Re: Rethink Recycling

The Community Arts Center's 2014 blockbuster exhibit, "RE," encourages our community to rethink recycling. The exhibit explores art made from recycled or repurposed materials and the impact its creation has on the artist, the arts world, our community and our environment. It runs through Sunday, March 30. Check their site for workshops and activities.

In the upstairs gallery there are samples of artist's works using recycled objects. I have about 6 objects there, some dating back to 1971 when I was doing bead-work combined with found objects. I love bringing out some oldies but goodies, like the ones below.

©Kathleen O'Brien, Perspective, 1978, drawings, run-over glasses frame, lenses, mallard feathers, chain, phone wire

©Jerry Downs photo, Window Seat, 1986, oil painting, painted box, mirrors, porcelain doll, marble, lucite spacer, feathers

©Jerry Downs photo, Kiva, 1987, oil paintings, cedar box, ant hill pebbles, tiny figures

Tree of My Life

In last week's Winter Joy Retreat I imagined a tree, the soil, roots, trunk, branches, leaves and fruit all representing parts of my life. It was so profound to consider the influences, dreams, ancestry, abilities, accomplishments and write it out, then draw it. I spent 2 days on this, thinking of more things as I went.

©Kathleen O'Brien, Tree of my Life, 22x28",watercolor, pencil, ink

You Will See New Art in a Gorgeous Setting

I just got so excited watching last year's Open Studio video. It brought back memories of talking with you about art & life. And just seeing, again, some of the art that went home with you brings my mission of art more clearly into focus. So as I hang my latest I look forward to hearing your responses in a few days.

©Kathleen O'Brien, Monad, watercolor, drawing, rose petal, found image, ink, collage, 12x7.5"

Simply Numbers

You will see a lot of new collages at my 5th annual open studio. Since the summer time numbers, math, geometry have continued to hold my interest. This multiple is simply numbers. When I was painting I wanted to have every color, I felt like a kid. That stage was really loose and fun.  Each number was drawn with ink, then laminated over the watercolor. Each piece has that number of petals, mica & scripts. Either I am regressing, or this was created for a child's room. Or both... .

©Kathleen O'Brien, Numbers 2,detail of Numbers 1-9, watercolor, drawing, collage

©Kathleen O'Brien, Numbers 1-9, watercolor, drawing, collage

Golden Rectangles

Every so often I return to the subject of sacred Geometry. Recently I composed a series of 6 Golden Rectangles. The subject is the development of numbers and related forms. The flatness of the the basic forms is well suited to the flatness of collage.

©Kathleen O'Brien, Dyad

©Kathleen O'Brien, Pentad

If I were a genius, I would sculpt tetrahedrons and dodecahedrons.  

Jean Pless, artist supreme

My dear friend, Jean Pless always inspires me, since the early 70's. She always creates what she likes, in the moment. She has an ever changing compendium of skills she adds to her seeming bottomless supply of energy for creativity. She is a painter, paints canvases and everything else. She makes the paint and stucco for the walls on the home she has built from materials near at hand. She grows the plants for the landscaping she is in high demand for. She raises Llamas, creates soil and the most vibrant vegetables at a staggering altitude of 9,200'. An exceptional hostess, this time when I visited she served Dandelion Cake. She made 2, and they were GONE before our eyes. Not stopping there, she made me this tea towel with heliographic dye with the recipe written on it.

©Jean Pless, Dandelion Tea Towel, heliographic painting, sharpie

Also this time she shared her enthusiasm for her recent project of making chairs.

In the background you can see her work in progress home. She lives off the grid and does not have a website, otherwise, I would share that with you as well. Next time I will post the video of her partner, RC talking about some of his wood projects. How lucky I am to have 2 such geniuses to fan my flame of creativity. Thank you, Jean!

KET films on a perfect day

Friday was such a perfect day. 61 degrees in July? And non humid, calm with blue skies! So when the KET, Kentucky Educational Television film crew showed up for the first day of filming the show for Kentucky Life, award-winning series celebrating the people and places of the Commonwealth, we chose to start with filming the gardens, instead of the planned indoor interview.

©Greg Orth, Prentice Walker, KET videographer  

The film crew was so relaxed, they put me at ease and we had a great time together. Valerie Trimble is the producer, Prentice Walker the videographer and Roger Tremaine is the audio technician. I learned a lot about how films are put together, and how much goes into their excellent programming. I recommend you checking out their shows. My show will air in the fall, I'll let you know the date.

It was the first time I had been directed, which I found quite fun. In the afternoon Prentice set up the lights in the studio and they took footage of me collaging and drawing on some abstract paintings I had already started. I also did some walnut ink drawings and painted some brush stokes on a virgin sheet of Arches, which was the first time I let anyone watch me paint. It will be interesting to see how they edit it. 

They return in 2 weeks to do an interview and shoot closeups of the art I have here. I look forward to that time, because it is so enjoyable, and not nerve wracking as I wondered it might be!

©Greg Orth, KO'B with KET film crew Prentice Walker, videographer, Valerie Trimble, producer & Roger Tremaine, audio

Roger, sorry about the gladiola bisecting your face, we'll get a better photo next time.

