Celebrating Passion for Art - Whitney Peckman

Art and Sales at the Celebration of Fine Art

Congratulations to Donna Bernstein on the sale of her large diptych!




 








And now, let me introduce a fellow artist, Mark Carroll, sculptor of metals, stone, wood, and whatever else he has in his hands!  Mark began the Celebration of Fine Art while living in Buffalo, NY, so is it any surprise that he now lives full time in AZ?  His powerful stone and metal combinations would enhance both traditional as well as contemporary surroundings.  Head to the NW corner of the tent and you will pass through Mark's studio.  His work is both inside the tent and out in the courtyard.

Hydrangia at Alexandria

 Hydrangia - one of my favorite works on paper, sold at Alexandria Art Fair this past weekend. We lucked out with the weather, having rain Sat night and a bit Sun morning. Took a little scenic tour around Fredricksburg on Mon after staying in the very fun and new Marriot Courtyard downtown. Now it's back to work for Birmingham Common Grounds in two weeks.

The Rest of the Process

Having finished the 12 x 12 canvases pictured in an earlier post, I moved on to a quartet of larger work - each piece is 16"x32".  This shows a bit of the progress - here I am into the 3rd or 4th layer, building texture and basic composition of shapes and flow.  Of course I always prefer, when I do a work in a form meant to hang together, that the entire work sells.  But I also try to make it possible to pluck one or two pieces out so that they work as pairs or singly.

 Here the flower shapes are emerging - looking like hollyhocks, loosely interpreted.  Within the texture and color I am almost always looking for a certain mood issuing forth from memory, or as a reflection of memory.  I paint to leave as much room as possible for the viewer's memories, sparked by my work, to flood in.  When the viewer is able to find his/her own memory in the painting, the conversation is complete.

 This is the most right hand side of the quartet - very textural, very colorful.  The narrow shape of the piece keeps it from being overwhelming.  It is rich and intimate close up, soft and quiet from a distance.

This is the most left hand side of the quartet.

You can see all four pieces by clicking here.

Updated websites

Must be fall...I updated my websites - this one and www.whitneypeckman-painter.com - and posted a picture album on my FB page - http://bit.ly/cFOj7r.  So, aren't I just feeling very proud of myself!  It's a brief moment in time to feel organized.  By this afternoon, I will be behind again.

My big news, in case you haven't heard me say so somewhere else, is that Syed and I are going to be grandparents in April!  My son and his lady are expecting, and we are ridiculously happy!  So, no question about whether or not we'll be headed to the San Juans next summer (notice the good timing?  Baby B-P will be 3 months old and surely sleeping through the night).

I am sorry to lose my great "guest blogger" -  she did such a great job, but back to school and life as a normal American kid...no more roti jala, nasi goreng, kari ayam, teh o'...just burgers now.  We had a wonderful time with her (our 13 year old granddaughter).  She was an extraordinary traveler, ate everything with enthusiasm, helped in the kitchen, carried her own gear, tolerated being stared at, and noticed her surroundings.  Hope she'll go with us again!

I have six 12" x 12" canvases with paint almost dry waiting for the next phase - it's a series on autumn for the Alexandria show in two weeks.  Back to work!

The Set up...

Always on the lookout for good back exercises while watching the weather reports for thunderstorms and tornados, or listening for that funny noise under the hood of the van...oh! the life of the vagabond gypsy artists in the summer!  This is Syed unloading at Hilton Head a couple of weekends ago - gotta hurry, other artists waiting to pull in!  Makes setting up for the Celebration look pretty good!

This is a small piece (12"x12"), one of 5 that could be hung in a series or singly - Dunes.  Crossing the bridge to Hilton Head, the marsh grasses appear and disappear with the tides.  Morning and evening light paints them rosy or apricot, sometimes pale yellow.  White clouds billow in bright blue and lilac skies.  The views are soulful and full of resting places.  The traffic is hideous.  The good with the bad.  Balance, and all that.

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.