NEW WORK UP FOR JULY

Seasons-'Spring'

If you're in, out or around Portland, Oregon during the month of July, stroll by the Justice Center windows on S.W. 2nd and Madison, downtown. You'll see some a wonderfully diverse display of sculpture from bronze, airated cement, fiber, metal and clay from some of the members of the Pacific Northwest Sculptors Guild.

I have four new pieces in the display, two new wall-hung copper repousse' figurative landscapes entitled, 'Rebirth' and 'Reflection' as well as two new aluminum screening sculptures entitled, 'Spring' and 'Summer'.

A STUDIO VISIT WITH A STONE SCULPTOR:

JONI MITCHELL, CHISELING OUT BEAUTY.

As I stepped out of the car, it was obvious right away that a stone sculptor lived here. In the front courtyard was a pumice sculpture of a mother and child that radiated a loving connection mixed with free-spirited playfulness. This was one of two outdoor sculptures adorning Joni Mitchell’s home but there was much more in her backyard studio which she and her husband built themselves.

Through the double doors, this simple white studio held an amazing array of power tools, a kiln, and a hose connected to the air compressor housed in the garage. And it’s the tools that powered Joni’s interest in stone carving, without them Joni would have given up on stone. “In my first class, I only had a hammer and a very small chisel and I swore that I would never touch marble again, because it was too hard,” said Joni. But when Marlyhurst teacher, M.J. Anderson, a well-known stone sculptor, introduced Joni to power and air tools, Joni said, “Then I really loved it.”

Joni took me through her process step by step. First, she begins each piece by going through the stone for obvious flaws, carving off at least 1 inch of the stone surface to get rid of marks and imperfections. Then she uses her power tools to cut lines 1 inch apart, and uses her hammer and chisel to knock out the rough shape. After marking out the form with chalk, Joni puts on her safety gear including ear plugs, safety glasses, gloves, mask and hat and carves away using smaller power tools. From then on, the process becomes more about responding to the emerging shapes.

Joni described it as feeling her way through the stone, “It’s very tactile. I have to stop and use my hands to feel my way, using the small air chisel, I start carving the features in.” Joni changed to smaller and smaller diamond tip grinders and carved out the baby’s nose and lips. Joni said, “I do a lot of feeling and hand work.” She used a series of small stones in different textures to smooth out bumpy areas by hand. Then a variety of wet/dry sandpapers and compounds are used to polish the marble ending with a stone sealer to protect the stone.

It was easy to see the beauty of the marble when viewing any of Joni’s finished pieces. But how does Joni choose her stone? She said, “I usually go buy a piece of stone, sometimes for color or shape or posture, then I look at it for a while. With this piece of pink marble, I had it for a couple of years until I was ready to carve it. I could see the posture, very feminine and very fleshy and perfect for the mother and child and the relationship.”

Images of mothers and children abound in Joni’s work. As a mother of two, it was her loving memories of the special joy and connection with her young children that inspired Joni. Joni explained, “A lot of times what inspires me to make a piece is a moment in life that has really touched my heart. That’s why I work.” “I love the mother and child. I would do just babies, if I could.” About the inspiration behind the pink marble piece in process, Joni said, “It’s the way that the mother and child are physically connected.”


And it was that physical connection to the art making process that kept Joni working during a very difficult time. After losing both her brother and her son in a little over one year, it was the studio, the stone and a choice to be positive that helped her heal. “Art has really helped me a lot through some very hard things and that’s why I do it. I hope that when people look at my art it helps them, gives them a feeling of hope, feeling that things are ok,” said Joni.


Joni’s journey into art started with a correspondence course and ended with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marylhurst University. In the process, she has worked in watercolor, acrylics and charcoal. But it was a clay sculpture class that fired her love of the three dimensional form and led her finally to stone. Joni said, “With sculpture, I just knew what to do, it might be anatomy training for the radiology work that I do, helped, but I loved it and I couldn’t stop doing it. I’ve always loved stone. I grew up as a child collecting pretty rocks. And I love the permanence of it when it’s done. I like the fact that I work on my pieces for months before they’re done.”

