Helen Frankenthaler

                                                          Helen Frankenthaler

Yesterday I received this email from one of Atlanta’s premier art galleries, the Alan Avery Art Company, also known as Trinity Gallery . I am reprinting the email with permission from the gallery’s administrator, Maria Lundin

“It is with great sadness that we inform you that one of the great women artists of this century, Helen Frankenthaler, died Tuesday, December 27 at her home in Darien, Connecticut. She was 83 years old. As an Abstract Expressionist, her unique style and technique helped introduce what is known as Color Field painting and influenced artists such as Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland. Frankenthaler, whose 13 year marriage to the painter Robert Motherwell ended in 1971, is survived by her second husband,Stephen M. DuBrul, Jr.
Helen Frankenthaler is featured as one of the three great American women artists in our current exhibition, The Glass Ceiling Shattered.
Her long time assistant Maureen St. Onge phoned yesterday around 2:30 and stated that Helen was honored to be a part of our exhibition, believed to be the last while she was still alive. She further stated that Helen was humbled by my choice as one of the three great American artists. She noted that she intentionally left out the term "women." Knowing Frankenthaler's stand on this issue, I had to laugh. She will be missed.
Frankenthaler's work will be on view at AlanAvery Art Company through February 10, 2012. “

Helen Frankenthaler, has always been one of my favorite artist. Not only did I respect her courage to express herself in such a minimal way, but also because she opened doors for so many contemporary women artists. Helen’s recent passing, along with so many creative giants that have inspired me, is a reminder that my time is limited and I should make every moment a renewed dedication to creativity.

Happy Holidays

                                                      ' Look for the Joy'                       Eva Macie©

I have been slow about getting my Christmas greetings and gifts out this year. My posting has taken a back seat to everything. With only a few days left, I thought I should post before the Holidays are over. I created a digital card from my Citra Solv® papers and some photos along with a watercolor of a cardinal I created for my card last year.

I wish all of my friends, followers and those who have just dropped by for a look, a Very Merry and Blessed Christmas, Holiday and New Year. May your days be filled with love, good health and creativity!

Eva

Citra Solv Award

                                                      Citra Autumn     8"x10.5"   EvaMacie ©

I am so pleased to announce that my Citra Solv® collage ‘Citra Autumn’ recently was a runner-up in the “Falling into Art” contest sponsored by Citra Solv®. I am grateful for this award! This is the first time I have ever created a scene in collage, and I found it fascinating, but a bit challenging. It reminded me of a jigsaw puzzle, trying to find just the right color and texture in my stash of altered National Geographic™ pages. I used a black sheet of Arches cover paper for the base sheet and left some of the paper showing to create line and emphasis. I also drew some of the tree limbs with a dark Pitt pen. Maybe someday I will create something that will win a place award. It is always fun to have a goal isn’t it?

Shine

'Flight'                5" x  5"                        ©Eva Macie

I missed the deadline for the Spruill Gallery Holiday Show. I decided to offer my entries online, as soon as I update my website. Since I am not a webmaster it takes me awhile. Here is the smallest piece I created. It is a 5”x5” acrylic on a canvas wrapped frame. I made the frame out of wood lathe so it is very lightweight. The back is covered with marbleized mat board and ready to hang. I rarely put a shiny varnish on my work, but since this is so small, I thought it needed a little attention, so I gave it a high gloss glaze. I think it will be a bright spot in anyone’s collection, especially during the Holidays. The price is $55.00 USD including postage.

Thankful

                                              "Fall Abundance"             digital collage          © Eva Macie

Every few years the sounds of acorns falling on my roof like a hailstorm invade my peace. My usual response is to be upset about the noise they make. However, this year, with all the storms and hurricanes, I am thankful that my oak trees are still standing, and that I have a roof over my head. I hope that in the spring, I will be able to hire someone to remove the branches hanging over my roof.

