Michele Waalkes Arts

Assisi Thin Places Partners

2012-01-31T08:33:00.000-08:00

I am honored to list those who have pledged to partner with me on the Assisi Thin Places project:

Jill & Todd Rich
Harry & Laurie Winters
David Wills
Ann Lawson
Steve & Sarah Shumaker
Brett & Brenda Woudenberg
Tom & Joyce Waalkes
Su Nimon
Laurie and John Skipper
Paul & Lynn Digby
Richard Thomas

If you are interested in learning more about the Assisi Thin Places project or partnering with me on it, please check out my project page on Kickstarter.

Artist Residency in Assisi

2012-01-25T08:08:00.000-08:00

I have been accepted for an artist residency at the Arte Studio Ginestrelle in Assisi, Italy. While there, I will be working on capturing imagery for a new mixed media body of work that conveys thin places. A thin place being a time or place in which the veil between the divine and human feels mysteriously thinner, or more permeable. I will be using the imagery from the residency to create mixed media pieces that juxtapose different images together to create intriguing perspectives of a thin place. In addition, I will have a piece of my new work, created as a result of the residency, exhibited in Assisi this fall, along with the work of other artists in residence from throughout this year.

I will travel to Italy on March 21 and return on April 2, 2012. I am using Kickstarter as a funding platform to help fund the travel costs involved in getting to and from Assisi for the residency. Please check out my page on Kickstarter.com, my project title is: Assisi Thin Places. By funding my project, you are also funding the creation of my new body of work for exhibition!

Peering

2011-11-15T12:22:00.000-08:00

This is a photo of a window in the Saint John Laterano basilica in Rome. It is a beautiful church full of amazing sculptural reliefs depicting very animated versions of Bible stories. This window photo, with its stark contrast, was one of my favorite from this church.

I am peering at Light, but never able to fully see or comprehend. Yet, I am drawn to the Light, toward wanting to be still, to look hard, to listen intently, to breathe deeply, and to somehow deeply sense my profound connection to Light more tangibly.

This piece was part of a group exhibit at Anderson Creative entitled "Into the Light," which used the metaphor of light to explore aspects ranging from physical to the spiritual perceptions and understandings of light.

Size: (h x w): 20” x 16”

Media: Original digital print on aluminum

AVAILABLE

Glimmer

2011-11-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

I was intrigued by this shadow on my wall and wanted to capture it. While it was obviously created by the sun shining through wind-blown branches and then through my window, it was so mesmerizing to watch the animated shadows and warm glow of light dancing on my wall.

Although the source of Light cannot be seen, its presence is apparent. Light is manifested all around us.

Size: (h x w): 24” x 20”

Media: Original digital print on stretched canvas

AVAILABLE

Infinite

2011-11-15T12:15:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken on the rare occasion that I actually got up earlier enough to see the sunrise (I am NOT a morning person!). This sunrise photo was taken at Tybee Island, Georgia.

I love how the vast and unfathomable essence of Light is expressed in Job 38:19, “What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?” The infinite nature of Light is mind-boggling, yet comforting.

Size: (h x w): 14” x 11”, on small black metal easel

Media: Original digital print on aluminum

AVAILABLE

Proofs

2011-11-15T12:12:00.000-08:00

These photos were taken of the shadows cast from a chandelier. I find the shadows so beautiful and graceful.

Traces of reality are visualized as a result of, and in the presence of, Light. This resonates with the complexity of Psalm 36:9b, “…in your light we see light.”

Size: (h" x w"): 20” x 14”

Media: Original digital print, matted & framed

AVAILABLE

Enlightenment

2011-11-15T12:09:00.000-08:00

I took this photo of a small ornamental cross, seeking to visually alter and refresh the dimension and meaning of this icon.

Light illuminates and provides a glance at life’s dimension and depth, purpose and meaning.

This piece is part of a group exhibit entitled "Into the Light," which seeks to use the metaphor of light to explore aspects ranging from physical to the spiritual perceptions and understandings of light. The exhibit is at Anderson Creative Gallery throughout the month of November, 2011.

Size: (h x w): 14” x 11”

Media: Original digital print, matted & framed

SOLD

Insight

2011-11-15T11:52:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite places in Rome was the Pantheon. It had such an historic feel to it and I loved the interplay of light shining through the oculus and magnifying the dimensional aspects of the architecture.

This shot of the Pantheon captured the multifaceted qualities of Light as it is experienced with limited, finite perception.

Size: (h x w) 18" x 24"

Media: Original digital print, matted & framed

AVAILABLE

Angel Fresco

2011-10-10T08:50:00.000-07:00

This was such a graceful, faint remnant of an angel fresco on the wall of a house in Pompeii, I couldn’t resist photographing it.

This piece is in my Impressions of Italy show, on exhibit in Michele Waalkes ARTS until November 25, 2011. It is located on the main floor of 2nd April galerie and Studios at 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702. Hours are Tuesday- Saturday 10am - 6pm.

Size: (h x w) 12" x 10" framed
Media: Original digital print
AVAILABLE

Rome

2011-10-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

I took this photo because I loved the structure and peeling paint of the old building and how the trees framed it. It looks old, like it has been hidden and is beckoning me to explore it. In actuality, I have no idea what this building is, I took the shot from Palatine Hill and never had the chance to check it out...maybe next time!

This piece is in my Impressions of Italy show, on exhibit in Michele Waalkes ARTS until November 25, 2011. It is located on the main floor of 2nd April galerie and Studios at 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702. Hours are Tuesday- Saturday 10am - 6pm.

Size: (h x w) 18" x 24" framed
Media: Original digital print
AVAILABLE

Grand Entrance

2011-10-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

The scale and beauty of the art and architecture I saw in Italy was awe-inspiring. Two images of a grand scale are unified in this piece to exemplify this. One is a photo of a large sculpture of a man and horse in the Piazza del Campidoglio (a courtyard that was designed by Michelangelo). The other is taken looking upward through an entrance into St. Peter’s Basilica.

This piece is in my Impressions of Italy show, on exhibit in Michele Waalkes ARTS until November 25, 2011. It is located on the main floor of 2nd April galerie and Studios at 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702. Hours are Tuesday- Saturday 10am - 6pm.

Size: (h x w) 24" x 18" framed
Media: Original digital print
SOLD

Lighting the Way

2011-10-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

This image is of two different photos taken of the colonnade in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, which form a base to the sculptures of the Popes which stand on top. I chose to layer the images of the colonnade to create a more pronounced passageway with additional columns and lighting to show the way.