Marble sculpting was a process that took patience, focus and perseverance. And for Joni, it was a way to find answers to personal questions and a choice to see the beauty in life. Joni said, “It’s a very spiritual thing to me. I’ve always been that person to see the beauty and the beautiful things in life. In my heart I always wanted to sculpt something positive and beautiful.”

Joni has shown her work in the Beaverton Arts Commission show and the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts. Currently her work is being shown at the Kingstad Gallery.

You can visit her this fall during the Portland Open Studios Tour October 11-12, 2008. Portland Open Studios is a self-directed tour of 98 artists workplaces located throughout the Portland Metro area. Tour Guides will be available at Art Media and New Seasons Market.

To see more of Joni Mitchell’s work visit her website at http://www.jonimitchellart.com/.

THE NIPPLE PROJECT:

FROM ONLINE TO OUT IN PUBLIC

What started out as an online art statement has blossomed into a mixed media exhibit at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Anna, California. Opening June 7th, in a show entitled, "Enclosed, Encased, Enrobed", will be an installation of mixed media nipples.

Some will be in a wall installation with nipples sewn onto individual bras, a section guilded with pink for submissions related to breast cancer, and some on objects that represent some of the most common slang terms for breasts. Cans. Hooters. Melons. Boulders. All with nipples attached, of course. This truely unique and quirky project gets a fitting exhibit.

How did the nipple project get started? Well, a few years ago, Victoria's Secret introduced the IPEX bra designed to provide 'maximum nipple coverage'. Jennifer Baylis and Andrea Domingnez felt that this was just one more way to eradicate and androgenize an important female body part. Which at the same time, ironically, is a body part most emphasized in fashion and the media. As the project evolved, the organizers realized that they had started something that went even deeper. They received nipples from breast cancer survivers and those who had lost friends and family to breast cancer expressing their grief and respect. As well as new mothers expressing the joys of nursing.

I heard about the project and totally agreed with Jennifer and Andrea. As a women and the mother of two children, I felt that nipples needed to be honored and appreciated for being such wonderful multi-taskers. I created six nipples for the project.

Three are made of brass metal screening and decorated with copperwire and beads. I see these as the 'goddess' nipples using symbols of precious metals and beads to honor their role in creation and nuturing. The other three are made of aluminium screening that I painted in a variety of amusing, colorful and fun ways to appreciate the wonderful, playful quality that nipples also represent.

I sent them off wrapped appropriately in Victoria's Secret tissue paper. It just seemed to me to be the 'perfect fit'.

MAGICAL MASKS INSPIRED BY

PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON

For the last 7 weeks, I've had fun teaching an afterschool class at Llewellyn Elementary School called 'Mask Makers'. Inspired by the release this fall of a children's book based around the popular song, "Puff, the Magic Dragon", my mask makers have been busily creating dragon masks.

I read them them the book on the very first day and by the middle of the book, they were singing away as I flipped through the pages. Then, we listened to the CD included in the book. When the CD was over, they asked me to start it all over again. Humming along, they worked on their magical masks. Each week, we added a new element. First it was noses. Then, fanciful dragon ears as well as layers and layers of texture and color with different papers and paints.

In addition to the masks made by my mask makers, we made set elements for the drama class who will be performing the song and dance on the school stage. My creative class made an ocean backdrop with Puff's cave textured out of paper, a pirate ship, billowed sails and colorful dolphin fish, butterflies and birds.

Throughout the class, the song played in the background inspiring us all with it's magical melody helping us to create these wonderful, magical dragon masks.

ORPHAN WORKS BILL

OR HOW TO MAKE STEALING ARTWORK LEGAL.

(Artwork: Elements-Fire)

In the last week, I've learned about a new bill in Congress and the Senate called the Orphan Works Bill. This bill would take away all the copyright laws that now protect art from being used without the permission and compensation. Put all work in the public domain that is not pre-registered through as yet unnamed agencies at artist's expense as yet to be determined.

