Capt Joey's "Pogie"

My friend Joey Ciaramitaro of Capt Joe's and goodmorninggloucester allows me to use his photos as reference for my fish paintings.  I'm starting a new series of glass paintings, and will try to have them complete within the next two months, so that some can be shown next year.  This Pogie, which is used for bait is kind of sad, yet i can see through the rot and have a 'sense' of the fish's individual character.  the eyes tell me everything i need to know.

best,
deb

ps:  if you click the photo, Capt Joe's "Not so Beautiful Industry" page on flickr will appear.

Something Fishy!

I've been asked to imagine a roomful of fish for a show first quarter 2012. gotta get to work, so i'm going through my files. this pic is of sockeye salmon in one of its early states. the finished panel is deeper with pthalo blue. gotta find the painting...i think it's in the attic.

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.

Labors' Rest: Here and Now! Sargent House Summer 2011

yesterday i published pics of the back of this glass panel.  today i set the front panel (the viewing pane) to museum quality work.  judith's garden.  verre eglomise palimpsest.

copyright clarke

2011

gloucester MA

$3200

Fruits of my Labor: Sargent House Museum Here & Now! summer 2011

 detail left 10x20"

 detail right 10x20"

 detail right, brighter conditions

 detail left, brighter conditions

ready for the frame box.  10x40x2.5"

this is the paired pears from my time spent working in judith's garden this past summer at the invitation of Kate Laurel MacIntosh of the Sargent House Museum in Gloucester MA.  Kate invited artists to work in the gardens as a way to revitalize, bring awareness to the museum, which is in need of membership, donations and volunteers.  This was the second time that I have worked with Kate on a revitalization project, the first was for the Peabody Historical Society "Historic Interpretation". 

This work 'Fruits of my Labor" is comprised 2 glass panels (front and back) that are 10x40" heavy glass shelving panels.  one glass panel is worked, one is flat glass with no ornamentation.  the 10x10 inch stretchers serve as windows of time. metal leaf, oil paint and sharpie define visual references. the reverse is a metal leaf drawing of Judith's pears as seen in the first photo.

best,

deb

Sargent House Museum August 21, 2011: HERE AND NOW!

Pears from the garden at The Sargent House Museum in Gloucester MA. The black spots on the fruit and leaves:  fire blight?  There is a quince planted within 10 feet, showing same signs. Quince were destroyed in the United States during the 30's or 40's due to extensive fire blight, which can take out entire orchards.  Is there an expert reading this that is willing to take a look?  The museum is in need of some community support through volunteerism and membership.  The garden entrance is on Main Street between La Trattoria and Bananas Vintage, up the granite steps. 

I have lots of work in progress developed from my 2 Sundays in the garden.  Verre Eglomise and metal leaf on panel.  stay tuned.

best,

deb

A very small sketch with painting directions

color directions for a painting.  drawing copyright clarke
bv=blueviolet, yo=yelloworange, b=blue, bg=bluegreen, ro=redorange, yg=yellowgreen, etc.

this is a very small sketch with color directions on the back of a cash register receipt found in an old sketchbook.  i made the paintings, they are somewhere in the upstairs storage, or maybe i threw them out.  the idea still intrigues me.  may make these paintings again, but wonder what the paintings would look like if someone else took these directions and made a painting.  

if you are inclined, i would love to see your 'debbie clarke interpreted' painting.  send me a pic and i will post it here.  need more info?  please leave a comment.

best,

deb

BIG FISH! up close and personal

detail of the blue-faced cichlid.  the original is on display at 100 Centennial Drive, Peabody.  image is close to actual size.  gold, silver leaf, oil paint on linen.

copyright clarke
2011
gloucester ma

USA residents:  make a $50 donation through my paypal to this site and receive a signed 8x10 epsom color print of this detail image.

Revitalizing Historic Sites Through Contemporary Art: New Trust Art: Susie MacMurray at Kedleston Hall, ...

Revitalizing Historic Sites Through Contemporary Art: New Trust Art: Susie MacMurray at Kedleston Hall, ...: "PROMENADE from Benjamin Wigley on Vimeo . Contemporary art at historic sites is strongest when it directly reflects the context and h..."

