i'm back!

The past few months have been crazy busy despite and also resulting in my lack of posting! My guilt has passed and i realize the blog must go on!

The gallery is currently featuring a beautiful show of recent paitnings and works on paper by Shiao-Ping Wang..."Musings"

"I am most interested in growth and change when I make art. I find patterns fascinating: when a few shapes accumulate in large numbers the appearance and energy of the image becomes wholly different.

More often than not the gathering (or “swarming”) of shapes develops intuitively without planned organizations on my part. However, nature often emerges in my work through the movements and textures I see in the environment around me. The layers of paint and material I use generate the physical change in the process that is very interesting to observe, just like the change of seasons.

I see a color either “float” or “sink” on the flat surface of the canvas, always moving and changing in many directions. For this reason I use acrylic paint and a vinyl paint, called Flashe, to obtain both glossy (acrylic) and matte (Flashe) surfaces for a vision that is constantly changing." - Shiao-Ping Wang

Shiao-Ping Wang was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the United States in 1981. She studied both Western art and Chinese art in New York and earned a MFA degree from Queens College, City University of New York.

Shiao-Ping works both abstractly and from observation in various painting media. Her work has been exhibited throughout the US and China. She has taught painting and drawing in various colleges including the University of New Hampshire. In 2007 Shiao-Ping won a Fellowship at Vermont Studio Center and in 2008 she was the winner of the Spotlight Award for "Best Painter". (Here she is with her husband and fellow painter, Brian Chu -- Brian was one of my professors at UNH!)

Shiao-Ping Wang: Musings runs thru November 30th, so stop in and say hello -- and if you can't, all of the works will soon be available in our online shop!

PICNIC

Three Graces has a booth at Picnic tomorrow!

the Festival begins at 11 am rain or shine ... stop by and say hi if you are in the area! I'll be there with Bob (and the lovely and talented Tiffany Torre will be in the gallery.)

Cheers

opening this friday!!!

Come one, come all! this show is amazing, I am so excited to have so many amazing artists to work with, unfortunately there is so much that still needs to be done between now and the opening tomorrow night, that I don't have time to go into the details...however, you can check out the Teeny Tiny Art Blog which features pictures and interviews with many of the participating artists and will continue to do so thru the month!

See you on friday, the opening reception is from 5 to 8pm -- and for those of you who can't make it, the online shop will be launched Friday afternoon!

Luminous Landscape

Last night we celebrated the opening of "Luminous Landscape", a new exhibition featuring encaustic paintings by Linda Cordner, Charyl Weissbach, Janet Bartlett Goodman and Tracy Spadafora. The artists in this show have employed diverse encaustic-based means for exploring the subtle and mesmerizing affinity imparted by our surroundings. The use of pigmented wax, with its vivid color and translucent properties is uniquely able to convey nature's vastness and its mysterious allure, creating an illusion of timelessness.

Linda Cordner has exhibited at Three Graces on multiple occasions, in the Teeny Tiny Art Shows and most recently in "Making Their Marks in Molten Wax. Linda was raised in Connecticut and received a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of Connecticut with concentrations in Graphic Design and Painting. She also spent a semester studying in London. An early interest in art lead her to choose this path without hesitation. After college she settled in Boston and has explored many areas of art and design throughout her career.

"I am very drawn to wax and its tactile qualities, the smell and viscosity of the medium are very different from other painting techniques. Creating organic forms is a natural extension of wax's origin. Coming from a background in graphic design, I am drawn to certain color schemes and shapes, the repetition and placement being important to the composition. My paintings are made by layering multiple coats of wax which can completely obscure the under layers at times. I use collage or incised patterns and lines to show the translucency of the wax."

Janet Bartlett Goodman currently resides in Oakland, California. A native of Boston, Janet received her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art, with a major in Industrial Design.　Her early work as a Product Designer honed her eye for color, line and form.

