Sunday, January 22, 2012

Grace and a Show

Up Coming Gallery show announcement: Lucia Douglas Gallery, Bellingham, WA. Feb. 3-25th. A three person show with Cass Nevada, 2-D artist, and Brian O'neill, potter.
Opening reception: Thursday, Feb. 2. gallery website here.

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.--Emerson

This is how I try to begin each new year. A new start... with a look forward, not behind. I usually start with making lists for the year.. because I am a list maker. But this year I decided to give in to this word that has been at the edge of the shadows in my brain for awhile now-- GRACE... because I want more of it in my personal and art life. I found this quote some time ago: how you climb up the mountain is just as important as how you get down the mountain. and so it is with life, which for many of us becomes one big gigantic test followed by one big gigantic lesson.
in the end it all comes down to one word, grace. it's how you accept winning and losing, good luck and bad luck, the darkness and light. You can not separate your life from your art.


self portrait, collage

"You can have other words-chance, luck coincidence, serendipity. I"ll take grace. I don't know what it is exactly, but I'll take it." --- Mary Oliver.

"My belief is that it is most important for an artist to develop an approach and philosophy about life---if he has developed this philosophy, he does not put paint on canvas, he puts himself on canvas." -- Jacob Lawrence

I asked several friends to send me their description of the word GRACE. Some of these friends I know in my personal life and art, and some of them have connected with me online in the blog world.

Janna Gougeon, encaustic and collage, blog here.
"Two meanings come to mind: a gift of spirit.. always there..not always recognized; the second: with gentleness, sensitivity, respect, understanding."

Robyn Gordon, detail, wood carving. Blog here.
"Grace is the thread of goodness that meanders through my life...from the wild calls of Loeries at dawn, or the answer to a prayer. I find that we need to slow down to appreciate those moments of grace or we tend to miss many of them.

Ruth Armitage, acrylic, yupo paper. Blog and website here.
"Grace is when one exhibits apparently effortless kindness and acceptance. It is the most beautiful of the personal qualities because it is motivated by love for the world and mankind."

Tangie Belmore, acrylic and collage, website here.
Tangie believes Grace to be this: "an elegant sensibility of focus and passion with authentic composure. Serene, warmth, beauty, refinement, sensitive, calm, wisdom."

Leslie Avon Miller, collage, blog here.
"Tension is who you think you should be, relaxation is who I am. That is grace."

India Flint, eco (natural) print dyes on fabric. blog here.
"It is a word that I associate with my (late) maternal grandmother--who I never saw responding to any situation, no matter how stressful, with anything other than grace (even to me when I was a vile teenager). It is something I aspire to, not only as a person but also in my work, to have it appear as such, seemingly effortlessly formed, despite the turmoil that lies behind.

Nancy Neva Gagliano, her 'rapt' rocks series, blog here.
Grace surrounds me, and you,
Meshing us together.
Its that vibration blanketing our souls,
Protecting and nuturing.
And, Grace comforts me as it eases into awareness
In a moment of contemplation, during a pause,
Or during a time of appreciation,
Washing away worries when a slow breath is exhaled.
Grace is always there.
I am the one that is occasionally absent.
--- Nancy Neva Gagliano, January 21, 2012.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Rabbit in the Moon

Yes. It is rabbits again. A year ago I wrote a blog post to welcome in the Year of the Rabbit.
Now I am writing a blog post to say good bye to the Year of the Rabbit, and welcome in the Year of the Dragon. The Chinese New Year is January 23. I am sure dragons are nice and all that, but this post is really about rabbits.
(Note: the workshop in Austin TX is filled. A second workshop is being offered Feb. 20-22. If interested go to the gallery website here. )

The above netsuke is titled: Rabbit in the Moon. Netsuke are small ivory carvings. This netsuke is by Mitsuhiro Ohara (1810-1875) and in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Website here.

A RABBIT AS KING OF THE GHOSTS
To be, in the grass, in the peacefullest time,
Without the monument of cat,
The cat forgotten in the moon;
And to feel that the light is a rabbit-light,
In which everything is meant for you
You become a self that fills the four corners of light.
--- Wallace Stevens

White rabbit puppet by Mark James Porter. blog here.

Jack rabbit made of felted wool by Stephanie Metz. website here.
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Wire rabbits by Julieann Worrell Hood. website here.

Large rabbit sculptures by Beth Cavener Stichter and her Follow the Black Rabbit website here.

Green eyed rabbit by Stan Peterson. Website here.

Rabbits and other animals by Geoffrey Gorman. Blog here and website here.

Rabbit clay sculptures by London based Tanya Brett. website here.

Above is one of my many rabbits in my collections and home decor. This one is on the desk in my library.

On my last day in Kyoto Japan, I discovered a small temple, Okazaki-jingu. It was filled with rabbit symbols and rabbit sculptures carved in stone. It was a delightful wonderful little temple and I felt as if my trip to Kyoto was complete.


"Imagination is the power that enables us to perceive the normal in the abnormal, the opposite of chaos in chaos." -- Wallace Stevens

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Announcements and Workshop

I will be teaching a 3 day workshop at the Dragonfly Gallery at Rosedale in Austin, Texas on February 17-19th, 2012. The name of the workshop is PERSONAL EXPRESSION: A Design Approach. This workshop is for all types of artists and painters (representational or abstract or non-objective) and all types of mediums. I will emphasize composition, design elements and principles, and personal content.

Participants are also welcome to explore collage, and hand painted rice papers. Go to their website here for more information or contact Nina Mihm at 512-420-9000.

I have also been invited to be a juror for THE ARTIST'S MAGAZINE 29th Annual Art Competition. The deadline for entries is April 2, 2012. I will be the juror for their Abstract/Experimental category. For more information and entry form go to their website here.

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who think's you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself." --- Neil Gaiman