This piece is in my Impressions of Italy show, on exhibit in Michele Waalkes ARTS until November 25, 2011. It is located on the main floor of 2nd April galerie and Studios at 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702. Hours are Tuesday- Saturday 10am - 6pm.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11" framed
Media: Original digital print
AVAILABLE

Reflection

2011-10-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

This is an image of a side chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica. The chapel is behind glass. As a rule, anything off limits intrigues me all the more, so I peered in for a while. The sunlight shone so brightly through the windows, creating such a brilliant, reflective space.

This piece is in my Impressions of Italy show, on exhibit in Michele Waalkes ARTS until November 25, 2011. It is located on the main floor of 2nd April galerie and Studios at 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702. Hours are Tuesday- Saturday 10am - 6pm.

Size: (h x w) 20" x 16" framed
Media: Original digital print
AVAILABLE

Pompeii Memorial

2011-10-10T08:28:00.001-07:00

This piece visually tells the story of Pompeii.

Barely visible in the background on the far right is a sliver of Mt. Vesuvius, which erupted in A.D. 79 covering the city and its people with 30 feet of volcanic ash. The city, preserved by the ash, was rediscovered in the 17th century and excavated in the mid 18th century. This piece also includes an image of a plaster cast of an individual who died in the tragedy and an excavated street in Pompeii.

This piece is in my Impressions of Italy show, on exhibit in Michele Waalkes ARTS until November 25, 2011. It is located on the main floor of 2nd April galerie and Studios at 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702. Hours are Tuesday- Saturday 10am - 6pm.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11" framed
Media: Original digital print
AVAILABLE

Emergence

2011-10-10T08:25:00.001-07:00

It is hard to believe just how much art I saw in Italy. The aesthetic beauty encompasses not just the large, famous pieces, but also, when you look closely, the smaller elaborate details that embellish the architectural landscape. This piece is made up of two such examples. One image shows the sculptural reliefs surrounding a fountain, called Fonte Gaia, in the Piazza del campo (city square) in Siena. The other image is of a small, rather insignificant dragon at the base of a grand sculpture in St. Peter’s Basilica.

This piece is in my Impressions of Italy show, on exhibit in Michele Waalkes ARTS until November 25, 2011. It is located on the main floor of 2nd April galerie and Studios at 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702. Hours are Tuesday- Saturday 10am - 6pm.

Size: (h x w) 12" x 18"
Media: Original digital print on aluminum
AVAILABLE

Time Elapse

2011-10-10T08:23:00.000-07:00

I was struck by the sight of poppies growing among the ancient ruins in Italy, particularly in the large amphitheater in Pompeii and on Palatine Hill in Rome. In some cases it looked like the poppies could slowly rise up and overtake the remnants of stone. This prompted me to create this time elapse image of the poppies.

This piece is in my Impressions of Italy show, on exhibit in Michele Waalkes ARTS until November 25, 2011. It is located on the main floor of 2nd April galerie and Studios at 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702. Hours are Tuesday- Saturday 10am - 6pm.

Size: (h x w) 16" x 20" framed
Media: Original digital print on canvas
SOLD

Columns

2011-10-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

This piece was created using an image of a line of trees in Pompeii which I combined with an image of a colonnade in St Peter’s Square. The row of trees looked like natural columns, inspiring me to combine the two images to create natural and man-made columns.

This piece is in my Impressions of Italy show, on exhibit in Michele Waalkes ARTS until November 25, 2011. It is located on the main floor of 2nd April galerie and Studios at 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702. Hours are Tuesday- Saturday 10am - 6pm.

Size: (h x w) 18" x 24" framed
Media: Original digital print on canvas
AVAILABLE

Mortality

2011-10-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

Everywhere you look in Roman statuary, you can’t help but notice how strength is optimistically portrayed, as seen by this image of a female sculpture from the Vatican Museum. To visually challenge that ideal, I have incorporated an image of a relief on a tombstone, in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. The relief depicts a powerful scene of a woman being led away by an angel, while the husband and four children grieve.

This piece is in my Impressions of Italy show, on exhibit in Michele Waalkes ARTS until November 25, 2011. It is located on the main floor of 2nd April galerie and Studios at 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702. Hours are Tuesday- Saturday 10am - 6pm.

Size: (h x w) 18" x 24" framed
Media: Original digital print on canvas
AVAILABLE

Strata

2011-10-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

I find layers of history fascinating, each stratum a witness to a different time in the same place. It is no surprise, then, that I like to use layering in my work, it offers me the opportunity to create simultaneous juxtapositions. Strata is created by layering an image from an ornate archway inside the Vatican Museum in Rome with an image of columns from Pompeii. The ornate present with the ruins of the past.

This piece is in my Impressions of Italy show, on exhibit in Michele Waalkes ARTS until November 25, 2011. It is located on the main floor of 2nd April galerie and Studios at 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702. Hours are Tuesday- Saturday 10am - 6pm.

Size: (h x w) 16" x 20"
Media: Original digital print on stretched canvas
AVAILABLE

Inside Out

2011-10-10T08:02:00.000-07:00

Inside Out is a result of overlapping images of an interior tunnel going under a large amphitheater and the exterior steps of a small theater, both located in Pompeii. I liked the result of seeing both perspectives simultaneously.

This piece is in my Impressions of Italy show, on exhibit in Michele Waalkes ARTS until November 25, 2011. It is located on the main floor of 2nd April galerie and Studios at 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702. Hours are Tuesday- Saturday 10am - 6pm.

Size: (h x w) 20" x 16" framed
Media: original digital photography
AVAILABLE

Great Wall of Summit Mural

2011-10-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

The mural is finished and covered with an anti-graffiti sealant!

Thanks to all of the community members who came out and helped paint! It was a very rewarding project! Major thanks to Community Building Partnership, ArtsinStark, and CHASE bank for funding the mural.

Check out the review entitled "Vital Signs" from August 5, 2011 by Tom Wachunas.

Mural almost finished!

2011-07-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

Please see the video showcasing the FINAL painting day on the Great Wall of Summit located on the NE corner of 10th St NW and Fulton Rd NW. On July 16 residents, members of CBP Board of Directors, and representatives from ArtsinStark, City Council and the Arts Academy at Summit School worked together to finish the mural! Many thanks to each and every person that has participated in this project! A huge thank you to JP Morgan Chase Foundation and ArtsinStark for their contribution to make this neighborhood art project a reality!

