“Art On Paper” Exhibition in NYC

Tomas Vu, mixed media on wood panel

It was a big art week in New York City.  Ok, there is generally dozens of art exhibitions every week in the Big Apple, but this week featured some of the biggest art fairs of the year with the Armory Show at Pier 92/94 and the Park Avenue Armory on the Upper East Side.  Additionally, one show you might not know is the “Art on Paper” art fair down on Pier 36.  I headed down to the Lower East Side to check it out.  As an artist who uses collage paper in her work, I have a special love for art created on paper and/or with paper.  This exhibition didn’t disappoint.  Here are a few of my favorite pieces from this year’s show.

Thomas McNickel, oil on paper

Mersuka Dopazo and Teresa Calderon, mixed media on canvas

Henry Jackson, mixed media on paper

Henry Jackson, mixed media on paper

Riitta Klint, Collaged Yupo paper

Rex Ray, Lithograph of 18 colors

Feeling Blue? I know just the place for you

The color blue evokes serenity, spirituality, infinity.  Lay back and look at heaven.  The 5th chakra:  the throat, voice and self-expression.  Deep blues: singing, listening.  Sea and shadow.  Blue symbolizes the Virgin Mary.  Krishna has blue skin.  Fifty-three percent of the world’s flags have blue.  It’s the color most commonly used in corporate identities.  Miles Davis was kind of blue.  What kind of blue are you?

Harbor Town, mixed media on cradled panel, 32″ x 32″, $1800

This painting was inspired by the Boston Harbor which I lived near a few years ago.  The water is made from many layers of translucent mulberry paper which I painted all these wonderful shades of blue.

“BLUE” Exhibition at the Front Street Gallery

I am exhibition my painting title “Harbor Town” in the BLUE exhibition at the Front Street Gallery in Patterson, New York. The show opened on October 18 and runs through December 6.  The gallery has extended hours on October 24 & 25 as part of the ArtEast Open Studio Tour.

See a BLUE slide show at the gallery website http://frontstreetgallery.org.  Front Street Gallery is at 21 Front Street in Patterson, New York, across the street from the Metro North train Station.

Featuring Gretchen Hoffman Abene, Patrick J. Cicalo, Shelley Dell, Andrew Dines, Ken Dreyfack, Kathy Ferguson, Matt Frieburghaus, Sarah K. Gray, Nicole Hughes, Annette Jaret, Lise Kjaer, Sassoon Kosian, Galina Krasskova, Tanya Kukucka, Pamela Lambros, Hannah Raine Brenner-Leonard, Alex Lindquist, Amanda Lynne, Eugene Posolli, Karen Schaffel, Ilona Sirman, Jane Soodalter, Fran Traina, Meaghan Troup, Rosanne Walsh, Dayna Wenzel, Joann Zwolski.

The therapy of scissor work

I’ve struggled to create some work for my licensing company, Wild Apple, that I think they will like.  I have sketched out and discarded a number of ideas.  Nothing seems creative enough or unique enough to stand out from the competition.  I finally realized that I’m going about it the wrong way.  Instead of trying to create something I think they will like, I should create something that I find enjoyment in making instead.  Then if the paintings don’t meet their needs, at least I had fun creating something uniquely mine.

What art technique do I find fun to do?  I’ve always loved scissor work.  By that, I mean I can sit for hours cutting out intricate shapes out of paper.  Many people might find this boring or tedious, but I think it is meditative and therapeutic.  I just finished cutting out about 200 flowers and leaves and I’ve started painting them.  I have no clear idea of where I’m going with them and how to incorporate them into my work.  I’m going to take my advice and I just play around, enjoying myself and see where it leads.

All that glitters is not gold

Nope, it’s silver!  A silver bowl to be precise.

Sadly, I’ve reached the age where I can’t read without glasses.  I’ve bought a half a dozen pairs to have one in every room, but they all seem to end up on my bedroom nightstand instead.  This table is already cluttered with an iPad, an iPhone, and a computer as well as books, magazines and a lamp. I needed to get organized and make a place to store these glasses and their cases.  What I needed was a bowl!  I thought it would be fun to make my own.

First, I blew up a latex balloon and taped it to a glass jar so it would be easier to handle.  Then I cut up a pile of small paper rectangles out of an old math textbook and some plain newsprint.  I used the math papers first as they would make up the inside of the bowl that would be seen in the finished product.  I painted the balloon with acrylic matt medium and placed the paper on it, followed by more medium, more paper, and so on using the plain newsprint for the outer layers.  Overall, there were about 5 layers of paper.  I let it dry overnight, and then popped the balloon, peeling it off the paper bowl and cut out the top edge to even it out.

I painted the inside of the bowl with translucent acrylic paint so I could still see the math papers.  Next, I painted the outside of the bowl with sizing and covered it with silver-leaf for some shine (because a girl can never have too much bling)!  I finished the bowl by varnishing it inside and out to seal the papers and prevent the silver from tarnishing.  What can I papier mache next?

Who wins rock, paper, scissors in your home?

In my studio, paper wins every time.  That’s because as a mixed media artist, paper is one of my favorite and most versatile mediums I use.  I am starting to work on the fourth painting in my yoga series but first, I had to print some new papers to use in this painting.   I have enjoyed using the gel plate (by Gelli Arts) I got for Christmas to print unique and multi-layered prints.  A Gel Printing Plate looks and feels like a sheet of gelatin, but is durable, reusable and stores at room temperature. It’s easy to clean and always ready for printing. Monoprinting on a gel plate is simple and fun. The gratification is immediate, and the prints are too cool.  These monoprints are only a handful of the papers I printed today using stencils, faux painting tools and more.

 

You can see where I used a brayer to roll on the acrylic paint, then scraped in a design and finally pressed the paper onto the plate.  Voila!  It’s as easy and fun as that.  If I didn’t like the print, I just added another layer or two on top and ended up with some great designs.  Next post, I will show you how I used these papers in my yoga painting #4.

Do you have “Crazy Monkey Mind” too?

I’m continuing my yoga inspired painting series.  This is the third painting in the series, titled “Chitta Vritta”, that translates to “restless mind” in Sanskrit.  A past yoga teacher of mine liked to call this “crazy monkey mind” instead, describing the wandering of our thoughts while we are trying to meditate.  The top of this painting depicts this “monkey mind” where thoughts are pinging all over the place.  As our breathing kicks in and our minds still, we allow the calm into ourselves and it blankets this space with stillness (the bottom of the painting).  I love the beginning of a yoga session as my pace slows down and my mind quiets.

I’m thinking of doing at least five more paintings in this series.  What yoga inspired idea would you like to see me paint next?

“Chitta Vritta”, acrylic and paper, 20″ x 16″