tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48944179945326304322024-02-19T19:38:11.575-05:00The Shaman PapersBlog of American author/publisher/artist Gail Gray.ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.comBlogger253125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-71025156611382536932016-01-04T10:26:00.000-05:002016-01-04T10:26:08.349-05:00Textile Town Paintings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
written 11\11\2015 My latest series is based on my personal history. For a long time I've thought of textile mills as being beautiful architectural structures. Once many of them closed, I've viewed them in a more poignant view, nostalgic, I guess of a simpler, albeit, hardworking time. I was born in a textile town, Lowell, MA and went to work at a textile mill, Joan Fabrics when I was 14. My mother was the payroll accountant and she brought me in as an apprentice during the summers when I was in high school. Almost everyone in my family worked in textile mills including my ex-husband and son. When I was in my 30's, textiles closed down in New England but was still in operation in the south. My ex-husband was a textile engineer and when he found a textile job in the south, we moved to Greenville, a town about the same size as Lowell, looking a lot like Lowell with a river running right through the middle of town. There has been a renewed infusion of the textile mill legacy into my life. First of all with the opening of The Greenville Center for Creative Arts in the Brandon Mill located in the. Village of West Greenville with its gallery, studios and teaching area. In addition the main mill will be turned into loft condos. After having been involved in the village since 2007, this was great news to see this majestic building come alive again. Then, when doing a little research on the mills of my hometown, I discovered that the mills of Joan Fabrics had been converted into studios and loft apartments housing over 300 artists. When I learned this, I'd already painted 5 or so textile mill pieces in both oil and encaustic. But these new pieces developed into personal journeys going back into memory 50 years and completing cycles that have repeated in my family, living places , passions and history. When I first walked into a textile mill as a 14 year old intern, I never dreamt that I would one day paint in a textile mill general store turned art studios at Studio Unknown or see the revitalization of a place like Brandon village (now called the Village of West Greenville) into an art mecca. <br />
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ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-395121977821552652016-01-04T10:08:00.000-05:002016-01-04T10:08:39.405-05:00Indecision, Ambiguity and Duende...and Anselm Kiefer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Art is a demanding mistress. When things are going well, the ideas present themselves and the mediums cooperate to the degree they ever will, your everyday life goes to hell. Because you are so driven and you need to ride the wave while its there. Your house is unkempt, friends and family ignored, daily duties forgotten and forget about sleep. On the other end of the balance, when abandoned by the muse, the body collapses, illness sets in, anxiety stalks you and all you want to do is sleep, hoping for inspiration, messages in dreams, a reason to scrape that first stroke of paint on the taunting canvas. For three months was sick and the hectic pace of the holidays, stepped in and I was deluged by doubts and insecurities. Over the previous three months, I painted more than 30 pieces. The last three months, maybe five. But finally the damn broke last week, my subconcious, the muse, a touch of the numinous stepped in and not only guided my hand, but took over. I started a new series of paintings. So far the working title for the series is "Ambiguity Indecision, and Duende. I'll have to see if that sticks. So far these paintings are oil on wood panel or cradled wood. While my last series focused on textile towns had more to do with my personal history of living in two textile towns, this next series is more psychological and vague. They've painted themselves. The more I tried to control the subject matter, the more the paint worked against me, morphing figures, blocking out sections I thought would work, flowing into figures I had not envisioned. The first was meant to simply be two figure studies. But the first figure, who I call "the lady in red," decided to inhabit just a small portion of the board and soon I ended up with three figures and a dark, slightly depressing interior. The painting is titled The Tarot Reading" and I view it as trying to capture a moment of duende. Duende is a Spanish word used a great deal in poetry. There are many different interpretations for this word and to what it implies. In art it refers to the inspiration, the muses, lacunae, memory. In poetry , especially in the works of Federico Lorca, it elevates to a more evasive concept. Hard to explain, easier to describe, I view it as the space where the numinous hides or resides. Its that dark empty space at the bottom of your pocket, that sliver of nothing between blind slats, the moment before you turn a corner, or that sucked in breath before you start a new paragraph. Its the shadowland between two skyscrapers and that second before you step off a train. In my view, in this variation on the word, rue describes a time, space or place where nothing happens at the same time anything can happen. Its like Schrodinger's cat. Everything is possible at the same time. German artist. Anselm Kiefer, says "Painting is difficult. It's not entertainment." And that is the reality. People might consider it a hobby. Enjoyable. But its not. Its more like a compulsion. An idea has to be released, expressed. And even as a writer of many years, words won't cut it. That's why I call the series, Ambiguous. Because I even felt ambiguous about what I want them to evoke in the viewer. I've always wanted my paintings to be a little disturbing, to make people think and ask questions. If people come to my studio looking for something pretty to go on the wall, they've come to the wrong place. Sure my seascapes might be sort of pretty but even in my landscapes, there is something a little off. Some if them are what I consider dreamscapes deal with issues such as anxiety, abandonment, depression, suicidal ideation. Some people have called my work dark and that's true. I don't believe art is meant to decorate walls. Its meant to make you think. I've been reading "Jung on Art" written by. and Jung constantly speaks to the concept that art us to stir up reactions in the viewer. The artist is taken by a concept and for some reason us driven to paint it out and expose the viewer to the concept, even though it might be difficult and painful for the artist to express himself this way. He/she is compelled. Finally I have stumbled on an artist who explains what Jung has said, what musicians say but we hardly hear artists relate, words nit being their medium. Finally I have been held in awe by both the art and words of a living painter. We hear the names Picasso and Munch, Monet and Modigliani over and over but how many living artists in our time hold such rank, command such respect? Anselm Kiefer is one. A quote of his showed up on my Facebook page so I looked up his art and was blown away. His work is moving and terrifyingly beautiful. It makes you think and makes you sad. He has the pattern ability of Pollock but creates dreamscapes, not quite landscapes,, which might be considered nightmares by some. There is a sense of ruin, or decay, abandonment and something close to apocalyptic. But it doesn't take you over the edge due to an overwhelming sense of longing they instill in the viewer. Very few contemporary artists have held me in such awe: Dave Mckean, Nick Bantok, Gerard Desjardins, Steve Viner, Wendy Farrow, Tim Speaker, Dabney Mahanes.</div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-51206592356596456792015-11-17T14:02:00.001-05:002015-11-17T14:17:35.728-05:00New Location - Mason Street Studios<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span id="goog_558154371"></span><span id="goog_558154372"></span>I'm now completely moved into my new studio at Mason Street Studios deep in the heart of the Village of West Greenville. I'm so excited! It's located at 2 Mason Street, right off of Pendleton rd., the main drag in the village, and we're behind the Flatiron building where Patricia Kilburg, Janina Ellis, Joseph Bradley, Darin Gerhke, and the Greshenkos have their galleries. Teresa Roche's Art and Light is right around the corner on Aiken Street, one street over and Midtown Artery, Dabney Mahanes, Julia Shackbie Hughes, Knack, Crave, The Village Studios, Village Traders, Naked Pasta and the Art Bomb are all within walking distance.<br />
I held my first show, "Savoring the Beach," featuring oils, landscapes and encaustics on cradled wood, on September 4th for our monthly first Friday gallery crawl and we had a great turnout. Upcycle artist, Joyce Reece, complimented the ocean theme with her gorgeous collection of lighthouses, as well as some of her Native American and fall landscapes. What turned out to be a crawl ended up as the Summer September Storm party of 2015, as a raging thunderstorm with high winds that toppled trees and hail kept our visitors a captive audience. So we ended up with impromptu songs, live art installations, coloring contests and acting from our visitors, not the residents. They entertained us! I was lucky to see a lot of friendly faces and meet some new friends. We ended up with four people who worked at Roger C. Peace Hospital, four people interested in art therapy, investors, realtors, nurses, business owners, and other diverse occupations, all weathering the storm and having a good time, many staying right until closing. Since then its been a busy time painting and doing art history research. I've finished a number of landscapes for a future show, morphed and distorted like I do. Perhaps they are more like dreamscapes. I also painted 8 to 10 heads. I'm not sure why, I may have been inspired by the advertising for the " Making Faces" show held at the Greenville Center for creative arts. Part of my desire to paint faces was the pursuit to capture emotions. I kept striving to create expressions which viewers could relate to. I guess my 15 years working in the psychological field fuels my constant interest in psychology, Carl Jung, and human nature contributors to my fascination for emotional content in my artwork. So for November First Friday I held the show, "Heads - A Struggle Towards Authenticity." We had a great turnout considering it wad Open Studio and rainy and it was fun because Joyce and I have been joined by two new artists: Freda Beaty,Va jewelry designer and Alice Rattatree, a n illustrator of children s books.</div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-20739212959005666212015-10-23T12:42:00.000-04:002015-11-18T08:55:57.009-05:00A Fascination for Faces<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
While I enjoy painting a variety of subjects, I have to say that I'm probably more fascinated with faces than most. I go through stages, just finishing up a period of painting landscapes and for some unknown reason decided to switch to faces after painting about twelve landscapes. The challenge is ramped up to portray emotion moreso than with any other topic, including full figures. I'm constantly amazed at how one small stroke around an eye or two worry lines in the forehead can totally change the emotional effect upon the viewer. My most recent series, in oils, ranges from small 5x7 canvases to at this point 16x20. I am a huge believer in expressing a wide range of emotions. I never painted pieces that would just look pretty or nice in a room. I tend to use art ti make people think. I want viewers to wonder about meanings and am often pleased to create a piece that's rather disturbing. I'm a co creator with my subconscious and often can't foresee the end result of a project. Most of my efforts are a means to discover something unknown about myself so what appears to be a portrait is often a symbol or metaphor of a state of mind, an issue, something I need to address or something I'm coping with. I started this series before the art show, "Making Faces" at the Greenville Creative Arts Center. It's a highly diverse and great show by eleven local artists, some I know and some whose works are in my own or my daughter's collection. I'm a huge fan of Dabney Mahaned. Who is probably my favorite figurative artist of Greenville. It was great to see her portraits of artist,Glen Miller. With whom Dabney exchanging projects to paint each other. What a great way to get to know our fellow local artist than through another local artist's eyes?</div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-21286736634119542282015-08-24T10:58:00.001-04:002015-08-24T18:23:43.641-04:00The Horse in Art, a Jungian View<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
For 17,300 years, dating back to the cave drawings in Lascaux, the horse has been featured in art. Even up until today, the horse is a common theme having survived so many trends and isms as a subject. Is it the athletic beauty of its physicality , its role as a companion in sport, now that its no longer a neccessary helpmate, or is there something illusive but intrinsic, an essence artists continue to try and capture? I ask all this since throughout my artistic life, the horse has appeared in both my art and dreams. A few years ago, when I first started painting horses, it coincided with a series of dreams and I came to realize that to me the horse symbolized spirit. So it doesn't surprise me that I'm painting a series of horses. This is at a time in my life when I don't feel like I have complete control since I have to have CT scans every three months to see if my cancer has returned. Its hard to plan things such as trips or signing a lease for an art studio since if I have to start chemo I will quickly be too weak to drive or paint. I think this is why I'm returkning to horses as a subject. To me they represent spirit and freedom and are also, in my view, messengers from the subconscious. In Jungian writings, the horse is a complex archetypal figure and an important ally once acknowledged and assimilated. Jung connected it with the primal and intuitive side, especially when hidden in the subconscious. the horse can represent a means to reach into the subconscious world to confront the shadow and access the energy and awareness we can find in any exchange with the unconcsious forces we have relegated to the unconscious realm. Once in the realm of shadow work within our dreams, creative imagination or art, we are often confronted with paradox. When we work with the horse archetype, we are harnessing our energy to deal with the inner conflicts we encounter and the desire to paint horses can be sign we are ready for such a journey. Because, every three months, I have to wonder if my cancer has returned, I find myself trying evaluating my life. As I did, I turned to art which serves to ease the worry but also as a means to communicate internaly. The first horse scene of this series I chose to paint wet on wet on wood. I just started layering on colors without a subject in mind. The orange horse appeared and shortly after the blue figure who I considered a man in a hat. It didn't take long before I recognized the vague figure as Picasso from a documentary I had watched a few days earlier. I decided to leave him vague, as if a ghost was speaking to me from the past, perhaps a symbol my unconscious choose telling me to continue using art as a means to reach the subconscious as he had. the architectural lines of the ancient town were evident in the grain of the wood so i brought them out to remind myself that internal work involves heeding not only archetypal aspects but also history, ancestors and those who have lived before us<br />