I Spy Learning Tree

2011-05-10T07:11:00.001-07:00

I recently completed the "I Spy Learning Tree" for the Early Childhood Resource Center. Earlier this year, I conducted a workshop for 10 area preschool teachers on using paste paper paint techniques on fabric. The teachers then did the technique with their students and turned white fabric into colorful textured fabric, which I sewed together to create the branches on the tree. There will be cards with photos of the I Spy items that are hanging on the tree so that the preschoolers will have fun looking for and identifying the items on the tree.

Mural at YMCA Camp Tippecanoe

2011-05-06T14:16:00.001-07:00

I had the pleasure of working with 6th graders from Dover Middle School on a mural at the YMCA's Camp Tippecanoe. It is a design composed from 2 of the designs submitted by 6th graders from the class. All of the students had the opportunity to work on the mural over the course of four days. They did a great job!!

Summit neighborhood mural

2011-03-24T07:03:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to be working with Community Building Partnership to use art to help revitalize neighborhoods. Here is a mock up of the mural design superimposed on the wall that is to be painted soon. The explanation of the design is in the post below.

Coming soon!

2011-03-24T06:43:00.000-07:00

Here is the mock up of the Summit neighborhood mural design that I will finally be starting when the weather breaks and the final seal is completed on the wall. The wall is 150 feet x 7 feet located on 10th street and Fulton Ave, by the Arts Academy at Summit. I will have help from the residents in the neighborhood and students from the Arts Academy at Summit--as well as any friends who feel like coming out and painting with me!

After discussions with different residents, I came up with this design that visually shows the concepts of transformation and renaissance that came up so frequently.

The design is a transition from macro to micro. The street grid of the neighborhood transforms into the houses of the community, which then transforms into the individual people that flourish with the arts.

I hope to start by the second week of May and finish by the end of June.

NEW Gift Sized Gallery area at Michele Waalkes ARTS!

2010-11-29T11:54:00.000-08:00

I had such a fun time creating 5" x 5" compositions. Come on down to my studio and check them out...they are going fast!

Michele Walkes ARTS studio: from a different perspective

2010-08-03T04:12:00.000-07:00

Here is another angle of our new studio space!! My artwork is the fiber and mixed media work which utilizes my own photography. The oil paintings are Lynn Digby's, my studio mate. If you are local, come check it out! The address is 2nd April galerie 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702.

Michele Waalkes ARTS Studio has Moved to the Main Floor of 2nd April galerie!

2010-08-03T04:02:00.001-07:00

My studio-mate, Lynn Digby, and I recently moved our shared studio space to the main floor of 2nd April galerie. It is a great new space and I am very excited to be in it. Many thanks to Lynn and Paul Digby who did so much of the work to transform the space while I recovered from back surgery.

Microbiology C-

2010-05-20T20:55:00.000-07:00

Microbiology C- is a piece I created out of fabric that I had batiked (a fabric dying process using wax as a resist). It is a fun piece that I made by playing around with using spheres. In the end, it reminds me of the whirlwind microbiology class I took years ago during an intensive summer class, in which I didn't do so well, thus the C-!

Size: (h x w) 57" x 25"
Media: Hand dyed, batiked cotton fabric
AVAILABLE

Michele Waalkes ARTS Studio

2010-04-26T12:55:00.001-07:00

I am very pleased to announce that I am now sharing the mezzanine studio space at 2nd April galerie Studios & Annex with oil painter Lynn Digby. Please come down and check it out on a First Friday or at our upcoming 2nd Floor at 2nd April Open House this coming Friday, April 30 from 5-9pm. The open house will include delicious snacks at each of the studios and a chance to chat with the artists while strolling through and enjoying awesome artwork! Hope you can come!

Stations of the Cross

2010-03-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

Stream of Consciousness

Stream of Consciousness was created as part of an exhibit intended to visually portray each of the stations of the cross. This exhibit is at Anderson Creative and will be set up as a meditative space during Holy Week. The Canton Repository recently highlighted the exhibit that opens Tuesday, March 30.

I created a piece inspired by station #5: Jesus is Judged By Pilate. It attempts to reflect the disconnect between Pilate’s conflicted thoughts and his cowardly actions. Pilate acknowledges Jesus’ innocence, yet, in the end, his desire to please the crowd wins out. To portray this disconnect, fragments of Pilate’s words and thoughts are incorporated into a stream representing his futile attempt to absolve himself of guilt with his public hand washing. It is created with phototransfers of my photography onto sheer and opaque fabric.

Size: (h x w) 21" x 17"

Media: Fibers

SOLD

My contribution to the 28 Variations Show at Anderson Creative

2010-03-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

This was such a fun experience! Please see previous post for a summary of the show's concept. Basically, I could see only 6" of the piece before mine, it had red painted circles with graphite circles around them (You can see it if you look at the photo from the previous post). I needed to created a piece that somehow tied in with it. I chose to go with this image of a wrought iron fence because I felt like the circle within a circle echoed the image in the piece created before mine. I also like how it conceptually created a boundary, just as the graphite circle did in the painting before mine.

I had a great time creating this piece. It is 3 feet x 3 feet and is created with a phototransfers of one of my photos with conte crayon, pastel, and graphite.

SOLD

28 Variations

2010-03-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

The 28 Variations exhibit at Anderson Creative was a dynamic show! In the meantime, check out Tom Wachunas' review! My piece is on the bottom row, 5th from the right.

Who’s Your Dada?

By Tom Wachunas

Switzerland in 1915 – Zurich, to be exact - was far from detached or neutral when it came to positioning itself for making war on the world. In the wake of the most devastating war Europe – indeed the world – had ever experienced, Zurich had become home to an increasingly vocal enclave of dissident citizens bent on usurping not governments as such, but entire systems of thought. Artists, Communists, poets, and philosophers, among others, locked arms, as it were, to embrace “anti-art,” their perceived vehicle for destroying, once and for all, the societal traditions and ideals that they blamed for World War I. Ironically, in their disdain for intellectualism and conventional social values, they promoted yet another kind of intellectualism and value system - one that formulated elaborate, albeit nonsensical manifestos promulgating cultural anarchy. This, then, was all-out war on art and art-making as it had been formerly known, shown, and practiced.

The movement acquired the name ‘Dada’, a term that artist and movement ‘historian’ Hans Arp once said, “…means nothing, aims to mean nothing, and was adapted precisely because it means nothing.” So there you have it: a movement destined if not designed to collapse under the weight of its own vapidity. Or…?