"My father was an Artist. So the smell of linseed oil and turpentine always floods me with memories of my childhood. The work that I am doing is about people and places that are important to me. The power of imagery to evoke emotions and create memories has always fascinated me. I use color, line, and depth to create a lyrical aesthetic. Each piece holds a single moment in time. In some of the works the viewer is invited to wander in. With the grid pieces, the viewer sits firmly outside the scene, and the image is allowed to stand-alone.　

My background is in product design so, for me, material and processes are very important. Wax is a wonderful medium to work with and I love the challenges that come from working in this very ancient technique. Encaustic is a mixture of bees wax, demar resin and pigment which is heated and applied to a substrate than reheated and each layer is fused to the one below. Once fused you get a very rich, deep, luminous surface. The process of making art should not be routine; it should make you continually question and experiment. Each piece should build on the success and failures of the last."　

Tracy Spadafora works and lives in Boston. She is exhibiting paintings from her "Persistance of Nature" Series.


Tracy is exhibiting paintings from her "Persistance of Nature" Series. "Images of nature came into my work many years ago. Intrigued by the elegant and complex patterns of leaves and other flora, I began incorporating them in my work as symbols of our natural environment. In my paintings these organic forms are juxtaposed with symbols of our man-made environment, represented by schematic diagrams and architecture plans of the "Big Dig" artery project in Boston, MA. The leaves, pods, flowers and seeds often take on a whimsical quality as they hang, float, and blossom from a background of roads, parking lots, and industrial parks, ultimately reshaping these structured surroundings.


I work with an ancient wax painting technique called encaustic, which allows me to layer images and preserve them underneath the surface. The obscuring and burying of images within the layers of wax and paint helps to extend their meaning into the realms of memory and intuition. In these works natural structures and man-made structures converge and collide, creating a dialogue between these opposing forces. The natural environment has suffered greatly as a result of commercial, residential, and industrial development. Nature struggles to survive and find new life within the continuous sprawl of these man-made environments.

With these paintings I intend to convey a sense of the poetry and endurance of nature as a force - a force that seems to persist in spite of man's actions. In this work I seek to address larger questions concerning the lineage of our natural and man-made environments."

Charyl Weissbach is a Boston encaustic painter. She has a BFA in Painting and Art History from the Massachusetts College of Art. Her painting technique involves the use of hot wax(encaustic)in combination with oil paints.

"Color, texture, and light placed within familiar settings such as a landscape or seascape can evoke feelings of inspiration.　These locations contain intriguing compositions, color rich in texture, and unusual shapes that, in collaboration, emit an aesthetic sensation of harmony, and the illusion of timelessness.　The imagery of my work does not accurately represent nature, as we know it.　With this, I am able to convey nature's vastness and its mysterious allure, which is a significant theme in my compositions.　Therefore, I try to unveil an abstraction of nature's character, attempting to capture some of its infinite variations of color, shape, and ethereal beauty.I derive great pleasure from satisfying a viewer's yearning for visualizing the complexity and beauty of our natural surroundings.　It is my hope that these feelings, which have formed the basis of these paintings, will be in some way conveyed to those viewing them."


"Luminous Landscape" is on view thru August 31st. You can also view all of the paintings from this exhibition in our online shop!

flea market finds + Amy Gross!

Bob and I got up extra early this morning so that we could drive to Rowley, MA to check out the Todd Farm Flea Market...


It was much larger than either of us had expected, but we managed to cover the entire thing in about two hours -- taking our time and looking closely at first then quickly scanning by the end. There were some wonderful things and lots of, well, crap (literally, there was a guy pedalling plastic poo!)

We made two small purchases - the first was a lovely little della robbia, we have one that I made Bob for his birthday two years ago, but I love these things, and I need all the luck I can get in the kitchen! I also purchased some doilies...



I have big plans for the doilies...I recently came across this photograph in Amy Gross's flickr photostream:

She covered the cat scratches on her sofa with flea market doilies, Solomon (her cat) soon lost interest in the sofa as scratching post. Personally, I'm going to need many more doilies, however, it's a start...

Amy is a brilliant artist and textile designer. She is participating in the upcoming Teeny Tiny Art Show #5 in September! In fact, I just posted an interview with Amy to our Teeny Tiny Art Blog. You can read about Amy and some of the other participating artists HERE!

