Traveling in the Zone

Detroit Airport Tunnel by the Smith Group.

 “The world is a book
and those who do not travel
read only one page.
St. Augustine

It’s a choice to set out on the road. Sometimes it’s for business, sometimes for adventure, but always interesting. I’ve had the good fortune to travel to many fascinating places.

When I was young my family lived in Latin America: Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia, Uruguay and Paraguay.  I spent a lot of time in airports waiting hours and hours for connections. Most of the time I read or paced the hallways, watching fellow travelers.

But now, the functional part of travel.. airports at least… are more interesting. Thanks to 1% for the Arts public buildings are required to include works of art that are substantial and innovative. One of my favorites is the fountain in the Detroit Airport.

Detroit Airport Fountain created by WET DESIGN

The black marble base creates a powerfully reflective surface. Arcing above still water is are lines of light caught in a jet of water. The hypnotic sequencing of the water jets is truly amazing. Water and light become intermittent lines in a hypnotic, syncopated rhythm.

The Burlington Vermont airport has a wonderful installation by Andrea Wasserman and Elizabeth Billings.

Burlington Vermont Airport installation by Andrea Wasserman and Elizabeth Billings.

It is quintessentially Vermont, expressing the abundance and elegance of the natural forests of the Green Mountains. I never tire of looking at it. Viewed as a whole it is stunning, but the elegant interpretation and craftsmanship bear a close look as well.

Detail of Andrea Wasserman and Elizabeth Billings' installation in the Burlington Vermont airport.

Exquisite Brevity

Entry to the Stieglitz exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.
~Thomas Jefferson

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC is a haven for me.
Restorative, informative, inspirational, reassuring. An afternoon spent there last week provided all of the above. Plus a bit of serendipitous surprise.

The exhibit was Alfred Stieglitz’s private collection. For those who don’t know Stieglitz was a renowned photographer, Georgia O’Keeffe’s husband and the first gallerist to bring modern European art into America.

This was sure to be a winner of a show, chock full of familiar friends. The surprise was

Marius de Zayas charicature of Stieglitz

Marius de Zayas.

I spend so much time painstakingly and laboriously working on detail of light and shadow in my work. Marius de Zayas eliminates exactly that, abstracting form into an elegant essence. The brevity of line and shape that he uses would have astonished Jefferson. The elegance astonished me. An entire room full of his work was refreshing and fascinating.

I would love to have seen his show at Stieglitz’s gallery 291 of more than 100 cut out caricatures of New York’s elite.

Born in Mexico in 1880, de Zayas was a  expatriate, living in NYC in the early 20th century. He came from a privileged background, and fled to NY as a political exile.

Picabia, by Marius de Zayas. A few simple lines speak volumes. The portrait is so simple, yet complete.

He and his brother George began their careers as caricaturists for their father’s newspaper in Veracruz.

Stieglitz’s collector’s eye chose the best. The essence of form is distilled to a minimum with a nearly Zen concentration. There’s just enough value and line to tell us everything we need to know.

I love detail, texture and the nitty gritty of the natural world, but I’ll be looking at it a bit differently for the time being.

What Endures?

Let others praise ancient times; I am glad I was born in these.
-Ovid, born 43 BCE

And yet, there is something powerful to be found in longevity.  Ovid’s words speak to us from Rome  more than 2000 years ago. For many, the language he spoke is now an obsolete exercise, valiantly kept alive by scholars. Why? The thoughts he expressed are fresh today.

Objects of art that have endured over time are mysterious; reassuring; validating; meaningful.
Here are a few of my favs:

Between 24,000 and 22,000 BCE. 4.3" tall, carved stone

The Venus of Willendorf was painstakingly carved of stone, with skinny arms, tiny fingers and immense breasts. She was created in Austria approximately 24-26,000 years ago. There are actually quite a few Venus figurines representing the “Mother Culture” which extended from southwestern France eastwards across Europe. This one is the most famous. Were they talisman? Ritual objects? Were there thousands more?

Another ancient artifact, the Blue Hippo is tattooed with lotuses, The Metropolitan Museum has dubbed him “William”. He’s made of Egyptian faience, a glazed earthenware pottery. He is just over 4 inches tall, decorated

Statuette of a Hippopotamus, Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, ca. 1981–1885 b.c

with line drawings of wetlands flora, perhaps representing his actual habitat. He has a simple, deceptively charming cuteness despite the fact that he represents the most fearsome animal of the Egyptian landscape.

