Done

the button spelled done. and you know what? i think this one is. It is "Female Sockeye" (fresh water (spawning) color on top, salt water color on bottom.

copyright: clarke 2009, gloucester ma

oil with metal leaf on reverse with panel backing.

St Anthony preached and the fish danced

panel 5 (salmon) is on the work table. that's silver leaf, aluminum leaf in the orange 'books' and the gelatin slurry (used to attach the leaf to the glass) in the aluminum pot. this panel is 'this far' (about a scooch) from finish.

i lift the glass, place the gild, look at the work, refine the leaf. this part of the work goes slowly. the fun part is coming up with the design. this takes a few days to do. then the tedious work of gilding, sanding, scraping, re-drawing, re-painting brings the work to conclusion. this part can take weeks, sometimes months to do.

the salmon was started a few months ago.

wip (work in progress): oncorhynchus nerka

that's my kitchen workspace above. below is the sockeye. aluminum and combination leaf on panel with oil and wax on reverse glass. detail below:

Frank, my life long mentor

Frank was my high school art teacher. He didn't teach me about drawing or painting (although he eventually did because we had a life long relationship) he met me from the very beginning as artist-to-artist. He knew I was an artist. He knew I would find the teachers I needed to learn drawing, painting, color. What he did for me was to show me there was a way to be an artist in this world, and be true to me "Debbie Clarke" as an artist. He counseled me to find ways to work to support my art through other venues. I gave Frank a show a few years back and we managed to cover his art career in my few short walls. No more words right now. In this photo I think the flowers have become Frank.

The wip (work in progress): panel 4 detail: Merluccius Bilinearis

Sharpie, oil and foil on reverse glass, 23k slow set gold leaf gild on front of glass panel. detail.

The WIP (work in progress): Hake panel 4 continues

I have added gold leaf to the front and gilded the panel behind the glass with aluminum leaf. refined the drawing, pretty near done.

The WIP (work in progress) panel 2 continues

In the big pic you can see my reflection in the mirrored sections.

The wip (work in progress)

This is panel 4 of hake (whiting)

24x36"

sharpie on reverse glass with chalk on panel backing

The yellow shapes are slow set gilder's oil. The tack is almost ready to accept the gold leaf. I need to hear the 'hard knock, with a slight hard tack' to get a lustrous almost mirrored sheen.

Business update: Debbie Clarke art coach! Completed one session, a second session purchased. This is sort of a pay as you go mentoring program beyond art 101.

The WIP (work in progress): Hake panels

above: panel 3, gold leaf and sharpie on reverse
glass with canvas backing


above : Panel 2: sharpie with silver leaf on reverse
glass backed with oil on canvas



above: panel 1, sharpie and oil on reverse
glass with combination leaf, backed with
oil on canvas

These are for a commission. The commissioner will get first pick of 3 or 4 or 5 or...I'm on a roll and I am working. These are 24x36" and I keep getting more ideas.

best to all,
deb.

Julia 2008

"Julia" a drawing
12x12" oil and combination leaf on canvas
copyright 2008
gloucester ma
debbie clarke

Sockeye (work in progress)

Sockeye Salmon, oil and foil on reverse glass

the big movements are down, now to refine the details of the frenzied run to spawn.

the glass is leaning against my refrigerator door. the glass is so hard to photo. like the bowl on the floor providing a sense of scale.

What a wonderful gift!

"Woman Adrift"

watercolor copyright Howard Kline 2008

Cambria CA

www.HowardKline.com

I love the feet!

Hello Chris! Hello Howard!

My friends Chris Barton and Howard Kline, formerly of Rockport MA, relocated to Cambria California at the turn of the millenium. I miss them. Howard was and is one of my art buddies. We have had an on-going art conversation for about 20+ years. We used to go to the Boston galleries and museums to see the work of new and old masters. I miss those visits, but we continue our conversations through emails and the web.

I just received a recent picture that I may use for reference in one of my 'folk i remember' drawings.

Howard's work can be found at
http://www.howardkline.com/. There is a link to his site under my 'other places' titled Cambria CA: Howard Kline art

"The Species" permanent collection of The Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester MA

copyright 1995debbie clarkegloucester ma
This is the view from the second floor elevator. to the right is the entry to the Maritime Exhibits. to the left is the stairway to the 3rd floor with the special exhibitions, the contemporary collection. To the left is an overview into the Graham Gund designed atrium, with Walker Hancock, George Demetrios and Charles Manship. The Walker Hancock basketball players are on the ground level. The model would become an Essex cop and my youngest sister's paramour for a few years. My drawing teacher Andy McMillan studied with Demetrios and his wife Virginia Lee Burton. Manship designed the gold statue at Rockefeller Center. The Folly Cove Designers are displayed in the Auditorium. My grandmother made me a shirtwaist circle dress from those fabrics. I wore the dress in the forth and fifth grade. A Max Kuehne silver gilded desk is in an alcove at the top of the stairs. and The next big painting is of five little girls dancing in a field. American Impressionst 1908. In 2003 I sat with one of these girls, Mrs. R, when Mrs. R. was 98 years old. I was her companion for a few hot summer weeks. We sat on her porch and watched the sea. she said to me "Ah, there she is Beauty! and that is Maize"
(I think i am the first woman artist entered into the fairly new contemporary collection. Sharon Worley was the curator that asked me if I would provide visuals for a rather dry show about scientific side of the industry. Nubar Alexanian's b&w photos provided other visuals. The museum could not secure the use of photos of the individual species. They asked for illustrations: I gave them these fish.
oh, and downstairs in the Captain's house is that 'other painter of light' Fitz Henry Lane. This beautiful little museum holds the largest collection of Lane's paintings. I can see the 'Stone Jug' from here. my mother lived over there before Urban Renewal took all of Pugh Court and left the artist's studio standing.
This is the second referral from the museum in 3 months. Very interesting. I must go to the museum soon and take a look at my work.
(secretly i call this series 'bait' with gladness and humor. I have been commissioned by a private collector to do 'fish' painting. They have admired this work at the museum for years and have decided they would like to own one.)

Jim Dine Hot Dreams at PACEWILDENSTEIN

It takes a lot of work to make 52 Books!

Waxed Mirror Drawing

The Waxed Mirror

wax, bevelled mirror, gold leaf, silver leaf, pigment, light

This mirror was completed three or four years ago. It is never really finished and it is always finished in its light changes effected by, the atmosphere, the viewer, the surroundings. each time i photograph it a new work appears that will only ever exist as a digital memory. and this one is quite painterly.

copyright debbie clarke 2008, gloucester ma

Katy 2008

"Katy 2008"

10x10" oil and composition leaf on canvas

copyright debbie clarke 2008

gloucester ma

Wendy 2008

"Wendy 2008"

8x10" oil and combination leaf on linen

copyright 2008 debbie clarke

gloucester ma

Nina 2008

"Nina 2008"

8x8" oil and combination leaf on canvas

copyright 2008 debbie clarke

gloucester ma

David 2008

"David 2008"

8x8" oil and combination leaf on canvas

copyright 2008 debbie clarke

gloucester ma