Coming Exhibition: Donn Delson, Fielden Harper, Della Rollé

Tues. September 29th - Sat. October 24th, 2015

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 3rd, 5-8 p.m.

Artist Talk: Saturday, October 17th, 3 p.m.

Donn Delson

Stillness/Motion

Donn Delson, Night at the Racetrack, Giclee archival pigment print, 24 x 16"

Cracks, birthed and cemented in a tapestry of parched earth. Celestial skycaps, sentinels of the night. Windswept dunes, sculpted and groomed. All are participants in Donn Delson’s visual study of stillness and motion in Death Valley and the Mojave Desert.
Delson is an image collector. He believes that successful photographs compel in the viewer, an unanticipated curiosity or emotion. “In this study, I was drawn to the negative space, muted tones, and unexpected vistas arrayed before me in desert and sky.” A self-taught photographer for more than 50 years, Delson concentrates primarily on landscape, nature, and abstract photography. His work often appears more illustrative than photographic.

“The layered complexity of his work is masked in simple tranquility...” 

Angela Romeo, CollidingWorldsTV

Fielden Harper
Renewal

Fielden Harper, And the Beat Goes On, Oil on canvas, 36 x 30"

In her most recent body of work, artist Fielden Harper explores the concepts of renewal and growth, both personally and environmentally. As we experience our most severe drought to date, Southern California residents have begun to see a change in the landscape they once knew. Although transformed by the new conditions, Harper’s work symbolizes the continued beauty that can be found in adapting to our changing surroundings, reminding us that every challenge we encounter is an opportunity for growth.
With change comes a new start, new ways of observation, and a new mindful awareness of our environment. For Harper, the bound palm trees illustrated with sun washed colors represent not only the changing landscape, but also the changes within. While the bound palm is a sign that construction is in the works, it is often the final touch in the process of progress and renewal. The fronds are tied together to prevent injury when the trees are being transported and to keep the young buds moist. The streamlined shape also insures that there will be less wind resistance to stress the shallow roots until they are well established. When the root begins to receive nourishment, the bonds are broken so the branches can spread and the tree can begin to grow.

Della Rollé
Surfaces

Della Rolle, Laughter Heals Life, Stainless steel, 28.5 x 12.5 x 12.5"

The sculptures in Della Rollé's current exhibition, Surfaces, represent her continued experimentation with modern techniques and interlaces them with traditional bronzes. Terra cotta, stainless steel, and wood are but a few of the surfaces Rollé tackles and molds in this body of work. 

Words have power for Rollé. Often times the verbal becomes the visual while the surfaces deploy embedded messages with whimsical twists, portraying her love for the various shapes and sizes of the human body. Rollé's sculptures blend carnal indulgences with wit, but also invite the viewer to smile and think. Form and floridity become one. It is just not the material that makes the artwork, but the material surface itself is the artwork.

Saturday Spectrum: Red [Guest Post by Anne M Bray]

It's RED Week.
That's Red.
Not Cadmium Red, Cherry Red, or Tomato Red.

Red.
As Crayola decrees it.

RED!

Go shoot a photo, hunt for art, create something new with RED.
Link and tell!

Saturday Spectrum: Sea Green [Guest Post by Anne M Bray]

SEA GREEN!

Go shoot a photo, hunt for art, create something new with SEA GREEN.
Link and tell!

The Art of Transcendence [Guest Post by Pam Douglas]

Ten years ago I prepared to die. I was to have life-threatening spine fusion surgery followed by weeks in intensive care followed by three months in pain unable to walk or drive. In that time, I took my hands off the steering wheel of my career and everything others expected of me. The experience led me to contemplate the fragile line between life and what lies beyond.

Pam Douglas, Spirit Moved Upon the Waters, Acrylic on wood, 48 x 30", 2006

My art saved me. On days when I could hardly stand, I propped myself at my painting table, so immersed in the painting before me that my physical disabilities became background noise. The work itself often dealt with transparencies at a time when reality itself was not solid. I also worked with circles, the symbol of universal continuity. The form is a nod to Zen painters who focus on the symbolism of the circle. In fact I revisited my earlier studies in ancient Asian art and philosophy, and those ideas continue to influence my thinking.

Pam Douglas, Messages, Acrylic stain on raw linen, 20 x 20", 2007

Pam Douglas, The Kite Flyer, Mixed media on raw linen, 50 x 16", 2009

Those musings about the circle of life and death occupied my creative output for a decade … until my current series. Now the veil seems to have lifted as I’ve realized I’m going to live. My new paintings are full of joy. The image of a grinning Buddha juggling galaxies in my exhibit conveys where this journey has brought me: to a kind of transcendence that is not about life or death but our unity with the cosmos.

Pam Douglas, Juggling Galaxies, Acrylic on paper with Hubble photos, 54 x 30"

The focus of all my art work is transcendence. That aspiration can be seen in abstract paintings on silk in the last few years, and expressions of the power of earth’s energies – water, fire and air – in the exhibits from 2011-2014.

Pam Douglas, Water Blessing, Acrylic on raw linen, 32 x 19", 2011

Pam Douglas, The Eternal Beginning, Acrylic on raw linen diptych, each 14 x 52" 2012

Pam Douglas, A Fragile Space, Inks and acrylic on raw silk, 36 x 33" 2013

Pam Douglas, Origin, Mixed media with string on raw silk, 52 x 58", 2014

My current show, “Galaxies,” at TAG Gallery in Santa Monica (through Sept 26th) blends figures with NASA photos taken by the Hubble Telescope. Through these 11 new paintings, I hope viewers are inspired to feel a personal and direct connection with the stars.

