Collusion: Sculptural Collaborations

Last weekend I participated in a wonderful collaborative art show and fundraiser
.

"Collusion" was a collaboration between musician Scott Stieber, who had created many unfired clay forms, some vessel-ish, some amoebic forms, some just clay shapes, and 40 local artists who were invited to decorate them using their chosen media.

Over the weekend, the resulting collaborations were part of an exhibit and silent auction at the Green Lantern Studios with proceeds donated to the Community Connections Free Clinic in Dodgeville.

What a great show! Everyone produced really intriguing art - from intricately painted pieces to whimsical pieces to a completely functional lamp..and everything in between.

Each artist picked out the form they wanted to decorate. I selected a solid clay "blob" form - not entirely symmetrical, somewhat like an overstuffed bean bag chair. I did my usual mixed media layering using mostly dress patterns and emphasizing the graphic aspects of the pattern pieces. Then I added some decorative assemblage on top. I was pleased that the piece sold at the "buy-it-now" price.









Here are some photos from the exhibit:

Cambridge WRAP Show

For some time I've wanted to enter one of the new WRAP "pop-up" shows and finally did so with the Cambridge WRAP held on May 4th.

The appeal of a Pop-up WRAP is that it all happens in one day. Rather than needing to travel to drop off the work and then later come back for the workshop day, participants bring their art in the morning and display it on tables (artists furnish their own table easels). While the morning workshop is going on, the show is judged. Award winners are announced after lunch followed by the critique of the work.

This compact format makes for less travel for the artists, and in some cases enables some local groups to sponsor a WRAP who wouldn't otherwise be able to do so because they do not have an exhibit space they can tie up for more than a day.

A win-win all around, so this format has become quite popular, as evidenced by the number of exhibitors in the Cambridge Pop-up - almost as many as enter the Madison WRAP show! I liked it too - Cambridge is a bit of a hike from Mineral Point so I appreciated not having to make two trips.

Helen Klebesadel was both the show judge and the workshop presenter. Helen is a watercolor artist and a former WRAP program director at UW. For the workshop we made a book from a single sheet of paper. We then filled the pages with marks inspired by prompts such as "joy", or "fear", or "confusion." It was interesting to see how much similarity there often was in people's choices of color and/or style of marks for some of the prompts.

I entered my Haughty Lady collage and a new collage - Sharon's Rhino, loosely inspired by Durer's Rhinoceros. Haughty Lady won a State Award.

Shake Rag Alley Artisan Jewelry Sale

For several years Shake Rag Alley sponsored an annual Artisan Jewelry Sale, but it's been a few years now since the last one. So it was nice to see this event resurrected, this time to coincide with the Jewelry Boot Camp set of workshops on May 4th and 5th.

Shake Rag Alley jewelry instructors and jewelry students, past and present, were invited to submit pieces. Fourteen artisans responded, including Wednesday Night Women's Art Party group members who donated a number of pieces. I showed some of my mixed media "dangle" jewelry - four necklaces and three sets of earrings.

It was a nice show. The newly designated Shake Rag Alley "Art Cafe" was the perfect intimate venue for showcasing jewelry. Lots of people stopped by to look...and buy!!!




Some samples of my dangle jewelry:

Collage Explorations Exhibit at Sugar Row Gallery

April 6, 2019 was the opening reception for my Collage Explorations exhibit at Sugar Row Gallery in Mineral Point.

There were 27 collages on the wall plus 10 matted ATC collages in a bin. The collages were a mixture of figurative collages, collages done in a "faux encaustic" acrylic style, textual collages incorporating 3D elements, and what I call "paper collages" which are abstract compositions comprised of found papers and papers altered with my mark making.

As always, Clyde did a fantastic job of hanging the show. It looked great! The opening was very successful - got to chat with a lot of folks about the art.

The show will be up through April 28th at:

Sugar Row Gallery
234 High Street
Mineral Point WI

Friday and Saturday 11-4:30, Sunday 11-4pm
(Weekdays by chance or appointment - 312-479-2832)

More exhibit photos:

Prairie du Sac WRAP Show

The 2019 Prairie du Sac WRAP show ran from mid January through the Workshop Day on March 23. As in the past, the show was hung in the Sauk Prairie School District's River Arts Center which has a beautiful exhibit space with a lot of local traffic.

Kathy Sherwood served as both the show judge and the workshop presenter. Kathy works in Madison as a graphic designer but in her personal artwork she loves to work with soft pastels and especially enjoys portraiture, which is what she demoed during the workshop. We viewed samples of pastel works done on various papers and Kathy shared a wealth of soft pastel information and tips.

Eighteen artists were in the show with two works apiece. I entered two mixed media collages - Jester, which incorporates facial elements from a photo of a Renaissance painting, and Her Eyes Were Too Close Together, based on an original drawing from a live model. Jester was awarded an Honorable Mention.