Before summarily dismissing Dada as an historic fluke, blip, glitch, or an ill-fated, arrogant attempt to destroy conventional art values, consider the art developments of, say, the entire 20th century. More specifically, Modernism and its cantankerous child, Post-Modernism (where we are, arguably, now). So what’s next – Post-Postism? Contemporeactionism? And considering what we now so readily accept as art, who really cares? The point is that Dada and the ‘styles’ it spawned forever changed the face of art. The ‘freedoms’ it unleashed, like it or not, have long since re-drawn how we define, practice, look at, and value art.

So now along comes the unveiling of “The 28 Variations Project” at Anderson Creative in downtown Canton. The statement released by curators Craig Joseph and Kevin Anderson tells us that the show was inspired by Dadaists. Some of those endearing revolutionaries of yore engaged in communal art-making processes that were intentionally random, chaotic, free-for-all soirees to make “non-art’’ works which they claimed to be every bit as legitimate as anything in the Louvre. Art by attitude. Or, depending upon your predisposition to such a “philosophy”, art by mad-itude.

And so it is with some trepidation that I went to the March 5 unveiling. Knowing in advance that each of the 28 masonite panels (each measuring 3’x3’) was an individual work generated by the artist’s reaction to seeing only an exposed six-inch swath of the previous work by another artist in the sequence, I was fully expecting to see an indulgent foray into sheer, ugly nonsense. In fact I was sure that I would be writing a review of so much garbage. I’m elated to report otherwise.

Whether viewed as a single work comprised of 28 related parts, or 28 individual pieces sharing formal and/or thematic content, this is an astonishing, spectacular exhibit. For as much as there is to look at here, this is a show that requires seeing in the sense of “reading” its connective elements. The time spent, I assure you, will yield some delightful surprises.

Start, then, with the first work in the sequence at the far top left – Craig Joseph’s assemblage - a delightful parody of a family keeping up appearances, rendered in a style reminiscent of Monty Python animations. Then “read” to your right, into Kevin Anderson’s hilarious ad for an electric cheese-scent air freshener. Notice how the right edge of the first piece cues into the left edge of the next, and so forth through all 28 panels (reversing the edge-to-edge cueing for the bottom row). Through color, or shape, or texture – or combinations thereof - it’s the peripheral visual elements of each work that give rise to its larger internal content, which in turn inspires the adjacent work. So in a very real way, this show brings a refreshing application of that pesky, overworked term “edgy.” Additionally, the whole process generated some uncanny, unplanned “accidents” of recurring visual elements, as if some of the artists were psychically connected. For example, deep in the picture sequence, the word “façade” is an important element in Vicki Boatright’s explosive and densely textured assemblage, which is the same word we see as intrinsic to Craig Joseph’s work at the very beginning of the sequence.

Also refreshing is the evidence here that each artist clearly took this project to heart and set out to make a “serious” work of art (some, of course, more interesting than others) that can stand on its own, independent of its place in this grouping. In so doing, some participants just as clearly ventured outside their established styles to render works that are nonetheless engaging. It’s exciting to see Erin Mulligan experiment with color and physical texture, or to see Lynn Digby get loose with abstract figuration. And who knew that Brennis Booth (co-owner of Second April Gallerie) was so capable of such remarkable painterly lyricism?

This show convinces me that as a bold, visionary establishment for showcasing truly noteworthy local artists, Anderson Creative has set the bar high, and has arrived. Further, piece-for-piece, and for sheer contemporary brawn and brains, this is by far the most compelling group show of Canton-area artists I’ve seen in all the 18 years I’ve been reviewing them.

Dada is dead. Long live Anderson Creative.

The 28 Variations Project, on view through March 27 at Anderson Creative, 331Cleveland Avenue NW, Canton. Viewing hours: 12 noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. www.andersoncreativestudio.com

Trepidation

2010-02-13T17:39:00.000-08:00

Trepidation is captured with a foreboding angle of the Sacre-Coeur Basilica in Paris with its wrought iron fence and looming height. The title came to me immediately when I started working with this image that I had taken in France a few years ago. It illuminated a feeling of unease and intimidation. To further reinforce this feeling, I overlayed a photo of trees I had taken in Michigan. Not only do I love the beauty and metaphoric imagery of trees in my own work, they also have great religious symbolism, representing the Tree of Life, central to Adam & Eve's 'Fall,' and as a symbol foreshadowing Christ's crucifixion. For this reason I placed a tree in the entryway to echo its importance and centrality.

This piece was part of 2nd April galerie's Fibernation show.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"

Media: Fibers

AVAILABLE

Speculation

2010-02-13T17:24:00.000-08:00

Speculation was created with an image I took of Lake Macatawa in Holland, Michigan while on a walk to the beach in the winter. I overlayed a photo of steps leading up from the beach, taken during the summer. I liked the juxtaposition of two different seasons and viewpoints, seeing across the lake and not being able to visualize the destination at the end of the steps.

This piece is was on exhibit at 2nd April galerie in Canton, OH as part of the Fibernation exhibit.

Size: (h x w) 12" x 12"

Media: Fibers

SOLD

Elements of Time

2010-02-13T17:00:00.000-08:00

Elements of Time: Water, Fire, Air, & Earth is a series that I created a couple of years ago when I was playing more with surface design on fibers. My goal was to have the pieces work together to visualize balance in a cumulative way with the parameter of using the elements. The composition of the hourglass is quite angled in the first (Water). In each successive piece, the hourglass slowly becomes more balanced-though never completely.

These pieces were recently included in the Fibernation exhibit at 2nd April galerie.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11

Media: Fibers

Water: SOLD

Fire: SOLD

Air: AVAILABLE

Earth: SOLD

Fibernation

2010-02-13T16:51:00.000-08:00

Fibernation is a fibers exhibit that I recently guest curated at 2nd April galerie. It has a diverse sampling of eleven Northeast Ohio fiber artists. The work is nontraditional and intriguing, pushing the fibers media in different ways. Buzzbin Magazine wrote a nice article about the exhibition. Check out the article...and check out the exhibition At 2nd April galerie until March 6!

Stark County Artists Exhibit

2010-01-17T02:39:00.000-08:00

It was quite an honor, and surprise, to have received Best in Show for The Unknown at the annual juried show at Massillon Museum last night. It was a very interesting and diverse show. The Canton Repository announced the awards in the paper on January 19.

For additional information on the piece, see my post entitled "The Unknown" from September 2, 2009.

Blind Date Show at Anderson Creative

2010-01-17T02:30:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen the Blind Date exhibit at Anderson Creative there is a round table discussion with many of the writers and artists at the gallery on Thursday, January 21 at 7pm.
There is a nice overview of the exhibit in the Canton Repository
http://www.cantonrep.com/entertainment/x1409364830/Blind-Date-exhibition-links-three-cities-the-visual-and-literary-arts

Review of the "Blind Date" show. Three of my works are included.

