Rusty Anchor jellyfish (wip)

Here's the orange jellyfish in process.  reverse glass with silver, aluminum, rusty egg tempera, etc.  in process.  if you click the pic you can see the grains of rust.  my friend Paul Frontiero reminds me that "rust never sleeps".  I wonder if this will develop a rust bloom.  very excited about this.  19x20".

best,

Deb

ps: this will be one of the works in progress that i will bring to the Cape Ann Museum for my demonstrations on March 31 and April 1.

Taking in the Beauty and Making Paint

Late Sunday afternoon I took a stroll across the street to check out the beauty of the anchor that greets one at Capt Joe & Sons.  My thoughts were of hope and trust.  I would not trust this anchor to hold one fast; and if used, knowing the condition of the anchor; all one could do is hope that it would hold.  Close inspection revealed the trust that barnacles placed upon this anchor, until it became dry docked.  How was the anchor made?  It clearly has iron in it as evidenced by the rust; but what is the grain?  it looks like wood.  hmmm...questions to be answered another day.

I carefully collected some rust from some of the inner surfaces where the rust dust was fine; along with a few other crumbs. I then ground  the rust into a finer dust with a mortar and pestle then, added some water  to form a stiff paste.  I then turned this into an egg tempera paint by adding an equal amount of egg yolk.  I was hoping for a nice deep orange; no dice.  I ended up with a yellow ocher that I am using in several paintings of keys and jelly fish.   I named the paint "Rusy Anchor"

best, 

Deb.

Back to Work!

we had an engagement party for my elizabeth and her man joshua a few weeks ago.  i had to clear my workspace to make way for the bar.  krash/slide and all survived.  forgot that all of this work was stored behind/beside/beneath.   wonders never cease.  back to work, getting ready for my mini residency at The Cape Ann Museum at the end of this month.  more details to follow.  for now, bringing work to various stages of completion.  will demonstrate process, be available to chat with folk.

below are various attempts to photograph the mirrored drawings.  the reflection kept getting in the way.  i  reflected a white showerboard into the mirror, then took an offset pic.  what appears as a shadow line is the reflection of the sharpie drawing and gold egg tempera.  the box is lined with black velvet and will barely be visible when complete.    

Paul with Fish, update

Paul, detail.

This is a painting that I started several years ago, and have not finished.  The painting is in the attic.  why did I stop working on it?  I have misplaced the background fish that is the shadow wall for the verre eglomise.

someday I will finish this work.  btw:  some of the white areas is paint, other white areas is aluminum leaf, other white areas is where the light shows through from behind, other white areas is the surface light reflection.

best 

deb.

Updated:  May 22, 2012.  in all of my haste, this painting hit the floor.  i have kept all of the pieces and shards.  My friend Paul has gone through a difficult time during this past year.  His son Paul Frontiero Jr. was murdered last fall as he intervened in an attack on two young women.  he paid with his life.  then, he lost his beloved father a few months later.  when i saw the shards on the floor i thought of Paul
 'falling apart, to be put back together.'

best always Paul! steady on.
deb

A face I remember (the in-between)

the realtime view of the drawing in action.  the audio/video is a bit out of sync.

turn the volume down if fingernails on a blackboard bother you.  yeah, the sound

is sort of like that.  totally unaware of the sound when i was drawing...busy listening

to the inner sounding.

best,

deb.

"A Face I Remember" once again

erased, scrubbed down, excavated.  yes, this is the palimpsest that i have used for the drawings of the prior 2 entries.  the image redacted with a different axis.  marker and gesso on shower board framed, 11x11".

i think i'm done with this one. will turn it to the wall and tell you in a few days.

best,

deb.

Redacted, erased, covered up. "A Face I Remember"

"A Face I Remember" redacted, erased, covered with gesso...already to start again...later, after work today.

erased sharpie drawing with gesso on shower board.  

