artists. All things have a lifespan so the group is no longer
active although many of us still use digital tools in our work. My work in this show are landscapes, primarily woods and water. They are a mix of digital prints manipulated in Photoshop and printed on my large format HP printer and combined with encaustic on paper, on panel and in 3 dimensions. The show will be up until June 20th at the <a href="http://www.dexter.lib.mi.us/">Dexter Library</a>. Note - there is a lot of construction near the library at the moment so if you go you need to drive in via 5th to Alpine rather than simply turning off Main Street because Main is closed. </div>
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This is a selection of my work in the exhibition and is not complete. Check Judith's site for her work.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DPtMaCXJRHc/T5hd97Nif4I/AAAAAAAABQo/qzxnMtebTj4/s1600/bear-whale-reliquary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DPtMaCXJRHc/T5hd97Nif4I/AAAAAAAABQo/qzxnMtebTj4/s320/bear-whale-reliquary.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bear/whale reliquary</i>, encaustic, digital & mixed media in found box</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hgZATF44_DI/T5heEcqDiDI/AAAAAAAABQw/F8dlKzx02vM/s1600/climate-change-game.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="175" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hgZATF44_DI/T5heEcqDiDI/AAAAAAAABQw/F8dlKzx02vM/s320/climate-change-game.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Climate Change Game</i>, encaustic, digital imaging & mixed media in found box</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9x8RA-rc6yw/T5hePzUf6SI/AAAAAAAABQ4/LAi_IOc9dII/s1600/Fisherman%27s-Island-dusk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="128" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9x8RA-rc6yw/T5hePzUf6SI/AAAAAAAABQ4/LAi_IOc9dII/s320/Fisherman%27s-Island-dusk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Fisherman's Island Dusk</i>, encaustic, digital imaging & mixed media on panel, framed 10" x 20"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r1rFv3BYQIQ/T5heWT8D7rI/AAAAAAAABRA/Zyupk2N0LWQ/s1600/Grove-at-Matthai-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="95" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r1rFv3BYQIQ/T5heWT8D7rI/AAAAAAAABRA/Zyupk2N0LWQ/s320/Grove-at-Matthai-web.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Grove at Matthai, </i> encaustic, digital imaging & mixed media on panel, ~ 13" x 40"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DcZMDMcwg2c/T5hejdqs2KI/AAAAAAAABRI/Q2hcIBZv7Ec/s1600/pines-at-matthai---digital-only.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="95" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DcZMDMcwg2c/T5hejdqs2KI/AAAAAAAABRI/Q2hcIBZv7Ec/s320/pines-at-matthai---digital-only.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Row of trees</i>, encaustic, digital imaging & mixed media on panel, ~ 12 x 40"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0HaWqvgg9Mg/T5hezgGaFUI/AAAAAAAABRQ/fNYkMZ59XT8/s1600/Wingaersheek-Ripples-IVw-outframe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0HaWqvgg9Mg/T5hezgGaFUI/AAAAAAAABRQ/fNYkMZ59XT8/s320/Wingaersheek-Ripples-IVw-outframe.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Wingaersheek Ripples IV</i>, encaustic & digital on paper, framed 16" x 20"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zl4LpsWe2W0/T5he57EOZLI/AAAAAAAABRY/iwiRRrpK3IU/s1600/wingaersheek-ripples-XV-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zl4LpsWe2W0/T5he57EOZLI/AAAAAAAABRY/iwiRRrpK3IU/s320/wingaersheek-ripples-XV-web.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Wingaersheek Ripples XV</i>, encaustic & digital on paper, framed 16" x 20"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QtnM1eWlZR8/T5he8JdlypI/AAAAAAAABRg/yckCe7XhNo0/s1600/wingaersheek-ripples3-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QtnM1eWlZR8/T5he8JdlypI/AAAAAAAABRg/yckCe7XhNo0/s320/wingaersheek-ripples3-web.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Wingaersheek Ripples III</i>, encaustic & digital on paper, framed 16" x 20"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ooB-HE0Nsb0/T5hfIj_oIXI/AAAAAAAABRo/KcT8xzzgrTA/s1600/wingaersheek-beach-view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="137" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ooB-HE0Nsb0/T5hfIj_oIXI/AAAAAAAABRo/KcT8xzzgrTA/s320/wingaersheek-beach-view.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Wingaersheek Beach</i>, encaustic, digital imaging & mixed media on panel, ~ 15 x 31"</td></tr>