James Hillman and Sonu Shamadashani , their noteworthy book on Jung's "Red Book" describe how Jung's message through his own art, was an attention to the dead and how such recognition taught him much about his own internal life. When dreams and images, such as those an artist may repeat in their art, are mirrored to historical theme, Joan Chodorow, notes in her book, "Jung on Active Imagination," we view the larger picture and see what it can mean to our ownn future. The second horse I painted in oils in a wet on wet technique and it is more highly colored and expressionistic than my usual style. It looked to me like a harlequin once he was finished and the harlequin has appeared in my art with a horse before. The harlequin to me is representative of the mercurial figure of Hermes, the trickster or communicator all depending on one,s level of awareness and moral state. The sunrise was inspired by the photograph of another artist, Susannah Melee. and the finished painting seems to be influenced by Picasso's work, although I had not seen many of his paintings of horses.<br />
In another oil painting, this one larger and square, I realized that this final draft looked I finished. I had painted a reddish brown horse, rearing up in a vague sort of mystical setting. I painted this piece without, plan, forethought or any idea about message. I just kept standing back and viewing what appeared. The areas surrounding the border came from mistakes where I removed excess paint when finishing the horse and layered it over the sky and what eventually even became the ground. This is not my usual method at all. I also let the painting sit for days drying. Usually I work wet on wet since I'm in a hurry to complete a project. But on this one I decided to see what would strike me. I did fish for ideas, looking up paintings of horses by famous artists and paintings by artists who were familiar with Jung. Most of the rearing horses I found were either threatened or being threatened. After seeing some of the alchemical paintings by Anne Mccoy, the daughter of Andrew Wyeth, I found one she did with a very beautiful horse. However it was not a testing horse. Then a few days later I saw a painting of a woman offering a tray of food to some people. Something about her pose struck me and I realized I needed a woman reaching out to the horse. At first I thought I would paint the same pose but it ended up with the woman comforting the horse instead. She also came out looking fairly ephemeral do the underlayer if paint and I looked ger that way, looking almost ghost-like. It seems to be second step in my interactions with a horse. In the first painting I did at least five years ago, a female figure is offering a mask to a blacvk horse, which in my Jungian way of thinking is my ego trying to place a persona s mask on myself. In two even earlier paintings, I depict alone up a mountain with a huge skeletal face in the foreground. And in a later painting a horse is barely visible outside a window while a woman inside burns letters. Three two paintings seem to me know to represent my detachment from spirit, while me recent one, still in progress is representing an aspect of myself trying to comfort spirit, which is fairly accurate since I await results to see if my cancer returns and am in the midst of moving out of my art studio. Jung considered the horse a symbol of the mother in addition the the subconscious. And her aspect could symbol the maternal care one needs when confronting the confusion and chaos one encounters with.the shadow. We may have to find our personal internal mother to deal with some of the issued we unravel during any sojurn into the subconscious realm. </div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-68502958218778468662015-08-14T07:24:00.000-04:002015-08-20T18:26:52.584-04:00Gods and Goddesses, Icons and Idols Series <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
jI am currently working on a new series of artwork including acrylics, encaustics, oils and watercolors on wood, canvas and paper. After reading more by Carl Jung and on Jung, I decided to return to this series which I started over ten years ago. Ever since junior high I've had a fascination for mythology which has been strengthened by my 20 plus year study of Jung, Joseph Campbell and more. I'm including Icons because they serve the role of mythology in conciousness and leaps in awareness due to their archetypal power. Psychologists, artists, poets, authors, comic writers and film directors have long mined the powers of archetypal images and how their immediacy can enrich a story as people identify with and acknowledge their inherent qualities. In Jung's Red Book and his concepts, he encourages us to explore our own personal archetypes with both their positive and negative qualities. Even though I've been painting this way for years, I am shocked when I discover a new archetype. In my new series I explore these themes as a guide to personal discovery but as with all archetypes, they invite universal speculation. I ran the gamut from Greek and Egyptian mythology to relatively contemporary icons such as characters from the T.V. series, "Fringe," and James O'Barr's comic, "The Crow." I only realized weeks after completing these latter two, that they related to the theme of a figure who continued after death. First is the character,Eric Draven, who came back from the dead as the character, the Crow. And secondly, the scientist, William Bell, from Fringe who avoided death by going to an alternate universe. I realized that I was choosing these subjects as I tried to comprehend aspects of my life and my changing psychology after surviving cancer. It only dawned on me a few weeks later that I was trying to make sense of my mood swings from euphoria at being alive a feeling good to fear and trepidation every three months before the neccessary CT scans to see if the cancer has returned. I am typing this post from my phone so can't upload photos but will as soon as I can.</div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-40235759524856587192015-04-25T03:47:00.000-04:002015-04-25T09:15:46.956-04:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zV9k5_YK0ZFT268yRymd1ubVTrOo5v4t2Cv5we7GiDPux1WXE3f5EOLjG9ixYKTT8IegGwHF4c4WdNuRGKHnFxY2B4jU1dCBSTCqxqE2WSJVEquEkwGP9D-izyCAr0MXNIgburIlUvg/s1600/poker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Less than one week and counting to our grand opening at Studio Unknown and we're crazy busy with all the preparations. It's so great to see dreams put into reality of an arts venue where anything can happen. We already have 25 names on the waiting list for our guest art wall.<br />
Ashton Higgins, photographer, will be our first guest artist and i met him when he climber over three second floor balconies in my daughter's apartment complex to let her know I9 was there and waiting. It was quite a hilarious story, with me yelling up at her to "open up", throwing rocks and keys until he same to the rescue laughing at this old woman making a scene. Come to find out he and his wife are both artists. she went to Limestone College and will have a guest wall later this year, and the friend with him on the balcony is also an artist. Who would have thought it three doors away from where I lived for nearly a year. I volunteered to make them a piece of art for thanking him for risking his life, and when they invited me in, they explained they were artists and collected art. <br />
Odd they way the universe has of introducing people!<br />
Don't have photos of his usual take on things yet, but will post it as soon as he sends it along. He is busy as <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zV9k5_YK0ZFT268yRymd1ubVTrOo5v4t2Cv5we7GiDPux1WXE3f5EOLjG9ixYKTT8IegGwHF4c4WdNuRGKHnFxY2B4jU1dCBSTCqxqE2WSJVEquEkwGP9D-izyCAr0MXNIgburIlUvg/s1600/poker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zV9k5_YK0ZFT268yRymd1ubVTrOo5v4t2Cv5we7GiDPux1WXE3f5EOLjG9ixYKTT8IegGwHF4c4WdNuRGKHnFxY2B4jU1dCBSTCqxqE2WSJVEquEkwGP9D-izyCAr0MXNIgburIlUvg/s1600/poker.jpg" /></a></div>
can be with framing and getting his show ready. <br />
We're always brainstorming and we've come up with some more ideas events. there will definitely be poetry readings at the First Friday in may and we plan to have a chess table and poker table set up in the pavilion for those who enjoy a mental challenge. When visitors are not looking at art, listening to poetry or just hanging out at one of our two fire pits, we hope they'll be coming up with ideas for events. <br />
We did find out from a friend of resident artist,<a href="https://www.facebook.com/kevin.anderson.562114/about?ref=br_rs"> Kevin Anderson</a>, Leroy of Judson mill, that out building was not only the general store to Brandon Mills Plush mill but was also a kickin' pool hall. Always packed. So the concept of games fits right in. In the future, there are plans for night time golf and night time bocchi ball and who knows what else.<br />
It's interesting how these buildings, built circa turn of the century (Brandon Mills was built in 1899) evolved. the Village Studios I lived in at one time in the Village at West End was at various times a furniture store, a mortuary and a carpet store. (the metal measuring marks are still on the floor in the lower level). There are even rumors it was a brothel, but I haven't found proof on that one yet. <br />
Over time, we're going to learn a lot more about the history of our section of the Textile Center of Greenville. Up until the late 1970's and 80'sd it was a bustling community with many shops and services offered along Easley Bridge Rd. Hwy 123. Chuck's barber shop was right next door to where Studio Unknown is located and I've yet to find out what was once located two doors down. A working upholstery shop is still in existence. <br />
The story about the two Clock restaurants side by side is interesting enough, but that's for a later time, - maybe around the fire pit. <br />
About seven hours later...<br />
Just got this cool info on our Studio unknown art studio/gallery building when I put out a call on the<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/425699580796530/?fref=nf"> Brandon Mill Facebook Page.</a><br />
thanks Kojn, Ken and Gary! <br />
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<span data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978311082202041:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0"><a class=" UFICommentActorName" data-ft="{"tn":";"}" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/hovercard.php?id=1623174940&extragetparams=%7B%22hc_location%22%3A%22ufi%22%7D" data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978311082202041:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0.0" dir="ltr" href="https://www.facebook.com/joanew1?fref=ufi"><span data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978311082202041:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0.0.0">Joan Elizabeth White</span></a></span><span data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978311082202041:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978311082202041:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.0"> </span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978311082202041:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978311082202041:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978311082202041:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.0"><span data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978311082202041:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.0.$end:0:$0:0">I
will check with my dad, I know about a barber shop somewhere, in that
area not sure, but if it is the one I am thinking about dad, may have
pictures of the inside of the barber shop not sure my memory shot these
days,,,,,,,,,,,,,I know that there was</span></span><span data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978311082202041:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3"><span data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978311082202041:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978311082202041:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$0:0">
a barber shop on Pendleton once a long time ago, where my oldest got
his hair cut, and my youngest got his first hair cut and a week later
the guy retired and soon they went out of
business.......................</span></span></span></span></span></span><span data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978311082202041:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.6"></span></div>
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In the coroner building where Hall's Up. shop is there was a drug
store. Next door to Chuck's Barber shop there was another barber shop
ran by Joe Fulbright. He lived in the large house on West Ave. I
remember when he went to $1.25 for a hairc</span></span><span data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978318575534625:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3"><span data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978318575534625:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978318575534625:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$0:0">ut
and I thought that was hiway robbery. On down the street there was a
pool room but it was hard for a kid get in there. Joe has a brother that
does or did cut hair in Dunean. Sorry but no pictures.</span></span></span></span></span></span><span data-reactid=".gu.1:3:1:$comment978227575543725_978318575534625:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.6"></span></div>
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ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-86617786089429803782015-04-20T07:51:00.002-04:002015-04-20T23:53:15.026-04:00Participation Mystique<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejija-onoVj_oRUri5GiV9cS7AY-XNuGxxZwqS66uEE4OTIVkT8GteiKbJL2YPfQ3Gep6Qtq4QJ_RYnFwdVPtJ0C9CSFIorkfIH4VbSo3HVodnBmyVrNqzr6zxj-mkWOQztre6hQ023I/s1600/castle+annandale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejija-onoVj_oRUri5GiV9cS7AY-XNuGxxZwqS66uEE4OTIVkT8GteiKbJL2YPfQ3Gep6Qtq4QJ_RYnFwdVPtJ0C9CSFIorkfIH4VbSo3HVodnBmyVrNqzr6zxj-mkWOQztre6hQ023I/s1600/castle+annandale.jpg" height="72" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I'm now fully moved into my new art studio
alongside, my true friend of over ten years, Szag Randahl and
like-minded new friends, owner of Studio Unknown, Bruce Miller and Kevin
Anderson. <br />We have been working non-stop getting the place ready for
our opening on First Friday, May 1st, 2015. Bruce has been working like
a madman repairing the over 100 year old textile mill general store
which houses our four studios, and Cerbu music studio and a killer common area. <br />As
Bruce describes it, when you open the front door, it's like
Betelgeuse, you never know what you'll find. Out back is paradise and
the middle is Castle Annandale. And how true it is. Bruce has a love of
all things medieval as I do so the place indeed feels like a castle.
