Speaking of Flying

The past several months I have been very busy with a design project for hire, which I can't tell you more about right now! In the meantime, though, here is a small collage I finished recently, Flying Man. It utilizes found paper, photo transfer images, hand printed cyanotype imagery on paper, hand made crystalline paper, all on a nice, heavy weight watercolor paper background. It sold recently, and has been shipped to the buyer, so I wanted to show you a picture of it while it was on my mind.

The new year is here, and I have high hopes for 2013. Hope it's a great year for you, as well. Here's to making lots of art this year. Get busy!

Flying Man, a collage by Gayle Pritchard

No Fear of Flying

As mentioned previously, I have been doing physical therapy on my hands for months now. So, what to do when one can't work a normal schedule? Well, my solution has been to reorganize both of my work spaces here in the house. My friend Ginny came over to have a look, and to give me her expert suggestions. The "blue" room, my office, has to accomodate my second laptop, a scanner, a pull-out futon for a guest bed, as well as inventory, collage papers and cardstock. I have also rearranged the blue room glass-topped desks to make room for my yudu screenprinter. I'll post pix when everything is clean and put away!


 In my last post, I showed you a silk rubbing from Mexico I had found while reorganizing my space. Here is another unfinished piece I found, a class sample of a black and white photo transfer on silk. I decided to make it into a collage, but I needed to paint it first, so that the bright white of the silk would blend in more with the cyanotype-printed fabric I wanted to use with it.

I used Jacquard paint with a watery brush to paint the transfer on silk.

The painted silk in the composition. I used cyanotype prints made
years ago, and created my collage from the scrapbag. The
wings are hand appliqued.

 

Here is a detail of the top of the composition, in progress.



What I'm Up To Otherwise: Getting Better

Finishing up some half-finished work uncovered while I have been rearranging my studio space. It feels good.


Detail, rubbing on silk


This piece is a rubbing on silk that I made while teaching at Hacienda Mosaico in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico several years ago. The owner, Sam Leonard, had a beautiful stone sculpture amongst her plants at an intersection of paths in the garden. I made the rubbing from that sculpture, laying the silk in place, and using oil pastels for the rubbing.


Here I have just started to paint the silk with Jacquard paint.
The oil pastels provided a natural "resist" edge to keep
the very fluid paint from spreading into other areas.

 To start painting, I stretched the silk rubbing with pins onto a large piece of foam core. I'm not quite finished with the painting, but almost. I plan to add some more layers of color in the center, right on top of the Sun's face. Here is what I have so far:

After the rest of the painting is finished, I will heat set it with an iron to be safe. Then, I guess I'll have to decide what to make out of this pretty piece of silk. Any suggestions?

Love Voodoo

One of my artworks from the exhibition In Their Own Right, Love Voodoo, sold at the opening.

Love Voodoo by Gayle Pritchard, on exhibit at In Their Own Right

As requested, here are some more detailed images of the artwork.

Stop by to see the exhibit, which is on view until July 28th. Summer gallery hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 1 - 4 p.m. Hope to see you there!

A Unique Exhibition

In Their Own Right, opening night. Several of my artworks are in the background.

Last night was the opening of a  summer exhibition at The Beth K. Stocker Art Center. This fiber exhibition, In Their Own Right, presents the work of the four women who have curated The Artist as Quiltmaker exhibition: Ricky Clark, (the founder), Sue Copeland Jones, Ruta Butkus Marino, (the currt curator), and me, Gayle Pritchard.



Sue Copeland Jones, Ruta Butkus Marino and Gayle Pritchard at the
opening of In Their Own Right. My work is in the background on either side
one of Ruta's pieces, the lovely blue composition in the center.



The exhibit presents a wide range of styles, and includes artwork created over a period of twenty years or more. Surprisingly, the broad range of work fits together fabulously, creating a resoundingly beautiful visual experience. Though not intended to be a retrospective, I will tell you from an artist's perspective, it is really fun to be able to show work from various stages of your career. It allows the viewer to get to know you a bit better, and to see your work in a new context. Luckily, I was able to borrow some of my artwork from the owners to include in the show.



On loan from the owner, this piece is Masks II: The Joybringer. It was fun to
see it again, and to be able to hang it for In Their Own Right. On the pedestal
to the left is my assemblage, Love Voodoo, which sold at the opening.
Ricky's Amish-style house quilt is in the background.



All the artwork fits together so beautifully, as here: Sue's work at far left and right
(far right is April Harvest beside Tuesday Dreamings), and Ruta's amusing
piece, Birth of Bob, on the left

Ruta's work, Grandifloragargantua, greets visitors to the gallery.

If you're visiting the North Coast this summer, please stop by In Their Own Right, The Artist as Quiltmaker XV, or any of the other many related exhibits and events. For all details, please click on this QuiltConnection link.

Thinking About the Fam

Granddaddy, an ancestor book

This time of year often brings memories and family issues to the forefront. For me, I can't get through a Thanksgiving without thinking of my own father, who passed away suddenly 20 years ago on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I will never forget the last conversation I had with him the evening before he died.

Last year at this time, I got word that an artist friend of mine had lost her daughter quite suddenly following a seizure. In December my daughter-in-law's mother died after two years of fighting cancer in various forms. In the Spring, my favorite Aunt died. She was elderly, but had remained vibrant until the very end. This past August, my brother died very suddenly, a week after being diagnosed with cancer. We never found out exactly what kind it was; it didn't matter, since there was nothing they could do.

Such news is always shocking and sad, and reinforces for me how important it is to live each day, express my love to those I love, and make the day count for something. Life is too fragile to do otherwise.

Traveler

I have made a lot of artwork over the years around these issues, some of which I have posted on this blog. Making art, at least for me, is the only way I have found to face these losses, to begin to find meaning in my soul. 

Journal Workshop

Gayle's Tri-fold journal

Anyone who knows me also knows how much I love journals. I have been making and keeping journals for most of my adult life. I love this compact tri-fold journal, because it's so beautiful, and is small enough to bring anywhere.

I had a fun group of women this past weekend in my Tri-fold Journal workshop. They did meticulous work, and we all had a lot of fun, chatting away while we worked.




Stitching the journal covers together

Arrange and affix the finishing squares for the edges

Bind the paper signatures in place

and voila! a beautiful journal


Thanks, guys. Had a really fun time with you guys!