The crystalline ceiling of The Friari Chapel where the fresco disappeared, still resonates with me.  am also reminded by Audrey Flack that one can never completely erase the work.  even if all signs are removed that the hand 'was here' the energy has changed and will continue to resonate.

best,

deb

Another Face I Remember

another face i remember.  a work in progress, or not.  sharpie on shower board.  10x10"

best,

deb

My Good Workspace!

cleaned up the space to make way for verre eglomise and mirror making.

compared to what was here last week, it really is in working order.  and yes, i know where the tape is.

best and onward,

deb.

a nice comment from friend Clarity

found in my drafts.  should have published this months ago.  the link will take you to the google profile.

A nice comment from virtual friend  Clarity

Always have loved your fish paintings. They are...delicious. ;-) and Clarity's work is nourishing and delicious too!  we are connected through many on-line followings which has grown out of our initial virtual meetings on livejournal.  click the link and check out their work, their world, their books...a real treasure.
best,
deb

'Faces I Remember' new addition

this is a 12x12" framed hand gilded silver mirror with sharpie and incised drawing.  several view with some interesting reflections.  and example of the face we love the most.  'fuschia is a hooka!' is a passive agressive response to a woman telling me that this color is not for little girls.  it is for hookas!  so there.  that's an incised drawing from memory of a Rembrandt self portrait.  i have to look at the mirror for a very long time before new faces are suggested to me.  some of the upper shapes give me torso references...that is another body of work; unless, i decide to integrate them within this work.   interesting idea.  i wonder if the imposition of my will, will make it 'work'.

best,
deb

Cape Ann Art Haven Buoy!

i volunteered to do a buoy for the Cape Ann Art Haven fundraiser that will

 be held on the 27th at Cruisport Gloucester.  finally found some glue strong enough 

to hold the madonna and child in the curve of the chopped up buoy.  as if i carved the niche just for them! 

 didn't think i would succeed with this project as i had no designs on this buoy 

from the very beginning.  all i kept thinking of was how phallic the form is.

i might leave it as is, just sign and date it.

'madonna with child' copyright clarke 2012

gloucester ma

Preserves

"Copper Paint Manufactory" on left:
  copper leaf, fish scales, styrofoam particulate,
preserved in wax from melted candled ends 

in 3", 3oz jars.  copyright clarke 2012

gloucester ma

"LePages Mucilage" on right: 

aluminum leaf, fish scales, styrofoam particulate,
preserved in wax from melted candled ends 

in 3", 3oz jars.  copyright clarke 2012

gloucester ma

the paint company is out of business.  part of the iconic building is demolished;

 building being rehabbed by the Ocean Alliance, a non-profit 

the glue company is out of business. the property is now occupied by 2 gated communities.

the prosperity/demise of both companies followed the tides of the Gloucester fishing industry.

the wax is from vigil candles collected from various candlight vigils, services etc held at or in association with the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist church.

the styrofoam particulate is from a styrofoam buoy for The Cape Ann Art Haven's auction January 24th at Cruiseport, Gloucester.

jars:  purchased at Ace Hardware, Gloucester Crossing, Gloucester MA

Saatchi Showdown!

http://www.saatchionline.com/showdown/view/showdown/9/artist/52641

I have entered the Saatchi Collage Showdown.  If you have a Saatchi account look for The Fish Eye Bruegel by Debbie Clarke and give it a vote!   first round voting ends on the 19th.  my little 8x8" is up against 1959 other works. gawd.  a snowball in hell.  oh, well, i keep trying!

Here's The Fish Eye Bruegel.  If you wish to vote and don't have a Saatchi Account, you will have to set one up.  It is easy and free!

PICK ME!  PICK ME!  PICK ME!  send this little guy to London!

thank you,
Deb.

hey Picasso!

