Wednesday, January 30, 2008

blue women

CLARKE2


The large panel on the right is now installed in the studio window. It is reverse oil on glass with gold and other metal leaf. This was started in 1996, last worked on in 2000, i am going to finish it. There was an underlying myth, now forgotten, along with a reference to walking on water. What will it look like finished?

Saturday, January 26, 2008

"3rd Eye" mixed media on manipulated digital self portrait,

What I did today:
I mounted this 5x5" digital print of this manipulated photo onto a 5x5" panel.


I layered silver leaf, gel medium, gloss medium, and acrylic paint onto the print.
I scraped through the layers.
I added many phthalo acrylic glazes.
I scanned the image into the computer and here it is.



copyright Debbie Clarke
2008
Gloucester MA

$175

Monday, January 21, 2008

Foiled Oils: Self Portraits 2007

this 20x20" self portrait gives me peace:



This is large 40x60"(?), another self portrait. I keep thinking about going back into it and introducing color, as well as, defining the features:


The following image is about the same size as the one above, another self-portrait that carries the same nagging feeling about going back into it:


The media is oil on linen with gold, silver, aluminum and combination leaf. These back-lit self portraits carry a retinal memory of The Revenant painting and drawings by Andrew Wyeth. I saw the work in one of the comprehensive catalogues of his work and have never been able to rid myself of his shadow when doing self portraits.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

To meet and then Exceed my Own Expectations

Today I finally loaded some artwork onto my Saatchi Gallery site. This is the beginning. I plan to sell off all of my artwork. One of my marketing plans is to make my name synonymous with my nom de plume: pbsage. Pbsage is a unique identity that consistently appears with my work on the internet. A query of my real name Debbie Clarke hits way too many sites with Clark's, Debbie's, Debra's, Deborah's, many countries. pbsage is synonymous with just me. Debbie Clarke in Gloucester MA.

here's another artwork:



This approximately 18x20, oil on canvas. Completed 2006.
I like this painting alot. It has retinal memory, as well as, word associations. the soup tureen is more important to me than the painting. This painting is one of many that I could do of the soup tureen. The tureen is one unto itself, with it's own story. The tureen was scouped up at a church fair 10 or so years ago. It's ladel appeared with a big red ribbon as a Christmas present from one of my church school students. The tureen was then put to use as a teaching guide for my drawing students. I did 15 or so studies of this and many, many, teaching drawings. There are only a few left.

This painting will be priced at $1300. If someone wants to buy the tureen with the accompanying provenance, along with the painting, the price will be $4000. Why? Because part of my muse's livelihood will be taken from me.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Active Healing for ADHD and other brain developmental disorders

http://www.wickedlocal.com/beverly/archive/x481173251
Magnolia's Active Healing Center
http://www.activehealing.org

Active Healing is near my studio. Everyday that I have worked in my Lexington Avenue studio during the past 10 years I have seen the results of this work. They are patient, gentle, firm. The children, teens and the adults that work with them are mighty forces of joy. I have seen the autistic children learn to walk down the street and respond to external stimula, enabling children to overcome fears of intersections and cracks in the sidewalk, they learn to cross streets, look people in the eye, improve coordination, manage outbursts, become coordinated and so many other tactile, social issues.

One gentle child that placed her hand to my window was named Patience. She was radiant in her quietude.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

PthaloBlue: when we lived on the river


oil and metal leaf on canvas. 48x54" (approx)
copyright 2007
debbie clarke
gloucester ma

the painting was finished mid-stride.
one moment the brush was loaded with red
the next moment the brush stopped
at the halfway point
between
it
and
me
the painting sounded
stop

today i noticed the dried red brush stuck to it's puddle of paint.
this painting is finished.
it can now leave my studio.
it only needs a wall
somewhere.

music during the painting cycle: Euphoria "lost on a river"

Thursday, January 10, 2008

bananas, a dead rat, perfume and numbers



the store still carries the underlying musk of dead rat. yuck. two days working (yesterday and today) and my head is full of the stench. it's not real strong anymore, yet the scent becomes cumulative. it is a too strong attar, as civet and hungarian rose (while the best for long term under notes in perfumes) are a sickening aroma in pure attar. we keep burning incense heavy in sandalwood. it is making the musk darker. tried lavendar, it bites the nose, lemon too sweet, frankencense, too heady.

any ideas? i kept the door open today until it got too chill. my friend Sue suggested cooking tomato soup in the space.

and my head is full of pages and pages and pages of numbers. inventory time. the gray matter still chunks away at numbers like the pro i used to be when determining co-pays during my years as an insurance underwriter.

s

Bananas



We started smelling the musk two weeks ago. Last week we confirmed the musk was the rotting carcass of a rat caught between the floorboards. Ozium, Incense, closing vents helped, but did not eliminate the scent. The rats moved from the fire zone of the Lorraine Apartments to find housing in the basement grooves of the downhill Main Street stores.

When I opened the store yesterday the first thing that hit me was the underlying musk. It is not as bad as last week and the vintage clothes have not retained the scent. The scent, however, has remained in my head. yuck.

It is warm today. I will open the door to catch the fresh air. I hope the stench leaves soon, it gives me a headache.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Red Studio



This time last year, everything I painted was red. There aren't many choices when it comes to painting, paintings are either warm or cool or neutral. and that is all there is. Anything else is a garbage pizza.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

The Beacon Marine

Photobucket

JANUARY 2008

The Bookstore of Gloucester at 61 Main Street, Gloucester MA features Gloucester artist Debbie Clarke's "Summer views 2007", oil studies on canvas. Debbie's work is in many local collections, including The Cape Ann Historical Museum's "Fisheries" collection.

For additional info about the artwork email to elli01930@yahoo.com

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

i was going to draw

eb and meg went for the christmas tree. the patriots were on and ellen needed the Direct TV reset. i was hero. the girls were heroes. the patriots won. it was the twenty third of december.