2010-01-09T16:49:00.000-08:00

Arranged Marriages

By Tom Wachunas
THIS IS TAKEN FROM TOM WACHUNAS' BLOG: ARTWACH HTTP://ARTWACH.BLOGSPOT.COM/

“Blind Date: The Romance of Word and Image,” is the name of a bold and fascinating exhibition now on view at Anderson Creative Studio in downtown Canton. First, let me tell you why I think it’s bold.

For as long as I’ve been writing about art (nearly 25 years), I’ve been an avid observer of how people in general look at art in a gallery or museum setting. I don’t mean ‘look at art’ in the sense of how people feel, think, or theorize about it. I mean how they are physically with art in real time and space – their posture, their eye movements, and the amount of actual time they spend in its immediate proximity. Over the years I’ve noticed that too many (I’m ever-closer to amending that to MOST) people treat the experience with a hurried nonchalance, absentmindedly breezing through exhibits with the vague hope, perhaps, that something will “catch their eye.” They simply look too fast. While I’m sure there are those who will disagree, I’m nonetheless convinced that we live in a society that discourages thinking too long or hard about what, exactly, we’re seeing. Truly dedicated art viewers seem to be a minority among us, if not a dying breed.

What makes this exhibit bold, then, is its unabashedly clear demand on our time. For here, to wholly internalize what is before us, we must not only look at the visual content, but read the accompanying text in full if we are to assess a connection between the two. In a way, we as viewers are witnesses to a performance, or marriage of sorts, between visual artists and writers.

The broker of this clever union is performance artist and writer –and here, curator- Craig Joseph. He paired 15 visual artists with 15 writers (a combination of individuals from Canton, Chicago and Minneapolis). The visual artists made works given to the writers to inspire literary works in a variety of genres, and in turn the writers provided material on which the artists based their visual pieces in a wide variety of media.

What’s most interesting here is that while each work in the show is necessarily an integrated presentation of object or image with a text, both the literary works and the visual works (with only a few weak exceptions) function as engaging, stand-alone pieces in their own right. Call it an exercise in simultaneous autonomy and symbiosis. In the end, this is a refreshingly successful collaborative project of remarkable substance.

Also interesting is how the writers’ chosen genres link up so effectively and appropriately with the visual artists’ chosen mediums. Clearly, the magic of artistic intuition is at work here. “Nativity,” a deeply moving poem by Carter Smith, for example, enhances the intensely personal, even mysterious quality of Joseph Close’s haunting “The Avatar and the Nash Equilibrium.” A similar chemistry is at work in the relationship between Michele Waalkes’ shimmering fiber piece, “The Verge,” depicting a church-like interior, and the reflective musings in the poem, “Shadows,” by Kris Lindquist.

One particularly good example of committing ample time to appreciate the depth of a work can be found in the collaboration between painter Marci Axelband and writer Judith Christy. Christy’s “Bad Connection” might be the longest written work in the show, but reading it all the way through yields a satisfying sense of real connection. Her narrative reads like a captivating scene from a noir film or play, telling the story of a phone conversation between a husband and wife discussing their impending divorce. Axelband’s abstract “Boxes” is captivating, too, and could be a crowded cityscape, or perhaps an elaborate phone doodle on a grand scale, depicting stylized ‘figures’ and ‘ghosts’ locked together in claustrophobic tension.

I found myself increasingly absorbed in reading each line of the story, my eyes darting back and forth between text and painting, looking for, and ultimately getting the gist of the works to my delight. This process is necessarily repeated in viewing each collaboration in this show and, as in the Christy-Axelband work, generally delivers an edifying result.

It is indeed a process that understandably asks us to go against the grain of our normally attention-fatigued, brain-numbing routines and be more intentional with our time. And in some ways, this exhibit challenges us to be willing to be enchanted. Think of it as both taking the time to savor a marvelous art show as well as giving time to these artists and writers who have surely earned it.

Photo: Installation view of text for “Bad Connection” by Judith Christy, and “Boxes,” pastel, acrylic, and water-based oil by Marci Axelband. One of 30 collaborative works on view in “Blind Date: The Romance of Word and Image,” at Anderson Creative Studio, 331 Cleveland Avenue NW, through January 31. Gallery hours: Noon to 5p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Adrift

2009-11-16T17:15:00.000-08:00

Adrift was created from photographs of water that I took up in Maine. I digitally manipulated the photos and transferred the photos onto fabric. On the larger view, I added an overlay of a propeller.

This piece was in my two-person show at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH and is now hanging at 2nd April galerie in Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 10" x 17"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Forgotten

2009-11-16T15:54:00.000-08:00

Forgotten was created from a photo I took of an old chapel in Paris, France. I can't recall the name of it, but I believe it was in the Latin Quarter, near a park where we sat and ate pastries. I was drawn to the run-down, isolated feel of it as I walked by. I put an overlay of trees from a photo I had taken at the Genessee Monastery in New York in order to play up the sense of abandonment and intrigue.

This piece was shown in 2nd April galerie in Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Resilience

2009-11-15T21:35:00.001-08:00

Resilience was created from a shot I took at the beach in Holland, MI on an amazingly windy day in November. It was very windy, sand was blowing all around and the waves were crashing in hard. I felt a sense of awe at the display of power. I love the image of the lone tree in midst of it all, buffeted, but standing firm. I incorporated wire to extend and emphasize how the branches were whipping around in the wind. Some of the wire branches flow onto the matt around the image.

This piece was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 17" x 21"
Media: Mixed media
SOLD

Upward Mobility

2009-11-15T21:26:00.000-08:00

Upward Mobility is constructed of two images taken in France. The background is a shot taken out of the window of our hotel room looking upward and the front layer is a photo I took inside the Grand Trianon at Versailles. I like the play of contrasts, a lavish interior juxtaposed onto a humble exterior, looking up and peering forward simultaneously.

This piece has been selected to be part of the juried Stark County Artists Exhibition at the Massillon Museum from January 16-February 28, 2010.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
AVAILABLE

The Source

2009-11-09T20:29:00.000-08:00

The Source was created as a starting point for a maquette for a commission. (Though in the end, they wanted something more abstract, see Circuitous posting). I was playing around with the idea of metaphors for strength and what might be of encouragement to those who find themselves in a place where they need to be braced and encouraged in a trying time (as this was going to be for an ICU waiting room).