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<br />painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-75447121240308804462012-04-05T12:36:00.000-04:002012-04-05T12:36:09.694-04:00New monotypes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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These pieces will be part of my upcoming solo show at <a href="http://www.kerrytownconcerthouse.com/">Kerrytown Concert House</a>. I've been doing mainly river channel focused work for quite a while and these pieces continue that interest. I'm fascinated by the meandering lines rivers take, driven by details of contour in the landscape as well as human intervention. These works are intended to be spontaneous, calligraphic and intimate in nature although they are fairly good-sized. Most are 22 x 30.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-czA4zMENquo/T33HVaVkP9I/AAAAAAAABO4/pTNlg_DF4_g/s320/big-bend---green+blue.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big bend - green + blue, 22 x 30, encaustic & mixed media on Rives BFK, ©2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dwKOIbsVdIk/T33HVyhgn5I/AAAAAAAABPA/0AHPovVKk5Y/s1600/big-bend-near-Natchez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dwKOIbsVdIk/T33HVyhgn5I/AAAAAAAABPA/0AHPovVKk5Y/s320/big-bend-near-Natchez.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big bend near Natchez, 22 x 30, encaustic & mixed media on Rives BFK, ©2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-svaT-FkbMQc/T33HWD6IKsI/AAAAAAAABPI/yUevkSjvakI/s1600/big-bend-near-Natchez2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-svaT-FkbMQc/T33HWD6IKsI/AAAAAAAABPI/yUevkSjvakI/s320/big-bend-near-Natchez2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big bend near Natchez 2, 22 x 30, encaustic & mixed media on Rives BFK, ©2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aiu9_vXNpuc/T33HWyzFBaI/AAAAAAAABPQ/EJ5Y59XKjTw/s1600/black-river-on-pale-green1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aiu9_vXNpuc/T33HWyzFBaI/AAAAAAAABPQ/EJ5Y59XKjTw/s320/black-river-on-pale-green1.jpg" width="244" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black river on pale green 1, 30 x 22, encaustic & mixed media on Rives BFK, ©2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oTEcsM1Kvxc/T33HXkeERFI/AAAAAAAABPY/-uNmDzjO-Ys/s1600/blue-green-bend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oTEcsM1Kvxc/T33HXkeERFI/AAAAAAAABPY/-uNmDzjO-Ys/s320/blue-green-bend.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue green bend, 22 x 30, encaustic & mixed media on kozo, ©2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yoZGNAV5xi0/T33HYOe7_nI/AAAAAAAABPg/ZX59aWj1B3A/s1600/blues+browns-bends.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yoZGNAV5xi0/T33HYOe7_nI/AAAAAAAABPg/ZX59aWj1B3A/s320/blues+browns-bends.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blues + browns - bend, 15 x 30, encaustic & mixed media on Rives BFK, ©2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_bzkmBoem-8/T33HYqfItvI/AAAAAAAABPo/zKetPsckhRg/s1600/calligraphic-channel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_bzkmBoem-8/T33HYqfItvI/AAAAAAAABPo/zKetPsckhRg/s320/calligraphic-channel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calligraphic channel, Big bend near Natchez, 22 x 30, encaustic & mixed media on kozo, ©2012</td></tr>
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<br />painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-58366455378203081732012-02-15T20:36:00.000-05:002012-02-15T20:36:55.531-05:00Installation -Watershed Moments<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o7yYWxyeOwU/TzxbMDn7XcI/AAAAAAAABOE/03oalzqpQHc/s1600/installing-a-monotype-at-SNRE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yJtr45t5JTk/TzxXfZzsarI/AAAAAAAABNs/ZR12kvqm3To/s1600/moving-communitree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yJtr45t5JTk/TzxXfZzsarI/AAAAAAAABNs/ZR12kvqm3To/s320/moving-communitree.jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rolling the tree to the Dana building</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eUrEedGUEsI/TzxXfqSO-zI/AAAAAAAABN0/Kl_8vpa3cNk/s1600/tree-outside-Dana-bldg-out-of-car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eUrEedGUEsI/TzxXfqSO-zI/AAAAAAAABN0/Kl_8vpa3cNk/s320/tree-outside-Dana-bldg-out-of-car.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Communitree out of car, ready to roll into building.</td></tr>
