The Color of Gold

Different Angels 1, Acrylic on Velvet, 16″x24″ SOLD

This is the third velvet painting I’ve done, each once a year in October. The impetus for painting with fluorescent colors on velvet is the annual Glo-tober show at Artist and Craftsman Supply. The first ever Glo-tober show was in 2009, when I was invited to participate by a fella named Drew who worked there and helped organize the thing. I created this piece at his house on what would be our first date. Drew is now my fiance, so needless to say this show holds a special place in my heart. The closing reception, featuring live music by Drew’s band Opposite Orbits, will be this Sunday October 30th at 5pm. Details here.

The inspiration for this year’s blacklight masterpiece is a snapshot dating back to 2005. It’s me underwater, snorkeling with a friend who lived in Aruba. People would later comment that my fins look like a mermaid tail. I’m impressed that she captured this image just as a wave was passing over. (Not surprisingly, she’s now studying professional photography.)

The title is inspired by an Ed Ruscha piece called “Different Angles” which I always read as angels. Hmmm, different angels- what would they look like? I always imagined them more like mermaids swimming through the sky, rather than winged creatures. I remember writing a poem about it in high school, about finding myself in a deep dark ocean after death. The angels had fins and were too fast to keep up with. Different angels, different angles to ponder the afterlife…

I have a new series of paintings and block prints on view at a gallery called Form/Space Atelier. The show runs August 18th- September 10th.
Form/Space is located on 1st Ave. in Belltown between Battery and Wall.
Gallery hours: Wed-Sat. 12-4pm

**Click here for photos from the Opening Reception!**

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Dancing With Chaos, Acrylic on wood panel, 24″x18″ $600. SOLD. Giclee prints also available. Purchase info

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The Night Comes and I Can Do Nothing But Dream of You, Darling, Acrylic on salvaged wood (set of two), 13.5″x17″ $400 each or $775 together. Giclee prints available. Purchase info

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Madrugada (Dawn), Phosphorescent acrylic on velvet, 30″x40″, NFS

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For Life, Acrylic on wood panel, 8″x8″ $200. Purchase info

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Roots, Mixed media: acrylic and relief print on paper,
hand-painted frame acrylic on wood, 14″x17″ $225. Unframed monochromatic print, signed & numbered edition of 50: $55
Purchase info

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Fragile Glory, relief print on paper,
hand-painted frame acrylic on wood, 11″x13″ $155. Unframed print,
signed & numbered edition of 50: $30
Purchase info

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Returning Ferns, relief print on paper,
hand-painted frame acrylic on wood, 11″x13″ $185. SOLD.Unframed print,
signed & numbered edition of 50 available: $30
Purchase info

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We Dance the World Into and Out of Creation, relief print on paper,
hand-painted frame acrylic on wood, 14″x17″ $175. Unframed print,
signed & numbered edition of 50: $50
Purchase info

**Collaborative Pieces:**
Alisha Baker design and block carving, Drew Jeffers printing

Sacred Heart, Relief print with composite gold leaf, 4″x6″ NFS
Unframed monochromatic version of print, signed & numbered edition of 50: $10

Sacred Climb, Relief print with composite gold leaf, 4″x6″ NFS
Unframed monochromatic version of print, signed & numbered edition of 50: $10

Sacred Flight, Relief print with composite gold leaf, 4″x6″ NFS
Unframed monochromatic version of print, signed & numbered edition of 50: $10

Artist Statement for Dancing with Chaos:

This series began in the fall of 2009, when a fellow artist invited me to his house for an art-making day. It was an unusually warm day in October, and dancing skeletons flew from my brush as we got to know each other. That night was our first kiss, and that man has since become my fiancé.

My experience of falling in love has carried with it a great fear. I have grown up with stories of my good grandfather who died too soon. My grandmother never remarried because she had lost “the love of her life.” Facing my own true love, I have had to confront my desire for control over loss.

Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a festival in Latin countries to honor the deceased, is a beautiful inspiration to me. They practice accepting death as a continuation of life. Each year they observe rituals of remembrance that invite the spirits that have flown to return for a visit.

I see how my relationship with death and loss affects my relationship to life and love. Trying to control only paralyzes life, so there is nothing left to do but let go and invite it to dance.

