Love Local

I am so excited to be joining the fabulous local artists at this Mother of All Markets this Saturday!

Cabin Fever!

Forget the frigid temps (and weather reports calling for snow), it's time to get out of the house. Come say hi to me and meet some fabulous local artists at The Love Local Pop-Up Market next weekend!  

Essential Impermanence

There are countless ways my studio practice is influenced, working with galleries to exhibit work is one of them.  In some cases I am participating as an artist, some as an installer and in this case as a curator.  Experiencing the logistics of a show presents a very different perspective from creating work.  The broader my understanding of the art world becomes, the more focused it allows my studio practice to stay.  When I am organizing a show, it often begins as a theme I am interested in using artwork to moderate a discussion around.

January is a reflective time of year for many people.  It is that brief point in time where we wrestle with reconciling the year that lies behind us with the year that lies before us.  This makes it the perfect time of year for a show about where things intersect; about that moment where formlessness meets form, where manmade structures interrupt nature and where exactly the spark of artistic creation is truly experienced.

While on the surface, the works in this show are very different – Kishita’s mixed media work being very bright and graphic in nature, and Losada's oil paintings being much more subdued and mysterious – I have always felt there was genuine potential for dialogue between them and that on a conceptual level they were both exploring some very similar ideas.  It was exciting to have an opportunity to curate an exhibit where the works of these two artists could resonate with each other and serve as a catalyst for discussion with the audience when I posed the question: At what point is the transient nature of creation truly experienced?  The work featured in this exhibit generates a vibrant dialogue, which explores this very question.  Losada’s oil on panel works explore the transformation of space at the moment that formlessness meets form.  Kishita’s mixed media work focuses on the intersection of seemingly disparate elements at the moment they unite.  Each artist responds to the fluid significance inherent in these particular instances of profound mutability.

Among the site specific works created by each artist for this exhibit is Pine River, an installation by Michele Kishita composed of 8,000 paint stir sticks.  Each stick has been meticulously hand dipped and wrapped in Japanese, Indian, and Italian paper.  At its completion, it will have taken 8 months with two studio assistants, one to dip and one to wrap and nearly 40 bottles of glue and 15 quarts of paint.  It will also include wooden dowels of various lengths that will be painted and wrapped.  These dowels will represent the waterfall that ultimately creates Pine River.  Aesthetically, Kishita finds herself attracted to the raw, utilitarian appearance of the stir sticks and their juxtaposition to the delicate gilded papers, especially since both are made of wood.


If you are in the Windsor area in the next month, please take the time to visit this show at the Windsor Art Center.  

Essential Impermanence:  The Work of Debra Losada and Michele Kishita

Jan 17-Feb 28, 2015

Artist Talks Saturdays 1-2pm

Debra Losada 1/24/15  moved to 2/14/15 due to snow

Michele Kishita 2/7/15

Check out this great article on the show:
http://www.courant.com/reminder-news/windsor-edition/rnw-wn-windsor-art-center-exhibit-0129-20150120-story.html

More Moss!

Last month I shared some images from a new series of pieces developed using clumps of moss as the base for sculptural pendants.  I am using recycled silver that has been pulverized into tiny particles that are combined with an organic binder and water in order to make a silver paste.  I developed those hollow pieces by draping moss around paper straws and soaking them in this paste as they hung to set up.  Once set, they were fired in a kiln which burns out the remaining moisture, moss and binder to leave behind pure silver.  This technique allows me to capture the intricate textures that make moss so very fascinating.  The most recent pieces in this series are more dense and incorporate color.  Instead of hanging to create a hollow form, the moss is again soaked in the silver paste, but then is "piled" on small slats of wood as it dries.  A small piece of dichroic glass is pressure set in each of them to create a focal point.  Rather than using a liver of sulfur patina of dark gray to pronounce the surface relief, I have treated this piece with a sage green alcohol ink that settles into the complex grooves and illuminates the subtle depths of its surface.  I am excited by the potential that continues to unfold from this new series...

