This would look great printed on Acrylic or Metal

glass art for sale

Happy New Year! This is my first post of 2015 and I'm starting off the New Year by offering prints of my art for sale through FineArtAmerica. Spoons is a detail of a much larger painting that I frequently use as a 'source' for new compositions, etc.



Please take a moment and click through to the site. The bio has been updated, as well as, new offerings of the Ghosts of Versailles in the various work-in-progress states loved by so many, until i changed it. Seems change is the only constant in my art production.

There are no new shows in site, so I've decided to focus on some on-line marketing. I've spent most of today and yesterday updating, uploading and providing a few words to the tags, descriptions, etc. If you have always wanted a piece of my AHHT, here's your chance (at very reasonable prices).

BTW: If you are local and decide to purchase one of the prints, but want an original...get in touch with me. I can add an original signature, as well as, a few original brushstrokes, or metal leaf to the work so that you can have a 'one of a kind'.

Best to you as always,
feet on floor, eyes forward, brush in hand,
Deb

ps: I want to bombard the site with my work; but, have opted for a teaser. My plans are to update with new images once or twice a week. Maybe I can garner some interest and earn some dough to buy art supplies. onward. spoons acrylic prints and spoons acrylic art for sale spoons metal prints and spoons metal art for sale

Ghost in the Machine

self portrait of hand with artwork

Living room?

Kitchen, art alter

downloaded from the new camera that i don't know how to use.  have no idea how these happened.  i just leave the camera on auto and click away.  i like having a camera with a mind of its own about what is art. 

i'm spending a lot of my online time doing visual research.  have started several boards on Pinterest.  researching orotones and other alternative photo techniques.  is digital an alternative photo technique.  these ideas are adaptable to a verre eglomise treatment with egg tempera as the vehicle for the pigment and gelatin the mirroring agent for various leaf.

thoughts?

best,

deb.

ps:  what do you think of the dynamic blog?  find me Debbie Clarke on Pinterest if you are interested in my visual resource libraries.

My Day at The Cape Ann Museum

last Saturday and Sunday I spent the afternoons demonstrating and chatting about art.  my daughter Elizabeth Bollenberg came to the Sunday event and took some great pictures!  the set up was on the third floor of The Cape Ann Museum  where "The Rule of Four" exhibit is on view through May 2012.  I'm working in front of four of the Species paintings that I created for the museum in 1995.  There are Nell Blaine drawings on the wall behind me, and Lynn Swigart's photographs are glimpsed in the corner.

It was fun greeting folk, the old gray matter kept firing, amazing me at the accumulated knowledge that I was eager to share.  The most difficult/exciting part of the demonstrations was introducing folk to concept of change that is inherent in my process and final product.  Many folk wanted to know how I knew when a work is finished, since I have no preconceived idea of what the finished work will look like.  All I could say is, I just know.  There's an inner sense of knowing, all of the dynamics of the drawing work, the tension is just right, and I just know.  Some work happens fast, and other work happens over time.

best,

deb

as always, comments, questions are welcomed.  now, it is time for me to put my studio back together so that the work can continue.  

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.

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

oh, no...muse at play.

above:  judith's pears prior to muse at play

above:  after the muse stepped in it.

 above:  detail of the muse's work..dancing figures, a couple of musicians.

above:  the panel for Judith's Pears with a question?  fireblight?

  note to muse: keep your hands off!  it works the way it is.  (i better sign it before the muse decides to redact the pears.)  i have another 10x40" panel that is fresh and clean.  the muse can get that panel.  and finish the dancing figures.  ugh.  am reminded of writing: sometimes the writer has to run to catch up to the character that has taken over the story.  a completely different story than one was planning to tell. it is a for better/for worst relationship.

best,

with best intentions,

deb.

From the Mailbag

A few years ago I was playing around with some video clips made with my $100 kodak camera.  Windows Movie Maker couldn't produce the video due to resolution/light issues, so I downloaded a trial home movie maker with a pre-loaded, wacky video editor.  The video I produced gives directions for making egg glue, also known as glair, which is a glue that can be used to adhere gold leaf to a panel.  Last week I received some good questions from Scott Songfeather, a self-taught iconographer: 

following are his questions and my response:

"Researching verre eglomise I was pleased to discover the vids of you at work with the technique and your blog.

1. Is the ratio of snow/crushed ice to the egg white critical? How much snow to egg white is good?

answer:  the ratio isn't critical. I use about 2 tablespoons of snow/crushed ice.
2. Should the egg glue be used immediately, while still cold from the snow/ice?

answer:  the glue sets up to tack pretty quickly and can be used immediately, but it is better to let it sit refrigerated for 24 hours.  the albumen coagulate (chelaga) and other residue should be strained out to create a glue that will flow smoothly onto the surface to be gilded.