Teeny Tiny Art Blog!

The Teeny Tiny Art Show #5 is coming in September!! Forbidden Fruit leading us into temptation...

AND I've created a special blog dedicated to this special show.


In the coming weeks I will be posting about participating artists - interviews, pictures, random things...more than you would ever need to know!! Read all about 'em here.

i heart wide-angle lenses

Robin came in and took some shots of the gallery with her fancy wide-angle lense, they came out great! The space looks huge...


And here's Robin with the work!

Robin Luciano Beaty: Above and Beyond...

We have the most beautiful show in the gallery right now! "Above and Beyond" is an exhibition of encaustic paintings by Robin Luciano Beaty.

Robin works in the ancient medium of encaustic: a molten beeswax paint mixed with resin and dry pigments. She describes in her statement how the medium allows her to escape the confines of everyday artist's techniques and provides her with more exploratory means of expression. “Its qualities are sublime and unpredictable, additive and subtractive, translucent and sculptural, which strongly influences the direction of the painting.”

“My process is driven by the visceral journey of discovering something reminiscent rather than recording a specific space. The act of scraping, tearing, building up and burning down the layers of wax from the surface of the painting to reveal distinct compositions and texture is metaphor for digging into memory, and allows me to navigate that internal journey. It is the intention of my work that the viewer see the personally familiar in the most foreign, exploring the deeper roots of beauty with a new set of eyes; those above and beyond the surface or that which goes unnoticed.” ~Robin Beaty, 2009

Robin Luciano Beaty is an award winning painter out of Newbury, Ma. Her work has been featured in multiple solo exhibitions. Represented in many private and corporate collections internationally, her work can also be found in galleries around New england and numerous group and juried shows. Most recently Robin was awarded the Award for Excellence in Mixed Media at the NAA's 12th annual Regional juried show as well as the prestigious International Encaustic Painting "Conference Award" for Best in Show in the exhibition juried by Nicholas Capasso, chief curator of the Decordova Museum.
Robin's highly collected work has been described as "a compelling intersection between painting, sculpture and installation" and "beautifully conceptual, satisfying mind and spirit simultaneously".

"Above and Beyond" is up thru August 3rd - don't miss it!! If you are too far to make the journey, you can see all of the works here and here in our online shop! Enjoy.

Sara du Long + Market Square Day

Also in June...Sara du Long was here in the gallery for a Trunk Show featuring lots of new pieces. She was working away all winter to create some amazing new designs...It was great for folks to have the opportunity to meet Sara in person, and hear her talk about her process and inspiration!


Though Sara is not here everyday to share her secrets, her fabulous jewelry designs are a permanent fixture. Check out some of the new work in our online shop!

**We will be having a Trunk Show with Erin Moran in August - details coming soon!

Also in June, Portsmouth celebrated Market Square Day! Three Graces participated with a booth - thanks to the amazingly talented and generous Erin Moran for her help! It was a fun and successful day...

June was busy...Nicole Maloof!!

Dear blog, i am so sorry to have neglected you for so long! I looked at my calendar the other day and was shocked to see that june had come and gone and july is upon us...I'll write about current goings on in a following post, however, I feel the need to share with everyone the happenings of this past june...

Three Graces featured "Love Letters to Kafka", an exhibition of recent works on paper by Nicole Maloof. The exhibition was extremely well received, it challenged many viewers and made others giddy with excitement!

“Drawings for the current show were made in the spirit of Kafka's literary works. The imagery touches upon a nightmarish and fantastical world where coherency and meaning is not seemingly present. Strange creatures interact in a stage-like world, though insufficient information is available to piece a full story together. My starting point begins with the questioning of social constructs that exist around us. Man-made concepts of power, punishment, the existence of the Other, etc run through the work. Machine guns, ramen, schoolgirls, and executioners coexist. Strange relationships are forged, creating humorous but unnerving images that the viewer is left to decipher. These implied narratives are aimed at inducing an investigation of their meaning, a process reflective of our own search for meaning in the absurd and potentially godless world that we reside in.” ~Nicole Maloof, 2009

The above painting is called "The Courts Were Too Powerful for Dracula and Frankenstein". Nicole is juxtaposing historic evils (in the form of executioner and clan member) with fictional evils (Dracula, Frankenstein and blue vampiric blob)...the latter are saddened and can't bare to look...

