Rorschach-y?

Maybe.

New in the Continuum

I have expanded my pieces in this series. I was pretty stressed out last night, so I painted these watercolors. I fear the day that I will have to pack everything up to move! Until that time, I always have my friend, the circle. These pieces have glue, acrylic paint and graphite in them, as well as watercolor.

Verdant

Bloom

Fresh

Flourish

Whisper

Exhale

Gulp

Breathe

New From Gallery Night and Day

New photos from my Gallery Night and Day adventures are in this set (both exhibits start about halfway down on page 1).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/artinshanaty/sets/72157623322622466/

Cheers.

Annnd Sold

Tonight when I arrived at the venue, I found out that one of my watercolors in the Guildess show, Flow, had been sold! I am particularly excited because 25% of the sale will go to the Great Lakes Water Institute. Guildess is a unique, non-profit womens' art collective located in Milwaukee. I love being in their shows because they donate a portion of their sales to a different cause or charity for each new exhibition they put together. The show was slammin too....so many people. Guildess got really good local press for this exhibition. Kudos to you girls, I'll miss being a part of these Gallery Night and Day events!

Douse is no longer mine...

More photos of the event can be found at the end of this set on flickr.

Something Coming Up

from Evelyn Patricia Terry...

"We want everyone to see our current exhibition of contemporary fine and folk art, so it has been extended."

Terry McCormick Gallery

Contemporary Fine and Folk Art
2522 North 18th Street
Milwaukee, WI 53206

Gallery Day
Opening reception
Saturday, April 17, 2010
12 noon - 5 PM

Featuring the work of:
Shana Goetsch, Ras Ammar Nsoroma,
George Ray McCormick Sr. and
Evelyn Patricia Terry

About the artists

Shana R. Goetsch is showing found object/mixed media paintings, which reference the idea of resurrection. The pieces allude to passageways between one form of "life" and the next. Goetsch's work frequently involves themes of social justice, empowerment, loss and bereavement - she began painting in 1989, after the murder of her mother. Often using words, cultural references or found objects, she interjects personal voice, history and meaning into her pieces. Goetsch, in 2009, worked extensively with the Riverwest Artists Association, serving on the board and both the gallery and programming committees. She received her BFA in painting from MIAD, in 2008, and is joining the Maryland Institute College of Art's Master of Art in Community Arts program in June. One of Goetsch's pieces pictured is Your Eyes.

Your Eyes

Shana R. Goetsch

Ras `Ammar Nsoroma deals with combining topics like African Spirituality with liberation such as in the painting and oil pastel, Maat and African Liberation. He is best known for completion of over fifty murals throughout Milwaukee and in other places such as Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. One of his most visible murals is the painted bas-relief of Milwaukee's Underground Railroad history located at the entrance to the Marquette Interchange just off Fond du Lac Avenue. It features the images of Caroline Quarles and Joshua Glover - two slaves who escaped to Canada. Nsoroma will also be present to do his phenomenal pastel portraits for only $50.

Maat and African Liberation
Ras `Ammar Nsoroma

George Ray McCormick, Sr. made his transition in 2009. He was a self-taught folk artist whose work spanned many media. He left a large number of drawings and sketches as well as many welded sculpture pieces, carvings and paintings. Many McCormick artworks adroitly combine carving, painting and welding. He exhibited throughout Wisconsin and was also invited to exhibit at the Smithsonian's Folklife Festival in Washington D.C.; in Chiba, Japan; and the Kentuck Art Festival in Northport, Alabama. One of his bird carvings became a part of the White House permanent collection. McCormick's last body of work, "The Rooster Series", is on view along with several of his larger welded bug pieces.

George McCormick Sr, pictured with carving

Evelyn Patricia Terry, a full-time professional visual artist, has been producing pastel drawings, paintings, public art, installations and found object work for over thirty years. After the death of McCormick, her long time personal friend, she decided to create the Terry McCormick Gallery to honor McCormick's memory and their combined passion for the visual arts. Terry attended both the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, earning BFA, MS and MFA degrees respectively. She is in the collections of three Wisconsin museums including the Museum of Wisconsin Art, where her pastel from the Pandora's Boxrace card series is being shown in the Permanent Collection galleries through 2010. Her latest work centers around completion of the series, "Play the Race Card." Terry is inspired to put a constructive spin on universal race talk - facing the controversy head on. She says, "Maybe some day that game will be old, just maybe - but until then, play to your heart's content." Invite Terry to speak at your school, place of business or organization about her aesthetic vision.