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Moving the Communitree sculpture was an adventure. It had been stored in a basement which was once a paper mill - and the egress was a steep ramp with doors that were significantly lower than the height of the piece. Somehow we got it out having lowered the branches - the tree is now a conifer having previously been deciduous! I drive a Subaru Forester and we put down the seats and somehow got most of the sculpture in - several feet hung out the back -the green thing at the top is the flag we used to be vaguely traffic compliant when I drove across town with the hatch tied mostly closed. The elevator was not as tall as the tree either (gallery not at ground level of course) so we somehow diagonally got the piece in. This all brings back painful memories of transporting large pieces on buses in art school....and reminds me why I generally size my work based on the largest size I can <i>conveniently</i> fit in my car!.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gZcVVyj2hMo/TzxXewBNiNI/AAAAAAAABNc/hWi_U75u0xQ/s1600/getting-ready-to-instal-watershed-moments.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gZcVVyj2hMo/TzxXewBNiNI/AAAAAAAABNc/hWi_U75u0xQ/s320/getting-ready-to-instal-watershed-moments.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attaching line to the bracket with Dave's help</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o7yYWxyeOwU/TzxbMDn7XcI/AAAAAAAABOE/03oalzqpQHc/s1600/installing-a-monotype-at-SNRE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o7yYWxyeOwU/TzxbMDn7XcI/AAAAAAAABOE/03oalzqpQHc/s320/installing-a-monotype-at-SNRE.jpg" width="244" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3J40to0D3cY/TzxXfPdyrFI/AAAAAAAABNk/ofnwn0WoERY/s1600/installation-view-watershed-moments.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3J40to0D3cY/TzxXfPdyrFI/AAAAAAAABNk/ofnwn0WoERY/s320/installation-view-watershed-moments.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installing a monotype and an installation view of 4 of the 5 monotypes<br />
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Between Sara Adlerstein (gallery director) and Dave - the SNRE's photographer - whose last name I need to get - I had a lot of kind and competent help installing. Never a given and much appreciated!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GxJyQn7LmJE/TzxXf4SeqzI/AAAAAAAABN8/hzfPeKsVqgQ/s1600/tree-sculpture-in-situ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GxJyQn7LmJE/TzxXf4SeqzI/AAAAAAAABN8/hzfPeKsVqgQ/s320/tree-sculpture-in-situ.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Communitree in Dana commons</td></tr>
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For a relatively small show - 5 large monotypes and one large sculpture - this show was more challenging to install than some, largely because of the difficulty of moving the sculpture. The Communitree is a piece that was done last summer as a collaborative piece funded by Annarbor.com and the <a href="http://artfair.org/">Street Art Fair</a>. Many hundreds of people were involved in building it over about a week during the summer. Now it will continue to grow and evolve at the School of Natural Resources.<br />
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The opening for this show is tomorrow - Feb 16 at 4pm. Gallery director Sara Adlerstein and I will both be speaking about the gallery - this is the inaugural show for the <a href="http://snre.umich.edu/events/2012-02-16/art_amp_environment_gallery_exhibit_reception_featuring_work_of_leslie_sobel">Art & the Environment Gallery</a> at the School of Natural Resources and the Environment - and about the work in particular.painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-24423950269071942512012-02-05T18:46:00.000-05:002012-02-05T18:46:52.956-05:00More big monotypes<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZpEy9cEL8_Q/Ty6jeG4ScEI/AAAAAAAABM0/SJCG1hTLbNs/s1600/image03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZpEy9cEL8_Q/Ty6jeG4ScEI/AAAAAAAABM0/SJCG1hTLbNs/s320/image03.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watershed Moment #8, encaustic monotype on Rives BFK, 22" x 30", ©2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vEGjj84bMQA/Ty6jhMGtZ6I/AAAAAAAABM8/Om-T74BNp3c/s1600/image01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vEGjj84bMQA/Ty6jhMGtZ6I/AAAAAAAABM8/Om-T74BNp3c/s320/image01.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watershed Moment - blue on reds, encaustic monotype on kozo, 20" x 48", ©2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o4BpWMsZK8A/Ty6jlaRsAwI/AAAAAAAABNE/IpO0R8o0xWE/s1600/image05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o4BpWMsZK8A/Ty6jlaRsAwI/AAAAAAAABNE/IpO0R8o0xWE/s320/image05.