Announcing: Collage Explorations Exhibit at Sugar Row Gallery

I have always loved to draw, mostly figures and portraits. Then about 15 years ago I took a collage class. When the instructor glued down some collage papers and then PAINTED over them, my mind was blown. It had never occurred to me that you could actually paint OVER collage. I loved it. I was hooked.

Since that fateful class I have experimented with various approaches to collage, from collages that rely on the inherent interest in old papers, to collages that are glazed with layers of acrylic paint, to highly textural collages incorporating 3-D elements, to collages employing acrylic mediums to achieve encaustic effects. But above all, a main objective has been to incorporate my rather representational drawings into decidedly non-representational collages. And to have some fun along the way.

This exhibit represents my explorations into the possibilities of collage.

Arts Mineral Point Member Show 2019

Once again, Ben and I participated in the annual Arts Mineral Point (AMP) Member Show held at the end of January each year. Show was held at the old Canary Building in MIneral Point.


This year I submitted two graphite drawings, Working Stiff and Immigrant Portrait #1:

                                                                                                

Cloth Paper Scissors Reader Challenge - Mixed Media Portraits

For quite a few years Cloth Paper Scissors magazine has run frequent "Reader Challenges." Readers are invited to submit mixed media artwork that fits the theme of the particular challenge. Finalists are selected and published in an upcoming issue of the magazine.

The theme of this challenge was Mixed Media Portraits. The portrait could be of anyone, real or imagined. In addition to collage, any and all mixed media materials or techniques were acceptable.

I was fortunate enough to be among the nine finalists whose work appeared in the Winter 2018 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors. (Also see my 2011 post re the CPS Mother Earth Doll Reader Challenge.)

Sadly, the Winter 2018 issue was Cloth Paper Scissors' last. To the dismay of an army of fans, the magazine shut down after some 15 years as a favorite among mixed media devotees

Haughty Lady

Mixed Media Collage 

This portrait started out life as a graphite drawing done from a photograph I took of a somewhat pensive young woman at my son's collage graduation. The finished piece is essentially a graphite drawing over a collaged background that has many layers of acrylic paint over the collage elements.

Published in the Winter 2018 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors (also the final issue of the magazine)

Platteville WRAP Show

The 2018 Platteville WRAP exhibit was held from October 1 through November 10 at the wonderful new Platteville Public Library, which opened it's doors just a year and a half ago in late June of 2017.

The show judge and workshop presenter were both Art Lecturers from UW-Platteville - ceramic artist Scott Steder served as the show judge and Daniel O'Brien led the workshop on the last day of the exhibit.

My piece, "Drawing Class Redux", received a State Award so will be eligible for entry into the September 2019 State Exhibit in Madison. It is a 9 X 12 mixed media collage on a cradled panel utilizing what I call "faux encaustic," a  technique employing many layers of collage materials, acrylic paint and matte medium to mimic the translucent look of encaustic. The foreground still-life image is a drawing from one of my (very old!) college sketch books. I photocopied the image, collaged it onto the background and used water soluble inks to enhance the lights and darks for added contrast.

During the morning workshop, we got to experiment with mark making using pens and inks. Daniel O'Brien brought in inks, a wide variety of brushes and many different papers. Encouraged by Dan, we all enjoyed just playing with the materials. I may not have created any great art but I sure did go home with lots of great collage fodder!

I also entered "Cuppa Joe," a small faux encaustic piece.

I 

WRAP/WRAA State Exhibit and Conference -2018

Each September, State Award winning artworks from WRAP Exhibitions around the state are exhibited at the WRAP State Art Exhibition. At the conclusion of the exhibition is the annual WRAA State Conference, "State Day." 

State Day is held at the Pyle Center on the UW campus in Madison, or every third year, at the Center for the Visual Arts (CVA) in Wausau in northern Wisconsin. The State Day weekend kicks off on Friday evening with and an Evening With the Arts reception. Saturday morning features a presentation, usually by the show judge, followed by a luncheon and presentation of awards. Each year upwards of $5000 in awards are sponsored by local arts organizations and individual arts supporters throughout the state. For more information on WRAA State Exhibit and Conference, visit the UW-Madison website or the WRAA website.

The 2018 State Day was in Madison at the Pyle Center. The show judge and speaker was Leslee Nelson, fiber artist and Emeritus Professor in the Continuing Ed department at UW-Madison where she was director of the WRAP program for over 25 years.

I entered a collage, "Hold on There" which won a State Award at the Platteville WRAP show in November of 2017 and at State Day received the LHS Art Club Innovative Art Technique Award sponsored by the Lancaster High School Art Club in Lancaster, WI. 

Thank you to the Lancaster High School Art Club for sponsoring this award.