All the windows have been filled with a cement block walls so its dark
until we turn on the overhead fluorescent lights. I didn't like them at first
and knew they would change my colors when I painted but I just take a break, step out into paradise and recheck my tweaking. <br />The
minute I walked into this place I felt a sense of peace and an odd
sense of purpose. Odd I say, because during the past year when I
battled with ovarian cancer, I didn't think about things like purpose. I
just took one step after the other on the days I could walk, lived
chemo to chemo and binged watched all the TV shows I missed because
pre-cancer I didn't watch any TV except the news. <br />Now that I'm in
remission, I feel this incredible push to create - painting for now but
maybe poetry later. I want to communicate what I can't say in words
because cancer may have been the best thing to ever happen to me. Prior to my diagnosis I was often depressed and at times suicidal. I
couldn't handle the fake aspects of our societies, the rampant greed,
the constant abuse of the people who just want to get by. Even immersed
as I am in Carl Jung's theories, I found little comfort when I looked
around me. What good is the subconscious when society just gobbles up
everything that is humane? Pre-cancer, I stopped writing, stopped
painting, even stopped reading, having lost faith. The last thing I
gave up was music, which was hard, but I didn't want to feel anymore.
And music, especially IAMX which I listened to over and over, 100's of
times on a constant loop. because the angst in Chris' voice was the angst of the world. <br />I
didn't feel anything when I had cancer. I never cried. I never
thought I would die. The doctors told my daughter I almost did three
times. I grew to hate my house, my collection of things I'd collected
over the years, each one having either a symbolic meaning or
emotionally-charged memory. i even hated all my books and wondered why I
surrounded myself with material things when nothing mattered at all. I
became a shell, vacant and a burden on my family, a hopeless constant
reminder laying on the couch of a body without a soul. Both my daughter
and I were pretty sure that even after the promised remission I would
never come back. <br />But I did. When Dr. Griffin said he'd have me in
full remission in nine months, I thought he was nuts. I tried to stop
chemo twice, since quality of life for a meaningless shell of a person
is zilch and I didn't want my daughter, Beth, my son,Jeff and my
granddaughters, Kendall and Deven to remember me that way. But Dr.
Griffin was wrong, in November of 2014, I went into remission, six
months after my first diagnosis. Sure I was still tired and he told me
he was stopping the chemo three months early. Even though the tumors
were gone, he always did a little more just to be on the safe side. But
he was afraid the chemo would kill me. I'd already lost 42 lbs. and
been hospitalized five times for blood clots in my lung, dangerous
magnesium loss, a collapsed lung. By January 2015 I was listening to
music again. Yep, you got it IAMX. I started painting and couldn't
stop. Eleven paintings in less than three months, the most prolific
I've ever been since I started painting at age 52. I discovered a new
found love of life, every minute of it, every nuance, the sounds of the
Canadian geese as they flew overhead at my daughter's where I lived
while sick, the taste of cheese or chocolate, the hugs of my
granddaughters. <br />My subconscious erupted like a waterfall after a
sudden streak of thunderstorms heavy with Gulf tropical water or a fissure
opening in the earth releasing all the poison gases held back for years
by compressed shale, limestone, granite. I felt the slow resurgence of
knowing that one is universe and the universe is our core. We can tap
into anything and everything - sure it can come at a price like your
debilitating horrific insomnia, but as with any shaman, you must go into
the cave, suffer the peeling away of layers of conditioning until you
see that pinhole of hope that leads to layers and layers and layers of
meaning, memory and insight that we pack away just to make it through the daily routine of living. <br />My
son, his girlfriend, Janine and I watched you flail yourself onstage in
Atlanta in 2013. We watched a shaman overtaken by energies no one
could explain or understand. We acknowledged it with each other, were
swept up in your passionate powerful overwhelming need to "express" to
interpret what your subconscious was so bent on releasing. You were thin
as a rail, and so driven, so forcefully driven you woke us up somehow
to turbulence like what they say Van Gogh painted before scientists
could discover its true volume and direction. You tapped into something
we can't explain - only experience and your self- sacrifice, opened up
those who were eager and ready. <br />I've done a great deal of studying
on shamans, their sacrifice, their self education, their need to
disappear into the cave and read the nightmares. They are chosen and
often would love to relinquish that life for one of normalcy and banality. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">The psychiatrist, Carl Gustav Jung" had a good bit to say about the creative person - when he says "artist" or "poet" he includes musicians, dancers, actors, - anyone whose need to create is so powerful it runs their daily life. </span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">"The biographies of great artists make it abundantly clear that the
creative urge is often so imperious that it battens on their humanity
and yokes everything to the service of the work,"Jung writes, "even at the cost of
health and ordinary human happiness. The unborn work in the psyche of
the artist is a force of nature that achieves its end either with
tyrannical might or with the subtle cunning of nature herself, quite
regardless of the personal fate of the man who is its vehicle...." Carl
Gustav Jung wrote. The secret of artistic creation and the effectiveness of art is to be
found in a return to the state of 'participation mystique' – to that
level of experience at which it is man who lives, and not the
individual...Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him
its instrument. To perform this difficult office it is sometimes
necessary for him to sacrifice happiness and everything that makes life
worth living for the ordinary human being. </span></i></span></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The
specifically artistic disposition involves an overweight of collective
psychic life as against the personal. Art is kind of an innate drive
that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument. The artist is
not a person endowed with free will who seeks his own ends, but one who
allows art to realize its purposes through him. As a human being he may
have moods and a will and personal aims, but as an artist he is “man” in
a higher sense—he is “collective man”—one who carries and shapes the
unconscious, psychic life of mankind. To perform this difficult office
it is sometimes necessary for him to sacrifice happiness and everything
that makes life worth living for the ordinary human being….</span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The artist’s life cannot be otherwise than
full of conflicts, for two forces are at war within him—on the one hand
the common human longing for happiness, satisfaction and security in
life, and on the other a ruthless passion for creation which may go so
far as to override every personal desire. The lives of artists are as
rule so highly unsatisfactory—not to say tragic—because of their
inferiority on the human and personal side, and not because of a
sinister disposition. <b>There are hardly any exceptions to the rule that a person must pay dearly for the divine gift of the creative fire.</b></span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">It makes no difference whether the poet
knows that his work is begotten, grows and matures with him, or whether
he supposes that by taking thought he produces it out of the void. His
opinion of the matter does not change the fact that his work outgrows
him as a child its mother. <b>The creative process has feminine
quality, and the creative work arises from unconscious depths—we might
say, from the realm of the mothers.</b> Whenever the creative force
predominates, human life is ruled and molded by the unconscious as
against the active will, and the conscious ego is swept along on a
subterranean current, being nothing more than a helpless observer of
events. The work in process becomes the poet’s fate and determines his
psychic development. It is not Goethe who creates Faust, but Faust which creates Goethe.</span></i></span></div>
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ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-90877682381932794292015-04-19T23:16:00.004-04:002015-04-19T23:16:46.183-04:00Studio Unknown Opens for First Friday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ITe618cx0g-WzI5u7TbnjOK84kO9e9xqiu27y3dFbF7nZF0dZjz_EadPp2Iemclp7rkG4bC6XUOlmK37rWUv8LFj2qa_j7-8vUgT2abcECgN03rscp0Am-1J-bgQvH8lYXKAbEBRd1I/s1600/clint+eastwood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ITe618cx0g-WzI5u7TbnjOK84kO9e9xqiu27y3dFbF7nZF0dZjz_EadPp2Iemclp7rkG4bC6XUOlmK37rWUv8LFj2qa_j7-8vUgT2abcECgN03rscp0Am-1J-bgQvH8lYXKAbEBRd1I/s1600/clint+eastwood.jpg" height="198" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4z9Orlv_FM3ANwz9z4cEzPdZgc6udS647oDl4zXpXpcHU8xJod9pEZVvolG0eEf-qlTmXM_M5Z3dG1x36bz9EnYsSI-z5yQScgsEiCWCqoDs9Hg1aeKxmnB6OvFN18c10AS1xWePlfRA/s1600/kevin's+sun.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #3366ff; font-size: 22.0pt;">Studio Unknown</span></i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9BH85kMVM1tvDcD3aXEu1Dl7sU30lgPVtlKEg7rgIla0uMjK0CnmqrAnruSYseY2bIJWexQUv1iHI0-_tVrDNgDmmpmbeiBmSVbbjE6hWOZuNeCuyeN1qzThK49N63uLKREOlOjeMXao/s1600/Preversity+Effortlessly+Experienced.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9BH85kMVM1tvDcD3aXEu1Dl7sU30lgPVtlKEg7rgIla0uMjK0CnmqrAnruSYseY2bIJWexQUv1iHI0-_tVrDNgDmmpmbeiBmSVbbjE6hWOZuNeCuyeN1qzThK49N63uLKREOlOjeMXao/s1600/Preversity+Effortlessly+Experienced.jpg" height="289" width="320" /></a></div>
unbolts <span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">it’s locks, oils it’s hinges and throws open its doors</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">for its First First Friday</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Come check out resident artists<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bruce Miller,
Gail Gray,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Szag Randahl and Kevin Anderson</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in their studios</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">at</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAGnFrJTBipo8x0c34Z3SnxntoZKKgwiivynvTuXnMGLCUa5jeq2YrNG0pMdTkkIm5sx-VJkY9A_vMI4xlIL6nidIqQUwJ6fUR7oR1HoqiGiHXhqttn9qVCeesJtX9AQYYhASGEpPsXnk/s1600/Francois+Burgogne+Sean.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAGnFrJTBipo8x0c34Z3SnxntoZKKgwiivynvTuXnMGLCUa5jeq2YrNG0pMdTkkIm5sx-VJkY9A_vMI4xlIL6nidIqQUwJ6fUR7oR1HoqiGiHXhqttn9qVCeesJtX9AQYYhASGEpPsXnk/s1600/Francois+Burgogne+Sean.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">914 Easley Bridge Rd</span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">, Greenville, SC</span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Not far from The Village at the West
End </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a few
blocks up Easley Bridge Rd.
