See

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."

Ee--Degas

"Woman in the Bath" 1886, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, Connecticut

"Dance Class at the Opera"

"the Interior"

((At (at the PMA:)

Picaso's electrician

Reaffirming my habit of signing pieces...

http://www.artnews.com/2015/03/20/picassos-electrician-receives-2-year-sentence-for-possession-of-271-stolen-artworks/

I don't know what truly happened here. I'll certainly be sure to write a note on every piece given or used for barter even more so...

Purge

Recently I have taken on the task of completely reorganizing my studio.

I am a pack rat and terribly sentimental. Every nook and cranny has been absolutely filled in my small studio space for over 7 years now. 

During this purge I encountered this- a water color paint tray that I most likely used last when I was in my early teens. Now, riddled with mold, it is an emblem of how this craziness of being a professional artist all started. 

The wistful days of just needing self exspression...

Perhaps I'll finally throw it out now.

(Please tell me to throw it out now.)

Lincoln Park

I recently visited family in Seattle. I have made this trip many times over the past 15 years. In addition to coveted time spent with my family there, I always return with a somewhat refreshed state of mind and renewed inspiration.

Seattle has had an usually mild winter. The blossoming trees, verdant atmosphere and warm temperature was quite a contrast from the very cold, grey and icy Philadelphia. I feel like the color pallet for my work has been rejuvenated.

One of the places that I find  particularly inspiring there is Lincoln Park. It is near my sister's house in west Seattle and runs along the Puget Sound. Here are a few photos I took while there. We'll see how they manifest themselves in my work.

 

Copyright all images EBCBrown,LLC'15

Admire - Kathe Kollwitz

The above photograph is of the inside cover from a catalogue of an exhibition of her work.

She moves me so...

"Uprising".  Kathe Kollwitz

She expressed so clearly the pain she saw and felt. I cannot imagine experiencing these things. Nor can I imagine the strength it took to turn them into such brilliant works of art. 

May heaven bless you dearly, Kathe...

 

"Käthe Kollwitz: The Grieving Parents, a memorial to Kollwitz' son Peter, now in Vladslo, Diksmuide, West Flanders, Belgium (Photo credit: Wikipedia)"

"The Mothers"

http://rogallery.com/Kollwitz/Kollwitz-bio.htm

"Folly" has its day

Sometimes I finish a piece and after some time I decide that it needs to be reworked. 

In the most extreme cases of dissatisfaction, I turn the blow torch on high and work with the shreds left behind as inspiration. The puddles on my studio floor serve as memory of bygone painting love "affairs".

Sometimes I finish a piece and I know that it's complete, but while most of the other pieces created around that time sell, it remains in my inventory. 

So it was with "Folly".

Perhaps it was because it is so large, or that it's in mixed media and not my usual encaustic...

Regardless I was prepared to retrieve this  painting, created about 5 years ago (which had been on extended loan in the Cira Centre) and maybe retire it to my personal collection...

* In general I would much rather my pieces go out into the world, but for posterity's sake and my daughters inheritance, I have kept some.

Most gallery shows, except for retrospectives, want an artist's most current work.  This usually means that the pieces are created within the last 2 years max. 

A piece past its date, no matter how strong I think it is, goes out of circulation in a way. It's sad sometimes...

I mourn that they never got their "day".

Personally, I have always loved "Folly".

Truly I'm surprised that it remained unsold for all of those years. 

But even more of a surprise- a wonderful new collector happened upon it at the CFEVA just before I came to retrieve it.

"Folly" finally found its place and I could not be happier!

I am so grateful and in a way, relieved.

 

Fortune

This evening I had the nagging feeling like I should really get to work in the studio.  This was despite taking care of my flu stricken 3 year old daughter all day, with a restless night sure to follow. 

Any excuse was put to shame when I naively opened my fortune cookie from earlier in the night...

While I have several commissions coming up in the near future, nothing is officially being "waited for" at the moment. Regardless, the tone of the those words set me hard at work on my ongoing series.

Speaking of which, here is an image of one of my 4 "Odes" in progress. I'm sure it will look quite a bit different in it's final form. I'm also working on the next 2 reliquaries and a few small pieces. Just in case anybody is waiting for any of these things...

;)