Monday, August 20, 2012

August 20, 2012

Wow, so much has happened in the last couple of months!  My show at 1400 Dallas was a blast with so many people coming to the opening.  It has been extended through the end of August which is great!  It was interesting to see all of the work up in the gallery. The pieces really created a tempo or cadence through the space which people responded to which was neat to see. I've gotten wonderful and encouraging comments pertaining to the body of work which has been a blessing to have.  I'm so grateful for all who have come and attended my show!  In addition to that, I've become a grandma!!!  Little Logan Jay Gibbons was born August 7, 2012 and is such a blessing.  Juggling this grandma and artist thing is challenging but I realized that if I don't follow my dreams, how can I be an example to him ( and my children) to follow his (theirs)? 
In the meantime, I've been in the studio continuing the Interstice series with encaustic.  The work really has become more about the relationship of the edges to each other with the disintegration of those edges in play.  Edges are an interesting thing...  they define, seperate, create boundaries and limits; they're sharp, blurred, overlapping, and separated.  The encaustic allows the playfulness of the medium with the heat to create a sensuous perimeter between the areas of black and white.  The play of warm and cool colors added to the white and black also give a depth to the work that works. 
I've been using raw umber and prussian blue mixed with the black and various types of white mixed in with titanium white.  It's been fun!  I've allowed the surface to become more of a visual texture rather than a clearly created tactile texture.  Even though the surface is not completely flat, the areas of texture are really visually created where the mind perceives the surface as varied but it is really flatter in reality. 

I'm also playing with the definition of the dimensions as well (taking a cue from Mondrian).  If the surface is square in dimension, then I'm trying to hide or redefine the area to read differently than square.  If it is a rectangle, then the work becomes more about the tempo or rhythm of the interstices.  All the while, the relationship of the edges becomes a focal point of sorts with each edge either clearly defined or diffused.  It's really been an interesting challenge to keep an overall pattern with the work while allowing the eye to either rest on one place or move around the piece in rhythm.  My titles are moving to a musical theme and defining what is happeining within the work as well:  Rhythm, Cadence, Tempo, Movement, In Line.  
The connection between the initial Interstice idea with music has been an interesting development.  Interstice has a natural association with it:  crevices, cracks, rocks, etc.  While music, although evident in nature, has also a human touch to it for we create music through our instruments.  The combination of these two associations I find fascinating.  The rhythms created with natural interstices has a spontenaity that is wonderful.  I try and capture the spontenaity through the creation between the integration and disintegration of the edges.  With those associations, I try and capture within the work, a natural yet conscious and spontaneous creation of rhythm and movement.  I rarely plan my compositions; they develop intuitively, yielding to the natural rhythms I feel as I'm creating.  I'm having so much fun with these!!!  I feel like I can work with this series for a very long time.
Well, that's it for now.  Until next time...  take care, enjoy, and G-d bless!