from Ryan Calloway’s Creative Ironworks</span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(going away from downtown)</span>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">On the right, look for the word Art on the white
awning over the old textile general store at the intersection of Easley Bridge Road and Ledbetter Sreet, Greenville, SC 29611. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> Open 6-9 pm</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Friday, May 1, 2015 After Hours Party<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>9 pm until ?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4z9Orlv_FM3ANwz9z4cEzPdZgc6udS647oDl4zXpXpcHU8xJod9pEZVvolG0eEf-qlTmXM_M5Z3dG1x36bz9EnYsSI-z5yQScgsEiCWCqoDs9Hg1aeKxmnB6OvFN18c10AS1xWePlfRA/s1600/kevin's+sun.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4z9Orlv_FM3ANwz9z4cEzPdZgc6udS647oDl4zXpXpcHU8xJod9pEZVvolG0eEf-qlTmXM_M5Z3dG1x36bz9EnYsSI-z5yQScgsEiCWCqoDs9Hg1aeKxmnB6OvFN18c10AS1xWePlfRA/s1600/kevin's%2Bsun.jpeg" height="211" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">also open by appt. 864-534-7858 </span></div>
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ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-85460381864659757192015-03-26T07:14:00.000-04:002015-03-26T07:14:46.624-04:00New Art Studio at Studio Unknown<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There are a couple of reasons I haven't posted lately. The main one is that I now have a new art studio! Yesterday, Szag and I booked our studios at Studio Unknown at 914 Easley Bridge Rd. (Hwy. 122) in Greenville, SC! We are so excited. It's a great place and easy location not far from the main drag at Pendleton in the Village of West Greenville, just a little bit further than Ryan Calloway's blacksmith shop and art gallery studios at Creative Artistry on Andrews St.<br />
The other reason is that I've been insanely painting and framing to get submissions ready for three big juried shows in Anderson, SC, Pickens, SC and Artisphere in Greenville. Today I deliver "Diana" and "Textile Mill Owner" to Anderson Arts Center. <br />
I moved in a few things yesterday for my studio, but Bruce Miller, the owner, is building me a new door and wall so I'm not going to bring the big things yet and get in his way. The place is awesome with four studios and a public space with lots of walls to hang art, two separate seating areas, a dining table and four chairs, a TV, stove refrigerator, stove, sink, microwave, two crockpots, and a coffee maker! So we can hold events and serve food and chill out with the other artists when we're not working! There is also an outdoor area with a table, chairs, a fire pit and grill. So we're all set to really interact with each other, other artists, patrons and visitors. <br />
I'm so excited - it is the coolest place and Bruce, the owner, is an incredible person, a great artist with a background in art and music. He was an inker for Marvel Comics, even did Spiderman for years since he was a very young man and also has a lengthy career in the music interests, playing in a number of bands, touring and opening for the likes of Bad Company and Styx. He has lots of cool stories and we think alike about polytheism, synchronicity, loves Jim Morrison like I do. His favorite artist is Dali, just like Szag. <br />
I did a thrift store run and found a cool chair for $20.00, a small shelf for $2.00, a wicker medicine cabinet for storing paints for $7.50 and a wastebasket for $1.00. I painted them all turquoise sea blue to make a short of Jane Coslick look. I'll be bringing my red futon and chair that I had in my studio at the Village Studios along with a funky styled metal high top chair in seagreen which I can sit on to paint from my table top easel, my two easels, a set of storage drawers, a large standing cabinet that someone was throwing out in my neighborhood so its free, and a crazy table with a lighted top that I found at the side of the road a year ago in my neighborhood. I'll also upcycle and paint these two pieces turquoise sea blue, And then there are all the paints, frames, canvases, wood boxes and boards I've been hoarding since I recovered from cancer. </div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-26238288051966382412015-03-18T08:59:00.000-04:002015-03-18T11:22:29.172-04:00Textile Milltowns Oil painting and Encaustic<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I grew up in a textile mill town in New England. Lowell, Mass. was known for its textiles and was <br />
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established to build the textile industry in the 1826 and was known as the cradle of the Industrial Revolution. because it had the Merrimack River flowing through its graceful flatlands, with canals branching off into different direction,. the site was chosen so the textile factories could be powered by waterwheels. The additional introduction of a complex railway system, allowed the raw materials to be shipped to the factories and the finished goods to be shipped all over the north. The farm girls from what was once just farmlands of Chelmsford, Mass moved into the mill row houses and worked in the mills. By the 1860's, Lowell was the largest industrial complex in the United States. Immigrants form all over the world camne to work in Lowell, over the years, starting with the Irish escaping the potato famine in the early 1800's who came and built the mills.<br />
Everyone in my family worked in the mill, my mother, myself (at the age of fourteen, working in the summers during high school), my ex-husband, and I at Joann Fabrics in Lowell, my son, at J.P. Stevens in Greenville, SCall except for my daughter. I worked in the office as did my mother of JoAnne Fabrics, enjoyed it and made a good salary for my age.<br />
My then husband who had worked in the mill since 18 years of age, started off as a sweeper and worked his <br />
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way up the ladder to become the vice president of a textile company over the years, was offered a job at SACM in Mauldin in the Greenville, SC area. We moved to the south when I was 29 and my son was 8 and my daughter 10 months old. When we arrived I discovered Greenville was another huge textile town, once again established because of the Reedy River and all its canals. Greenville and Lowell are about the same size and have a similar historical feeling, although Lowell is a good bit older and has preserved much more of its history due to being on the National Register of Historical cities.<br />
Whereas Lowell housed its workers in row houses, boarding houses and eventually three story Victorian homes where three generations of families lived, Greenville established its mill villages. I now live in a 1920's mill village house.<br />
So long intro - take a deep breath, when I paint somehow textile buildings, mills and water towers pop up in my backgrounds. <br />
This happened with textile mill owner, which started out as a figure painting of my ex-boyfriend, Danny Johns of Staines, England. He came to visit my after two years of courting me in letters and poems for a year, then another year of weekly three hour phone calls. We became engaged after he came for a visit. I shot this photo of him wearing a foreign officer;s coat he found at the Army/Navy store. He stood surveying the Reedy River and the city of Greenville at the time, unknown to me, he was considering whether to move to Greenville or not. Just before he left after we'd been all over Greenville, visited Atlanta and saw Ministry as guest of the band in the sound booth, had a large medieval costume party and fell in love, he asked me to marry him. Unfortunately a few months after he arrived home, he realized he couldn't leave England and he broke off the engagement.<br />
When I painted him in oils, the face came out quite different and quirky, the head too large and too slim for real9ity, but I paint quirky figures, I like them distorted. In the past, artists often distorted features in art, especially of the gods. For example in India, temple sculptors would exaggerate the breasts and buttocks of the female gods to portray her sexuality. I like smart men with good minds, and Danny was one of those so I guess I subconsciously exaggerated the head. I painted this in a five hour session. It's not finished but is too wet to make any more changes.The background ended up being more mills than stores and upscale hotels. I thought he looked like a figure form the past and he seemed to be to be a little arrogant, serious and looking like someone from the 1700's-1800's. So I decided he was a textile magnet who built mills around the city.<br />
Another piece of art that turned into a textile theme a cityscape of mills created on an 11X14 piece of cradled wood in beeswax encaustic paint. There are two paintings beneath it that didn't work, one that was a cityscape collage in Germany and the other a painting of an old man on a city street. The texture is very thick and varied on this board since I painted wax over paper and many layers of wax. It has a very abstract effect but I like it because it reminds me of the mill yard on a hot day when we would walk away from the mill to downtown to get lunch in a little diner with the best french fries. <br />
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ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-49282312686396266732015-03-18T08:58:00.002-04:002015-03-19T09:38:45.065-04:00Diana oil painting completed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've finally finished my oil painting "Diana." This piece probably took four-13 hour days over a period of <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaEEULPiBkWbXjVrPd6ZCZ-DSeWBfEY-2003TCaeF9e8Rs3wUsjsUMnvaEC_Os2MPbveLjDQ7rlE1j0-s0vA11BV34tuSRxsKCO2v6VE6pGDmE0hsmxzcugQ6zjLgrhP3ijQHrP8Kp92A/s1600/Diana+Four.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaEEULPiBkWbXjVrPd6ZCZ-DSeWBfEY-2003TCaeF9e8Rs3wUsjsUMnvaEC_Os2MPbveLjDQ7rlE1j0-s0vA11BV34tuSRxsKCO2v6VE6pGDmE0hsmxzcugQ6zjLgrhP3ijQHrP8Kp92A/s1600/Diana+Four.jpg" height="320" width="179" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4bEEka_jkK-xlLGk06nSR5N-Rskju7bosIl89QBh6G-6nIGZzQh7CWm4Gfaumx6JPz1TQTdBN_o_vewdYlXOtePDb-QttI0GWFkKQVxQ2aISNPLpf0foLe3LvJxRToQt7jQ2NdnG3rE/s1600/Diana+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>three weeks. I allowed a good bit of drying time in between some of the painting sessions because I had responsibilities watching my three year old granddaughter, Deven. <br />
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This painting is 36X11 on a wooden board I found at the SOS thrift store. I love to upcycle when I can, and have found working on wood easier for painting faces than working on canvas. <br />
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To complete the painting, I did some more work on her dress, finished scumbling the zinc white over dioxiide purple and finished her right hand, Rembrandt was known for scumbling and tthe technique of scumbling is often used for the backgrounds for portraits, allowing the face to stand out more than by being distracted by the details of an interior or landscape background. Although I've used this technique a good bi in figure's faces, <strike>backgrounnds</strike> and landscapes, it's a bit hard to describe. <br />
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Marion Boddy Evans says on her website - <br />
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"Scumbling can be done with opaque or transparent colors, but the effect is greater with an opaque color and with a light color over a dark. When you look at it from a distance the colors <a data-component="link" data-ordinal="2" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" href="http://painting.about.com/od/artglossaryo/g/defopticalmix.htm">mix optically</a>. Up close you'll see the brushwork and texture in the scumbled layer."<br />
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The hand is still not quite the way I'd like it, and I decided not to put anything symbolic in her hand, but I decided to stop because it was not as noticeable once I toned down the color. I'm pretty happy with this piece. It's more than I expected working on such a large scale for me and working in oils, which I love but which is always a challenge, especially when I tend to paint s many critical areas wet on wet, as I did the face. <br />
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<a href="http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/08/scumbling-an-essential-oil-painting-technique/">Paul Easton</a> described the effects on his blog -<br />
<br />
"It was fun to try the new technique for me of using a wash I've done it in furniture refinishing and wall painting, but never on my oil paintings. Atmospheric. Translucent. Radiant. Painterly. Chances are if you’ve ever applied these descriptive terms to an <a href="http://www.craftsy.com/classes/oil-painting?_ct=rbew&_ctp=26283">oil painting</a>, you were looking at some of the effects scumbling can give you."<br />
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ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-14511446825819069282015-03-18T08:55:00.002-04:002015-03-18T08:55:40.182-04:00Absinthe Night - Radical Changes, Session Two<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It always surprising me how much a painting changes during the process. Even in a painting completed in <br />
