In an English Garden

A big project is finished and ready to deliver this week.  It is a companion piece to a peony and butterfly piece I did a number of years ago.  They are both 44" tall and In an English Garden will be a gorgeous mate.  The first piece is all rose reds and pinks with butterflies zipping through them in shades of yellows, blues, lilacs and whites, and perched on shades of green leaves and sunlit blooms.  This new piece is a rambling garden of a variety of blue and purple iris, peach and cream lilies, deep green hosta with delicate white blooms, some roses peeking out.  Dragonflies are here and there and a few other surprises as well.

I was asked to do this with the utmost trust that I would do something "just right", and I hope these lovely clients will be as pleased as I am.  That is always the thing, with commission work.  Will the expectations be fulfilled?  Will the artist understand the request?  Will the client be so nervous that the artist feels constrained and indecisive about the end design?  It really all is a delicate balance between them, and often hinges on how much each knows of the other.  The artist, being the artist after all, will have a strong vision of the work colored by her style.  If the client isn't very familiar with that style, or if the artist isn't solid in a particular style, the visions can be drastically different - sometimes not even in the same park.  The client may have a strong vision too - perhaps something he seen in a photograph or a place visited, a memory.  But if the client isn't able to tell the artist some particulars about that vision - something beyond a color palette or medium for example - then there's a good chance that a problem may arise.

How do we avoid such a mishap?  Artists need to be certain that the client understands her style and has seen several examples, preferably in the flesh as well as in the portfolio.  And I believe the artist should ask many questions - questions dealing with the more subtle aspects of the request - questions like, what is the angle from which you will view my work?  What other things are in the peripheral view?  What other artwork is near?  What is the overall "feel" you are wanting to create for that space?  Conversation that is more ephemeral perhaps, but the answers may get to a deeper place from which the client may clarify his expectations.  If we take a little extra time to distinguish these things, I think commission work can be exciting and very satisfying for both the artist and the client.

Then, every once in while, some wonderful people will say to you, "Do what you think is best - we love your work!"

Detail

In an English Garden

another view

another view

another view

and another

I can't decide which I like best!

Syed's Casino Installation at last!

It's such a delightful metamorphosis of sorts, to watch delicately cut shards of glass in multiple layered stacks go into the kiln, come out 24 hours later having become a tile of dynamic color.  Then to see the panels grow, adding 4 tiles vertically, seams nearly invisible, into a single panel of glass is watching a veritable garden grow.  It's all beautiful, but when the work is finally installed in the setting of huge marble slabs, for which it was designed, and then finally, finally lit ... well, it's all very satisfying for the artist.

Syed, the most modest person I know, simply nods his head and shoots the photos.  Job well done.

So I will say it for him...REALLY great job, Syed.  REALLY great.

xoxo

When we're home at EastSquare Artworks

Wonder what an old bakery-factory-turned-studio/gallery/home looks like?  Well, here's a portion, complete with original tile floors (though we did paint them grey - the red was just too distracting) and large butter colored wall tiles, steel posts and beams, industrial sprinker system and aesthetically questionable heating system.  But a little sheet rock separating the garage on one side and the handicapped ramp on the other, plus masonry nails for the tile wall, makes a fine gallery space.  Where I am standing with the camera in hand is a temporary wall which divides the gallery space from Syed's glass studio, a shipping area, and
a perpetually messy storage area.                            

The space has held great events since we've been here - a blues and jazz concert, PechaKucha Nights, political meetings, gallery openings, art classes, and a temporary roller rink and bike trail for the granddaughters.  Versatility!  

If you are coming through NC we hope you'll stop by and ring the bell.  If we aren't on the road doing a show, we'd love to open the door for you.

I've added some paintings to www.whitneypeckman-painter.com - let me know what you think.

Birmingham, MI and a beautiful weekend!

"Hibiscus" found a home quickly!  I had just finished it the day before we left for Birmingham and felt quite good about it.  I have been thinking quite a bit about language and nature and the points at which they intersect and diverge.  When work is process driven, I find that much evolves that one doesn't anticipate.  This comes as much of my work does, through the process of layering/removing/layering, and so on.  In those layers are thoughts and pieces floating.  The implied "window" may be the looking through to that which my mind knew or remembered, or wished to see again. 

The couple who purchased this piece spent quite a while in quiet contemplation and conversation with each other.  They each liked some different aspect.  When they decided to take Hibiscus home, it felt good to me - it felt as if they worked together to make a decision each would be happy with and that they were happy with one another. 

I hope you all will find my new website dedicated to my paintings - www.whitneypeckman-painter.com.  It's a softly grey and cool day here in NC - one to take in to my cells to revisit once the real southern summer is upon us.

Helping a great kid...and other stuff

Does anyone out there know of a math tutor/mentor in the Poughkeepsie, NY area who would be willing to help a kid in need, and for next to no money???  This isn't about art, or shows, or my travels, or thoughts.  This is about a bright kid who is about to start a new school but who may have to stay back a year because of very poor math skills.  There is no extra money in the family, so I'm looking for someone who just want to help out.  Any ideas?