3. Is snow/ice necessary, or will water substitute satisfactorily?

answer:  Ralph Mayer in "The Artist's Handbook" has a recipe using 1-2 tablespoons of water. I have never used this recipe, so I don't know the results.  If Ralph says it works, it will work.

I paint icons in egg tempera and recently discovered online the Romanian technique of icon painting reversed on glass (verre eglomise/hinterglasmalerie) and plan to try it. Thus these questions.

Thanks, and best wishes,
Scott Songfeather

Scott provides some excellent pics and directions for writing icons under the username Celadonite on wet canvas. follow this link for his info.

If you have a question/comment that you would like to see answered through this blog, you can leave a comment here or email me at elli01930@yahoo.com

best,
deb

Saatchi Showdown 25 january 2010 through1 February 2010

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/showdown/index.php?showpic=252814

Click for the direct link to my Saatchi Showdown Entry.  Saatchi Showdown is where artists place their work (one piece only) against other artists work.  The public rates the work by clicking stars (1=lowest, 10=highest).  athe the end of the round, the two artworks with the highest average rating go head-to-head and advance.

This is my second submission to the Showdown.  In the last showdown i got a bit over 1200 views/ratings with an overall average of  6.96. 

The ratings begin tomorrow greenwich time...9am.

My entry is a verre eglomise mirror, titled "Wedding House".  It is a glass drawing that I completed last summer for the Peabody Historical Society's "Historic Interpretation" show.

My Saatchi Showdown entry, knocked out

This is The Chorus Line, a verre eglomise mirror with marker on a mixed media support.  It is my entry in Saatchi Online's Showdown.  The link should click through to the rating page:  1-10.  Current stats show a few 1259 ratings with the overall average of 6.96.  If you are inclined, rate it!  The winner goes into the next showdown, and the ultimate winner will get to show the work at Saatchi's Gallery in London!  Thanks for your consideration and support.  This is the first time I have ever done this!  My gallery on the site needs to be updated. If you have questions about the work or pricing, let me know.

 best, deb.

i tried, maybe i will load up for the next round.  or not.

Bruce Jackson, Australian Glass artist

Eucalypt Forest, verre eglomise, precious metal alloys
posted with permission of the artist/copyright owner
Bruce Jackson, Australia

I discovered Bruce's work on the web yesterday and with his permission have added a link to his site. First, the work is absolutely amazing, the play of the metals and the light must be incredible to live with. The fine artist has taken an old world craft technique and turned it to his use to create sculptural paintings. This is a swatch for kitchen backsplashes! backsplashes! this work belongs on museum walls. one of the drawbacks to doing private work, for private installations is that the work gets seen by very few. Bruce has solved this by sharing his vast visual inventory and knowledge with the world through his site. If you are interested in verre eglomise, and reverse glass with a contemporary twist, you gotta check out his work!
the title of this post is clickable to his site.
best,
deb.

Saatchi Showdown 1/11-1/18/2010 entry

The title should click through to my entry in the saatchi showdown. I placed a portfolio on Saatchi Online a few years ago and have never done much with it. I got a few scam emails, a few click throughs to this magpie nest, but other than that...nada. When the email came to my inbox to load up for the next round of the Saatchi Showdown, this Chorus Line entry was my response. If you would like to rate my work for the showdown, click the title. and while you're there, you can check out the rest of my portfolio, and the Saatchi site. There is a lot of great stuff on there, and some not so great, and everyone gets a chance to be a star...or not.

best,

deb

Merluccius Bilinearis: then and now

Merluccius Bilinearis: 1995 for The Cape Ann Museum


Merluccius Bilinearis aka St Peter's Thumbprint
2009 private commission

Merluccius Bilinearis is the Latin identification for "Hake". it is a spiney fish of the cod family, fished for out of gloucester. The green version is in the permanent collection of The Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester MA. it is the most commented upon painting of the 7 fish paintings i created for the museum's Making Waves exhibition, curated by Sharon Whorley. This year I did another 24x36" verre eglomise glass drawing for a private collector. The 2009 work incorporates a silver mirrored surface.

"5 Stand" a glass drawing

"5 Stand", a glass drawing
24x36" verre eglomise, cold glass, marker with mix media canvas support
copyright 2009 debbie clarke

available for purchase through the Windemere Gallery of Arts and Antiques, 20 Main Street,
Rockport MA. gallery contact: 978-546-3513

"Winter Flounder" aka "Flounda"

"Winter Flounder" was created in 1995 for The Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester. The painting is reverse glass with oil and metal foil (aka verre eglomise) with a mixed media canvas support. It is one of 7 paintings on permant exhibition at the entrance to the museum's "Maritime Collection". size 24x36" copyright debbie clarke, magnolia ma 1995.