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watershed Moment #10, encaustic monotype on Rives BFK, 22" x 30", ©2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rJKTtghwOZk/Ty6kEAIigSI/AAAAAAAABNM/3inwAGe7Fio/s1600/Watershed+moment+06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rJKTtghwOZk/Ty6kEAIigSI/AAAAAAAABNM/3inwAGe7Fio/s320/Watershed+moment+06.jpg" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watershed Moment #6, encaustic monotype on Lenox, 24" x 38", ©2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EzEugsnfoUo/Ty6kHBovrAI/AAAAAAAABNU/bFTWMlEWEGY/s1600/watershed+moment+07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EzEugsnfoUo/Ty6kHBovrAI/AAAAAAAABNU/bFTWMlEWEGY/s320/watershed+moment+07.jpg" width="196" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watershed Moment #7, encaustic monotype with collage on Lenox, 24" x 38", ©2012</td></tr>
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These are more of the current series of large encaustic monotypes. I haven't written much about the process of making these one-off prints. A <i>monotype</i>, as opposed to a <i>monoprint</i>, is made as a unique piece through a print process (monoprints have repeatable elements like stencils). I work on a heated surface - a hotbox, as developed by <a href="http://rolandworkshops.com/">Paula Roland</a>. I use a sheet of galvanized steel (many artists use anodized aluminum), heated with 4 100w light bulbs in an enclosure of insulated wood which I built. For these large prints I actually use two hot boxes under one large sheet of metal - so 8 bulbs total. I paint directly on the metal surface with a mix of encaustic and pigment sticks and then make a single print using a variety of papers. This is the point where the pieces can diverge from a classical monotype because I often work back into the piece with graphite, pastels (both soft and oil), conte or add collage elements.<br />
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My upcoming show at UM has been publicized at <a href="http://www.montage.umich.edu/2012/02/going-green/">Montage</a> - the U's arts portal and at the School of Natural Resources' <a href="http://snre.umich.edu/events/2012-02-16/art_amp_environment_gallery_exhibit_reception_featuring_work_of_leslie_sobel">site</a>.painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-75491250139307088402012-02-01T12:51:00.000-05:002012-02-01T12:51:50.698-05:00Big monotypes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This series of monotypes is part of my ongoing exploration of river movement. These are far and away the biggest monotypes I've done - they're all 25" x 50" on kozo. They all incorporate encaustc, graphite, pigment sticks, conte and other drawing media. </div>
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Like all of my recent monotypes they are strongly influenced by both my connection with the environment AND with the music I've been listening to in the studio. <a href="http://wemu.org/">WEMU</a> plays jazz and blues during my studio hours and that sets the mood and the motion for the work.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uKLWAjXrAXA/Tyl5nOhipzI/AAAAAAAABMM/xweik7nWkwg/s1600/watershed+monotype+05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a>These five pieces will be the inaugural show at the new <a href="http://snre.umich.edu/galleries/the_work_of_artist_leslie_sobel">Art & the Environment Gallery</a> at the School of Natural Resources at the University of Michigan. The opening will be Thursday Feb 16 at 4pm.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watershed Monotype #5</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QbG3zALF_zo/Tyl5nhUrhbI/AAAAAAAABMU/BaI5oKmexk4/s1600/watershed+monotype+04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QbG3zALF_zo/Tyl5nhUrhbI/AAAAAAAABMU/BaI5oKmexk4/s320/watershed+monotype+04.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watershed Monotype #4</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MOdq6fE-_pw/Tyl5oFL5eJI/AAAAAAAABMc/vqlYqNkhEKM/s1600/watershed+monotype+03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MOdq6fE-_pw/Tyl5oFL5eJI/AAAAAAAABMc/vqlYqNkhEKM/s320/watershed+monotype+03.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watershed Monotype #3</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watershed Monotype #2</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watershed Monotype #1</td></tr>
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<br />painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-5747212731993355082012-01-18T07:33:00.001-05:002012-01-18T07:33:37.102-05:00Stop SOPA/PIPA<span class="fbPhotoCaptionText">What is SOPA/PIPA?<br /> <br /> The Stop
Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as H.R. 3261 is a bill that was
introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26,
