Disintegration Part II

Back in January I joined in a collaborative effort instigated by Seth Apter of The Altered Page called "Disintegration." Says Seth, bundles of every imaginable material, shape, and color are hung, tied, buried, and submerged all around the world. Nature is working her magic with snow, rain, hail, sun, wind, earth, fire, and water all interacting with and disintegrating bundles of bundles. On May 1, each artist will reveal the results on their own blog.

I am periodically updating my original disintegration blog post which you can read about here. Ahhh, the trials and tribulations of paper and string.

Last year our friend Evelyn brought a lovely bouquet, which I of course photographed and layered with a photo of an acrylic mess I had created. Today I used that image to transfer to a glazed gelatin fresco surface. This is the result. I like the depth from the variety of layers.

Available on etsy.

Exhibiting this Summer

Is there such a thing as application season? I know right now it's tax season, but for artists looking to exhibit at shows this summer, it seems like all the application deadlines are here or approaching soon! 

So far I know I will be at the South End Open Market, and semi-related shows like the South End Open Studios and Baked Fresh. I just sent my application in for Twist Fair in Northampton, which I hear is fairly new, but fabulous. And there are all these other applications in front of me...

Here's one of the new pieces I've been playing with for upcoming shows.

Stay tuned!

Remember when there was just ONE?

Remember when most people just had one online presence? Just the website? When there was just the one place where you could find out what was happening with your favorite artist? Now there are so many online options available...so no matter whether you are a facebooker or twitterer....you can most likely find out what I'm doing. On the other hand, I'm trying to figure out when enough is enough....shops...social marketing sites...blogs. What has become of my lonely old website?

As evidenced by the growing list of "where to find me" links on this blog, here are the many ways you can find me online nowadays, where at least ONE of them may be up-to-date.!
My Blog (You are here!)
Etsy . 1000 Markets . Trunkt (You can shop!)
Facebook (You can become a Fan!)
Twitter (You can Follow Me!)

New Horizons in Printmaking

Just heard about this today, and am heading off to Bedford for the Artist Talk and Demo of "New Horizons in Printmaking." I took an alternative digital printmaking workshop with Mary Taylor a few years back...today she will demonstrate techniques for creating unique monoprints using non-toxic block printing inks and gelatin, then collage the prints into concertina style book binding.

Something the economy has me acutely aware of is the cost of art materials. Thanks to tips from Bonny Lhotka, one of the authors of Digital Art Studio, I have begun using MDF (medium density fiberboard) as a substrate for my artwork. Using an alternative digital printmaking process, the digital collage is transferred to the MDF and I'm so happy with the results. One example is above. It's part of a triptych. The other 2 pieces are drying. I'll post the full piece when it's done.

"energy" digital collage

How about a vibrant, energetic collage to brighten an otherwise grey February day?

Do you see colors in music?

For the longest time, my son and I have not been able to understand why my husband doesn't "see" the shapes and movement we do when listening to music. Then today I read an article about "synthesesia" which is a neurological happening that can take many forms (not necessarily what happens to my son and I), but where you can "see" colors in sounds.

In the article I read, this particular child would go to the symphony with his parents and assumed that the lights went down so that everyone could see the colors better. "I mean, why else would they do it?" he said. He didn't realize that his parents didn't see any colors based on the music. According to the article, he never knew that his condition had a name until he happened to be researching the genetics of perfect pitch, which has been anecdotally linked with synesthesia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

No particular point here, other than it's fascinating to me how our brains work. I'm thinking again about my fascination with how Temple Grandin describes visual perception as an autistic person. And how animal language is complex and intricate, conveying an intelligence that we can't comprehend. I'm wondering how, with all of these comlexities, standardized tests are used to put kids in nice, neat, labeled boxes. The mind boggles...