Nicole Maloof was born in 1983 in Seoul, South Korea. She received her BFA with a concentration in Painting and her BA with a concentration in Chemistry from Boston University in 2006. She currently resides in Boston, MA. In July, Nicole will be travelling to South Korea on a teaching Fulbright. For the next year, she will be teaching English, investigating Korea's contemporary arts, and continuing to make art as well. An account of the trip will be posted on her blog (http://nicolesyearofkimchi.blogspot.com).

"Love Letters to Kafka" came down this past Monday. Many works from the show sold, however the remaining works will be available thru Three Graces. Check out our online shop for more details. Enjoy!

Robin Luciano Beaty

Finally, Robin Luciano Beaty is fabulous and the fourth artist in our upcoming exhibition, "Making their Mark in Molten Wax"!


Robin concentrates primarily on the ancient wax base medium of encaustic paint, a molten beeswax mixed with resin and dry pigments, which she incorporates mixed media, vintage materials, textiles, metals and found objects. Her work has been described as a "compelling intersection between painting, sculpture and installation" and "deliciously collectable".


In her own words: "I believe its the artists job to communicate an impression in a voice most have not heard. Traditional landscape painters strive to create a reproduction of place. My encaustic paintings derive from my own intuitive perspectives, pulling inspiration from emotion, imagination and memory, concentrating on the often over-looked and unconventional."

"My process is driven by the visceral journey of discovering something reminiscent rather than the recording of a specific space. The medium of encaustic provides me with that exploratory means of expression in a way everyday artists techniques can not. Its qualities are sublime and unpredictable, additive and subtractive, translucent and sculptural which strongly influences the direction of the painting. The act of scraping, tearing, building up and burning down the layers of wax from the surface is metaphor for digging into memory and allows me to navigate that internal journey."

"I'd like the viewer to discover a new perception of space while possibly revisiting images from their own recollections, sparked by the sensory experience of texture and touch. I choose to render this experience in a way that can be both understood and confusing. Just as one would feel walking down the corridors of a foreign market in a far away culture, making discoveries and unlearning misconceptions. Allen Ginsberg said "Others can measure their vision by what we see". It is the intention of my work that the viewer see the personally familiar in the most foreign, exploring the deeper roots of beauty with a new set of eyes; those beyond the surface or that which goes unnoticed."

Linda Cordner

Three Graces has had the honor of exhibiting works by Linda Cordner twice before, in the Teeny Tiny Art Shows #3 and #4, third time's a charm! Linda has new work in our upcoming exhibition "Making Their Mark in Molten Wax". Here's a sneak preview...

Here's a bit from her artist statement: "I am very drawn to wax and its tactile qualities, the smell and viscosity of the medium are very different from other painting techniques. Creating organic forms is a natural extension of wax’s origin. Coming from a background in graphic design, I am drawn to certain color schemes and shapes, the repetition and placement being important to the composition. My paintings are made by layering multiple coats of wax which can completely obscure the under layers at times. I then scrape away areas of the wax to expose the compositions below."

Linda was recently featured in the new book Embracing Encaustic by Linda Womack, check it out here...and be sure to check out her new work in our show, opening this coming Friday, May 1st. The opening reception is from 5-8pm, refreshments will be served and stimulating conversation will be had.

Tim Yankosky

Three Graces also welcomes Tim Yankosky to exhibit for the first time. He is one of the four artists being featured in our upcoming "Making their Mark in Molten Wax". His series of goldfish are charming, handsome and amazing in their sculptural quality (the fish bowl actually curves out beyond the surface of the painting)


Tim thinks of his own paintings as a highly personal narrative - often employing birds and fish as his central characters and symbolic self-portrait. The constant play between text, texture, and the character are central to his work. Tim paints with acrylics and oils, frequently applied over a background of collage. Natural beeswax and resin are then painted or thickly poured over the surface of the paintings before he skillfully etches into the wax and colors the etchings with more paint. The multiple layers veiled and obscured by encaustic simultaneously distance the viewer and incite curiosity.