2011. The bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), as well
as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of
enabling or facilitating copyright infringement.* <br /> <br /> Similar to
SOPA, the PROTECT IP Act or S.968, (PIPA) establishes a system for
taking down websites that the DoJ determines to be "dedicated to
infringing activities." In some cases, action could be taken to block
sites without first allowing the alleged infringer to defend themselves
in court.**<br /> <br /> As artists, inventors, educators, writers,
creators, and dedicated citizens, we believe in the importance of
protecting individuals' intellectual property, but these bills are too
broad and go far beyond addressing issues of internet piracy. If passed,
they will infringe on First Amendment rights, enable Internet
censorship, weaken Internet security, destroy jobs and cripple the
Internet.<br /> <br /> Open letters in protest of SOPA/PIPA have been
written to Congress from some of the most influential and important
members of the internet community including the founders of Google,
Twitter, Flickr, Yahoo!, The Huffington Post, LinkedIn, Youtube, Paypal,
Craigslist, eBay, Wikipedia, Blogger, and a group of eighty-three
engineers instrumental in the creation of the internet, to name a few. <br /> <br /> -----<br /> <br /> IN ORDER TO STOP THESE BILLS, EVERYONE READING THIS MUST:<br /> <br />
CALL or E-MAIL your Congressional Representatives and let them know
that you do not support this bill and won't vote for them if they
support it. <br /> <br /> It's easy! Visit this website to call and then do the Take Action Checklist:<br /> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/SOPAcallcongress" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span>http://tinyurl.com/</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>SOPAcallcongress</a><br /> <br />
Congress will be voting on this when they reconvene in January 2012, so
make sure their inboxes and voicemails are flooded when they get back!<br /> <br /> -----<br /> <br /> Here are links to two of the open letters:<br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/12/internet-inventors-warn-against-sopa-and-pipa" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span>https://www.eff.org/</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>deeplinks/2011/12/</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>internet-inventors-warn-aga</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>inst-sopa-and-pipa</a><br /> <br /> <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57342914-281/silicon-valley-execs-blast-sopa-in-open-letter/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span>http://news.cnet.com/</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>8301-31921_3-57342914-281/</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>silicon-valley-execs-blast-</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>sopa-in-open-letter/</a><br /> <br /> Check out these videos for a more thorough explanation of the implications surround the passage of SOPA/PIPA:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/SOPABreaksTheNet" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span>http://tinyurl.com/</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>SOPABreaksTheNet</a><br /> <br /> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/SOPAInDepth" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span>http://tinyurl.com/</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>SOPAInDepth</a><br /> <br /> What is the difference between PIPA and SOPA? Not much.<br /> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/SOPAvPIPAchart" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span>http://tinyurl.com/</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>SOPAvPIPAchart</a><br /> <br /> -----<br /> <br /> TAKE YOUR OWN PHOTO.<br /> <br />
Take a photo of yourself with tape over your mouth and write "SOPA" on
it. Upload it to Facebook and copy-and-paste this description. Tell your
