Jane Alexandra Walsh, Artist & Teacher, Tells Her Story

 

I am delighted to have a chance to share my work and my thoughts as an artist with a complicated life as a teacher/artist. What I have gained from teaching for 23 years with the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, and especially the 16 years at the MCPS Visual Art Center, is that an artist must challenge him/herself to push forward toward a new destination. Teaching “Advanced Placement” students working on creating an AP Concentration series helped me to understand the value of working with a commitment to a theme and to risking change and failure to learn new skills and to discover new talent or at least a sense of creative accomplishment.

I would like to introduce myself through showing a painterly exploration of imagined or invented landscapes. These paintings and collages reveal my experience with the "ephemeral moment of light" in nature; as they use visual conventions of changing weather, seasons and shifting time.

Over the years I have painted and photographed thousands of scenes from the natural and man-made world. What remains is tangible evidence of my “getting lost in the landscape” only to regain my sanity through the joyous act of painting. Examples of my observed and experienced landscapes can be found  on my website.

While I undertook my MFA Studies at MICA during 2002-06 I began a series of experiments and painterly adventures stepping away from the traditional landscape. Using my skills in oils, watercolors and watercolor inks I pushed in size and scale of work created from postcard size to wall size. Things that did not work well were cut up and reassembled and reimagined. Experiments led to intentional series of works that explored a visual idea or an intellectual concept.

Imagined Landscapes are paintings that describe or suggest the natural world but from memory and imagination and not from direct observation of nature.

 

NGS View

    

Shifting Light

The Rectangle Series was initially inspired by the work of Mark Rothko and his use of the color relationships and the rectangle to contain space and eliminate it. His work sparked my own awareness of the power of the rectangle and the horizon line. The Floating Rectangles borrow from the Surrealists, altering time or season by offering the viewer a chance to shift between realities.

Hurricane Force

     

Hurricane Force 2

The Hurricane Series was inspired by the satellite images of many different hurricanes of recent years since Katrina. After creating a series of 7-8 spontaneous, expressive hurricane swirl paintings, I pushed for more complexity by cutting and splice/collaging two or more different paintings into a shifting sense of layered space.

Flicker

                                       

The Tree Series marks the end of a long investigation into seeking and painting the "ephemeral moment of light" in my own backyard. After years of travelling and painting all over the US and Europe with my eyes on the horizon, I sought inspiration and connection with the trees and forests that surround my apartment building.

Beyond the Curtain

                                                            

Through a Lace Curtain

The painterly explorations in the Drip Series were experimental paintings born of the discovery of watercolor inks and a desire to push my knowledge and skills as a watercolorist. Most of the landscape images portrayed in the Drip Series were a response to the gift to me of a set of glass plate negatives made in 1904-07 by my great-grandfather, Hermann Karr’s photographs of rural New Jersey. In undertaking to paint the scenes I chose to add a final layer of active shower of drips to signal looking back in time.

Overgrown Summer

The Collage Series developed from an impulse to cut up less successful landscape paintings and to reassemble them in a new, more complex way. Each collage shows invention or personal choice to "splice" vertical pieces or "stack" horizontal" pieces of paintings and/or photographs to create a shifting landscape view. These collage works allow the viewer's mind to shift between realities or to glimpse extended worlds.

This is Week 49 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Jane’s story today.

Deb Lyons, Mixed Media Artist, Tells Her Story

It’s been fun and inspiring to read “Artists Tell Their Stories” this year. I’ve found similarities in so many stories, and fun differences in quite a few, too.

I’m Deb Lyons and I describe myself as an artist and an art educator.  I knew from a very early age that I wanted to grow up to be an artist. In the early 1950s that meant painting in abstract ways, wearing black turtleneck sweaters and hanging out with beatnik friends at jazz venues, or at least I thought it did.

Acrylic & mixed media

I was very lucky, as a child, to have a supportive family who indulged my wish for art lessons every summer. What a joy those creative days were. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any “art career” counseling during high school, so I thought that I should get a college degree in some area that I could fall back on during any “lean times” in my art career.