I have not been posting due to all the health problems I have encountered. While running some tests for the corporal tunnel syndrome, they discovered I have stage 3 chronic kidney disease. Needless to say, I have been in a state of shock and fear. I pray that with a proper diet, controlling my blood pressure, increasing my fluid intake and exercise, I can arrest it or slow down the progression. I guess when you get to my age everyday is a gift. Years of intense, stressful living and unhealthy habits have caught up with me. My advice to everyone is to watch your blood pressure, drink plenty of fluids, avoid NSIADs, if possible, and if you are diabetic, follow your doctor’s orders. Although I am not over weight and do not have diabetes, I understand that these, along with high blood pressure, are heavy contributors to kidney failure. Even though the doctors should have noticed this a few years ago, I am again thankful that they discovered this before it got to stage 4.

May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and that you see the gifts in everything!

Eva

Citra Solv Tapestry Collage

I just finished this collage using paper textures I created with Citra Solv. I started with transferring a photocopy of leaves using Citra Solv as the transfer medium. I wanted the images on rice paper, but it did not work. I decided to scan the copy of the leaf that transferred well on plain paper, duplicate the leaf in Photoshop and then print them on the rice paper. Walla, it worked! Next, I printed the tree trunks on Mulberry tissue. I collaged the treetops with the textured papers I made using Citra Solv dissolved National Geographic images. Then I added the same papers for the bottom band. I was surprised how long it took me plus the frustration I encountered just to create a simple collage. However, it was fun and I am working on another one. This one was originally 12” x 12” as I planned to mount it on canvas, but there were too many tree trunks to suit me. I cropped it to 11” x 11” and will mat it for framing.

Halloween Portrait

Because of the corporal tunnel syndrome going on in my hands, I have been giving them a rest. I have kept my digital and online activity to a minimum. In my retreat I stumbled on to this speed painting video. I thought it was fitting for Halloween.

I also had lazier surgery done last week on my eye that had the cataract removed. I feel very much like the subject of the YouTube video. A bit bizarre.  I am still not seeing as well as I would like. The other eye will wait until I cannot see out of it! For some reason, I am an awful candidate for any surgery.

Happy Halloween. May you be protected from ghosts, goblins, and all the Halloween mischief and your ‘trick or treat’ bags be full.

Kudzu Ties Us

                                                         Kudzu Flower                     Eva Macie ©

Southerners have been battling the Kudzu plant, (Pueraria lobata) since the Japanese brought it to their pavilion at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Southern farmers snatched it up, impressed with the promise of erosion control and its high-quality fodder for grazing animals. Little did they know the long hot, humid southeastern summers would work like super juice on the plant. Kudzu earned the name the "mile-a-minute vine," or the vine that ate the South. It grows more than 7 feet (more than 2 meters) a week, resisting almost any efforts to stop it.

                                                     
                                                     In Georgia, the legend says
                                                That you must close your windows
                                                At night to keep it out of the house.
                                                                                 …. James Dickey

Fortunately, in every situation, there is a seed of equivalent good. Southeastern landowners might be sitting on a gold mine, as kudzu is being used to produce energy. A new facility in Tennessee is turning kudzu into ethanol. Since it is not a food crop and does not require irrigation, it is a better alternative to corn. Furthermore, for years, some resourceful artisans (of course) have made friends with kudzu. They have created baskets, paper, and unique food items. Click here for pictures and more of the kudzu story.  

So what does this picture of these smiling faces have to do with kudzu? They are a few of the members of  Kudzu Art Zone. This is an art association in Norcross, Georgia. The association chose this name because:

• Kudzu: it grows fast, stays constant & is endlessly adaptive.
• Art: That's what we do.
• Zone: That's we where  live.