friends about it!<br /> <br /> Educate yourself!<br /> <br /> Get the word out!<br /> <br /> -----<br /> <br /> *excerpted from Wikipedia. Read the full bill here:<br /> <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/show" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span>http://</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>www.opencongress.org/bill/</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>112-h3261/show</a><br /> <br /> **excerpted from OpenCongress. Read the full bill here:<br /> <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s968/text" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span>http://</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>www.opencongress.org/bill/</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>112-s968/text</a></span>painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-34074257242249059132011-11-15T22:57:00.001-05:002011-11-15T23:03:42.553-05:00More work with antique maps<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qWUXE71P5ec/TsM0y7-zIxI/AAAAAAAABLI/QJGjVBWaIvM/s1600/channel-mapping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qWUXE71P5ec/TsM0y7-zIxI/AAAAAAAABLI/QJGjVBWaIvM/s320/channel-mapping.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Channel mapping</i></div>
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These pieces are all encaustic and mixed media on Rives BFK, incorporating elements of antique maps of the Mississippi River. They are not true monoprints but rather encaustic, oil bar, conte, charcoal, pastel, graphite and inkjet on paper; worked on a hotbox. They're good-sized - these two are full 22 x 30" sheets<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e4xbTN3lmko/TsM00WI_JlI/AAAAAAAABLQ/KhDuag50u7U/s1600/dynamic-channels-map-II.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e4xbTN3lmko/TsM00WI_JlI/AAAAAAAABLQ/KhDuag50u7U/s320/dynamic-channels-map-II.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i> Dynamic channels-map II</i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I-Z9g7YpJy4/TsM01hTQARI/AAAAAAAABLY/ihjUZ2F5Zc4/s1600/dynamic-channels-map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I-Z9g7YpJy4/TsM01hTQARI/AAAAAAAABLY/ihjUZ2F5Zc4/s320/dynamic-channels-map.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<i> Dynamic channels - map</i></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RMbD4iybcZs/TsM02TPPAmI/AAAAAAAABLc/sBnE5zZv8r8/s1600/dynamic-river.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RMbD4iybcZs/TsM02TPPAmI/AAAAAAAABLc/sBnE5zZv8r8/s320/dynamic-river.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Dynamic River</i></div>painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-45489548120041124012011-10-27T15:03:00.000-04:002011-10-27T15:03:21.773-04:00Art Walk - afterwards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cYJtRXb9siM/Tqmnc2QpWyI/AAAAAAAABJg/w4virQ0BgxE/s1600/miniature-abstract-imagined-aerial1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cYJtRXb9siM/Tqmnc2QpWyI/AAAAAAAABJg/w4virQ0BgxE/s320/miniature-abstract-imagined-aerial1.jpg" width="245" /></a>Art walk this year was a lot of fun</div>
although it was certainly exhausting. I shared Margaret Parker's space at her generous invitation. Between us and musician Ken Kozora and Margaret's film collaborators we had a constant stream of visitors. The pieces shown here all started as demo pieces during Art Walk and were all finished at home in my own studio a few days later. <br />
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I'm exploring more abstracted takes on aerial landscapes here, inspired in part by a series of antique maps of the Mississippi which I found on <a href="http://www.radicalcartography.net/?fisk">Radical Cartography</a>. These pieces are all encaustic and mixed media on paper using techniques inspired by <a href="http://www.paularoland.com/">Paula Roland</a>'s amazing work. My aim in working on paper and using monotype techniques is to be looser and more improvisational in my work while still taking on some of the same content issues in my work.<br />
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These pieces are all fairly small - none larger than 10 x 13.<br />
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Photos of my demonstration at Margaret Parker Studio, all taken by <a href="http://a3arts.org/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=352&Itemid=71">Bonnie Wylo</a><br />
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<br />painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-33498606164721056472011-10-09T09:38:00.000-04:002011-10-09T10:05:31.584-04:00Upcoming<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PC2IX6-non0/TpGogeeYQ_I/AAAAAAAABJI/AVOtf7kFxs4/s1600/fantasy-forest-overlay.jpg">I'm proud to announce that I'm part of the </a><a href="http://www.chelsearivergallery.com/">River Gallery</a>'s juried collage exhibition at the Rackham galleries. Slideshow <a href="http://www.chelsearivergallery.com/artists/Corporate_Slideshows/Rackham%20Collage%20Show%202011/Treasures,%20Textures%20and%20Objects%20Slideshowqt.mov">here</a>.