If I Paint it, It Will Happen

I really want to travel more, to see, to visit, to explore the world. I painted a series of 3 called Traveling the World. Please come to Realms of Wonder at MS Rezny Studio/Gallery to see the other 2!

©2013 Kathleen O'Brien, Traveling the World 3, MM Collage, 15x11"

Realms of Wonder April 1-30, 2013, reception in conjunction with LexArts Gallery Hop, April 19, 5-8 pm.

Realms of Water, Realms of Fire

Following on the theme of the elements I created one collage each for water and fire. The photo below was taken for fun because just as I was finishing in the studio the sun was casting the most beautiful light on the spectrum and brilliantly lighting up the mica. Perhaps this will be a diptych, I haven't decided yet. Do you have an opinion?

©2013 Kathleen O'Brien, Realm of Water & Realm of Fire, 2 MM Collages, each 22x15"

With these collages I deliberately used the symbolism of the signs of the universe. Circle for water since water tends to roundness and the triangle for fire since fire burns in a triangle.

Aquarian Worlds

The theme for the exhibit Realms of Wonder began with 3 collages Inner World, Outer World and 3 Worlds. These past months I have been creating what feels to me like landscapes. I call them realms or worlds since they do exist on paper and in the imagination. This one was more like a skyscape, so full of air.

©2013 Kathleen O'Brien, Aquarian Worlds, MM Collage, 22x15"

Surprise from the Archives

Janet Crymble spoke yesterday at Community Art Center, Danville KY. It was so inspiring to here about Ireland and her approach to installation art, and her reverence for the land that I decided one thing I would show from the archives is my piece from Artists in Support of the Peace Process project in Ennis, Ireland 1998.  And perhaps she can see it before returning to Ireland.

©Kathleen O'Brien, Well, oil on canvas, 16x20", 1996

...one of many oil paintings from the project...

Pastepaper Papierglyphs 4

10 collages finished on the paste paper, worked on the whole month of May. Here is a little video of the results.The series is called "Light of the Earth, primary arithmetic". 

 

The inspiration came from a recent discovery of petroglyphs in Chauvet Cave in France that are dated to 32,000 BC, a Xultun calendar and a 1877 Primary Arithmetic book.

Pastepaper Papierglyphs 2

Here is the recipe I used for these paste papers. There are many different variations that you can check out.

1 paste paper I have begun to draw on, stay tuned

1 part cornstarch to 7 parts water
Mix 1 part starch to 1 part water and let it stand while the remaining 6 parts of water is heating. When it boils, remove the water from the heat and pour in the slurry of starch and water while stirring constantly. When the mixture is smooth and translucent let it cool. You can then add color - watercolors, dry pigments, or acrylic.

To paint, dampen text weight paper, plop on some paint, and using a hake cover the paper. Then you can go in and create the textures and marks using your fingers, combs, sticks - use your imagination and have fun.

Book of Light, page 171, 9x9"

Pastepaper Papierglyphs 1

Here is an invitation to play, especially if you feel blocked by the dreaded white paper. Make paste paint and do some finger painting! This video show some recent papers that I marked with the idea of petroglyphs in mind. 

 

This is a theme I have been revisiting, since the power of aboriginal art took hold of me in 1988. Then I produced 100 oil paintings of petroglyphs and pictographs of the southwest US. The appeal was about allowing myself to be reduced to the simplest form of communication about healing and intention. I want to follow the thread of thought began in these works of last year:

Book of Light pages 156, 157, 158, The Good Red Road, the Long Path to Peace, triptych 29x12"

The Petroglyphs in this triptych all represent a gathering together in community. And some of my favorites are more abstract:

Book of Light, page 182, 5x8"

Book of Light, page 182, 5x8"

Next time I will have recipes for paste paint.

what do you see?

©O'Brien, Eagle Feather, 12x19", oil

Talking to a dear Colorado friend  today put a smile on my face when she told me I was currently doing "dimensional art". It made me so happy that it shows in the work on my website, that someone gets it, and further, comments about it because they feel uplifted by it. She was comparing it to an oil painting she bought 20 years ago. One reason she liked it then was that was the view she had driving towards Boulder to work from the plains. She told me she always asks people when they look at this, "what do you see". And she waits for them to see the various objects and animals pictured who are a part of that land. I love this painting and tried to buy it back from her, when I realized I would not be painting like that anymore. I have let my artist self change.

What do you see?

going forth

I was going to correct the misspelling in the last post to say "fourth try", but I decided I like the meaning of going forth. one thing that is liberating is to create something just for myself and want to share them here, as I do not put these on my website.

©O'Brien, big cloud, silver lining, 30x22", mm collage

I used some of my Victorian stickers to represent my kids. I never use magazine pictures in my collages, so this was a fun indulgence for me. That's the good red road leading west where they live. I journaled around and around the edges creating a frame.

©O'Brien, wedding garden, 30x22, mm collage

 I created this one to celebrate my daughter and son in law's wedding under the rainbows and stars where they had their first kiss.