Cycladic figurine, carved of white marble, approximately 2500 BCE

Cylcadic figurines with their elongated and flattened bodies are oddly reminisent of modern art.
How can that be: the past, reminding us of the future?
It’s likely that they were painted bright colors.
Were they dolls? Ritual objects?
The simple abstracted and stylized human figures have a charm and elegance that has informed modern artists such as Picasso and Brancusi.

In the Americas one finds many ancient objects: ceramics, arrowheads, petroglyphs, pictographs, basketry and more. These were created by the cultures that populated the western hemisphere. To me these are exquisite old friends but they don’t begin to approach the longevity of the Old World.

Imagine my delight and surprise when I came upon split twig figures at the Grand Canyon this fall. With all my travels in the Southwest, how have I missed these amazing 4,000 year old pieces of art? Perhaps they are children’s toys, perhaps ritual objects. We’ll never know. The dry atmosphere of the Southwestern deserts preserved them.

Split Twig Figurine from the Grand Canyon.

They are ever-so cleverly created by taking an un-branched, green willow twig and splitting it down the middle. It is then folded, woven and entwined into the shape. One twig makes one creature. Are they Mountain goats? Mule deer? Elk?

According to Smithsonian Magazine the split twig figurines were made during the archaic period. The Archaic hunter-gatherers—people who had yet to discover corn or pottery or the bow and arrow—held to this rigorous artistic tradition for nearly 17 centuries, or about as long as the span from late Roman statuary to Jackson Pollock.

They were included in several museum displays in the Grand Canyon and at Chaco Canyon.

Making split twig figurines on the banks of the San Juan River

While on a fabulous three day San Juan River rafting trip with Wild River Expeditions we had the good fortune of learning how to make them.

It was an amazing experience to practice this ancient technique, touching history.

New Eyes

Woody Gwyn in his studio

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes
but in having new eyes.
Marcel Proust

Seeing the world through the eyes of another opens up new horizons. The art of Woody Gwynn offers a clear view into the distance.

A year ago I had the good fortune to visit the studio of Woody Gwyn during Galisteo, New Mexico’s open studio weekend. What a pleasure to enter into his creative space. I have known Woody’s work for years but never met him before. He is calm, introspective and well read. During the visit he was easy-going and accessible, sharing his thoughts and processes as we strolled around his two painting studios in a beautiful old adobe home in Galisteo.

Woody focuses on focus.
The details of his landscapes are painstakingly precise, pulsing with light and energy. Each pebble, wave crest or blade of grass is vividly rendered. He offers us an ultra-realistic portrayal of perfection with a sense of suspended serenity.

It’s interesting to see an artist’s palette. Woody uses disposable palettes, mixing his colors in small batches.

To see more of Woody’s work head on over to LewAllen Galleries either in Santa Fe’s Railyard, or near the Plaza. Or you can delve into an introduction at Woody’s website.

Asphalt and ideas vs. Mother Nature.

I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life
- and I’ve never let it keep me
from doing a single thing I wanted to do.
- Georgia O’Keeffe

The days you work are the best days.
- Georgia O’Keeffe

Last night we made a visit to see the work of an old friend, Ms. Georgia O’Keeffe at the O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe.

To enter into her world of intimate vision and consummate craft is a pleasure. Her painterly abilities are, of course, admirable. But it is her uncompromising sense of clarity and purpose that sets her far above the fold. She sets an amazing standard of self determination, choosing her own path in a time when women rarely did such a thing.

O’Keeffe painted what she wanted to paint. Flowers; skyscrapers; light on the Hudson; alligator pears; (avocados) and skulls. She saw magic too, suspending bones and blossoms in mid-air. Her abstract works are a celebration of form and color.

Summer Days by Georgia O'Keeffe

A friend recently said to me “when did art stop being about beauty?”

On this mad scramble of a planet populated by seven billion people there is little common denominator of beauty.

I seek refuge in the natural world, but there are many who prefer asphalt and ideas to the simplicity and elegance of nature.

O’Keeffe spanned all of these.

I highly recommend the O’Keeffe Museum on Johnson Street in Santa Fe, just a short stroll from the plaza. On the first Friday of each month admission is free.