Originally from New Jersey, Tim currently lives and works in San Francisco. He has exhibited around the Bay Area, with shows at Soul Arch, SF State Gallery, and Space 743 Gallery. In 2004 he was included in the Heart and Soul citywide installation with his piece now displayed at Mo Mo’s restuarant.

Gina Adams

I am excited to work with Gina Adams for the first time. She is one of four artists in our upcoming show, "Making their Mark in Molten Wax". Her work is beautiful, highly sophisticated in form and content. I would like to share with you snipits from her artist statement as it is heart-felt and informative.

"I am the grand daughter of an Ojibwa Native American and a Lithuanian woman. My grandfather was removed from his White Earth Reservation at age eight and taken to the Carlisle School in Pennsylvania, or, what he referred to as "white man’s training school". He never returned to his reservation, nor saw any of his native family again. As a child, I spent many hours with my grandfather as he recanted to me the "old ways". He had lived a hard, honest life that he was grateful for and it was extremely important to him that I would know who I was and where I came from. When I was seven, my grandfather took me to a stream, tossed in a pebble, and as we watched ripples spread across the water, he told me that the choices I would make would create ripples throughout my life. He taught me that I could embrace my Ojibwe heritage. He taught me that life was best lived by the seven Ojibwe teachings of truth, wisdom, peace, respect, bravery, honesty, and humility. I have always held this knowledge deep within my heart, and because of that deep connection, I’ve worked toward reaching my heritage on a spiritual level through my studio practice."


"My Lace Bead Heritage body of work comes both from the time spent in the studio and from the research and extensive traveling I’ve done for both my Native American Ojibwa and Lithuanian cultures. I have been learning my Ojibwe language for seven years now and was very fortunate to be invited to participate in Language Immersion at Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, which is a sister reservation to my grandfather’s homeland. To my physical experiences, I add the rich, detailed memories of my youth. My lace beadwork weaves together my grandfather’s oral traditions with the craft that was so lovingly made by hand. My work is process oriented; the intention being to create work that evokes layered possibilities. The beauty that my ancestors made was not about perfection; instead it was meant as a way to honor both what has come before and what may lie ahead. By creating little bits of beauty in my lace beading, I’ve discovered how very similar I am to them."


"Megwitch sa migiwewin nind ki jawendagogiwin tchiwi apagijiwe bekanisid assin pindig nibikang. "

(Ojibwa translation: Thank you for giving me the chance to cast another pebble into the water. )

Upcoming Encaustic Show

With the relatively recent resurgence of artists working with encaustic, I was inspired to put together a group show of four artists working exclusively in the medium of molten wax. I have admired the work of each of these artists for awhile, and I am quite pleased to announce this upcoming show: "Making their Mark in Molten Wax", featuring works by Gina Adams, Robin Luciano Beaty, Linda Cordner and Tim Yankosky.


Join us at the opening reception this Friday, May 1st, from 5-8pm...and stay tuned for posts about each of the participating artists!

!New Spring Designs by Erin Moran

Spring has sprung, and with it comes New Designs from Erin Moran!

Erin was a busy little bee in her studio this winter. The new designs are in keeping with previous work, but there are new forms, patterns and lots of color ...

The new cups feature brightly colored interiors with scribed patterns on the outside, not to mention she is now making goblets! (cups $28, goblets $32)

She is offering platters with graphic designs ("Cattails" is shown in group shot, "Branch" is shown directly above; Graphic platters $160)


...and also with scribed designs ("Marsh Plants" is shown in group shot, "Weeds" is shown directly above; Scribed platters $110).