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one day, painting wet on wet in oils, the painting evolves as the artist acts as critic during the process. I tend to recognize discrepancies in my work at intervals, sometimes by moving the painting to a different room, where the light is different and not reflecting off the wet paint and sitting at a different perspective. I'll watch TV or read a book, periodically looking up so I can hope to view the painting as an observer who hasn't been looking at it during the past few hours. This is the only way I can get perspective and sometimes I realize I'll have to sleep on it and view the painting in the morning in order to see it with news eyes. That's the only way to view it for, looking at a if fir the first time. <br />
While painting "Absinthe Night", an 18X24 piece in oils on canvas, I am constantly making radical changes. I changed the round table to square, altered the figure on the far left by enlarging his body and rubbing out what was a decent face of a 9 to 12 year old boy, reshaping the head and starting the face all over to try and make him look over 21 years old. I also scrubbed out the face of the red-haired woman on the right and turned her head more three quarters than side view. I broadened the bodies of the two figures in the middle and started to flesh out their arms more.<br />
Standing back I realized I didn't like the background color so changed it to a different and lighter shade of green than the door. <br />
The room is slowly becoming less and less like my living room and more like a room I've never seen before. This saddens me a bit but what might look good in my house, is not working with the somber colored clothing of the figures. So far I've left the curtains as they stood at the end of the first day, but now I'm not very happy with them any more and may change them but haven't yet figured out what color and what sort of <br />
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atmosphere do I want. With brighter color curtains I'll create a more exciting kind of vibe, but I see Absinthe as a drink one would imbibe what one in a dark place, kind of on the sly, and while my living room has copper colored metallic looking fabric, the room is much darker in real life than the palette I used. <br />
On the third session of the next day, I painted the second figure from the left based on a writer friend who is part Cherokee. Somehow he ended up looking more Middle Eastern or Spanish and I can't quite yet figure out why, so don't know what changes to make. The second figure on the right who is standing, is based on a female writer friend, but once I completed her face, she only looks slightly like her. And the female figure on the far right, which represents a younger self-portait looks more like a Victorian woman. This is not surprising since I've painted and drawn many Victorian women and love the era in art.<br />
I still have more work to do on the eyes of the two men on the left, and in adding the glasses, bottles, trays, silver spoon, sugar cube and other items related to the Absinthe ritual on the table, as well as items on the shelves. <br />
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ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-49597673782973384952015-03-11T10:17:00.001-04:002015-03-13T10:30:43.587-04:00Absinthe Night, new painting - process<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So I took on the challenge of creating a painting including four figures. Not my usual style. I used an 18X24 canvas and blocked it out with pencil first. I didn't follow most of my pencil lines but they gave me a sense of where to place my figures. The painting is based on actual evening I spent with members of they Reedy River Rats Writers Group based here in Greenville, SC Charleston. One night after our writers meeting at Coffee Underground, we decided to go back to my house. I had recently received in the mail a bottle of Swiss Absinthe, this was in 2007 and it was still illegal to sell Absinthe in the United States but you could purchase it from other countries and have it shipped. I had already found four wonderful absinthe glasses at Goodwill that looked just like the ones in paintings by Degas and Vuillard, and I had been gifted with a silver slotted spoon upon which you place the sugar cube to produce the <i>louche</i>. It was a fun experience completing the ritual of achieving the louche talking about writers who wrote about absinthe, as well as artists. I wished I had taken a photo. <br />
And I'd always wanted a turn of the century painting of Absinthe drinkers, having seen a few, and been fascinated by the concept of the Green Fairy since reading about Absinthe in Poppy Z. Brite's book, <i>Lost Souls.</i> Her husband now owns the restaurant The Green Goddess in New Orleans where every dish has liquor I'd even found a chapbook by Alestair Crowley on the subject and was fascinated by the culture.<br />
So when I was scrounging around for ideas for larger paintings, the idea just popped into my head one morning in that zone somewhere between asleep and awake. Thanks time zone change for this short period of confusion and illumination. <br />
I started out painting the table in my living from which we served our drinks. It's heavy wood, kind of <br />
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Viking looking and round with studs. But after painting it in, it had no perspective (not my strong suit). It looked as if it was standing on the side of the tabletop.<br />
So I looked up lots of absinthe paintings from France for the turn of the century and found cafes and tables and after seeing the way Degas painted a white table in "L", I decided to change the table to a rectangle so I could put a leg on it for perspective. I had to use a lot of paint to make the changeover, and reinforce the wood planks on the top. But it worked! This also gave me more room for my figures to crowd around. I blocked in the figures, painted their clothes and then started working on heads. I completed the far one on the left. But he ended u[ looking like a 12 year old kid. I can't have a 12 year old kid drinking absinthe. So I dabbled with the background, put in the green door which sits behind my couch where most of us were sitting back in 2007. And stared at the painting. It was now about 11:30 last night. I also put in the face on the figure on the right with red hair that's supposed to be me. But it was all wrong so I scrubbed it out and will let it dry overnight. I fiddled a little with it some more started putting in the background and the curtains (Which look more like those at Coffee C nderground in the India-influenced room, so the interior may end up being a blend of Coffee Underground and my living room, since the table looks like on of theirs too. I ended up going to bed at 1:00 pm.<br />
This morning I. I started at 7 am and scrubbed out the neck and face of the kid and worked until 10:10. He's finished, I think. I also worked on the background some more painting the walls a mix of grey and yellow trying to come up with the beige that;s in living room. Those walls have a base coat of beige but then there are dark greens, dark blues and copper dragged down from the ceiling like the screen set at a NIN concert I went to circa 2008.<br />
So far I've used 15 brushes and a palette consisting of zinc white, lamp black, sienna, yellow ochre, lemon yellow, vermillion, viridian, Payne;s grey, violet and English light red. <br />
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ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-6770524404012544972015-03-09T10:30:00.000-04:002015-03-09T10:30:50.934-04:00Absinthe, Art and Challenges<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQVS4cJM5kSPHoxl90Eq8Ann-sUvCsPHcRvPB5m8j4DbGrZHUmUQLzfsp49I20enLeWd_5orD8kEJprsqJ_NtdrW-PbZtdcfEFXwQzkAsiriWiYKdbsyHJqvXd6VHr1-bv3e_AG9-J5ik/s1600/Diana+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQVS4cJM5kSPHoxl90Eq8Ann-sUvCsPHcRvPB5m8j4DbGrZHUmUQLzfsp49I20enLeWd_5orD8kEJprsqJ_NtdrW-PbZtdcfEFXwQzkAsiriWiYKdbsyHJqvXd6VHr1-bv3e_AG9-J5ik/s1600/Diana+3.jpg" height="320" width="189" /></a>I'm very excited. I was able to do a lot if painting over the weekend. Am close to finishing, "Diana" my oil painting on the 36"X11" wooden panel. Just need to fix her left hand when the paint dries. And then I completed a small piece, "Paul," a sepia toned oil on wooden panel in three hours (with a few touch ups later in the day) as I left it on my new easel and kept examining it for flaws. <br />
I painted 13 hours on Diana on Saturday with a few breaks to get on Facebook, Blogger and Tumblr. <br />
I like Tumbler because it has so much art to check. I got the idea from artist, Tim Speaker, of the Art Bomb, who makes posts from his art studio on it. I love keeping up with his work, because he's one of my favorite artists to collect. I have a piece of his in my bedroom and love it. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioGHI3IMlBfLnA2S1zRwz4qcDqz1553jzpABWAQhQfZnkY4QaYWV9LU-aik4Jdr-7O95u1n1jBHH62elQqgp50HDdAG7YGlWv_M4uVFSd4-QVJS0WZS_sG4d2SqlRUrr1UKzMz69E6zNk/s1600/Paul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioGHI3IMlBfLnA2S1zRwz4qcDqz1553jzpABWAQhQfZnkY4QaYWV9LU-aik4Jdr-7O95u1n1jBHH62elQqgp50HDdAG7YGlWv_M4uVFSd4-QVJS0WZS_sG4d2SqlRUrr1UKzMz69E6zNk/s1600/Paul.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a>Then I have to start thinking out going larger for two juried shows I'm trying to get into. My son gave me a gift card to Michael's for my birthday do I went planning to get small things like paint. But they had a clearance section of open back frames on sale for ridiculously low prices and they weren't damaged. Just the last of their style. I found a gold 18X24, regularly priced at $99.99 for $20.00, a 16X20 gold frame with carved accents, regularly $49.99 for $10.00 and an 11X14 blue wood frame regularly 39.99 for $6.00. They also had canvases on sale so I bought three canvases to fit them. And I'm ready to start the next two paintings. Can't today because I'm watching my three-year old granddaughter, Deven today. We're painting on wooden pocket books for her doll today along with a bird feeder for my porch. <br />
I searched for ideas for my large pieces and came up with an image of a past boyfriend, Danny Johns from England, whose photo I took as he overlooked the Reedy River downtown. It will give me a chance to do some figurative work as well as a cityscape in the background. It's a whole different color palette so I can get out of that rut. It's moody winter picture because he came to stay with me in November, and more subtle an some in tone so I won't be painting in my more jewel tone colors. <br />
Then last night, just as I fell to sleep, I thought about all the Absinthe drinker paintings I love from the turn of the century by in Paris by Van Gogh, Degas, Vuillard, Picasso, Lautrec. So very many and I've always wanted one. So I'll paint my own from when we had a writer's meeting at my house and I introduced my friends and writing support system, Brian, Becky and Chris to Absinthe. We did the whole sugar and water ritual to achieve the louche and it was a pivotal meeting. This attempt will me quite a challenge since I'm used to painting one figure instead of four and I haven't done many paintings of interiors with all the detail requires. So it will be a lot of fun. Plus painting glass bottles and glasses is a challenge in its own right. <br />
I can't wait to start tomorrow although I'll be interrupted to go watch Deven while her mom goes to an appointment. <br />
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ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-57659441076749209752015-03-08T12:53:00.000-04:002015-03-08T12:54:23.130-04:00Inspiration from Munch,Modigliani and Van Gogh<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXNVvG4LORnuaZ3RMJ-N-iwokywy0ge7fhKTFhgDd6FU2PuENg19dcl5-VA4gpkjseIZUD3Ls2FLgikR6ZwiLdQHd0h_zjtdNCV0ZcIOHXAk6Q3ct4R8iIoJELnmwRRQ5fQWCxhaptPA/s1600/jeanne-hebuterne-with-hat-and-necklace-1917.jpg!Blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXNVvG4LORnuaZ3RMJ-N-iwokywy0ge7fhKTFhgDd6FU2PuENg19dcl5-VA4gpkjseIZUD3Ls2FLgikR6ZwiLdQHd0h_zjtdNCV0ZcIOHXAk6Q3ct4R8iIoJELnmwRRQ5fQWCxhaptPA/s1600/jeanne-hebuterne-with-hat-and-necklace-1917.jpg!Blog.jpg" height="200" width="153" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ-LV9ZQIJwGbk1KwTyK1EuFF6VzwNlUtUlY2GJRdkQbmGUk3Ess-Zr8e6nt5y7JXDP8fllMQcCy9SHyabKKPqVpBXtyp264-e9cc73Vgvc9nkmGVlrY5GMXHzxix_sR_jPxGNvnyCB6s/s1600/Munch+Madonna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ-LV9ZQIJwGbk1KwTyK1EuFF6VzwNlUtUlY2GJRdkQbmGUk3Ess-Zr8e6nt5y7JXDP8fllMQcCy9SHyabKKPqVpBXtyp264-e9cc73Vgvc9nkmGVlrY5GMXHzxix_sR_jPxGNvnyCB6s/s1600/Munch+Madonna.jpg" height="200" width="140" /></a>I'm not sure about other artists but I realize that when I paint I subconsciously draw on the works of previousartists. I know in many studios, young artists were taught to copy the classical paintings, but it may be now that people think of it only as copying someone. I believe that if a piece of art touches you, makes you feel something, it's a pivotal energy in your subconscious. So when I go to paint and let the brush and pigments lead me, the result can be a piece that looks like a rip off of a well known artist. sometimes I deliberately use the works of famous artists inspire me, such as Burne-Jones and Waterhouse, knowing that I'll never have the technical skill to paint like them but trying to use some of the effects I observe in their work. But other paintings only end up reminding me of another artist after they're finished. I have many books on artists that I've found at our local annual library sales over the years. Nice heavy coffee table books with lots of full color plates that I got really <br />
cheap because they're heavy.<br />