Fall Artisan Markets

Sundays  October 26, 2014 & November 9, 2014  11am-4pm

Artisan Market on Broadway Island
Located at the Shops at Yale 
13 Broadway, New Haven, CT 06511

What a great way to spend a beautiful fall Sunday!  With the sun shining and unseasonably warm weather, I joined the Metal Clay Artisan Guild at our tent for the first of these two artisan markets.  Lots of folks were out buzzing around after brunch in this historic section of New Haven.  We met great artists from around New England as patrons began their holiday shopping.  Come by on November 9th to check out more work from our guild members and to learn more about our members, mission and media!

I (heart) Moss!

My inspiration comes from the surrounding environment, the places I walk through each day.  Some paths I will travel countless times and other spaces I will pass through only once.  No matter where the walk, one of the simple elements I am most often drawn to is moss.  I cannot resist its texture and softness.  I am fascinated by its complex microscopic form.  From afar, it can paint any landscape with a lush green brush.  One of the oldest plants known to earth, moss is found on all seven continents and collectively provides more carbon offset than all the trees in the world.  I often collect moss on my walks to transplant into my yard.  

Needless to say, it is one of the organic forms that I spend time exploring in my jewelry studio.  Working with ground silver mixed into a paste form, I have recently revisited moss and its potential to be preserved in the silver.  The problem is how delicate it is - how do I keep it from "shredding"? and how do I get it to hold a form that won't collapse before firing?  For a recent series of pieces, I wanted to work with the moss in a dense design and began by soaking it in the silver slip and then draping it around paper straws for it to dry.  As it was drying, I would manipulate the shape and continue to slowly layer the paste.  The paper straw gave the saturated moss a structure to hang from, and being paper could be fired in the kiln to burn out - leaving a clean tube on the interior to run a chain through.  Before firing, holes were drilled to pressure set 4mm CZs.  After firing, a dark patina was added to create contrast and allow the the intricate textures to be more pronounced.  It was then set on a simple cable chain.  These have much potential and are continuing to evolve in my studio.

Really like moss?  Check out one of my favorite blogs for some inspiring photos of what you can do with moss at Moss & Stone Gardens.   

Art Show & Fundraiser!

Join us Saturday September 13, 2014 from 4-7pm for Community, Creativity and a Chance to win!

I consider it a great privilege to teach in a community that so genuinely comes together in support of the arts.  Thanks to Hairdresser on Fire for once again throwing the best Art Party around in an effort to raise money for the Windsor High School Art Department Scholarship Fund.  The money raised helps our students have meaningful art experiences beyond the classroom and allows us to create experiences that include field trips, internships, visiting artists, summer residencies for students, our own art shows and the college scholarships awarded at the end of the year to our graduating seniors.

In addition to the generous contribution that local artist Katherine Tolve will be making from the sales of her work; the food, entertainment and prizes for the evening are coming from local businesses who have all stepped up.  

A truly huge THANKS to the below businesses:

Bear's Smokehouse BBQ will be catering the event with other food donations from Windsor 75, Nat Hayden's, Family Pizza, Get Baked, Faddy's Donuts, Dom's Broad Street Eatery, and Moneta Moments.  

Raffle prizes so far from: Hairdresser on Fire, Ashley's Distinctive Jewelry, Bill Selig Jewelers, Ginza's Japanese Cuisine, Chili's, Mahaney's Breakfast, Wilson Pizza, Geissler's, Price Chopper, Body Graphics, Windsor Center Fine Wines, Matt's Outback Paintball, Many Rivers Acupuncture  Nat Hayden's, Big Y, Outback Steakhouse, Longhorn Steakhouse, Snellgrove's, Sweet Frog, Jordan Florist, Home Depot, Stone Age Rock Gym, East Heaven Hot Tubs and Rave Cinemas.

The evening is free and open to the public.  Raffle Tickets are $5 with 100% of the proceeds going to our scholarship fund.  This is the opening reception for artist Katherine Tolve's show at HDF and for the evening, WHS student work will also be exhibited.  Come celebrate our youth, the arts and our community!

see below for more info.