'child with thinking cap'

tape transfer ground with metal leaf on stretchers

every-once-in-awhile these funny little line drawings show up in the work.  for years these only showed up in my 4x5" sketchbooks.  never took them seriously.  now, they give me a joy.  this reminds me of Picasso's work.  just sayin'.

best,

deb

one for the New Year.

so, i screwed up.  couldn't get my images into the right format to submit to the collage show.  bummer.  so, back to normal now.  just carry on, do my work.  stop beating myself up because i don't know sh#t about re-sizing images to have the right pixel/image/ppi numbers for the artthingy (an electronic submission thingy used by places for online entries...and this show only accepted online entries! grrrrrrrrrrrr.... DEB! stop biting your cheek!)  anyway...here is the portrait redacted in it's present state.  will make some gelatin slurry tonight and place a mirrored line drawing on the glass, then glue the whole shebang together.

 2012 is already shaping up pretty well for me.  In the Current opens on Friday at The Common Street Gallery in Waterville ME with 4 or 5 of my fish works on display.  The Cape Ann Museum has a four of the fish paintings that I did for them on exhibit in "The Rule of Four" curated by Martha Oakes. Free to Gloucester residents in January!  I will give a gallery talk/demo sometime next spring at the museum.

 Have a safe and Happy New Year's Eve everyone.  Here's to health and prosperity to you and yours in the New Year!  as always, your thoughts, comments are welcomed and thank you for taking some of your time to follow my progress through this blog.

best,

deb.

Some new work, under construction and one completed warthog?

 Above:  under construction, showerboard, metal leaf, glass.  22x22, depth variable.

 Above:  St. Anthony preached and the fish danced, icon in progress.

mixed media with egg tempera.

 Above:  fish or warthog?  mixed media with packing tape, digital photo transfer, kodak holographic mylar.

 Above:  fish scape, under construction.  mixed media with leaf, photo transfer, marker, tape laminate

Above, under construction.  face.  mixed media with silver leaf, gold dust, egg yolk

Above:  ibid, with glass.  

question of this state:  go back, go forward and use the glass to establish a 2nd work based on the first. 

 new work is intimated. the portrait redacted, again.

Hey Picasso!

When I went to the last Picasso show at the MFA, it covered his early years, posters, rose period, blue period.  I went in the company of my students.  one student was in awe.  I forgot I was sizing my self up.  very simply I told Fred:  this is art student work.  exemplary, but student work.  the counter posture pose, the underpainting.  the classical tradition.  the breakthrough in the rose work:  he simply left  the awkward out-of-relationship drawing of the red chalk cartoon, a first stage on the canvas and moved on.  he didn't correct the size of the head...something that would get covered up in subsequent layers; if he had continued to develop the painting.

student Fred strongly disagreed with me.  very good.

I had to knock all of the greats off of their pedestals in order to be free of their ghosts and to make way for this Debbie Clarke way of 'ahht'.

best,
and onward. i'm painting.
deb.

St Anthony Preached and the Fish Danced

2 works, 3 pics.  the first is the icon that announced itself yesterday with these words:  St. Anthony preached and the fish danced.  

The way of the icon is that one listens with an inner voice and writes or translates the prayer through image and color under the direction of the Holy Spirit.  I thought I was working on a collage of transferred digital prints.  as i was so busy doing what i thought i was doing, the spirit had something else in mind.  stepping back from the work, i saw that the icon was completely drawn.  the next step was to separate first light, as all is light, there is no darkness.  this morning i cleared the work area and asked that the work be blessed, that these hands follow, that this heart listen to the promptings of the spirit.

the following 2 images are of the same painting:  merluccius bilinearis (again) first under flash, second under natural life.  the glass panel is worked with egg yolk and gold metal pigment.  the image that is poking through is my reference material, which may or may not be part of the whole.

best,

and onward.

deb.

ps:  today i make egg glue aka 'glair' for adhering leaf to the glass and other panels.  will also make gilder's slurry (gelatin) for a few mirrored surface.

2 Plates

two images constructed from the same visual information.  same exposure, different orientation.  i'm inclined towards the lower image...Babu The armless, legless, headless goddes is present.  another fish scape.  I need to find foils to print these images on.   any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

best,

deb