Recycling the tea bag…

on display at the Artists’ Collective of Hyde Park

March 2nd – 24th, 2013

Over the last decade, I feel my work has evolved in to a quite “head-based” product. My passion for digital technology has certainly had its influence. Not that this is a bad thing. Quite the opposite side of the coin. Technology has been an indispensable gift for me and opened creative doors beyond my imagination.  I continue to learn daily from its presence in my studio. There are, however, times that I feel a lack of balance. I can become so drawn in by the digital and photographic aspects of my imagery, that actual bodily engagement remains somewhat confined to the keyboard, plate-burning, inking, and press work, as well as frame construction.

Reading the Leaves

This is all meditative for me, yet I miss mark-making. That, along with a need for a refreshingly new perspective, fuels my longing to become more painterly. Other than with a cursor on a screen, that is. Perhaps this is why years ago I began to hand-color my etchings. Now I cut, paste and collage them. The writing may have been on the wall, as even in my printing-making, I became lost in transparency, texture and natural abstract form.

Allegro

Resting at this crossroad, I have begun to paint again. My used tea-bag collection has sat and stared at me for two years now. I observe, feel, smell, and dissect each one as though in search of its very essence.  In its own organic and translucent fashion, tea is finding its way in to my art.  : ) Where and whether this current journey will fit in to my printmaking, I’m not sure. But I do know I’m loving it…

Threads of Good Fortune

P.S. Yes, tea has history all of its own. Divination. Trade. Medicine. Ritual. Even the Boston Harbor. More info here.

A late night in the studio back in mid-January…single digits outside…not-even-mid-winter-yet-blues…snip snip…cut and paste…absolutely loved this project…

(more info here)

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3

Number 4

Number 5

In October of this year, I had the pleasure of participating in an abstract painting workshop run by artist Skip Lawrence and his partner Diane Santarella. These wonderfully full five days were held just outside of Mt. Airy, Maryland at Bon Secour conference center.

It was suggested on the first day that we select a subject matter to work and rework for the entire week. I chose to do a series incorporating tea bags. Used tea bags. Why? I had fallen in love with their organic and translucent qualities.

Skip is not the kind of teacher who wants you to paint like him. His role seems to be more one of guru or guide. : ) And intention? To help you get wherever it is you’re going. Which obviously required me to have some sense of where that might be. : ) I knew I wanted to get out of my head more and back in to the physical act of mark-making. If anything, I came away from the experience with a deeper respect for the serious abstract painter, as well as a clarity involving my own creative process and where it seemed to be taking me.

The realm of abstraction has been tugging at me for some time now. It has been intuitively creeping in to my intaglio imagery (as well as other areas of my life) for the past decade without much cognitive thought being given to what was actually happening…at least not consciously.

And so for my annual holiday image, it made sense to work with the piece you see above, entitled Open Door, completed while at the October workshop. Time for my friend Mac. A digital hue shift, a bit of magenta thrown in along with a type element and some artful scribble, and of course, a dab of red and green as a seasonal touch. : ) OMG, and don’t let me forget the moon…I mean, what is Christmas without a moon? Ah, the little “gifts” that happen in the world of technology. : ) Open Door transformed itself in to Silent Night. And then, of course, the wish…and I’ve been asked if it has to be an abstract one…and my answer is, unequivocally, yes. : )

Thank you Skip, Diane, Bon Secour, and all the incredibly talented painters in the group for being this year’s inspiration. : )

Many blessings in the year ahead…

New Mexico revisited…

The images below were painted on location several years ago while on one of my southwest excursions. Drawn in by the spirit and beauty of the open terrain,  New Mexico has always been one of my favorite areas to stay a while.  I miss the vastness of the sky, the deep rust colors of the earth, the creative energies that seem to flow through every natural form…

View from Santa Fe

Portal #1 / Adobe

Portal #2 / Adobe

Limited edition giclée prints are  available at

ARTISTS’ COLLECTIVE OF HYDE PARK

(4338 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park, NY)

Exhibition on view through June 30, 2012 at the Hyde Park Free Library Annex

Upcoming Events:

Artist Talk – Tuesday, June 26th – 7 pm

Come join me at the Hyde Park Free Library Annex for an evening of introspection and conversation as we reflect on what inspires and drives the creative process. I look forward to sharing my artistic journey with you!

Studio Demo – Thursday, June 28th – 7 pm

Get an inside look at actual production in the studio. Experience the solar plate process from plate burning to hand-pulling a print off the press. Limited space.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT.

Email→  RoxieJ@artbyrox.com

or phone→  845.233.4785