Folk Art Mary

Guest Artists - Ithaca Art Trail Show and Open Weekends Coming Up

At this very moment 55 artists in Ithaca are getting ready for the once a year Ithaca Art Trail event. 53 artist studios (mine included) will be open to the public from 11 AM to 5 PM on two weekends, October 9-10 and 16-17.  Usually the leaves are doing a good show by then, and there's never shortage of things to do while you're in town.

In October, State of the Art Gallery (120 West State Street, Ithaca) will host the "Greater Ithaca Art Trail Preview Exhibition", a show of paintings, prints, sculpture, fiber art, ceramics, jewelry, furniture, collage, glass.   A reception for all art trail artists will be held tomorrow, Friday, October 1, 5-8pm. So come on over.

Below are pictures of artwork by four other craftspeople and artists on the trail.

 

“What They Meant,” gicleé print on canvas, 15"x15" up to 55"x55, Lynne Taetzsch

 

“Great Spirit Prayerwheel,” copper, steel, 21"diam.x48", John Lyon Paul

 

“Invasive Corn,” color-reduction woodcut, 19”x24," Jenny Pope

 

Chair, ash, walnut, leather, 18”x18”x28”, Elizabeth Bly Wolff and James Nagle

 

Lots of interesting stuff.

folk art mary

Guest Artist Annie Taylor

I love the work of Annie Taylor, especially the trees, the land and the shapes that she makes with them. Here she talks about her work:

"My work is about the pleasure of solitude in the natural environment: the silence, the peace, the nurture for the spirit that the countryside can provide, but also its opposite face which is often harsh, threatening and wild. I work fast in oils using either layering techniques or rough impasto brush and knife work, often working on several canvasses at the same time.

Patterns in different landscapes intrigue me and guide my work, from the gentle, rolling patchwork downs and fields of Dorset in England which was my home, to the rugged, harsh mountainous countryside of the Rousillon where I now live in France."- Annie Taylor. 

 Giant's Head © Annie Taylor

Image Bank © Annie Taylor

Other ways to find out more about Annie Taylor are her blog and her facebook page.

Thanks Annie, folk art mary 

Freestanding Rooster #12

Here's a glorious Rooster saying "Yes" and hello to the day! Another yes of sorts!

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Yes, Rise Above #1

This piece, Yes, Rise Above #1,  is another smaller piece I completed this summer. It's a sister piece to Yes, Rise Above #2 that I showed a few weeks ago in this blog. It's my version of what Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion says (help me out readers!): "Eat Powder Milk bisquits, they give good people the energy to get up and do what needs to be done." And I'd advise, while you're at it in these sometimes hard times, say YES to it.

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Guest Artist - Tom Haney

Here are the words of guest artist Tom Haney as he talks about his fabulous art work:

"Although some see my work as a reaction to today’s throwaway society, I approach it as a way to reconnect with the past. I cherish traditions, not trends. I love the old ways of doing things, old tools and traditional techniques. Working with one’s hands still has value. I believe there is a magical transformation that happens when mechanical movement is added to a static figure. This movement captures a viewer’s attention and holds it to the point where they are drawn into interpreting the stories the piece conveys. They are not merely observers but collaborators.
 
My heroes have always been the pioneers, the inventors – Edison, Bell, the Wright Brothers – in the art world, the innovators – Calder, Picasso, Tinguely. The great Leonardo DaVinci, who did it all - painter, sculptor, scientist, engineer, and architect –was who I wanted to be when I grew up. Having never wanted to be pigeonholed as an artist, I’ve sought to do unique works that combined many varied methods.  Initially, I started with woodcarving - practically a lost art in our world  - a tradition people have been using for centuries to tell their stories.
 
Any kind of mechanical movement has always been a fascination of mine and to combine this with figurative carvings became irresistibly compelling. After some time I learned about automata, “a moving mechanical device made in imitation of a human being”, an ancient pursuit more thoroughly developed in the 13th – 19th centuries mostly in Europe but also in Asia. The work I create today is a modern offshoot of the time-honored European tradition of automata.
 
  With the addition of collected found objects another connection is made, albeit to a more recent past. I search out and collect, as an archivist or archeologist, discarded, obsolete artifacts and breathe new life into them as they are remodeled into devices that help tell my stories. Stories that often illustrate man’s perseverance to overcome life’s obstacles, often with open-ended narratives that are completed by the viewer."

 

Undaunted

 

Return to Dreamland

 

Return to Dreamland, detail

 

Thanks for your work Tom!

folk art mary

Smile and Don't Expect so Much #6

The piece below is the sixth in a carved and painted "Smile" series that I have made. Once when I was complaining to my mother about something or other, she advised that I could always "just smile and not expect so much". This series is an exercise in trying to internalize that advice. As you can see from the red energy practically sizzling off my hair, sometimes I struggle with acceptance.

Here's a copy of my latest email newsletter, which mentions a craft fair I'll be attending this weekend in Bedminster, (Bucks County) Pa - which is where I grew up. Please sign up to get emails of news and events in my career - I keep it to a maximum of 8 per year.

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Sailing Icon #16

I love to sail.  This sailing icon shows the feeling of sailing, tranquil, wind at one's face and sail, moving through the water like a bird through the air. It's the closest I'll ever come to flying. The swirls are the best way I have to show the shape of the wind in a picture. So far I've done 16 of these sailing icons, each one different, each one trying to capture the feeling of wind and sailing.

folk art mary

Feed Me Now Cats

Here are more cats with copper whiskers demanding to be fed, and NOW if you please.

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Feed Me Cats Hugging #4

Here's a fun one that I also completed this summer. Feed Me Cats Hugging #4. The whiskers are made from recycled pieces of electrical wire left over after a renovation to my house.  Like the Yes Rise Above #2 piece below, I've cut out some dead space so the piece has an opening through to the back, something new for me to do. Do you like this new idea?

folk art mary