The photo was taken at Stadium Park, just down the hill from the new ICU. I overlayed the tree growing beside the water with a metallic gold tulle and metallic gold thread 'branches' flowing down to capture the notion of strength being manifested from The Source.

This piece was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 21" x 18"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Review of my current two-person show at The Little Art Gallery

2009-11-09T20:25:00.000-08:00

This is taken from Tom Wachunas' blog: ARTWACH http://artwach.blogspot.com/

Monday, November 2, 2009

Tactile Soliloquies

Tactile Soliloquies

By Tom Wachunas

The title of the current exhibit at The Little Art Gallery – “Sheer Obscurity”- presents a bit of a conundrum. Is the art intentionally dark, or its meaning deliberately arcane? Or is it simply a poetic, even cautionary announcement of the art’s “personal” qualities, thereby preparing us for art that is more meditative than merely decorative or “entertaining”? I favor the latter reading, while considering the act of meditating on art quite entertaining nonetheless. In any event, I find the show’s title to be an effective hook on which to hang some observations.

Ken Carter makes hand-blown glass objects. Michele Waalkes makes (for the most part, here) pictures from photo transfers on to translucent as well as opaque fabrics. Hence, both artists work in “sheer” mediums. And both artists share subtle palettes that effectively make their works exude an earthy spirituality.

Carter’s glass pieces are, at their most fundamental level, connected to traditional functionalities of the medium – vases, bowls, and bottles. But those functions seem secondary to the pieces’ truer natures as independently engaging objects – intimate glass sculptures inhabited by an archetypal spectre of timelessness. Many of them look as if they were made from molten geological strata – viscous, swirling, and still gently seething and breathing under their polished patinas.

That sensibility of breathing is intrinsic to most of Waalkes’ pieces, too. Many of them are sylvan visions of interlacing tree limbs that shimmer and shift ever so slightly the longer you look at them. Some appear to go impossibly deep into the picture plane. Into the woods indeed, these are not so much mysterious forests as they are elegant invitations to simply explore and marvel at nature’s intricate, lyrical depths. Other images are fascinating juxtapositions of arboreal motifs with classical-looking architectural settings and quiet interiors – a kind of humanity-nature morphology.

Viewed in the aggregate, these works could well address a wide range of narratives and sensations both private and universal. And so it was unsettling to me to witness two other individuals come into the gallery during my 40-minute visit. They blew through the exhibit in 3 or 4 minutes, never getting any closer than about 4 feet from any single piece. With such a careless embrace, how could anyone possibly see, or perhaps even hear what message might await them? Their loss, I thought. Good art deserves better. Allowing ample viewing time seems a paltry sacrifice to make when the pay-off is the abiding serenity and unique, palpable pleasure for the eyes that this show so richly provides.

Photo: “Sheer Obscurity” (publicity art) from The Little Art Gallery/ left: “Alluring,” Fibers, by Michele Waalkes; right: “Encalmo Doughnut Bottle with Stand,” by Ken Carter. On view through November 17, gallery located in the North Canton Public Library, 185 North Main St., North Canton (330) 499-4712, extension 312

Interplay

2009-11-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

Interplay was created by painting color blocks on sheer fabric and layering it over a screen printed image of a wrought iron fence. The piece actually hangs diagonally.

This piece was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 17" x 17"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Midnight Breeze

2009-11-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

Midnight Breeze is a new work experimenting with painting on sheer fabric. I layered the sheer over a piece of fabric that I had painted by actually blowing paint through a device to administer a fine mist of black paint over branches that I had laid on the fabric. I attempted to echo this motif with my painting on the sheer.

This piece will be included in 2nd April galerie's "In the Company of Friends" exhibit from November 13, 2009-January 23, 2010.

Size: (h x w) 17" x 17"
Media:Fibers
SOLD

Dimensionality

2009-10-24T18:01:00.000-07:00

Dimensionality is created from three different layers of sheers overlapped. I used a photograph that I had taken of a mosque in Egypt, near the Citadel. I cut out the main design into a linoleum block and printed it, then carved out more details and printed it again in a different color on a different layer, and finally carved out even more detail and then printed one more layer in a different color. I aligned the sheer layers and framed them so that it can be viewed from both the front and the back.

This piece was shown at the Massillon Museum's Stark County Artists Exhibit and in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 16" x 13"
Media: Fibers
AVAILABLE

Complexity

2009-10-24T17:51:00.000-07:00

Complexity is created from a photo I took of a tree after an ice storm in Canton, OH. I manipulated it to abstract it in order to best highlight the intricacies of its silhouette and then adhered it to lucite panels wired together.

This piece was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 34" x 8"
Media: Fibers, lucite, wire
AVAILABLE

Prospect

2009-10-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

Prospect is constructed with a hand-colored black and white photo I had took at Stadium Park in Canton, OH. This photo is overlayed with a sheer image of a pathway and trees, taken at Genessee Monastery in New York. I combined the two images to capture the gap between reality and desire we sometimes experience, in a grass-is-always-greener kind of way.

This piece was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Mixed media
SOLD

Lost

2009-10-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

Lost was created with the intent of illustrating the sense of feeling lost along the journey of life. It is a self portrait of sorts at this stage of my life. It is meant to show the reflection & reevaluation that happens along the way by uniting a subtle image of a pathway, taken on a hike at the Genessee Monastery, along with a photo I took of a compass on a boat in Maine.

This piece is part of "The Company of Friends" exhibit at 2nd April galerie from November 13, 2009- January 23, 2010.

Size: (h x w) 12" x 12"
Media: Mixed media
SOLD

Foreshadowing

2009-10-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

Foreshadowing was created by fusing an image from a hallway in the Grand Trianon in Versailles with a shot I took of a humble lantern on a hotel in Charlottesville, VA. I wanted to emphasize the light coming through the window and the shadow of the lantern to suggest the idea of foreshadowing of time, ambitions, and the future.

This piece was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 12" x 12"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

The Unknown

2009-09-02T07:40:00.001-07:00

The Unknown was created for a group show entitled fabric-ations at Malone University's McFadden Gallery. It is created with two identical images I had photographed while on a walk at the Genessee Monastery in New York. The back layer is opaque and stitched with silver threads dangling down eerily, the front layer is a sheer image that is raised to add depth and allow movement. It is intended to create a sense of intrigue about what is to come and how we may "fabricate" our notions of the future.

This was on exhibit at Malone University's McFadden Gallery and in my two person show entitled Sheer Obscurity at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH. In addition, this piece has been selected to be part of the juried Stark County Artists Exhibition at the Massillon Museum from January 16-February 28, 2010. It was awarded Best in Show.