Three of my favorite artists which had a powerful influence on me are Edvard <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYR5-5f0Gyyi46zimTpaXw4GdPGgZmDBwbjTVikNOHcjVFqRamBdBAiYl1_VqMR9VLB0OqZLa_mxSN8uFATG6D0SdypmRxZiG8iwnb83bqzP7vswBfULP5L_P_oHuBRckxLlZ6uzJIjuM/s1600/red+madonna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYR5-5f0Gyyi46zimTpaXw4GdPGgZmDBwbjTVikNOHcjVFqRamBdBAiYl1_VqMR9VLB0OqZLa_mxSN8uFATG6D0SdypmRxZiG8iwnb83bqzP7vswBfULP5L_P_oHuBRckxLlZ6uzJIjuM/s1600/red+madonna.jpg" height="200" style="cursor: move;" width="151" /></a>Munch, Amedeo Modigliani, and Vincent Van Gogh.. Although they're styles and subject matter are very different, they both affect me in some way. Munch is more of a visceral feeling, whereas I admire Modigliani because of the skin tones of his nudes and I love the long necks. Two of my paintings painted years ago were highly influence on an inner level by these artists. <br />
For my piece The Red Madonna, I realized later that the tilt of the head, the long neck and even some of the coloring was a similar to Munch's "Madonna" and Modliglian's "Jeanne Harburton with Necklace." My technique and skill level are very different but it's obvious I was influenced by their works to me, even though at the time I was just trying to paint a red-headed Madonna. Being brought up as a Catholic as a child and going to Catholic schools, we were Taught, the Madonna. Jesus' mother was who we should pray to as she had great influence over her son. I'm not a Catholic anymore, but a polytheist and Mary is still a strong archetype in my personal mythology. .<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMCH6v6CnJ9hR500VmBnuqPBdyRE8L_cm33gzAO020v3UQKCIr5TpB550JKRnFOr-c5Sqp_OTSOLgs7Tpyf7PNCVtwCxq13vucCo93e-qwVtMTQBsSb2J4hF_GLUo_7SEi8-HlaED2RpY/s1600/alone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMCH6v6CnJ9hR500VmBnuqPBdyRE8L_cm33gzAO020v3UQKCIr5TpB550JKRnFOr-c5Sqp_OTSOLgs7Tpyf7PNCVtwCxq13vucCo93e-qwVtMTQBsSb2J4hF_GLUo_7SEi8-HlaED2RpY/s1600/alone.jpg" height="200" width="143" /></a> Another painting, by Munch had a subtle effect on me. "Sunset in Paseo with Karl Johann," was a particularly frightening painting to me. Even though there is a crowd, <br />
I felt a feeling of fear and isolation when I first saw it in a book.<br />
While I painted only one figure on a deserted street, the buildings reminded me of Munch's work and the same feeling of isolation was predominant. <br />
Perhaps my subconscious even focused on the dark silhouette of a figure in the background and that's <br />
why in my painting, Alone," I painted the single figure with his back to the viewer. <br />
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On the other hand, my painting, "Sleeping on Your Side of the <br />
Bed" was a direct choice to paint my bedroom with a crooked bed after the break up of an important relationship. When I saw Van Gogh's "Vincent's Bedroom in Arles" I knew I wanted to try and mimic his style and paint my own bedroom just as it was. It was a cathartic experience, the crooked bed representing how wrong if felt to sleep on my ex-lover's side of the bed, alone. While the technique isn't wonderful in this piece it's still one of my favorites after seven or eight years. The nude on the wall is actually a painting of my ex-lover which <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcf4wuNYKxGMZWh8_yP2GuWR5aSZqixJdWQfAecKfDrf_UJpN0hO5IhA71PjgXsSFvjswqwlZV7-RJkOhGhhYBC3srgqkO0nlMNOhp3J6TmKBqaaqkzitphKs4GYgh7u9J0k9pAo3DVM/s1600/your+side+of+the+bed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcf4wuNYKxGMZWh8_yP2GuWR5aSZqixJdWQfAecKfDrf_UJpN0hO5IhA71PjgXsSFvjswqwlZV7-RJkOhGhhYBC3srgqkO0nlMNOhp3J6TmKBqaaqkzitphKs4GYgh7u9J0k9pAo3DVM/s1600/your+side+of+the+bed.jpg" height="251" width="320" /></a></div>
hung in my bedroom at the time. The nude figure looks more like a Munch than anything Van Gogh painted, so I guess I borrowed from all of them.<br />
I'd love to hear from other artists about how you are influenced by artists from the past in either style, subject matter or technique. <br />
I know we're all supposed to be our own person and develop our own style, but I have to wonder, why not be influenced by these people who can touch us over the years and miles through nothing but paint on canvas or wood? </div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-62500699403734751692015-03-07T17:53:00.000-05:002015-03-07T17:53:49.754-05:00Step by Step on "Diana" oil painting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been working on my painting, "Diana" and thought I would blog about my process step by step.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9yylaIOXLy2u5pesLtau91HDPUVRpm0X6O0N8-UC5hXOhPvkp5zr3TY0KfpEFRik6mt10RZzU0OFrCyngMCi-mzNcVxmOTfjo1gBWMsp9eRKcGwrVlpvEKTvnhQWZ70Ywrvb1p_OChM/s1600/Diana+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9yylaIOXLy2u5pesLtau91HDPUVRpm0X6O0N8-UC5hXOhPvkp5zr3TY0KfpEFRik6mt10RZzU0OFrCyngMCi-mzNcVxmOTfjo1gBWMsp9eRKcGwrVlpvEKTvnhQWZ70Ywrvb1p_OChM/s1600/Diana+1.jpg" height="320" width="198" /></a></div>
She's on a wooden board I found at the local SOS Thrift Store for $10.00. It's a large board 36X11 and it has a built in frame that curves towards the back. It had a Paragon botanical print on paper glued to the front. I've been painting on wood lately after nine years painting on canvas. But I feel in love with working on wood when doing encaustic pieces early 2014. I like the smoothness of it compared to the cheap canvases I buy at Michael's especially for figures which need fine details, and I really love the idea of upcycling items I find in thrift stores. The wooden pieces often don't need to be framed which can get really expensive when going larger.<br />
I primed the board wi5th about six layers of beige acrylic paint.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJb7grQ8hj1v_QVEIcKDglO9hRqpKozSKp2M-54tecsl8gaUAyvKsdtpY5UWIQG6GQO_cd2_B08I8uMLf3hJQJ_fC1LHlNz8vs2evOCKozvgpY-xSfSm443O16V0r1KDqumBCn4kzN9p8/s1600/Diana+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>The first day's painting was about six or seven hours and resulted in the completed face and a figure I wanted to underly the garment I would paint later. I used a palette of Winton and Grumbacher oil paints in dioxyzine purple, Payne's gray, and flake white for the background, sienna, lemon yellow, yellow ochre, vermillion and a touch of sienna for the skin tone, using sienna and Payne's gray for the shadows. I used burgundy and sienna for the hair and allowed the beige of the primer to show through for the highlights.<br />
So far I've used used eight different size brushes from medium large for the background and body to very small for the eyes and details. I used round stroke, rake, angular, chisel and liner brushes and I use the cheap white ones filament ones with the natural wooden handles in the blue packages from Michael's because they're hard and I use heavy pigment right out of the tube most of the time. They cost about <br />$6.99 a package of twelve varied brushed of different sizes and types. I've had very good sable brushes in the past and they're too soft for the way I paint. I'm very rough and fast and destroy brushes quickly so the cheap ones are best for me. I have a Michael's within less than a mile from my house so shop their for most of my art supplies although I will buy oil paint online from Jerry's Artarama from time to time. <br />
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The first attempt left me with a too small body, the left arm too long, unfinished hands and no garment and an unfinished background. I was also missing a clavicle. But the hair and the face were complete. I listened to IAMX while I painted. My daughter said she thought it<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji_L-wqD_WPODZL7t5D1ZX_iQvoFz5QMs3vGuUSduiY3og7N4tRPBNQKdJ0YbvYPMkWrWUbLwyZ_EoIPATzh5xnA-s3o3vvgFQ_wFR2SsPMXQSWDX10BRT-KigJOHusuPxVUwEIhsuXMU/s1600/Diana+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji_L-wqD_WPODZL7t5D1ZX_iQvoFz5QMs3vGuUSduiY3og7N4tRPBNQKdJ0YbvYPMkWrWUbLwyZ_EoIPATzh5xnA-s3o3vvgFQ_wFR2SsPMXQSWDX10BRT-KigJOHusuPxVUwEIhsuXMU/s1600/Diana+2.jpg" height="320" width="195" /></a></div>
looked like a man when she saw it, say8ing the breasts and hips were too small and the face was masculine. I agreed with her.on the body but disagreed with her opinion of the face. While I was going more for a Pre-Raphaelite style, similar to that of Burne-Jones or Waterhouse being a huge fan of the brotherhood and having seen the Pre-Raphaelite show at the National Gallery in Washington, DC last April. I was able to view many by my favorites in real life some of them very large. Rossetti, Burne-Jones and Waterhouse being my favorites. She reminds me a bit of Bottecelli's <i>Birth of Venus</i> for some reason but that was purely by accident. Her hair is a different color, her head is tilted at a more severe angle, she's dressed as opposed to a nude and the background is plain instead of a landscape. She's not as delicate as a Pre-Raphaelite figure or as detailed and I didn't come close to creating the perfect body as Botticelli did. . <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJb7grQ8hj1v_QVEIcKDglO9hRqpKozSKp2M-54tecsl8gaUAyvKsdtpY5UWIQG6GQO_cd2_B08I8uMLf3hJQJ_fC1LHlNz8vs2evOCKozvgpY-xSfSm443O16V0r1KDqumBCn4kzN9p8/s1600/Diana+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJb7grQ8hj1v_QVEIcKDglO9hRqpKozSKp2M-54tecsl8gaUAyvKsdtpY5UWIQG6GQO_cd2_B08I8uMLf3hJQJ_fC1LHlNz8vs2evOCKozvgpY-xSfSm443O16V0r1KDqumBCn4kzN9p8/s1600/Diana+3.jpg" height="320" width="189" /></a>I let the painting dry for four days and then made the second attempt adding terra verte to my palette for the dress . I mixed it with some zinc white.and thinned it with a mixture of equal parts of linseed oil, Damar varnish and Turpenoid so that it would be more like a wash and allow some of the flesh to peak through as if it's a slightly sheer summer dress. <br />
When I finished this session the body was covered, but I felt as if I'd left too much of the flesh on the breasts to show through, the left arm was still too long, the hands still unfinished and the background incomplete. <br />
I let it dry four more days.<br />
Today I have been working on it since 7:00 this morning and it's now 5:10 pm. I took breaks here and there to peruse Facebook and Tumbler and to do a few posts and to cook spaghetti for supper. During this session I completed the hands, filled in the dress, shortened the left arm and finished the background. I'm <br />
happy with it except for the right hand which is too small and positioned in an awkward pose but there's a lot of wet paint on the board and I'll have to let it dry before I attempt to fix it.<br />
My usual method is to paint wet on wet and complete an oil painting in a day, but this is the largest medium I've ever worked on and a more difficult figure due to its size for me. I plan to enter this into either the Anderson or Pickens, South Carolina juried shows depending on when I finish it in relation to their deadlines for entering.<br />
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I l</div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-72056089410674105492015-03-07T08:40:00.000-05:002015-03-07T08:42:45.164-05:00Figure Painting, Jung, the Subconcious and Emotion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
While I enjoy all types of painting and collage, I have to say that figure painting is my favorite. I'm <br />
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not quite sure why artists are so fascinated with the human figure but I guess for me it's the act of creating a piece of art that communicates emotion. Because I've had little training in painting, I don't really know techniques for painting faces with emotion. Most of my work is to paint, sort of letting my subconscious take over, then stand back and see what the painting is telling me. I examine it and if I see an emotion, I stop painting. If I don't feel anything, I keep messing with it, often ruining good eyes or faces and having to start over. Since I paint with heavy oils, untouched my thinning agents, I end up with heavy layers, not the smartest method to capture such a sensitive subject as emotion. <br />
Here is where my studies in Carl Jung help because he believed that art, as shown in his Red Book, tapped into his subconscious. Through a highly transformative and prolific period, he discovered that paintings reveal things the artist isn't aware of at the moment, but which is revealed in the painting. This happens to me all the time. Not a professional way to paint utilizing proven techniques but the main reason I paint.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdoRxfsdGJn002ktn1C_dA5kbc2FoFPNoUfI1-AONy3YOZhd9CadIsyHAsEQzESixd24piFcYz1SBsAGCkv4Jw3Ol5AJt5HDphFXWHyh-lmFOadB4sCPeTgNT2bVZQR7rvhoNWdl7Y3-8/s1600/the%20philosopher%20bes%20webt-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdoRxfsdGJn002ktn1C_dA5kbc2FoFPNoUfI1-AONy3YOZhd9CadIsyHAsEQzESixd24piFcYz1SBsAGCkv4Jw3Ol5AJt5HDphFXWHyh-lmFOadB4sCPeTgNT2bVZQR7rvhoNWdl7Y3-8/s1600/the%20philosopher%20bes%20webt-1.jpg" height="320" width="247" /></a></div>
I feel as if Edvard Munch painted this way which is one reason he's one of my favorite artists, along with Modigliani, Sir Edward-Coley Burne Jones, Waterhouse, and. Dante Gabriel Rossetti I'm also, to my surprise, coming to respect Pablo Picasso more and more. I'm not into his cubism much, bur love his blue period for the emotional content as much as his talent. <br />