Gloucester photographer Mike Lafferty took some great pics for the museum and provided me with images. The zoom level really shows off the brush strokes and leaf poking through the layers.

The reference to "Flounda" is to my friend of blessed memory Anthony Orlando. He was an aspiring/very talented cartoonist and artist. The last time I saw him he was 20 years old and battling leukemia. May he rest in peace. most of my work has underlying stories to people, events and seasons of my life. this is just one.

The WIP (work in progress) October 2009

Figure Series. 36x24" glass and canvas. full size pic, cropped, no flash. followed by flash, followed by detail, no flash

copyright debbie clarke, gloucester ma 2009

St. Peter's Thumbprint

St. Peter's Thumbprint

24x36"

copyright clarke 2009

gloucester ma

2 panes of off-set cold glass with stretched canvas mount

verre eglomise, hand silvered mirror, gold leaf, oil, sharpie marker, tape

dedicated to the memory of my friend Captain Eddie Lima, from whom I first learned of

St. Peter's thumbprint.

Falls Village Connecticut?

Just finished the commission: "St. Peter's Thumbprint" photos will follow when the light allows, lots of mirroring on these fish. brownie points offered for anyone knowing what the title of this fish painting refers to.

on another note my feedjit shows a visit from Falls Village Connecticut. When I was a child my family had a summer home in Falls Village. our house was perched on a hill overlooking the YMCA and the General Store. The extended family would walk on summer afternoons across the bridge near the electric generating station up to the falls to the sluice and the pools below. sometimes my cousin richie would swim in the pools. us younger folk would dally in the errant streams.

Peabody Historical Society & Museum: Historic Interpretation

If you click the title you will be taken to the Peabody Historical Society's site with further information on location, show dates, etc.


There are three of my reverse glass paintings in this show, and they are for sale. Previous entries detail the progress of the work, to see the finale, you must go to the museum. The following 4 works are donated for the raffle. All proceeds to benefit the museum. There is a lot of great work in this show, and the venue is charming with a warm grandparent's home kind of feel.

"Peabody Historical Society's B&W Bath"

18x20", unframed, reverse glass

"An Elephant in the Room"

20x20" mixed media on canvas

"An American Collection"

12x12" reverse glass with metal leaf

"the Things We Keep"

10x10" mixed media, antique lace

a copy of my blurb to accompany my work.

Dear Heather (Lovell curator PHS&M),

Here's the info for the work I will deliver on Saturday sometime between 4 and 5.

1. "An Elephant in the Room": mixed media on canvas, 2009, 20x20"
2. "What we Keep": old lace mixed media, 2009, 10x10"
3. "Peabody Historical B&W Bathroom" verre eglomise mixed media, 2009, 18x20"
4: "An American Collection, artist on art" verre eglomise mixed media, 2009, 12x12"

short bio:

Debbie Clarke works in her kitchen studio in East Gloucester. A life long artist, she began her studies at age 13, in exchange for modeling for his classes, with landscape painter Ken Gore in his East Gloucester studio. A graduate of The Art Institute of Boston '77. Debbie was a founding memeber of Gloucester's longest running artist's cooperative "Local Colors. She taught hundreds of students the art of drawing through her studio/gallery on Lexington Avenue in Magnolia, which ran for 10 years. Her work is in many local and international private and public collections, most notably "The Species", 7 reverse glass paintings of fish at The Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester MA. She is a self representing artist who works regularly on a commissioned basis to manifest the visions of her patrons.

The work produced for the Peabody Historical Society's Historic Interpretation Show has allowed Debbie to work outside of her usual focus on fish and expand her visual language through her discovery of the common ties of 'objects' that define an American legacy: cups, dishes, chairs, lace, etc.

Heather, I would also like to add how important local historical societies are to the communities they represent. As a child I lived for a few years behind the Wenham Museum. For a few pennies donation they regularly allowed me into their museum to spend somewhat unspervised time looking at their doll collection and I explored the world through their stereographs. Seeing the American flag in your society reminded me of the Betsy Ross doll that was (perhaps still is) the centerpiece of their doll collection. and later The Cape Ann Museum (then historical society) and Judith Sargeant Murray House opened my eyes to the reality of how the world literally touched our shores and that the objects of the refined became objects of emulation which defined and represented the cultured mind. I was a religious educator at The Independent Christian Church Unitarian Universalist for 15 years. As I went through your collection it suddenly struck me that every object, and wall paper could be used in a home environment to introduce young minds to the greater world.

Historic Interpretation: AA BB Chair Reel

Two views, same painting, under different light sources. "The face we love the best" (paraphrase Leonardo) becomes incorporated into the glass artwork, as the viewer can see their own reflection in the glass. The artwork constantly changes.

copyright clarke 2009 gloucester ma

clicking the title will bring one to Peabody Historical show that this work is for. My work will be in part 2 opening in August.