Size: (h x w) 21" x 17"
Media: Fibers
AVAILABLE

Alluring

2009-09-02T07:20:00.001-07:00

Alluring is constructed from a shot I took at the Gethsemani Monastery in Kentucky. I manipulated it digitally and then added copper stitching to heighten the deep feel of mystery and clarity that one can experience when walking deep in a forest alone.

This piece was part of my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 21" x 17"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Revelation

2009-05-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

Revelation was created with two separate images. The back layer is a photo transfer of a photograph that I took of an outer hallway of the al Fateh Mosque in Bahrain. The front sheer overlay is of a pathway through the trees at the Genessee Monastery in New York. I particularly love how the foreground of both images work together to draw the viewer in.

This piece was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 11" x 14"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Looming

2009-05-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

Looming was created from a photograph I had taken in Bahrain, looking west over the gulf toward a beautiful sunset over Saudi Arabia. Despite the political turmoil in the region at the time, there was such a sense of peace in that view, in that moment, out on a dock with my son.

In general, I tend to view sunsets as a bookend to the day. They loom at the end of daylight and signal a sense of closure, marking an end. I chose to juxtapose this beautiful sunset with an image of a barren tree branch with vultures subtly flying amongst the branches. This was not intended to be morbid, rather it was a visual exploration of the idea that The End of one's journey may very well be brimming with beauty, just like the sunset.

The tree branch photo was taken at the Raccoon Creek State Park in Pennsylvania. The photograph of the vultures was taken at a lake near Hocking Hills, Ohio.

This piece was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: 12" x 12"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Ambition

2009-05-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

Ambition was created with a photo sensitive fabric. A transparency of a photograph I had taken of the Eiffel Tower was laid on the fabric and then exposed by the sun. I really enjoyed the process and would like to play with it more in the near future. I chose to place an overlay of steps from Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio to help portray a sense of drive or ambition.

This piece was part of my solo exhibit entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9. It is currently on exhibit in a group show entitled fabric-ations at Malone University's McFadden Gallery from August 31- October 5, 2009.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
AVAILABLE

Navigation

2009-05-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

Navigation was created with a sheer overlay of an image of a compass, taken on a boat in Maine. The back layer is an archway at The Citadel, in Egypt. I sought to visually portray the reality of the unknown that lies ahead on the journey.

This piece was part of my solo exhibit entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9. It was then donated to a silent auction to help support a Malone University Service Learning Trip headed to Egypt.

Size: (h x w) 12" 12"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

The Wait

2009-05-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

The Wait was constructed from an overlay of photo I took of a gargoyle on the top tower of Notre-Dame, in Paris. I was very drawn to the bored posture of the sculpture, as if tired of waiting and perhaps not even sure for what it is waiting. I used an image of a cloudy sky taken in Pittsburgh for the back layer to provide an imminent context for the gargoyle.

This piece was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9. It is currently on exhibit in a group show entitled fabric-ations at Malone University's McFadden Gallery from August 31- October 5, 2009.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
AVAILABLE

Options

2009-05-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

Options was created from a photograph I took near Marie Antoinette's Hamlet in Versailles, France. I happened upon the secluded bridge while taking a quiet walk with my husband. I found it so beautiful and inviting, its aged-looking structure (probably reconstructed?) just seemed to evoke a sense of history. I overlayed a sheer image of trees and a path, from the Genessee Monastery in New York, to help reinforce the intrigue.

This piece was a part of my solo show entitled NEXT which was exhibited at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Simultaneous

2009-05-04T09:41:00.000-07:00

Simultaneous was created from a phototransfer of an image taken of an abandoned looking bridge at the Gethsemane Monastery in Kentucky. The timelessness of the alpha and omega symbolism on the bridge was an intriguing contrast to it's aging, deteriorating, overgrown setting. Threads are stitched along the branches within the image and flow onto the mattboard surrounding it within the frame. It has a companion piece, Eternal, which features a Chi- Rho carved into the other side of the bridge.

This piece was exhibited at Malone University in 2009, at 2nd April galerie's The View From Here show, and in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
AVAILABLE

Eternal

2009-05-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

Eternal was created from an image that I took of a crumbling old bridge while on a hike at the Gethsemane Monastery in Kentucky. I was particularly drawn to the overgrown setting in which it sat, seemingly forgotten. There is a companion piece, Simultaneous, that features the other side of the bridge. A sheer overlay of trees from the Genessee Monastery was integrated to give the dimension of time and space. A Chi- Rho symbol or Christogram is incised into the stone of the bridge. This symbol was used long ago and incorporated the first two Greek letters of Christ's name.

This piece was exhibited at Malone University in 2009 and was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Continuum

2009-04-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

Continuum was created as an attempt to visually explore time, progression, and digression. This work has one opaque layer and two sheer layers of a balloon at different stages or sizes. Depending on your perspective, the balloon is either inflating or deflating. To me it is a continuum containing both perspectives.

This piece was exhibited at Gallery 6000 in 2009.

Size: (h x w) 12" x 12"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Circuitous

2009-04-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

Circuitous was a commissioned diptych that I recently completed. It was based on an earlier work, Ambiguous, that I finished last year, featuring many variations of a photograph I took of the spiral steps inside the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The top layer is a sheer overlay of the outline of the same spiral steps. It is the largest scale photo-transfer piece I have attempted to date, though now I am inspired to work larger yet!

The diptych is hanging in the new ICU waiting room at the Mercy Medical Center in Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 131/2" x 76"

Media: Fibers

SOLD

Gravitation

2009-04-06T17:42:00.000-07:00

Gravitation is a fusion of a sheer overlay of trees and a pathway with a photo taken in a park in London. I can't recall which park it was, perhaps Regents or Hyde? All of the parks we strolled through were so beautiful. The two images combine to create an intriguing lure toward a port of call along the journey.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum, in a group show entitled fabric-ations at Malone University's McFadden Gallery, and was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"

Media: Fibers

SOLD

Indecision

2009-04-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

Indecision was created with a photograph I took in Versailles, France combined with a sheer overlay of a weathervane taken at a friend's house in Ohio. The two images seemed to work so well together to visually portray potential possibilities.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"

Media: Fibers

SOLD

Anticipation

2009-04-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

Anticipation is intended to evoke a sense of suspense and excitement as one journeys onward expectantly. The front overlay is of a cloudy sky in Pittsburgh, PA. The back layer is of a colonnade at the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"

Media:Fibers

SOLD

Elusive

2009-04-06T16:46:00.000-07:00

Elusive is another attempt to visualize the vantage point of looking forward trying to see what lies ahead. The archway image was taken in an outdoor corridor at the Louvre in Paris and the tree image was taken at the Genessee Monastery in New York.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum, at 2nd April galerie's The View From Here show, and was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"

Media: Fibers

SOLD

Sanctuary

2009-04-06T16:38:00.000-07:00

Sanctuary is made up of a sheer inverted image taken in a park in Paris. This image overlays text that suggests a space to linger and rest.