This is Kate Laurel Mac Intosh's blog. She's Here&Now! revitalizing The Sargent House Museum in Gloucester MA by inviting artists to work in the gardens, making their art on Sunday afternoons this summer. Sound like fun? it is! If you are an artist and want to help revitalize Judith's house through your presence, contact Kate! and it's ok to sell your art too.

best,

deb

ps: if you contact Kate, tell her Deb sent ya!

Here & Now! Sarah Meyers Brent

Somerville artist Sarah Meyers Brent at work in The Sargent House Gardens last Sunday.  Sarah incorporates dried botanical elements into her acrylic paintings.  

Here & Now! a historic house 'Revitalization' project

 deb clarke represents at The Sargent House Museum!  Sunday 7/17.

Spent a white hot afternoon working in the gardens of The Sargent House Museum in beautiful downtown Gloucester yesterday.  2 reverse glass paintings in process, 2 drawings.  a ton of photos. the newly painted blue chairs and tables interest me. I will go back later in the summer for another afternoon of painting.  The fish painting is not what I worked on (it is from 1995), it was there as an example of a finished verre eglomise.  will post pics later of what i did, and need to finish.

The Sunday series of "Here & Now" under the direction of Kate Laurel MacIntosh is a 'revitalization' project to draw interest to this historic house, the one time home of Judith Sargent Murray.  Stop by and chat with the artists working on Sunday afternoons in the garden and get $2 off admission to the museum; pay $8 instead of $10.  the museum is raising funds to re-place the Main Street fence with a fence more in keeping with the house.  here's the link to The Sargent House Museum.  the homepage is breathtakingly beautiful.  If you are an artist and would like to work in the gardens this summer, contact Kate Laurel MacIntosh at the museum.

best,

deb

ps:  if you work in the gardens on a bright sunny day, bring a hat, sunscreen, and an umbrella.  there is no afternoon shade.  i hid in the bushes from time-to-time to escape the sun.

Sargent House Museum, Sunday July 17

If you are in town, come on down! there will be art making and greeting in the garden of this great historic house museum!

the link will take you to goodmorning gloucester, where there is a great write-up about the artists that will be working in the gardens of the Sargent House Museum this summer.  Some of John Singer Sargent's early 'doodles' are on display this summer.  along with Judith Sargent Murray's little desk, and the shoe that was nailed against the chimney? The Sargent doodles are equated with today's 'refrigerator magnets' in one of the write-ups about the museum.  The gardens face Main Street (up the steps).  Entrance to the museum is on Middle Street.  come on down and say hello!

there is fruit growing in this garden.  it's going to be hot; so wear a hat.  i will bring some glass, some sharpies, some foil, some water, a hat, and see what happens.  oh, yes!  I am one of the artists working in the garden tomorrow!

best,
deb

faces i remember: new work-in-progress. Marilyn's Drawing Board

mixed media on laminated fiberboard.  a palimpsest.  Marilyn Buckles, an artist friend of blessed memory, gave me this drawing board to work on.  She had used it as a drawing support for several years, then I used it as a drawing/painting support for a decade or so.  Yesterday the memory of the plant series that we worked upon, together/apart led me to consider drawing.  This I did while all of our art conversations, visits flowed through me.  A figure emerged:  Marilyn at 3 and !/2 ' (a glass drawing of Marilyn advancing towards me.  her exact shape drawn upon the front of the glass, the exact size she appeared as i stood 2 feet in front of the glass, while marilyn stood 3 1/2 ' behind it.)  the painting broke.  i kept the shards.  after the memory moved through me, the marsh paintings appeared, dissolved, then the face began to emerge.  Marilyn's remembered words:  it is everything.  it is the surface, it is upon it, it is in it, it is object.  it is just everything.  yellow light fills the south window where we last met. 

best,

deb

Post number: 501 Red Chair redacted

took the red chair outside yesterday, re-worked the canvas with fusion acrylic spray paint and some oil paint. next step? loaded palette. brother Mike asked:  'do you go through this process with all of your paintings?' yes. 'you work until your happy with it.'  no, it's not about happiness.  it's about the energy.  i work until there is understanding, then the paint and action take over.  the action ceases when the energy is 'right'.  it may take weeks, or days or hours.  something happens, the work then goes quickly, it may be minutes seeming like hours or hours seeming like minutes, then it is good.  then it is finished, and done with me.

while preparing this post yesterday i read this  about Cy Twombly's process in the New York Times article about his passing yesterday.  