The USA Patriotic Bride Wears Black Red and Green
Evelyn Patricia Terry


ETA: Come celebrate the life and work of Prophet Blackmon from 4 - 5 pm, Saturday, April 17, by sharing stories and artwork. Three of his pieces in Terry's collection are on exhibition.
A link to his obituary

The Other Three

Well, I didn't necessarily find those other images, so I took some quick shots of the other pieces that will be in the BDAAA exhibition coming up soon (and I said 'quick', not 'good' shots)

Here they be...

Venus

Love-knot

Son

Some

These are some of the pieces I'll be showing in an upcoming exhibition in May at BDAAA. I am transporting them in a few days so that they are out of my house when I move. Things will undoubtedly get pretty hairy in the next few months for me. The more I can unload somewhere else, the better. Anyway, this is an exhibition of art made from recycled materials...I will have six pieces total, but can't find all of the images presently. No matter how organized I think I am...

The Center Cannot Hold

Bittersweet

These Wicked Games

I will also have my Venus tapestry, my mixed media/found object piece, Love-knot, and a figurative watercolor mounted on a book, which is called Son, in this show. The exhibition starts in early May, and I will keep you updated!

Painted Soul

I have long been drawn to the shape of the circle, as many of you have figured out. I recently was watching some ghost hunting stories (I know) and they had a medium on there (I know, I know) and she said something I long suspected about my usage of the circle, that an orb is the purest form/representation of the soul, and that's maybe why they show up on photographs as that shape. Circles, in effect, being the purest form of the soul was a very powerful idea, even it came from a suspect source.

I have tried over the years to figure out the use of this imagery, and what it means. I think I always get close, but maybe it's a very indefinable thing, constantly changing and mutating in my head. I know I got close when I thought it was 'a body' and I got even closer, or more all-encompassing with the series statement for Continuum. By the by, this circle series may go down in history as being the largest one ever, since the 365.series is included in it, as well (I wrote the statement about circles at that point). Maybe one day I will get an accurate count, but I've done these in all sizes (except for 'gigantor') and I've been at it for quite awhile. They are coming out of my ears.

I think I can pinpoint the start of this obsession during my many watercolor classes with Anne Miotke. I used the tiny, left-over, scraps, and mindlessly painted while watching tv. I liked getting in touch with my medium and feeling what it could do....I like to enjoy myself. I want to say that I started the circles in 2001-2002ish...! Have I really been doing this (lack of) subject matter for ten years now? (This is just like my two-year, non-stop taco fetish, only bigger and way longer)

There is an evolution to these circles, don't get me wrong. The pieces at the beginning were downright tiny, pure painting, and the circles had a tendency to be distanced from their background. Now I use printmaking techniques in conjunction with everything else I can throw at them, and the circles tend to meld a bit more with their surroundings. Is this a metaphor for how I have come to see humanity? Or my own soul, not as distanced as it once was?

I have always liked doing these in my down-time, they are zen. If I can't think of anything, or if I don't want to think of anything...currently, I'm nervous about moving across country. The freedom of movement I had been feeling a month ago is turning to nerves, so the bird series isn't really working for me presently. And I can't put this nervousness into words and pictures just yet...

So in the meantime, I guess I paint souls...

Palanquin

Barrow

Curricle

Tumbrel

These are approximately 5.5 by 6.5 inches. The titles of the four pieces are reflective of carts, or wheelbarrows....I have been thinking about the idea of 'death carts' lately. Maybe these are my version, 'soul carts'. Possibly, I will do some figurative pieces on the subject later.

Whoop It Up

The colors I used in these new abstract watercolor paintings reminded me of a party, so I named them to coincide with this thought. I am trying to get in the habit of naming the abstract circle paintings shortly after they are done. Titling these pieces, specifically, causes me some grief...because they lack subject matter. And I will soon run out of titles at this rate! This mini group, within the Continuum series are each 10" x 13". I chose to work even more wet than I normally do, using watercolor, coffee and some rust prints.

Soiree

Fete

Carousal

Sneaky

Just because I know she'll never look on here in the meantime...I finished my round of the mandala for the Art That Circles the Earth Project with D. Garzelloni, and I'm way too excited to wait (we are supposed to trade on April 10th). So I'm using this to tell you to expect more on that blog soon! I should be getting a few more collaborations within the next week or so. Mail coming from outside the country takes many days to arrive. I also hooked up another native Wisconsin artist to work with when I move out of state. Until then, Grandmother Spider reigns supreme:

This piece will ultimately be finished by Danielle in the next round.