<br /><div><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div><b>FALL 2011 COLLAGE INVITATIONAL ART EXHBIT KICKS OFF ON 4TH FLOOR OF HISTORIC RACKAM GRADUATE SCHOOL BUILDING</b></div><div><b>"Treasures Textures and Objects" 2D and 3D original collage art now on display...thru December 15th</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Rackham Graduate School Building</b></div><div><b>915 E Washington Street, 48109</b></div><b>8:00 am to 9:00 pm Monday thru Friday</b><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bGpXX0Z228A/TpGof254VNI/AAAAAAAABJA/nI8DXSbGWo8/s1600/light-through-big-trees-overlaid1.jpg"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S6wQ47LyTCE/TpGofkAr8pI/AAAAAAAABI4/Kn8CXEPlkDI/s1600/Braided-channel-1-web.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 245px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S6wQ47LyTCE/TpGofkAr8pI/AAAAAAAABI4/Kn8CXEPlkDI/s400/Braided-channel-1-web.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661491466777391762" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Braided Channels 1, encaustic & collage on panel, 24 x 40"</span><br /></div><b><br /></b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Art Walk</span><br />This year I'll be at Margaret Parker's studio showing <span style="font-style: italic;">Woods & Water </span>- current work focused on a recent trip to the Pacific Northwest. These pieces are a mix of encaustic & digital monotypes and paintings evoking the peace and beauty of the northwestern wilderness.<br /><br />We've got exciting stuff planned - the wonderful <a href="http://a3arts.org/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=88&Itemid=71">Ken Kozora</a> (link is to video of a performance) will be playing Friday night, Margaret has a big installation piece in the glass house out between <a href="http://www.downtownhomeandgarden.com/">Downtown Home & Garden</a> and <a href="http://markscartsannarbor.com/">Mark's Carts</a> on Friday as well.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IV4LcWMf0l4/TpGogutZO0I/AAAAAAAABJQ/KSC_OIA_xx8/s1600/pelicans-%2526-sky-monochromatic6x6-square.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 384px; height: 384px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IV4LcWMf0l4/TpGogutZO0I/AAAAAAAABJQ/KSC_OIA_xx8/s400/pelicans-%2526-sky-monochromatic6x6-square.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661491486829132610" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Pelicans, sea, sky - monochromatic square</span><br /></div><br />Here's the details.<br /><br />Leslie Sobel<br />Woods & Water • new work 2011<br /><br />at Margaret Parker Studio during Art Walk<br />210 S Ashley St<br />Ann Arbor, MI 48104 - upstairs<br /><br />Hours<br /><br />Fri, October 21 5-9PM with live music by<br />multi-instrumentalist Ken Kozora 7pm-9pm<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PC2IX6-non0/TpGogeeYQ_I/AAAAAAAABJI/AVOtf7kFxs4/s1600/fantasy-forest-overlay.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PC2IX6-non0/TpGogeeYQ_I/AAAAAAAABJI/AVOtf7kFxs4/s400/fantasy-forest-overlay.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661491482471187442" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Fantasy Forest</span>, encaustic and mixed media on panel<br /></div><br />& Sat & Sun, October 22, 23 12noon-5pm<br /><br />I’ll be demonstrating encaustic<br />monotypes on Saturday from 2-4pm<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bGpXX0Z228A/TpGof254VNI/AAAAAAAABJA/nI8DXSbGWo8/s1600/light-through-big-trees-overlaid1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bGpXX0Z228A/TpGof254VNI/AAAAAAAABJA/nI8DXSbGWo8/s400/light-through-big-trees-overlaid1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661491471849116882" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Light thru big trees</span> - overlaid, digital imaging<br /></div>painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2032290464700108617.post-55467409127504478752011-09-27T09:59:00.001-04:002011-09-28T08:39:43.430-04:00Going to ArtPrize<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PSY6BceYPXQ/ToHW4O4Z2QI/AAAAAAAABIw/AbZ6pc69A0k/s1600/LCole-w-Rain.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PSY6BceYPXQ/ToHW4O4Z2QI/AAAAAAAABIw/AbZ6pc69A0k/s400/LCole-w-Rain.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5657038868509743362" border="0" /></a><br />I haven't been yet but will be going soon. Am looking forward to seeing a number of friends' pieces but most especially Lynda Cole's piece <span style="font-style: italic;">Rain</span>, seen above. If you go, the vote UP code for <span style="font-style: italic;">Rain</span> is 42861.<span style="font-style: italic;"> edited to add photo by Paul Hickman</span>painting with firehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578014572547587329noreply@blogger.com0