The piece I'm working on now, "Diana," an oil on wood 36X18, is one of these, but I'm trying to employ better and new techniques, as well as just painting and allowing it to flow once I'm in the zone. I don't know if it's going to work or not, since I'm trying out new techniques. I'm not sure if they'll ruin all the work I've already completed. <br />
My art is not what one would call good art. My figures are not formed in a realistic or accurate manner and portions are often out of proportion. However, as Carl Jung discovered in his psychoanalytical practice and in his personal life with his creation of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Red-Book-Philemon-Jung/dp/0393065677">The Red Book</a>, , the creative act of producing art is often an act of the transpersonal, taking the personal aspects of the finished piece and adding to it the universal aspect where it raises an emotional reaction in the viewers. Often this reaction can't be explained, but the viewer knows immediately whether they are drawn to a piece of art or are not, The transpersonal arises from the subconscious of the artist and is in communication and collaboration with the subconscious of the viewer. This is a reason art has such an impact, and <br />
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paintings we might not fully understand on a conscious level still touch us emotionally. Jung also believed that creating and viewing art was more than just an aesthetic experience relating to beauty, but rather an important transformational opportunity for both artist and viewer. <br />
The artist go into a zone, allowing what Jung called participation mystique, where the artist lets the ego step out of the way, releasing the inner awareness buried in the subconscious and communicating to the viewer via the symbolism found in the art work, <br />
In the paintings I've included on this blog, I actually set out to try and paint more realistic portraits, but my subconscious was more powerful and I ended up with paintings that are combinations of people I know with emotions, I didn't plan to include. The first one, "Francois Burgogne" is the combination of an ex-boyfriend, an actor and one of the characters in my novel, <i>Shaman Circus</i>. The second one, "The Philosopher," is the combination of an artist friend and a famous cellist, the third one, "The White <br />
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Queen" was supposed to be a self-portrait but ended not even close and appears to me as both a queen and a motorcyclist. The symbols at the right, were pieces I elaborated on which seemed to appear in the mixture of colors I used in the background. I just fleshed them out.<br />
The fourth painting of the woman with red hair on the left is my unfinished piece, "Diana." I'll be painting more on her this weekend. She is a glorified self portrait as me as a much younger woman and the goddess Diana or Artemis has long been a pivotal figure in my personal mythology. I actually shot archery in high school and then again when I was in my later thirties and was a pretty good shot, winning some competitions using a recurve bow. I plan to paint her dress today and may include a bow. <br />
I now consider these types of figures to be interpretations. They are in no way portraits but rather a view of these people and their influence on my work, from the perspective of how my subconscious views reality. I have my personal interpretation of the emotion they evoke, but prefer to leave the interpretation and experience of those emotions to the viewer and how they view their own reality.<br />
These oil paintings were completed at different times in the past seven years or so but were still painted in the same type of zone where I lose all awareness of anything but applying paint. As much as I've tried to focus on techniques I've learned about through reading, You Tube videos or art history, all is overshadowed by what my rush wants to do as it is driven by my subconscious. </div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-76338546160439433232015-03-05T10:05:00.008-05:002015-03-05T11:55:40.086-05:00Anderson Arts Center Warehouse<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My friend Mark and I took a small road trip to Anderson, South Carolina to check out the <br />
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<a href="http://www.andersonarts.org/">Anderson Cultural Arts Center Warehouse</a>. (Shown in this wonderful photo by Gbrill.)<br />
On the way, I stopped in at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sosthriftstore1">SOS Thrift store</a> and found a heavy, sturdy dark wood table top easel. It was marked for $25.00 but I got it at 25% off for senior citizen Tuesday. What a great deal and I'm already using it since I've been painting in both the kitchen and my studio while I work on "Dianna" and "Tina. It helps to have at least two pieces going while I'm waiting for drying time to start next steps. <br />
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Anyway, back to Anderson, The Art Center is beautiful, set in what may have been an old mill building right in downtown on Federal Street. There is a gallery downstairs and two very large galleries with huge windows upstairs. The mill is restored but with much of the industrial look intact including machinery. It was the first day of their annual youth exhibit showcasing thee work of students from kindergarten to high school. When I learned this I was disappointed because I wanted to see adult art and get some inspiration and idea of what the artists producing Anderson. But it only took a few minutes to be happily wowed by the talented works of these young people. It was an amazing show, all the way up from four year olds. The creativity was amazing and the technical skill often rivalling that of adults. We spent more then and hour and a half there, enjoyed talking to the young artist and teacher manning the gift store and viewing the works. What a great experience for the community and the artists who will never forget seeing their work hanging on those beautiful walls.<br />
It just shows what a progressive group of artists and curators they have in Anderson and I hope the Greenville Center for the Arts has visited Anderson's center to get ideas. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GreenvilleCenterforCreativeArts">https://www.facebook.com/GreenvilleCenterforCreativeArts</a><br />
Mark and I walked around downtown which has really cool architecture from the turn of the century1920's, and art in public spaces such as their fish and art-covered trash and recycling receptacles. We visited Gallery 313 and Pazzazz Consignment a cool clothing consignment shop Braddy and Blake, a fashion store, as well as a small grocer, the Village Store which had very low prices on their wine. We stopped and ate at Dolittle's, a cool pub with a great, menu an delicious reasonably priced food. It was a great day with lots of high points and the first time I've been out of town since I goy sick. </div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-49537288915279722672015-03-05T09:59:00.000-05:002015-03-05T09:59:28.777-05:00Going Large in Oil Painting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.freewebs.com/gailgraystudios/apps/photos/photo?photoid=197591083" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Three Nudes Under Two Moons" class="fw-photo " src="http://www.freewebs.com/gailgraystudios/photos/three%20nudes%20under%20two%20moons.jpg" height="320" id="photo" pid="399803519" width="158" /></a>It was a busy weekend devoted to painting since I was home, but also spending time with my family for my birthday. I completed small pieces called Thee Nudes un Two Full Moons." It's acrylic on wood,11X6.<br />
I hardly ever paint with acrylics but they were at hand and I had the time while my granddaughter, Deven, worked on painting a bird house.<br />
Over the weekend I started the largest painting I've ever attempted 36X21. It's on a wood panel I found at the SOS thrift store, I primed it and then started a large solitary figure of a woman. I'm using oil on this one and have it halfway finished. I did the face, hair and figure but want to add a summery dress because she's at the beach. /I had to lay it flat on my kitchen island to paint it because its too heavy for my easel. Then I had to keep hauling it into the living room, stand it against the fireplace and sit on the couch to examine areas I needed to accent of fix. It was pretty tiring. Finally I ended leaving it against the fireplace in an upright position and sat on the floor to work on the bottom section. I painted a good bit wet on wet, my usual method but pretty soon I had so many layers that when I went to make adjustments I was just moving paint around. So I'm having to let it dry so I can add the dress as a wash. I want it to be slightly sheer like a summer dress and show a subtle bit of the body beneath it like Sir Edward Burne Jones painted his clothing on his figures, such as "Hope" or "Spes," "The Golden Stairs and "The Garden Court." . <br />
This will only be the second time I've tried working with a wash so I'll have to test it out first. .I'm using equal parts Turpenoid, Damar Varnish and Linseed oil to mix with the oil paint to we'll see how it works. It has to be painted over a completely dry surface, so it will be a test of my patience. I'm an immediate gratification woman when it comes to my paintings.<br />
So I started on another smaller piece head and shoulders, on wood working with oils of a red head. At first I was basin g it on Raphael's "Hypatia" but she came out looking very contemporary and reminds me of a friend. That may have been my subconscious at work. She's almost finished but I have to do some more detailing on the face and shoulders. <br />
As a break, my daughter ,Beth, and my granddaughters, Kendall and Deven and I went out to the SOS thrift store, then Michael's. I didn't find any art supplies this time but found a few things for the girls and a carry all bag for Aldi's. After Michael's we went to eat at Stax Omega and had a great supper with an amazing waiter. Sunday, Jeff and the girls took me out to Cheddars for my birthday and it was a huge disappointment. The service was bad and I was the only one happy with my meal. It was also so loud we could hardly carry on a conversation. <br />
That's about it for now. I'll post photos of the two new pieces once they're finished. </div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-45873832458457817462015-03-01T12:27:00.001-05:002015-03-02T09:53:33.598-05:00Surviving Cancer to Celebrate a Meaningful Birthday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This is a particularly meaningful birthday for me since I was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer last <br />
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June. I ended up in the ICU with a collapsed lung after fluid built up in my body cavity. But thanks to the brilliant cancer team at St. Francis Bon Secour Hospital here I am in remission and cancer free. Dr. David Griffin and his nurse practioner, Jacqueline, saved my life a number of times as I went through weekly chemotherapy, side effects, surgery, a blood clot in my lung and I have to admit a couple of times when I was ready to stop chemo and just let what was going to occur happen.<br />
I could not have made it without the constant care of my daughter, Beth, a CNA at Roger C. Peace Hospital who was also going to college for nursing, my son, Jeff and my best friend, Mark. They dealt with my medical issues with love, support, humor and encouragement. I decided not to tell too many people, first <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzpzCc62D0XXbmysWnqaKyQFZ11SRfsKwL1ItfRyMZ0EHff9GuAxmimVyd_ed4F827tf4YPVD1ebJ1LqkrwQAWXbhd2RL-EHpHblg2T9iZcsVXYmYHi_WF3ss79rTic7qbDdvoHkaOt-c/s1600/beth+dev+outback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzpzCc62D0XXbmysWnqaKyQFZ11SRfsKwL1ItfRyMZ0EHff9GuAxmimVyd_ed4F827tf4YPVD1ebJ1LqkrwQAWXbhd2RL-EHpHblg2T9iZcsVXYmYHi_WF3ss79rTic7qbDdvoHkaOt-c/s1600/beth+dev+outback.jpg" height="260" width="320" /></a>of all because the chemo made me too sick to want to do much, but also because I didn't want to be a burden. In ICU Dr. Griffin told me he was going to be very aggressive and that he would put me in remission within nine months. He did better than his promise, I was in remission after only six months of chemo and surgery.<br />
It was a difficult time and I spent much of my time in bed or on the couch because of exhaustion and an inability to eat. I lost 42 pounds and could not drive or walk to the car unassisted. For months I was in a wheelchair. I lived at my daughter's and only went out to the hospital or doctor's office. I didn't step in a grocery store, thrift store or Michael's for six months and was in a wheelchair for more than three months. When I got the blood clot, I could not walk to the room next door, because I put off going to the emergency room thinking it a side effect of the chemo.<br />
I'm only writing all this because I want others who have cancer, have friends or family with cancer, o9r may get cancer to let you know - yes, it is very rough to endure treatment. You lose the life you know and substitute it with one that seems made up of suffering. But don't give up. There are so many new cures now and knowledgeable doctors that the suffering is worth it. My family, Mark and I did not think I'd see last Christmas, but here I am, back in my life, gaining more energy each day, eating like normal and wanting to paint. I'm still not too goo on socializing, don't quite have all my social skills back, but I do drive myself now, go to Michael's and coffee shops, art galleries and thrift stores and I enjoy the company of my family instead of needing their constant care. I'm back attending my women's group and going out to eat once in a while.<br />