“It’s more like I’m having an experience than making a picture.” The process stood in stark contrast to the detached, effete image that often clung to Mr. Twombly. After completing a work, in a kind of ecstatic state, it was as if the painting existed and he barely did anymore: “I usually have to go to bed for a couple of days.”

the link for the full article:  'Cy Twombly, Idiosyncratic painter'.   

best, deb

paint failure

the acrlic layer failed. i was able to peel it off to the canvas. it tore the silver leaf. why? i sealed the drawing with egg yolk. egg yolk layers will accept thin oil layers, as well as, additional egg yolk layers. for up to 6 months. acrylic must be kept below the egg yolk layers: fat over lean.

either it's time for me to mix up some egg tempera or pull out the oils. either way it is time to paint. and the failure of these paint layers have a lot of potential.

best,

deb.

Summer Time!

it's official, sometime this afternoon the sun will hit its northern zenith, then start heading south.  the primroses have infiltrated the garden.  i always think of the yellow blaze in my grandmother's garden when these bloom.  the plants in my garden from nana's:  primrose, creeping veronica (some call this a weed), sedum, phlox, bee balm.  all carefully collected, planted and moved from one garden to another over these past 30 years.  the veronica was collected three years ago from a crack in the sidewalk of a house i lived in when i was 20.  noticed that it has vanished from that particular house, it thrives here!

best to you, enjoy your solistice fire!  i sure will.

deb.

Red Chair, a palimpsest progression

 June 12

June 19

June 20, 2011

Progress report.  This little red chair always gives me a workout; sharing some growing pains. Perspective is a challenge as most of the planes are fairly close to, but not quite parallel to my eye level.  why do i put myself through the struggle of understanding?   to make sure my skills are intact, to go someplace i have not been before, to feel the unfulfilled desire of the visual potential, submersion/merging with  the object of desire,  and then?  eventually an inner sounding of 'it is!' happens.  then i will stop and the work will 'be' of itself.

best,

deb

ps:  no oil paint: chalk, gesso, egg, water, aluminum gild.  

Fax Holiday!

My daughter Elizabeth Bollenberg plays in this band.  They are performing tonight at Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square, Cambridge 9pm

My eb plays the harp and violin.

following is the link if you care to listen.  I think her strings are sweet.

http://faxholiday.bandcamp.com/

best,

deb

Rainy Day Studio

 

this is my little red chair, the subject of many drawings.  sat in it when i was wee,  still use it to sit upon, and observe it through my hands and eyes from time to time.  32x44", a beginning.  greek keys and french curves are my favorite way to travel through complicated visual data. chalk on unprimed canvas.  will add gesso as needed, maybe not, may seal the chalk with egg yolk and move onto another one.  i have plenty of canvas.  if i seal this work, i can take it off the stretcher, roll it up, then stretch another drawing surface.

here's my observational reference.  for many of my training years, i was training my hand to follow my eye.  it has become so intuitive that i now find my hand instructing my eye where to go.  very interesting change of view point.  the drawing becomes a record of my experience of moving through space with eye, hand, body.  an inner sounding happens.

best,
deb

Summer Studio: a beginning

Here's the set-up, palimpsest on gessoed canvas 26x26" .  that's Capt Joe's in the background.  again the geometry confounds me.  thought to give it a try, but...

the light was shining through the canvas.  turned the canvas and did this instead.  says it all. now what do i do?  go find some more stretchers.

have a stretch of good hot summer weather setting in.  better go to the art supply and get some stretchers.

best,
deb.

ps:  there's an intimation of Heasley's house on the upper left.  and how could i ignore that big tree?  easy...i just didn't see it until the end.