I enrolled in a well-known but small teacher’s college where everyone’s major was education and, of course, my minor was art. I had such a great time and, to my surprise, was totally bitten by the teaching bug.

Acrylic & mixed media

Fast forward a few years and I found myself with a dream job; teaching 1st through 8th grade art in a University Lab School during the day and going upstairs and teaching undergrad and grad students at night. A lovely bonus was having my two daughters as students throughout their elementary and middle school years. 

The creative energy of my colleagues was magical. The research and curriculum development was an all-year endeavor and it left little time or energy for my own art work. To fix this, I eventually found a teacher and co-hort of adult students that I met with once a week (for a number of years.) Life was good.

Acrylic & mixed media

We all have our ups and downs, though. I found that I had a light case of breast cancer. I was surrounded by support and love but still needed to work through all that was going on. I found that large canvases became my breast cancer journals.

Acrylic & mixed media, from the breast cancer series

Using acrylics, surgical sutures, knives, lace and found objects, I was able to travel from darkness to light. I became part of a clinical drug trial and it is a joy to see that what was experimental then is a common part of breast cancer treatment options today. I’m happy to report that I’ve been cancer free for almost 20 years.

I’ve since been able to share my journey by exhibiting these mixed media pieces in a variety of venues. 

 

Large acrylic, lace, surgical suture & mixed media from the breast cancer series

Today I am still in love with creative explorations and teaching. My new students are adults at my local Easter Seals Adult Center. The joy is palatable, the successes are celebrated, and the friendships are deep.

 

"Xela Wins at Keeneland" Quilt, cotton fabrics, cotton batting

When Brenda approached me about posting on the blog I asked if I could share my story this week. December 10^th is my Mother’s birthday. She passed away almost two years ago. She was an enthusiastic supporter of all of my artistic endeavors and I thought that this might be a small way to honor her memory.

As Joseph Campbell said, “Follow your bliss.”

This is Week 48 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Deb’s story today!

George Bragg, Mixed Media Metal Artist, Tells His Story

I am a Machinist by trade and a self-taught artist. I have spent the last 30 years as a full time professional artist. I started doing stained glass when I was 20 years old, working in a custom stained glass studio that specialized in large commercial work and restoration.

I then went on to open my own stained glass studio, working on custom and restoration projects before branching out to do art and craft shows throughout the country.

My work as an artist has evolved and transformed into my current medium, copper and organic material.

I am inspired by nature and incorporate organic elements, collected during my travels, with copper sheeting and tubing.

My work is non-objective abstract, with a focus on line, texture and color.

The metal process includes repousse, chasing, hand tooling, torching and acid patinas applied to copper to create the surface variations. Completed works have a variety of tactile and visual textures and are designed as 3D wall sculptures.

This is Week 47 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing George’s story today. To see more of his work please click this link: Bragg Studios Contemporary Artworks.

Arturo Ho, Mixed Media Artist, Tells His Story

As a working artist, I am blessed to have the freedom to do what I love the most—to be with people and create something special. The opportunity to create, connect, and build relationships with others defines me. Art is a vehicle for making the world a better place. I use art to serve and connect with many communities and strive to bring out the best in them. 

I express myself in all aspects of my life through art. I have made works on paper, murals, mosaics, permanent installations, designs for posters/books, taught classes, collaborated with non-profit organizations, community centers, detention centers, public schools, and individuals. 


My work is not confined to a specific medium because I am open to and inspired by many positive influences and ideas of expression. That is the reason I am excited about art; there are always new possibilities.

Working with youth keeps me informed and relevant. Working with people and communities allows me the opportunity to share my knowledge and embrace new ideas and thoughts. This kind of work excites my creative and expressive side of the art making process.

I am also blessed to be able to make connections and build lasting friendships through the interactions that come with working in a collaborative process. It is through these opportunities that I have been able to focus my energy and passion into developing into the type of artist that I feel most comfortable being.

Thank you to all who have given me the opportunity to share my passion of art with you. I feel that every one of us has a truly good side and a special gift to share with the world. We must find a way to spread this gift whether it is through art, music, dance, or other mediums of expression.

To see more of Arturo's work and connect with him, please visit his website. This is Week 46 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Arturo's story today!