This show is a collection of vibrant, folk inspired paintings with acrylic on wood as well as linocut (linoleum block prints) on paper. Block-printing was used in Mexico during the Revolution, and is a powerful means to proliferate a narrative graphically. The technique appeals to me in its potential for variety, re-iteration and collaboration with each design. It has provided a means for me to open up my art process to my partner, sharing our ideas and working together to print them.

Block print (soft-cut), February 2011

Block print (soft-cut), March 2011

For the last couple of years I have volunteered assisting Drew with his blockprinting demo at the annual Gage academy Drawing Jam. It is a ton of fun and CROWDED- this year had people returning because they enjoyed it so much last year! It’s the first time I had hands on experience with this style of block printing. It’s considered soft-cut: you use soft linoleum blocks to carve your design into then roll ink directly onto the block. Drew tells me it’s the first step toward the more traditional wood block printing technique, which he plans to teach me soon. I was getting inspired with the sacred heart theme since I’ve been doing some work based on the Dia de los Muertos celebrations in Mexico. The butterfly above is from 2009 and the following prints are 2010.

2009: same as above but printed with different colors

Drew in action, 2009!

2010: continuing sacred heart theme

2010: my block, Drew’s colors

The 2010 crowd

The 2010 volunteers!

New business card idea

I sat down on my break at work and started drawing a blind contour of the Thai Basil in front of me.

Watercolor pencil on paper, 8″x6″

In case you don’t know, a blind contour is where you do a drawing without looking at the page, only the object in front of you. It forces you to slow down and really see, without just assuming you know what the object looks like. At the points where I needed to lift the pencil from the page I would look down to reposition myself, then continue to draw looking at the basil. I only had 10 minutes, so just got the basic line work down. I continued adding color the next couple days and was mad at myself-I meant to finish this drawing more quickly! But I was struggling to give meaning and quality to something that felt meaningless and random to begin with. I finished the drawing while watching my favorite show: “Parenthood.” I guess sometimes it’s good to just let art be a friend, along for the ride. Let it hang out and not always take it so seriously!

I am revisiting Zion, Utah in my work, this time from memory. I had done a drawing from a picture of a rock formation taken on a road trip this summer on November 12th. Something about it left me unsatisfied, because I wanted to capture more of the experience of being there.

Colored pencil on paper, 8″x6″

We pulled into town when it was warm and had just rained. It was the summer monsoon season, and thunder still loomed in the distance. I’ll never forget the quality of light and color in that moment when we first stepped out of the car… it was early evening and the shadows of the cliffs on one side of us were creeping up the cliffs on the other side. There was a quality of silence to the little town. An orange-lavender feeling.

Been walking with my fella to work the last few days. Every stolen moment with him feels like a million bucks, like this:

Acrylic on canvas board, 8″x6″

This painting was inspired by a found black and white photo. The excerpt on the back reads: “This didn’t turn out very well-don’t you think. April- 1947. San Jose, Cal. The egg and you (or is it the “bum”)” Oh, the mystery. At least they’re happy in that frozen moment. And as I walk to meet Drew after work the memory is literally a collection of frozen moments: it’s snowing and the flurries freeze our faces as if we’re inside of a snow globe. We throw ourselves to the ground and slide down hills and make snow angels and have a snowball fight. And we are happy.

This one is based on a black and white photo of my grandparents (far left) and a group of people I don’t know. I wanted to explore further the idea of simple brushstrokes conveying whole ideas, expressions, places. Similar to the image of the gas-station I painted on Nov. 11, it’s amazing to me how much your mind fills in from the smallest suggestions. I guess you could say this is my photo-based impressionist style. I’m also interested in directly translating the gaps of information from an old photo. The child’s head in this picture blends into the sky because the hair is so light. I’m realizing that’s okay, I want those abstractions in the piece. It makes for an interesting image and your mind fills in the gap anyway.

Acrylic on canvas board, 6″x8″

I haven’t done a self-portrait in awhile. I feel like this best represents my true nature.

Colored pencil on paper, 6″x8″

I like the idea from yesterday of re-visiting previous works, in keeping with the ocean theme. Tonight’s piece is in memory of a painting I gave to a friend… and also in memory of that friend who has since passed away. Metaphorically, pelicans have a hint of sadness to me for what I imagine them stealing away in those large beaks. But lately I’ve been thinking them hopeful, for what they might carry back too. I think this pelican is a little bit of both.

Acrylic on canvas board, 8″x6″