About all kinds of water nymphs, at the Piante Gallery

Richard Evans who writes the Art Beat at the Journal, now featured in the monthy insert called the Muse, dropped in on me a couple of week before the opening at the Piante gallery of The Glacier Art Project and At Waters' Edge. We had fun looking at the paintings - which I strewed out on the floor in my studio - and in his art review he captured a lot of what I said, including the concept of "iciness". But, what I found brilliant in his writing was the interpretation he gave to the figures that appear in quite a few of the paintings. Here's what he wrote: "It’s so fascinating to observe how artists call upon their backgrounds and skills to bring forward themes using new visual clues. Iris has been a lifelong practitioner of drawing from the live model and in many of these prints anthropomorphic figures emerge as though calving into our presence."

Thank you Richard!

Here's what I say about these nymphs in the art: Greek mythology gives us a multitude of nymphs associated with life giving waters: Nereids, nymphs of the Mediterranean Sea, Hyades, rain, Limnades, lakes, Potameides, rivers, Oceanids, salty water and Naiades, of fresh water. At the splintering edge of a tide water glacier one can imagine playful Naiades, bathing, dancing, singing, and also raging as the glacier violently calves an iceberg."

Piante is open on Wed. through Sat. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. my exhibit comes down on Aug. 30. I do have a key if one of my friends would like a private showing when the gallery is closed.

Amazing Esperanza Spaulding, live jazz iPad painting of her performing at Humbold State University.

more Ipad paintings of live Jazz performances 2010, 2011

iPad paintings of live Jazz performances 2010, 2011

Sunset over Samoa or can an old smokestack be beautiful?

17 days until the vernissage at Piante in Old Town, Eureka, Saturday August 6, 2011

This is what happened. We had some time to kill between dinner out and a movie, so we decided to walk along the shore in Eureka, washed over by one of those icy cold and vibrant winter sunsets.

Without paying much attention, we ended up inside some large wire enclosures...and kept walking and taking photos and talking about the end of the pulp mill era. The end of the stink, and the end of the jobs. The rusting hulk, and the seeping toxins. How when we moved here our real estate broker pointed out the active smokestack with its plume across the bay. He thought it enhanced our view. He was part of the generation that saw this as progress.

Well, we got stuck, the gates were closed when we wanted to get back to the car. My man, manly as he is, wanted to climb over the tall fence. Luckily, before he actually did so, we found a way out of the maze. Don't know if my painting is based on his or my photo. We often photograph the same thing and then argue about who got the best shot. It is a three color registration monotype diptych.

For an extensive and unique exploration of human impact on our earth take a look at local artist and art professor Cynthia Hooper's paintings and videos. I quote from her website: "My videos, paintings, and interdisciplinary projects investigate landscapes transfigured by social and environmental contingency. My work is meditative and poetic, but also takes a generously observational and generally factual approach toward the places I examine."

Mendenhall Glacier - Reflection, diptych: it is retreating for good?

As these majestic rivers of ice melt, we face the prospect of a world without them - and their fate will affect us all. I seek to bring the intense beauty of remote glacial landscapers into your life and make the dilemma real.

This painting of the Mendenhall Glacier is inspired by a photo by my friend David Smith. I am grateful for his permission.

" The Juneau Icefield Research Program has monitored the outlet glaciers of Juneau Icefield since 1942, including Mendenhall Glacier. From 1951-1958 the terminus of the glacier, which flows into suburban Juneau, has retreated 1,900 feet (580m). The glacier has also receded 1.75 miles (2.82 km) since 1958, when Mendenhall Lake was created, and over 2.5 miles (4.0 km) since 1500. The end of the glacier currently has limited crevassing, a negative glacier mass balance and will continue to retreat in the foreseeable future."

19 days until the vernissage at Piante in Old Town, Eureka, Saturday August 6, 2011

Naiad over Beagle Channel: Glacier Art Project

20 days until the vernissage at Piante in Old Town, Saturday August 6, 2011

I am not sure why these figures entered the Glacier Art Project, but they pushed in, and I feel strongly that they belong. I think they connect the remote glacial landscapes to humans. They make a link between the melting ice, the rising waters and us. Some of them seem frozen, some are playful at waters' edge. At the exhibit you will see them grouped with glaciers. They are my own invention. I find them surprising and cool!

Greek mythology gives us a multitude of nymphs associated with life giving waters: Nereids, nymphs of the Mediterranean Sea, Hyades, rain, Limnades, lakes, Potameides, rivers, Oceanids, salty water and Naiads, of fresh water. At the splintering edge of a tide water glacier one can imagine playful Naiads, bathing, dancing, singing, and also raging as the glacier violently calves an iceberg.

Naiad over Beagle channel, monotype 15"x 22"