Palmarin Merges: In the Studio

Happy New Year All!

Julie and I have finally gotten a handle on our exquisite corpse collaborative project and here is a finished piece.

Even Falcons come home

Whether it will make it into the March 2010 Blackfish Gallery Backroom Show is still to be determined!  What has been most interesting about this project are the itierations that the project itself has gone through.  We started out with an excessively broad base and have winnowed it down to a few requirements. Which on hindsight seems backwards but it’s hard to tell where you’re going unless you Start.  Enjoy!

I had just finished listening to Simon Winchester’s audio book on Krakatoa. Before detonating itself into oblivion and killing over 36,000 people in the ensuing tsunami’s, Krakatoa was an island paradise in the middle of the Indian Ocean.  I needed to do a drawing so I began with a smooth piece of cloth. Embroidery to me is like drawing but onto cloth instead of paper.  During the course of the embroidery, the addition of circles pushed the cloth up and out, like little volcanoes.

Greetings!

I will be teaching a photo screen workshop on Sept. 26, 2009 at Atelier Meridian from 10am - 5pm.

ready for printing!

This is what we will be doing at the Screenprint workshop with me THIS Saturday, September 26th!
Learn the basics of photo screenprinting. Any image or drawing on mylar can be used, or copy some clip art. We will print on paper, exploring the use of mixed media. We can also print on fabric, bring your own T-shirts! Supply fee includes three proofs, and ink. Additional paper available at cost.  $85 plus supply fee of $15

Sign up now and tell them I sent you!

Contact Jane Pagliarulo to register: 503-729-9013 or email jane@ateliermeridian.com.

Bob Hicks, a freelance writer wrote a nice article on my recent show with Lynda Ater - check it out at: http://www.oregonlive.com/art/index.ssf/2009/08/light_not_lightweight_at_black.html - enjoy! And Thanks Bob!

While Julie was doing her residency at OCAC this summer, we got to together to look at our Exquisite Corpse project.  As we looked at it all over the floor, 10 piles and about 50 different ideas per pile, I said, “This isn’t going to work. We need to start over.”  We had been sending our mixed media pieces back and forth for about 2.5 years and had amassed an enormous pile of….yeah, that’s right.  So, we reduced the size from ‘any’ to about 18″ x 24″ AND we picked out the themes of birds and migration from looking at the previous works.  We’re back at the beginning! I’ll leave you with one of the pieces from our Exquisite Corpse Collaboration.  Enjoy!

Squid head

'The view never changes...' a work in progress

The working title of this piece is The view never changes when…. but as I have continued to work on it and have added a constellation to the sky, I think the new title might be ‘From the Stars’ because I like to believe  that we all have the a bit of stardust in us.  ;-)  Enjoy the summer and perhaps you’ll see the final piece if you’re in Portland, OR visiting Blackfish Gallery in August.

detail of Orange Frass

With the addition of embroidery, I have moved the work for my August 2009 at Blackfish Gallery in slightly different direction than that of the original ‘Home’ series.  The ‘Home’ series began as a broad exploration of what ‘Home’ is and devolved into the specific homey activity of embroidery.  Young girls learned embroidery at home and at school by making samplers which they would keep to remind them of the stitches they learned.   I’ve taken the idea of a sampler and made it contemporary with the use of screenprinting and instead of bible versus I’ve used modern phrases such as ‘Dude’ and ‘Right on!’  Enjoy and keep on stitching!

stay awhile

 Seems to me that, sitting and talking with family and friends becomes a more important part of life as we mature.  And unfortunately we can’t or aren’t always near enough to drop by for a chat or a cup of tea.  So, when you can, keep that bond strong by making a call or writing a comment on Facebook!  See you next week!

location, location, location

     Coming home from school everyday, I expected to have something to eat right away.  My grandfather never disappointed me - tinula (chicken soup), bindoongoo (better experienced than described, trust me), taboongao (opo squash soup with atsuete powder and pork) the list goes on!  Hence the image of the pot which is always full of food and full of memories.  

    And just because the location has changed - Portland, OR and instead of Hawaii - the full pot policy has not.  It is embedded deep in my psyche.  When we go backpacking, where we try to cut down on as much weight as possible, I make sure Matt always carries at least 5 pounds extra of food.  Shh, don’t tell him.  Because no matter where you are, especially if you’re not at HOME, food is important!  Check back next week for further developments on the HOME Series.

Wanna Play?!

As a child growing up in Honolulu, HI, the neighborhood I lived in had an ‘Open Door’ policy.  We would just walk into any house and see if there was something to eat or if there was anyone around who could play with us.  Then, “Home” meant comfort, food, playmates, and if you were naughty, ‘da slippah’, belt or extension cord. Good times. We weren’t often naughty but there was always the mango tree to escape to!