Never in a million years would I have believed I would go into remission in six months. My daughter keeps reminding me, when I complain about losing my hair and how slowly its growing back, that I should take my hat off and wear my short cut proudly since it's a sign of how I survived terminal cancer. <br />
I won't write amount cancer much because I don't want to be a downer and my life is getting too busy. But if anyone has questions and needs answers or a pep talk feel free to contact me. I want people to know there is life after cancer - an even better life because you learn to appreciate every little nuance of each moment and realize there are miracles in this world. </div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-8826238695945467982015-02-26T13:18:00.000-05:002015-02-27T16:19:35.422-05:00Getting Exposure<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is a busy time! This month I'm starting to work on getting mire exposure for my work. I'll be <br />
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donating some works to charity auctions and entering some juried shows. I've already entered four pieces to a juried show in Columbia where they're having a black tie gala. One of them is shown on the right, titled "Helena" it's oil on a wood panel and another is "Hope and Cynthia" or "Hope and Cynicism", pictured on the left.This one is oil on cradled wood. <br />
I also entered another figurative painting pictured in the last post which is called "Introspection" and is also oil on cradled wood and the fourth is a spring landscape of the foothills of the Blue Ridge painted on canvas, . <br />
In addition I'm donating an encaustic piece to benefit Safe Harbor, Goodwill, and The Family Effect during the silent auction at the Fluor Golf Tournament and gala in May . <a href="http://golfforgreenville.org/tournament/">http://golfforgreenville.org/tournament/</a><br />
I'm also excited that in March Greer and the <a href="http://www.andersonarts.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11&Itemid=52">Anderson Art Center</a> will hold their juried shows. Anderson's is huge with $25,000 in prizes since it's the 40th year. And there are many prices in various categories. <br />
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Greer is only in it's sixth year so the prizes are less ($300.00) and while they accept a variety of media, they only offer Global Greer and Greer as juried show categories to tie in with the Greer Festival. Global Greer can involve the upstate so I'm entering one of my landscapes of the foothills of the Piedmont in Marietta where I used to go hiking near Jones Gap.<br />
I haven't decided on what to enter into Anderson's yet but we get to enter two pieces. <br />
I've also been busy, when not watching my granddaughter, Deven, finding more wooden surfaces at thrift stores and priming them. <br />
.I now have six boards waiting to be painted. <br />
I completed a new piece this week, "Three Nudes under Two Moons," my first acrylic in many years. Deven was painting a jewelry box for her mother and we only have acrylics at my daughter's house. .<br />
My friend and awesome painter<a href="http://www.freewebs.com/gailgraystudios/">, Donna Nyzio</a> sent me some links to how to market your art work and trends in the art collecting world and it was surprising to learn that collectors are downsizing their collections and buying more from artist's studios where they can meet the artists or purchasing art sight unseen from online. <br />
I've finally updated my website at <a href="http://www.freewebs.com/gailgraystudios/">Gail Gray Studios</a> but also wanted to do some juried shows and charity art auctions to get local nd regional exposure. Since I don't have my work in the Village at the West End currently, I thought it was time to try this route. Donna's been getting her work into a number of juried shows, but then she's a much better artist than I am a hundred fold. </div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-60112557890044737242015-02-18T16:03:00.003-05:002015-02-26T12:48:50.686-05:00On a Roll with Painting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5B4iZrQnauRoyQ_ln1qkmlNrNo4jMyWFYXed5rgcBmtIu9NzP1iqqafTChkcH79h5GRixxV6jvPfLUAPpTKVIr3SmXHDdCFdf9qlJK0Y5vTPGoXsVmkyDU34y3fNYvmM7xrQGQjlGE_4/s1600/the+village+grind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5B4iZrQnauRoyQ_ln1qkmlNrNo4jMyWFYXed5rgcBmtIu9NzP1iqqafTChkcH79h5GRixxV6jvPfLUAPpTKVIr3SmXHDdCFdf9qlJK0Y5vTPGoXsVmkyDU34y3fNYvmM7xrQGQjlGE_4/s1600/the+village+grind.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a>It's been great to be back in my studio again. I've finished seven paintings since I started painting again in January and have two half finished. I'm focusing mainly on figures right now for some reason and using a similar pallette of pthalo blue, Payne's grey, lamp black, zinc white, yellow ochre, light red, vermillion, terra verte and sienna. I'm working with oils on wood surfaces, often using items I find at thrift stores, as well as the cradled wood boxes I used for encaustics. I found that I liked the way oils worked on wood while I was doing my landscape series of encaustics and had some primed and ready to go when I started painting again. I've been able to finish as piece in a day once in a while working wet on wet but most of the time, it takes two or three sessions with drying time in between, so I can finish one in a week. Most of them are small, but I found a wooden panel, 31X19 at the new <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sosthriftstore1?ref=eyJzaWQiOiIwLjEzNTU4Mjc3ODg2NzYzMDQ4IiwicXMiOiJKVFZDSlRJeVUwOVRKVEl3VkdoeWFXWjBKVEl3VTNSdmNtVWxNaklsTlVRIiwiZ3YiOiI5NGFkMGE1NTE2ZDdhOGQ3YThhZWZiMmY4">SOS thrift store </a>which just opened right near my house, so I'll be going large. This will be quite a challenge for me, I've only finished two large canvases 36X24 in the past ten years I've been painting.<br />
This is all in preparation for an invitation to enter a juried show in Columbia, SC in March. I don't know if I'll finish the big panel in time, but I'll try. I've got to prime it first so won't get started on the actual painting until Sunday. I'm planning on doing a figure but am not sure what yet. I also have three small panels primed and ready to be painted. And since I was gifted with a new set of 12 oil paints so I can't delay because of lack of materials. It's just finding the studio time.<br />
I've updated <a href="http://www.freewebs.com/gailgraystudios/index.htm">my website</a> with all of the paintings I did prior to being diagnosed with cancer and plan to photograph all the news ones on Saturday so my site will be up to date. I've been debating who to proceed in the coming months. I miss having my work at Les Beaux Arts and miss the int4eraction with the other artists there but am also really tempted by the new studios which will be opening in Brandon Mill in the Village at the West End in May at the <a href="http://www.artcentergreenville.org/work/">Greenville Center for the Arts. </a><br />
I found the time to visit <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artandlightgallery">The Village Grind,</a> a new coffee shop in the Village at the West End and a great gathering place for artists. Wonderful coffee and great people. The owner is the niece of Mark Mulfinger and two of his large paintings are hanging in the shop. I can't wait for Mark and I to go. I also stopped by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artandlightgallery">Art&Light</a> and saw their new digs and artists' work including Teresa Pace, Kent Ambler, Paul Flint, and Diane Kilgore. </div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-999014657994859022015-01-28T15:33:00.000-05:002015-01-28T15:33:28.640-05:00A View of Tibet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In my painting on cradled wood with oils, I've come to love how rich the colors are - like jewel tones. I'm <br />
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enjoying painting figures this go round which seems to be pretty prolific so far, six paintings started three finished in l3ess than two weeks and I'm living in two places at once, my house and my daughter's. I can draw at my daughters but my painting and encaustic style is way too messy (especially since I do the encaustics in my kitchen on my stove) for my daughter's taste so I have to wait until I get home to paint. <br />
I finished this Tibetan woman a few days ago and just now have painted the sides. She's done in oils with a small bit of Golden interference acrylic paint. I know, I know, you can't mix oils and acrylics because the acrylic dries way before the oils - a few hours versus up to ten days or two weeks, so the acrylics will crack. I want the acrylics to crack. I want to give it an antique look so we'll see how this little experiment works out. I haven't done the r4esearch but I don't know if there are any oil paints with interference qualities. I've fallen in love with Golden's line of them but only have a few because I rarely paint in acrylic. It dries to quickly for me. I paint with oils mostly wet on wet because I love the blending capability. But I'm an immediate gratification kind of gal so I don't spend weeks of even months like some oil painters do. I often finish a piece in one day and then touch it up for a day or two. I'm not sure what the title will be so that will have to come to me. I also met with my women's group today and that was great after seven months to those who attended. We had a great time and I ran into a new/old friend who goes to the <a href="http://www.greenvillefriendsofjung.org/">Greenville Jungian group</a> events with me so he and I will get together soon. It's unfortunate they just started on their second book club series and I couldn't register in time but I'm looking forward to their program on The Red Book in March as both an artist and a huge fan of Jung. <br />
Well I just noticed I got green paint all over a brand new pair of slacks. I'm too inpatient to change into painting clothes. I lost a lot of wait while I was going through chemo so have to buy a whole new wardrobe. Silly me, I'll have to dig out the old larger clothes just to wear to paint. </div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894417994532630432.post-81826912782730104172015-01-25T15:42:00.003-05:002015-02-18T16:04:54.926-05:00Back To It with oils, charcoal and encaustic<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's been a while since I've blogged and almost a year since I've created artwork or written. In June of 2014 <br />
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I was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer which led to a very unusual and unproductive year. The story is long so I'll save it for later because I'm in remission now and painting up a storm. I have four pieces in the works and am playing with oils, gouache, watercolor, charcoal and encaustic. I'm working on cradled wood panels because I'm not sure which ones will turn out to need encaustic work. <br />
I've attended two First Fridays as well as Open Studios down in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Village-Vibe/367443640038337">Village at the West End, </a>the local area which is a beehive of art galleries and studios and have been inspired by so many of the artists there, both artists who've been in the area for years and new artists who've recently moved to Greenville, SC. It felt so great to go back and see all the talent after being away for so long and it geared me up to try new techniques and subjects. It was a rainy night so we had a chance to really talk to some of the artists - <a href="http://www.patriciakilburg.com/">Patricia Kilburg,</a> an incredible encaustic artist, and Pam Larson, whose studio, Fluer de Sol is in <a href="http://www.lesbeauxartsgallery.com/">Les Beaux Arts</a>, who does the most amazing detailed drawings - all with Bic pens. <br />
One of my new pieces is gouache and oil on cradled wood. Entitled "Starting to Dance Again."It's a female figure in a somewhat awkward pose with a serious look on her face. It took me a while before I knew what she was doing or what the piece meant, and then it dawned on me that it related to my need to become social again. Since I lived with my daughter and spent a lot of time at doctor's offices and hospitals while going through chemo, I didn't have any materials or even the energy or inclination to paint or to socialize. Now I'm discovering I have to learn my social skills all over again. Driving and <br />
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painting actually came back to me easier than starting and maintaining a conversation. . <br />
Another piece I am working on is a charcoal drawing transferred to a beeswax covered piece of wood. I'm not sure if I'll leave it as it is or work with it some more. <br />
It's been fun working with a variety of mediums and not following any particular rules. I've been using R&F white beeswax and Damar Resin along with Grumbacher and Winton oils. I've been listening to IAMX while working so that helps a lot too. <br />
I'm hoping to get down to the Village this week since a new coffee shop opened up called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thevillagegrind">The Village Grind</a> and <a href="http://artandlightgallery.com/">Art & Light Gallery </a>has opened at their new location and I can't wait to go and see all the new art Teresa has found. They're open on <br />
Wed. - Sat. I think. Check out their Facebook page too. </div>
ggrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.com0