Santa Fe Creative Immersion

I spent the first week of May in Santa Fe, my third art retreat with my friend Diane. We immersed ourselves in journaling, painting, visiting galleries and talking non-stop about art, creative process and our challenges, desires and directions.

We set up the dining room table in our condo as our pre and post-class painting area. We'd wake up in the morning, eat, dress, go to the workshop and paint big, eat, then have a glass of wine or cup of tea and paint small until we went to bed.

Each day in the workshop I created (pretty much) a whole new painting. On the previous day's painting!

On the first day at Lauren Mantecon's studio for her four-day "Anything Goes: Working Large and More" workshop, I worked in greyscale for my painting start, just throwing marks and elements on the canvas playfully and without any thought.

The second workshop day, I selected the word "place" as an inspiration. Once I did, I could see architectural structures forming on this version. I added color, pushing back some elements and bringing others forward. I tried whatever came to mind, exploring, feeling my way. No matter that it was rough and unresolved, I liked what was happening and felt I could refine and improve it.

On day three, after a chakra-opening exercise, I became deeply aware of my desire for expansiveness and heart-opening. I completely covered up the second day painting start and headed in a new direction.

One of the most valuable parts of a workshop like this one is working alongside other artists. It really brought it home that I am not the only one who experiences highs and lows as I create. Almost every artist in the room had to reinvent each day. They took risks that didn't work, then reinvented and tried something else. It was amazing to both observe and participate in that process, because even though I invent and reinvent on my own in my studio, the sheer scale of a whole room full of artists doing the same alongside me was incredible. Such intense energy!

All the stimulation and perceptions from the week are still percolating inside. As my considerations lead to insights about where my art practice is heading and why, I'll share some of them with you.

Painting Meets Pottery: A Collaboration

When Susan Carmen-Duffy, founder of Create Art 4 Good, a studio and gallery in Rochester's Hungerford Building, invited me to participate in a collaborative art project, I said yes. Yes! I've always wanted to collaborate with other artists and see what trying to mesh distinct styles and mediums can inspire.

The collaboration guidelines are simple. Two artists both start pieces and exchange them two months later; then they each have another two months to complete the piece that's been given to them. Ten artists have been invited to participate and paired into five teams. Each team will produce two new works. The finished works will join the other collaborators' pieces and Susan will exhibit them in her gallery.

Susan chose Jennifer Buckley to be my partner. Jen is a friend from my Hungerford studio days; she's also a talented potter who makes functional pottery and incredibly popular garden totems.

Jen and I met to discuss options for how a painter and potter could work together and she showed me some interesting samples. I realized I could create a substrate using tools and materials that are comfortable for me and she could complete it by adding ceramic elements. She could even add a ceramic frame to a small painting.

When she showed me some little clay pieces she makes into buttons, I knew we could make it work.

Some of the little clay sculptures Jen makes in a variety of sizes, shapes and glazes.

I decided to create a 20" x 20" grid of textures and patterns using a variety of acrylic texture mediums and paints on a cradled wood panel. I decided different textures and patterns would give Jen a lot of inspiration. She can cover part or all of the surface.

Ready for Jen to create, glaze and glue design elements - I''m looking forward to seeing how she'll finish this.

Here's a close up slide show so you can see the textures more clearly. I'm trying to imagine what designs and colors Jen will choose to complete this, but we'll both have to wait until the exhibition to see the finished pieces.

In Part 2, I'll show you what I get from Jen to complete and try to figure out how I'm going to do that!

The More, the Merrier

To make room for this month's two new guest artists, Greg Pavlic and Jeananne Ralston, as well as Golden Palette Art Trail's featured artist, Scott Grove, I reset the whole space.

There's definitely variety and something to appeal to every taste and price range, whether you like Greg Pavlic's bold skies, Jeananne Ralston's atmospheric lake views or Scott Grove's unique contemporary furniture designs.

It's all working together - an eclectic array for sure with my nonobjective paintings in the mix - all ready for tomorrow afternoon's opening reception 4-7 PM. You'll have a great time seeing all these diverse works in one expansive space.

To introduce you to Greg and Jeananne, here is a little bit about them:

Skies, Oil paintings by Greg Pavlic, Waterloo 

Art and bass fishing are Greg's two greatest passions in life. He has been oil painting since he was in 8th grade. He has a BA in painting and a MA in art education from Montclair University, N.J.  Greg has been an avid bass fisherman since 1968. Retired since 2015, he competes in local, regional and state level tournaments. He is also an active member of Seneca County Arts Council in Seneca Falls.

Lake Lover, Acrylic paintings by Jeananne Cassarino Ralston, Canandaigua

​Using acrylic paint on canvas, Jeananne enjoys playing with hue, value and intensity in a somewhat improvisational manner. By showing her process with unrefined brushstrokes she evokes a memory or essence of a place. All of these paintings are from around Canandaigua lake. The results are “open field” paintings, some of which are very active and others unified and quiet. 

Jeananne is a Canandaigua native and lake lover. Her earliest memory of wanting to be an artist is from when her mother took her in hand to the Waterfront Art Festival. She studied with Fred Johnson at the Canandaigua Academy and has fond memories of designing silk screened posters for the music events. Jeananne earned a B.A. in 1985 with a double major in both music and art. She is presently teaching piano as an adjunct at FLCC and Hobart and William Smith colleges