Currently, in addition to the on-going exhibit of O’Keeffe’s work, the featured exhibit is a series of portraits painted in Ireland by Robert Henri. While his color and brushwork are marvelous I found the plethora of portraits to be overwhelming. The exhibit would be more compelling with  fewer portraits and an addition of more of his wonderful Irish landscapes.

Floating Artists

Ancient markings on the cliff walls tell a story through art. Hillerman wove a new tale from the imagery. In this petroglyph there is a goat playing a flute.

Not all who wander are  lost. 
-Tolkein

I have been wandering.
Not alone, but with a group of students from Castleton State College. We’ve been all over the southwestern US.

Studying art and anthropology, we are finding both in abundance. The markings left by ancient people resonate with their ancestral traditions. Art is what we have left from them. It tells their story in architecture, pictographs, petroglyphs, weavings and ceramics.

Our Castleton State College Southwest Semester group spent three days floating down the San Juan River in search of Hillerman and found both him and Andrew Goldsworthy.

We had all read Hillerman’s Thief of Time. The San Juan River trip was with the same company that  he used for his explorations: Wild Rivers Expeditions. Our guides were terrific: knowledgeable about the river, the ecology, geology, petroglyphs and human history.

On our way to the alcove that Hillerman used as a setting for his mystery Thief of Time. We had all read the book. It was quite a hike from the river.

We added art.

One aspect of our artful exploration was a “leave no trace” Goldsworthy project. Students were given a few hours to work in groups creating their own earth inspired sculpture. The results were diverse and lovely. While they were working I had a little time to do a quick plein air painting as well.
Then of course we took the work down to leave the river and its surroundings for someone else to discover.

One group worked on a wall of rounded river stones.

In the foreground is a figure made out of rocks and water.

A migration spiral made out of painstakingly pierced cotton wood leaves.

Twin Alcoves San Juan River plein air painting

When Art reaches out and Grabs you

"Being Chacoan" Serigraph, Doug West

“What is life?
It is the flash of a firefly
in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo
in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow
which runs across the grass
and loses itself in the sunset.
–Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior & orator

There are moments when art just reaches out and grabs you for whatever reason. When it touches your heart, your spirit in such a way that you are compelled to respond in some way, whether that response might be laughter, joy or quiet contemplation.

The works of Doug West have had that effect on me for many years. Last Friday I was lucky enough to attend an opening of new oil paintings by Doug at Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe. Not only was the work superb, but I had a great opportunity to talk with Doug after the crowds had abated.

Fajada Butte, Chaco Canyon National Monument, New Mexico where we just camped for three days in fierce sunlight, rainbows and rain.

The oil paintings are very different from, and yet similar to the serigraphs for which the artist was known for many years. His subject matter has not changed: vast landscapes juxtaposed with delicate details. The flattened color breakdowns that have made his serigraphs both exquisite and successful are still discernable. There is new modulation in the color,  yet the analysis of the landscape’s subtleties is still flattened into complex textures and color areas of various sizes. It’s quite interesting to see his progression into a more luscious painterly style.

Doug West captures the moment Crowfoot speaks of… the breath of the buffalo, the flash of the firefly. He paints the living essence of the landscape.

And he does so while portraying particular landscapes that resonate with me… his portrayal of Fajada Butte at Chaco Canyon where I just spent three days hiking and camping with a group of students while learning about the mysteries of Ancestral Puebloan peoples.

First Breath, oil on canvas, 37" x 37" Doug West

And vistas of Carson, NM, and the Rio Grande Gorge, where I lived long ago. The details of these landscapes are etched into my mind’s eye and heart.

Doug recreates them exquisitely.

They reach out and grab my heart.

Go see the show at the Blue Rain Gallery!

Fire and Rain: forces of nature

My old truck and homestead in Carson New Mexico before the fire.

I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.
I’ve seen sunny days
that I thought would never end
- James Taylor

Yesterday I drove by my old homestead in Carson, New Mexico. There was an iridescent magpie perched on the branch of a dead tree in the middle of a stark, vast landscape.
My house burned in a tragic accident a very long time ago. We lost everything.
The Chinese elms are still there, stark dead branches reaching for the sky. Without the run-off from the roof there isn’t enough water for them to survive. We stayed on the mesa after the fire for several years in a renovated horse shed.

Taos peaks are visible in the back ground 20 miles to the east. The glory of the landscape was sustenance. We were trying to save the world, living very simply, one sustainably built house at a time. Excess water was not a problem. Water sufficiency was.