On another note, keeping up with all this IT stuff is taxing my brain.  I don't have the "blending" quite right yet...how they all connect w/o spending my life at it....really, I need to paint.

And speaking of painting, I'm part of a show Aug-Oct of artists who work in more than one medium.  I am showing tapestries (seems like ancient history now!), gourds, and paintings.  This is the tapestry photo I sent for publicity purposes - and it's odd how appealing it was to me, after years of not weaving...mmmmm, I can feel the threads in my fingers now and all those gorgeous colors blending into a painting..........

"The Garden House"

Handwoven tapestry.  Silk, wool, rayon, cotton.  1998

Best Ice Cream in the World....and still on the way home

Not exactly as the crow flies, unless he's been blown off course by a hurricane...Scottsdale to San Diego to Scottsdale to Albuquerque to OK City where the Red Buds appeared and continued to be the only color in view until St. Louis and now Cincinnati. In St Louis, I delivered several paintings to a lovely old neighborhood, Kirkwood, full of charming brick homes surrounded by huge deciduous trees, ubiquitous flowering pears, redbuds, and the darling of Spring, the dogwood with its delightful white petals and yellow centers.  There is something so solid and secure about those older homes in the midwest and east.  Most of us who were raised in that style home and it is like a big hug when I get to be in one again.

 Lots of road, lots of zzzzs while Syed drives but tonight THE BEST ICE CREAM IN THE WORLD!

Well, it WAS the best ice cream in the world....didn't last long.  And in case you can't read the label it's GRAETERS from Ohio.

Usually we would load up a couple of 1/2 gallons and bring it home on dry ice, but since the stay in AZ was a little fattening this year, we are foregoing the luxury.

Today we saw the real sign of Spring...Dandelions!
A sea of dandelions! Each one with those squared off petals waiting to become a burst of puff spreading their childish joy (oh woe to the yard fanatics out there!) for all to play with.  Who doesn't remember blowing the silver-white arrows into the air?  I love them now, soft cushions underfoot, bright and warm after winter's cold hard ground.  They are so gloriously persistent.  Perhaps they better deserve their space than that finicky, ever thirsty grass so many are slaves to.

Long may you live, Dandelion!

And tomorrow, FINALLY, home to Salisbury.  I look forward to a beautiful drive through WV since I-40 is still closed from last fall's rock slide.

I'll check in again from home and till then, enjoy Spring!

Fulfilling his dream

5:00 pm 4/08/10
Near the Grey and Donley county lines and the town of Jericho, Texas, we pulled the van over to the side of the highway to wait for Al Slusser who was walking along the highway, to catch up to us. At first we thought he was on a recumbent bike, but no, he was walking, pulling a two-wheeled cart behind him from which a bit of water was dripping. He had that weathered look of someone who spends most of the time out in the wind and sun, wore a scrunched hat with “Arizona” across the front, beat up jeans, and a tee shirt with a highway worker’s yellow vest with green iridescent stripes and a message on the back – about Unity and Pray for the USA. He caught up to us and seemed pleased and surprised to hear we had pulled over for him. And he told us his story. He is 71 and fulfilling his dream of walking coast to coast, and collecting knots in a red, white, and blue rope. Each knot is tied by someone he meets along the way who can take the pledge to “stand up for the USA and kneel down for her.” Al was inspired by John Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” He carries only a small section of rope, about 3’, with him. When it is full of knots, he sends it to a group in AZ who adds it to the other pieces and Al hopes that when they send him the completed “Unity Ball” when he reaches Washington, DC, that it will be quite large, and he hopes to present it to the President as a symbol of so many Americans praying for the unity of their country. Al said it all started with his “bucket list”, things he wanted to do before he dies, but it has grown into a larger vision – one of inspiration – and indeed, he has dedicated his walk to senior citizens and disabled Americans.  Al's got a website - www.c2cw.com.  We will think of you often, Al.  God bless you on your travels as you walk the talk.

 

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware." Martin Buber

Can you begin your journey knowing that the destination has not been revealed to you?

Can you know that the destination will be revealed once you arrive?

Will you recognize the destination?

If you, the traveler, is unaware of a secret destination, who is the traveler?

If the destination is secret, can you be the traveler?

Can you travel without a destination?  Which way does the water flow, the sands shift, the light shine?

And what will you miss if you fear the secret, the destination, the journey?

Stendhal Syndrome

"Stendhal syndrome, Stendhal's syndrome, Hyperkulturemia, or Florence syndrome, is a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly beautiful or a large amount of art is in a single place. The term can also be used to describe a similar reaction to a surfeit of choice in other circumstances, e.g. when confronted with immense beauty in the natural world. " From Wikipedia


Clearly that which affects, infects (and may rarely be deflected by) the audience at the Celebration of Fine Art!!  And here is an example of beautiful new glass from Syed Ahmad in the NW Salon.