This has been displayed at the 2nd April galerie, Gallery 6000, The Repository lobby in Canton, OH, and at the Arkon-Canton Airport.

Size: (h x w) 24" x 24"

Media: Fibers

SOLD

Resolve

2009-04-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

Resolve is a mixed media piece created with an inverted image of steps making their way up the dune from the beach at Lake Michigan, in Holland, Michigan. The text unites with the image to explore the concept of what makes us press on toward an elusive destination.

This was exhibited at 2nd April galerie.

Size: (h x w) 17" x 21"

Media: Mixed media

SOLD

Parallel

2009-03-27T08:19:00.000-07:00

Parallel was an experiment using two versions of the same image taken at the Genessee Monastery in New York. To me, it explores the mystery and perception of reality, that which is seen and unseen, known and unknown.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 21" x 17"

Media: Mixed Media

SOLD

Embarkment

2009-03-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

Embarkment was another effort to communicate the complexity of growth and progress in life. The pathway image was taken at Quail Hollow State Park in Ohio. Text repeating "one step forward two steps back two steps forward one step back" overlays the pathway.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 8"

Media: Fibers

SOLD

Beckoning

2009-03-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

Beckoning is meant to play with the concept of destination and calling, of how one can feel pulled in a certain direction without necessarily being able to see where it leads. It was created with an image taken at the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville. This was combined with a sheer overlay of a photo of my son's bedroom door slightly ajar.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum, at 2nd April galerie's The View From Here show, and was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"

Media: Fibers

SOLD

Urgency

2009-03-27T07:19:00.000-07:00

Urgency is made up of 2 images. The back layer is an image of a weathered old door in a crumbling wall on the grounds of the Gethsemane Monastery in Kentucky. The sheer overlay is of an expired parking meter on 3rd street in downtown Canton, Ohio. I wanted to create a sort of mysterious intrigue that the viewer could personally resonate with as to what may be the urgency to pass through the portal and where might it lead.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9. It is currently on exhibit in a group show entitled fabric-ations at Malone University's McFadden Gallery from August 31- October 5, 2009.

Size: (h x w)14" x 11"

Media: Fibers

AVAILABLE

Luring

2009-03-27T07:04:00.000-07:00

Luring was created as a way of considering the powerful influence of material comforts and longings. The hallway image with the chandelier was taken at Versailles in France. The overlay of trees, suggesting life's journey, is from the Genessee Monastery in New York.

This was exhibited at The Little Art Gallery where it was awarded 2nd place in mixed media in the 66th Annual May Show. It was also exhibited at 2nd April galerie.

Size: (h x w) 12" x 12"

Media: Fibers

SOLD

2009-03-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

Monumental

2009-03-25T18:02:00.000-07:00

Monumental incorporates an image of a pathway, which serves as a metaphor for life's journey, along with an image of a sundial. The sundial was purposefully enlarged in comparison with the pathway to suggest its looming presence, since time tends to be such a constant preoccupation in life. The images were taken at the Genessee Monastery in New York and the Gethsemane Monastery in Kentucky.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"

Media: Fibers

SOLD

Unmoored

2009-03-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

Unmoored was an attempt to portray a sense of not feeling grounded, of losing direction and focus in one's life. It is not necessarily intended to be a negative reflection, for sometimes those moments can provide glimpses of new horizons we never before imagined. The photographs were taken in Maine on a misty boat ride.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 12" x 12"

Media: Fibers

SOLD

Astray

2009-03-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

Astray was made up of images from the Genessee Monastery in New York. In an effort to show a sense of confusion and obscurity, I overlapped layers of tree and pathway images on sheer and opaque fabric and paper.

This was exhibited at the Massillon Museum in the juried Stark County Artists Exhibition, at the Sixth Street Gallery's juried Natural Beauty Show in Vancouver, WA, and in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"

Media: Mixed Media

SOLD

Ambiguous

2009-03-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Ambiguous is made up of manipulated images of the spiral steps inside the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. I wanted to visually process the ambiguity of discerning whether one is making progress. By flipping and overlapping the steps images, I sought to explore the dynamics of progression or growth which invariably involves a combination of moving forward and backward, up and down, back and forth.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9, at 2nd April galerie's The View From Here show, and was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 11" x 25"

Media: Fibers

SOLD

Drawn

2009-03-25T16:31:00.000-07:00

Drawn was created from a photograph of the beach in Holland, Michigan on a rather hazy July 4th. The sheer overlay image of steps was taken on a hike at Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio. This combination seemed to really capture the essence of being drawn or pulled toward something, even when that destination is not fully known or understood.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"

Media: Fibers

SOLD

Aspiration

2009-03-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

Aspiration was part of a larger study on what pushes one onward and why. I photographed an old propellor which to me, serves as a great visual metaphor of progression and potential.

This piece was exhibited at Gallery 6000, 2nd April galerie, and was also a part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9. Until recently, it was on display in the Philosophy Department at Malone University.

Size: (h x w) 16" x 40"

Media: Fibers

AVAILABLE

Solitude

2009-03-24T11:52:00.000-07:00

Solitude was the first mixed media piece I made using a variety of photo transfer processes. The images used were taken while hiking at the Genessee Monastery in New York. The embedded text ponders the concept of space for oneself and the joy that can be experienced when one carves out space to be alone.

This was exhibited in the 65th Annual May Show at The Little Art Gallery, where it was awarded 1st place in mixed media.

Size: (h x w) 11" x 17"

Media: Mixed media

SOLD

The Clearing

2009-03-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

The Clearing was created with an image I had taken in a small, barren chapel in the Tower of London. The structure was so stark and beautiful. I chose to overlay a pathway/tree image that I took at the Genessee Monastery in New York. I actually use this image quite frequently as a visual metaphor for life's journey. The fusion of these images seemed to create an interesting juxtaposition of traveling toward a sense of space or destination or purpose.

This was exhibited at the Massillon Museum's juried Stark County Artists Exhibition as well as the Sixth Street Gallery's Natural Beauty juried show in Vancouver, WA.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"

Media: Fibers

SOLD