This means that any writing, concepts, sketches, artwork, photography of artwork could be copied, distributed and used by anyone at anytime without my knowledge, permission or compensation. That's stealing. And that's wrong.

I received two emails about this bill this week. One from my local art group, the Pacific Northwest Sculptors Guild and from Robert Genn in his weekly artist newletter. I had no idea that such a terrible bill existed. I was shocked. And angry. And I wanted to do something about it right away. But what? To whom and how?

Here's who and how. Register for this email list at illustratorspartnership@cnymail.com Then click on the website at http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/ You will go to a page of pre-written letters opposing the bill. Click on one and fill out the info and it will be emailed to your local congress and senate representatives.

It's easy. Fast. Join me and do it now. The more of us who let our shock and anger be known, the less likely this bill will be passed. The Orphan Works Bill is stealing. And it's wrong. Let's stop it. Now.

THREE ARTISTS

THREE TOTALLY DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES

ALL AT THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CRAFT

Last weekend, I did a demo with my screening sculptures alongside two men who worked in stone and clay. This weekend, I did a demo showing my copper repousse' technique alongside two women working in steel and mixed metal sculpture. All at the Museum of Contemporary Craft http://www.museumofcontemporarycraft.org/ in Portland, Oregon.

It was an interesting and educational experience for me in many ways.

Bonnie Meltzer (http://www.bonniemeltzer.com/), a metal and fiber artist uses electrical wire as yarn and crochets sculptures that include aluminum cable, telephone wires and various parts of recycled electronics including computers and telephones. I love to crochet with yarn, but I've never thought of buying spools of electrical wire. It was inspiring to watch Bonnie crochet this thin, shiny, red and green metallic wire in and around aluminum cable. The resulting spiral took on an undulating, organic shape that looked almost Seussical to me.

I showed various copper repousse' pieces including my oak leaf mask, animal angels and fantasy landscapes. I told interested museum goers about the history of repousse' and showed them how I created the landscape in the copper from the backside using a variety of tools that I've collected from around my home. As well as explaining how I 'paint' the piece using chemicals and heat to create the colors and textures.

Alisa Looney,www.alooney.com, a steel sculptor, had a wonderful collection of amazing macques of her large scale pieces. To demonstrate her technique, she had a book of photo illustrations showing her process step by step from cutting the steel into her unique figurative shapes to welding it all together.

It was inspiring and educational for me to learn more about these other artists and their techniques. And I learned from the museum goers, who were generous in sharing their art experiences and techniques, too.

We were representing the Pacific Northwest Sculptors Guild, a wonderful organization that includes many talented artist. To learn more visit the website at http://www.pnwsculptors.org/

TAKING THE PRIVATE, INDIVIDUAL ART PROCESS TO THE PUBLIC.

A DEMO AT THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CRAFT.

On Saturday, I worked alongside two other sculptors from the Pacific Northwest Sculptors Guild at Portland's Museum of Contemporary Craft. The three of us took our solitary studio work and process out to the public. I wasn't sure how it would go or whether I would enjoy this experience of demonstrating my sculpting technique in metal screening. Or how it would be to work in the same space as two artists I did not know who worked in completely different media.

It went very well. It was refreshing and invorgating to have the company of two experienced and professional artists.

Joseph Highfill, a figurative clay/bronze artist, was working on a 4 foot high sculpture of a man in plasteline clay. He showed other plaster faces and busts that he does as portrait commissions. His work is graceful, precise and beautiful. Jonas Blant, a stone sculptor, worked on soapstone. He showed other stone sculptures of cats. His stone pieces were smooth and glowing. I worked on aluminum mesh sculpting a male woodland fairy and a female fairy face. I showed other finished mesh sculptures including a macaw, cheetah and an old wise woman.

It was an interesting three hours working side by side Joseph and Jonas while answering questions about our work and chatting with curious museum goers. My conclusion: I liked having the comradier of coworkers for a change. I was even able to problem solve with them on a project I was working on and although I didn't come up with my exact solution then and there, the conversation and sharing led me to an idea that I hadn't even thought about before.