It is the perfect name for the organization and it has been over a year, since I have been to KAZ. When I arrived, it was as if I was there last week. Everyone welcomed me. We went to lunch at the Norcross Tavern (I think that’s the name or Iron Horse Tavern) and caught up on all the happenings. It was good to be around artists and art again. I have stayed so close to home the past year that I have become a hermit huddled up in front of my computer. The consequences of my retreat are corporal tunnel syndrome and tunnel vision, the price of digital addiction. I am glad I decided it was time for me to venture out and give my hands and fingers a rest. I plan to join them again soon. In the meantime, I just had to play with my new Painter program and Photoshop to create the digital image of the kudzu flower.

More About Collage

Nita Leland’s ‘New Collage Techniques’ book has a lot of good information in the ‘Getting Started’ section. The information included preparing the papers and the supports for collage. More often than not, we worry about acid-free glues, sprays, etc., but fail to think about the papers and ephemera we are using. Nita suggests we use a ph pen, found in art supply and craft stores, to test them. If the papers fail the test, we can spray them with Krylon Make It Acid Free® or encase them in acrylic medium. Artist Jonathan Talbot uses the encased technique for his collages. This involves coating both sides of the papers. When they are dry, he uses a sealing iron to adhere the collage papers to the support. This is all a little too labor intensive for me. I have collages I made over 15 years ago and they appear to be the same as they were when I created them. I did use acrylic medium for the glue and the top coat when I finished so maybe that was the reason they remained the same.

The collage I am showing is one I started in an introductory class offered at the Spruill Center for the Arts, located in Dunwoody, Georgia. Contemporary artist and teacher, Chery Baird, had boxes of the most unusual papers. Some she bought, others she altered herself. Digging through these papers was a treat in itself. Chery said she plans to write a book about altering papers for collage. I look forward to it. Chery’s two-day workshop will be held on October 15^th.  Click here for details.

Chery was kind enough to let me bring some of her papers home to finish the couple I started. Chery uses ‘Yes’ glue for her collages. This glue is not acrylic base so it can be reactivated when wet. This is great for changing pieces around. I did put a final matte acrylic varnish on top to keep it stable. I am not sure that Chery would do this, as it was not mentioned in the class.

I would love to hear about your experience with using non-archival papers and the type of adhesive you use.

Collage Book and Creativity Workshop Contest

I am very excited as two of the three books I won in the August Creativity Workshop Contest arrived! The one I am reading now is 'New Creative Collage Techniques: A step-by-step guide to making original art using paper, color and texture ,60 projects 62 artists ' The 60 projects in the book a beginning collagist will find invaluable as it covers basic collage techniques to assemblage and other mixed media. As a mixed media artist, over the years, I have dabbled in just about every technique in the book. However, I did find a couple of techniques I had forgotten, and I am feeling inspired to revisit collage.

Creativity Workshop has another contest for watercolor artists, and the entry date ends October 15^th. I encourage anyone who has a talent for painting negative space in watercolor to enter. Click here to read all about it.

The comfort of the familiar.

One of my birthday gifts, instead of the recliner, which I returned, may be an upgrade to my old Painter3 program. I started out using Painter before Photoshop, but never got very far with it. At the time printer’s print resolution was so poor I could not see the point of fooling with it. I was too busy with painting art for shows and my agent's clients. Because of my brief professional affair with photography, I was determined to learn Photoshop, and I never thought about Painter again.

Surfing YouTube for new Photoshop techniques, I discovered the Painter12 video above. I was intrigued and downloaded a trial program. It is different from Painter3 and even more complicated. I tried referring to my old Painter books to navigate it, but the changes are not making that easy. This past week I just kicked back in my 'old recliner' (yes, the new one did not work out. It was really too short for my lanky legs). I have been watching videos at the Corel® site and on You Tube. The videos gave my corporal tunneled hands a rest, but my eyes and brain are stressed to the max!

My conclusion is Photoshop has the edge on some of the actions. Both programs, however, have techniques that the other seems unable to do without being a master of the programs. For that reason, Painter users often rely on Photoshop. I am wondering if Painter for me will go the way of the new recliner and rejected in favor of the comfort of the familiar.