Last week the rains nearly washed away our gallery, and a lot of the rest of Vermont. It was the wrath of Irene.

Irene's flood raging down Route 7 and down the park beside our gallery. You can see the sunflower mural on the gallery wall behind a tree.

The floods scoured the park next to us, washing out trees, plantings, my stone walls and garden in the front and along the side. Muddy water poured  down Route 7 destroying buildings and caving in the asphalt of the main central thoroughfare for Vermont.

After the waters subsided trees are gone, the park is gone, but the sunflowers are still shining.

Miraculously our interior damage was minor. Only an inch or so got in through the side door. I think we should rename our gallery The Ark.

It’s been hard being here in New Mexico with a group of Castleton students while so many of our families and loved ones are going through such difficulties at home. Even the college has suffered greatly with flooding and major damage to the new student center. The towns have rallied incredibly to restore what has been destroyed. Brandon did a phenomenal job. Simply amazing.

Fire and rain. The forces of nature. Relentless, powerful, random.

Nothing to do but set up my studio here so that I can use the time I have available as effectively as possible.

Color and Pizzazz in the Animal Kingdom

Linda St. Clair in her studio.

“I want the viewer to walk away having felt something.”
- Linda St. Clair

I recently visited the studio of artist Linda St. Clair in Santa Fe, New Mexico. What a delight! Her airy studio is a sky-lit space filled with color and energy.

Linda paints animals of all sorts and sizes, furry and feathered. Each one radiates a unique personality, energy and attitude.  Linda’s appreciation and fascination with them is evident in every brushstroke.

Technically, Linda’s brushy, painterly style is simultaneously loose and precise. Lost and found edges abound, leading the viewer’s eye on a compelling path across and around the canvas. But even more so,  it’s her use of color that truly delights. Lavenders, reds, and wild yellows meld  together or create edgy contrast with warm ochres and golds of a grizzly’s fur or the shimmering black of raven feathers. Her risky use of bright blue as shadow on one large painting of a horse demands a second look, then a smile. She refers to herself as an impressionist, but the observant viewer is left with more than an impression. The

Although she always had an interest in art, it was not Linda’s first career. She began painting 20 years ago.

Linda's wall in waiting- paintings she is considers complete, but she is still spending time with them.

Linda’s exuberant work found immediate success, exhibiting in the prestigious Arts for the Parks exhibit with her first submission. She has always painted animals, and was initially renowned for vibrant chickens and other barnyard critters. Currently Linda is reveling in wildlife imagery, though she still finds great satisfaction in expressive exploration of the personalities of  domesticated animals.

Linda now says that she doesn’t know if she paints to travel, or travels to paint. Her most recent journeys to Alaska to visit with grizzlies, and to Africa to experience big cats in the wild, have resulted in glorious paintings.

For more info about Linda’s work be sure to visit her website: www.lindastclairartist.com

How to choose a Roommate

Ussi and I with Shard Nest installed in her living room.

Life is change.
Growth is optional.
Choose wisely.
-Karen Kaiser Clark

When you choose an art work, you are choosing a roommate, a life companion. I highly recommend that you choose carefully.

Follow your heart!

Art can be inspiring, soothing, stimulating, energizing. Sometimes it speaks to sorrow, sometimes to joy. Sometimes you just LIKE it for no explicable reason.

Think about how living with the painting or sculpture is going to change your life on a daily basis.

Does the art evoke any of the following feelings when you see it?
a) Are you filled with a sense of wonder?
b) Do you burst into joyful laughter?
c) Are you drawn into a fascinating scenario?

d) Are you energized by the colors or imagery?
e) Does it further the sense of harmony of your living space?
f) Does it give you a sense of calmness?
g) Does it remind you of wonderful places you’ve been?
h) Does it represent experiences that are pivotal in your life?
i) Does it make a connection to friends or family or the world that is meaningful to you?
j) Does it inspire you to an action that is important to you?

Personally I create art for all of the reasons listed above.
It’s a joy when someone sees the work and it speaks to them.
Especially when it speaks to them so strongly that they want it to move in with them. They choose to live with it. They want it to be part of their lives EVERYDAY.

Buying an art work is like picking a life mate.
Except nicer in some ways. It doesn’t leave dirty socks on the bathroom floor. Or forget to take out the compost. (like I do)