                     

Balance in all things

Dr. Robinson was telling me that a healthy immune system is a BALANCED immune system.  We talk so much about balance.  Balance on the teeter totter.  Balance in design.  Balance the checkbook.  Balance your hormones.  Keep your balance.  On balance.  Balance the ball.  Seems like the act of balancing could keep one off balance, if one was not careful.  Today the anxiety of a slow week and the momentary exultation of a nice sale was balanced by immersion in a piece of artwork full of tiny detail which could, in other circumstances, be stressful and throw me off balance.  But today, the detail seemed meditational.  I was calm all day and the piece moved nicely along.  What will it all feel like tomorrow?

Real Art 4 Children

Surrounded by art and artists for 10 weeks at the Celebration of Fine Art gives one a lot to think about.  Not many children come to the show, but from time to time, some wonderful home schooling parent shows up, or a grandmother patiently explaining to her charges how this or that is created.  I applaud these parents and grands!  With art budgets being decimated everywhere, it is so important to expose kids to "original" art - art which comes from the mind and hand of the artist.  Not patterns, not tracings, not molds, not kits, not mass produced Barbie scenes, or production line action figures, not poster prints, not extruded clay figures or paint by number.

Bring them to the Celebration of Fine Art.  This is what they can see - Liana Tumino doing real, original frescos of her mother's village in Italy, done in the traditional way on plaster she makes in her studio; Ken Newman sculpting huge hunks of wood with gouges and hammers, turning slabs into beautiful soaring birds and wild coyotes erupting from the log; Eric Poulson with nothing but a palette knife and a tray of oil paints creating morning desert scenes and jars filled with bright blossoms.  And there are about 80-90 more artists creating from their imagination every day - no kits.

And if you want to give your child or grand something that will last a lifetime, consider starting an original art collection for them by buying a small piece each year...a small oil painting, a tiny bronze, a hand made bead........if a child sees that a house can be painted, perhaps he will see that he could design a house.  If a child sees that a bird can be carved, perhaps she will see that a species needs saving.  If a child sees color being mixed, perhaps it will be a happier day.

Poet & Glass Guy at work

Syed is busy in the studio - these are new pieces just out of the kiln and waiting for the etched copper backgrounds.  He'll have them at the Celebration of Fine Art next week.

"Screaming yellow somber amber bereaved red dejected rejected you fall I weep." Syed Ahmad

The Seven Poppies Question

This piece has been in the entry area of the Celebration of Fine Art for a week or so.  It's an interesting exercise to put a work out of your daily vision for a while and then come back to it.  I have always loved this piece.  It is so close to a perfect interpretation of what was in my head!  To see it afresh amazed me, and with humility, I say that it is still among the best three pieces I have ever done.

That raises the question of value.  Sure, it has a price tag on it.  But it is a piece that may well remain in my personal collection.  I don't believe in keeping much of my own work.  I think it can be too self-congratulatory and often acts like a kind of glue, sticking you to an idea, an image, an interpretation, when what I want to do is to keep experimenting, move onward, test new ground, push the limits of this humble material, and, of course, the boundaries of my imagination.

So.  Keep it?  Sell it?

Raining cats and dogs

It might be raining cats & dogs outside but there are beautiful cat and dog sculptures in Ken Newman's booth at the show - check it out http://bit.ly/bfIvRG

Artist's block?

 There's an article in the NYT about Georgelle Hirliman's death and her career as Writer in the Window, spawned from a bad case of "writer's block."  http://nyti.ms/diwYPi What do you do for "artist's block"?  I work with random color and texture till something bubbles through the fog in my brain.  Sometimes that means many layers - kind of "paint by the pound" - but my subconscious usually fights to the fore and rescues me.

Grey and rain can put me to sleep, creatively and physically, so today in AZ gives me a chance to wake up with vermillion cerise cobalt and leaf!

Damsel in the Garden

  

Here's the painting I mentioned yesterday.  See it at the Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale.  The texture and layers make it delectable up close.  The deep colors pull you in from a distance.  24 x 30 I think, acrylic on board.

New Collection of Japanese Inspired Work

Just finished a large work inspired by Japanese Ukiyoe woodblock prints.  Subtle and sophisticated colors in rich earth tones accented by spots of deep corals.  Forgot my camera at the show yesterday, but I'll get a pic posted tomorrow.  It looks fabulous beside another piece which sits in an old glass and wood display case which has the feel of country Japanese architecture.

Commission

I love doing commission work because it makes me think in ways different than I would under ordinary circumstances. When Peggy and Larry asked me about doing a strawberry, I wasn't too sure - but doing the "patch" proved to be lots of fun. This is about 12" w and sits nicely without an added base.

I am recovering nicely from my hip replacement - at 2 weeks I am walking around on my own and off the pain meds. It's good to be back in the studio where I am at work on a couple of tall Iris pieces - one of old fashioned brown iris and one in purple/blue.

Working on new Poppy Sculpture

Here's a sculpture in progress - poppies. This is very much a additive/subtractive way of working, both with the sculpture medium and the paint process. Messy - and I HATE having messy hands - but it works for me and allows me to create the piece as I go, changing details as well as mass. I'll have it finished for the Loveland Sculpture Invitational Aug. 8-10, so I'd better get back to work. Weather's still great here in NC - heat coming soon, I'm sure.