Coasters have also been added to the line. There are 24 in all, each representing available colors and patterns. (coasters $20, set of 4 $70)

All of Erin's new designs are currently available in the gallery along with the tiny bowls, cereal bowls, dessert plates and vases we have been enjoying already. They will also be available in our online shop sooner than later!

back from the city of brotherly love...

Bob and I just got back from a brief trip to Philadelphia (Bob's brother Chris lives there and he was a wonderful host - he spoiled us both!)

Though rain clouds persisted, we made the best of our time in the city. We toured Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, enjoyed lunch at the Reading Terminal Market, strolled the the Historic Antique Row, and finally explored the Philadelphia Museum Art, followed up by cocktails at the lovely Water Works.

This was my first time in Philadelphia, so I had to make time for the typical tourist to-dos...first stop Independence Hall! I was particularly interested in seeing this because Bob and I recently watched "John Adams" the HBO mini-series.


I learned that what I always thought was the crack in the Liberty Bell, was indeed the repair.


The Philadelphia Museum of Art was wonderful - it was much larger than I expected, and I later realized I missed entire sections - sadly much of the European Art (1500-1850).


We entered the museum from the back entrance, and so we walked down the famous stairs that Rocky ran up. I did step inside of his shoes for a moment.


I was personally very excited to see some paintings by Henri Rousseau, who until now, had not been someone I looked to for inspiration. (Below are "The Merry Jesters" and "Carnival Evening")


The armory was incredible!


On the way to the airport, Bob's brother took us to Fort Mifflin. The fort represents the only pre-Revolutionary fortification.


While I found the Fort fascinating, I couldn't help but feel sad and disturbed - knowing that so many people had suffered and died within the walls. I asked a woman working in the gift house about spiritual entities - she went on in detail about experiences she and others had. She also told us that the folks from the show "Ghost Hunter" had been there and reported significant findings. Read more here.

*Star Island off the coast of Portsmouth was also investigated by the "Ghost Hunter" crew. Read their findings here.

Spotlight Awards!

The 15th Annual Spotlight on the Arts Awards was held last night at the Music Hall! I would like to congratulate my friend and artist Shiao-Ping Wang for winning the award for Best Painter!

I have had the honor of working with Shiao-Ping for over four years in the gallery. Her paintings are beautiful - the perfect balance of control and expression. (In addition she is a wonderful person - wise and radiating with a possitive energy, and she has opened my mind and belly to the most delicious Tiramisu!)

Congratulations also to my friend Michael Winters (Best Photographer) and all of the other winners and nominees. We are so lucky to live in a place where the arts truly thrive, and it is so nice for the community to take the opportunity to acknowledge this creative spirit each and every year!

Between the Lines

Three Graces is currently featuring "Between the Lines", an exhibition of recent paintings by Marilene Sawaf and stained-glass panels by Monica Wing!


Lines of Paint ... Marilene Sawaf was born in Egypt. She studied fine arts at the ABC School of Fine Arts in Paris and is a graduate of Interior Design & Architecture at the University of Saint Esprit in Lebanon. She has exhibited her work extensively throughout New England and abroad.


"My first series of women goes back to 1981, after my recent move to New England. My inspiration was a luminous stained glass window that used to cover an entire wall of my grandmother's home in Egypt. I try to create an illusion and mystery that makes you wonder - who are these women and what are they doing? Products of my past culture, of my present taste for rich colors and enigmatic effects, my paintings of women are a mysterious reflection of my most subconscious dreams."


Lines of Lead (and Copper Foil) ... Monica Wing is exhibiting four stained glass panels. Each panel features sections of highly detailed paintings (church-window technique) alongside brilliant patterns and bold textures.

Humor + Whimsy - Shown above is "Her Feet Are Too Big" and below - "Losbster Dance" featuring the said red crustacean taking a pink seahorse by its "human" hand.

Please stop in if you are in our lovely Seacoast, and for those of you who are not - all of the works from this show are available to view + purchase in our online shop...here...and here.

Animation by Greg Stones

I just came across this new animated short by Teeny Tiny Art Show participant Greg Stones...he cracks me up!



and there's two more...