The nature of the artistic process itself invites this sort of exploration, because every act of creation ventures into the unknown, bringing into form something that hadn’t existed before. Artists inhabit that source as they work, and the most impactful works usually arise from that artistic transcendence.

More than 2,500 years ago in ancient China, the philosopher Lao Tzu wrote:
"The wise man looks into space and he knows there are no limited dimensions."
We are all stardust, inseparable from the universe. That perception can inform the way we live each day, choosing whether to dwell in temporary difficulties or feel the awe and power of unlimited dimensions.

Pam Douglas, Wow, Pencil and acrylic on rice paper with Hubble photo, 36 x 26”, 2015

Pam will be part of an Artists' Talk at TAG this Saturday, September 19, 3pm.
She will have copies of her out of print book, "Back to Life: A Journey of Transformation Through Back Surgery" on hand for sale.

Saturday Spectrum: Inside the Crayola Box [Guest Post by Anne M Bray]

Remember that new Crayola smell? The pristine box of 64 colors with the sharpener in back that always ate your crayons? Good news, my friends. They still smell the same! And now, there is an even bigger box with 96 colors! Maybe they have changed some of the color names and maybe even switched out some of the colors. We will have 96 weeks to find out!
Yes, I hied myself to Rite-Aid today and bought the jumbo assortment, to utilize for choosing the Saturday Spectrum color of the week.
A "very scientific" comparison with another box revealed:

Random color placement!

I'm starting our Crayola colored adventure with:

OLIVE GREEN!

Go shoot a photo, hunt for art, create something new with OLIVE GREEN.
Link and tell!

Spectrum Saturday: AMBER [Guest Post by Anne M Bray]

Hi everyone, it's Spectrum Saturday time!

Last week, we contemplated the color honey and there were a few link-ups (thank you Val and Lorraine for adding your OWN links -- I did all the others). I'm highlighting Lorraine's piece because it's SO PERFECT for the theme AND the original is on view at TAG until September 26th.

Lorraine Bubar, Endagered, Papercut, 25.5 x 21.5"

Our color this week is AMBER.
Do you have any amber-colored art hidden away in your archives?
Or did you capture a beautiful amber sunset on your photo-creating device?
If you Instagrammed it, you can link it!

Here's another thing to consider:
Honey, Amber -- is there any difference?
Link and tell!

TAG Interviews Lorraine Bubar

Lorraine Bubar, No Stopping, Papercut, 37 x 24", 2015

What does the title "Not Home" mean to you:
My current show is called "Not Home." One thing I really appreciate about being in TAG Gallery is that I can show new work every year and the deadline for an upcoming show motivates me. I start working and after a few pieces, an idea begins to formulate in my mind about a theme I would like to concentrate on. I love to think of every possible way to examine that theme. In this instance, I was ruminating over the concept of "home" and what that means to me, but I was thinking about it in terms of security, comfort, family, and the quality of life living in a city. I was taking it for granted that the physical home exists for me and then thinking about all of the emotions that fill that physical space. But so many news stories bombarded me during this time period that began to influence what I wanted to express. Many of my past pieces, including the flora and fauna of different natural environments, do address the issue of conservation, but I do not often get very political in my work. Included in this recent body of work, I wanted to express my sadness, despair, and frustration over the fact that so many people and species around the world are experiencing loss of home, whether it is due to an earthquake in Nepal or attributing climate change, pesticides, or deforesting for the loss of homes for animals and insects. Driving around Los Angeles, it is impossible not to notice the increase in tent cities. The news is filled with stories of the migration of people who walk miles and spend their life savings to escape to what they hope will be a better life, only to find more insecurity and grief. The security of home is nothing to take for granted.

Lorraine Bubar, Heart in Nepal, Papercut, 33.5 x 23.5"

Tell a little about your process:
All of the color in my work is from the papers that I find. Most of them come from countries that I have loved traveling in, including Thailand, Nepal, and Japan. I complete a drawing and lay my drawing on top of the first colored paper and, using an x-acto knife, I cut through the drawing and that paper, cutting away all of the negative space. Everything left, which is essentially my drawing, is connected to the outside border so that it creates a very intricate piece of lacework. I then lay that on top of the next color and cut away more. I continue layering colors from the back until I am satisfied with the combinations of colors, the contrast of colors, and how the subject matter is drawn out from the background values. I end up using about 8-10 different layers of paper which create the depth and texture in each piece.

Lorraine Bubar, Bubbles, Papercut, 40 x 22"

Most Frequently asked question: How long do these take you to do? I love the process so I do not keep track of the time. Many of these pieces are symmetrical. That means that I create 1/2 of the composition and lay it on a folded piece of colored paper. I cut through both sides and when I am done, I open it up. This aspect really drives me to work very hard. When I finish that step I can open it up to reveal the overall composition. There are aspects of the way that I work that I drives me so that I lose myself in the process and do not keep track of the time.

Lorraine Bubar, Not Home, Papercut, 30 x 39"

Why did you start to do papercuts?
For many years I used watercolors. I would cut stencils to airbrush in the backgrounds, blending colors very evenly, and then paint everything else with brushes. So I was already using an x-acto knife very carefully to cut the stencils and not cut through the watercolor paper. Then I decided to cut through the paper. I had a realization one day that numerous cultures around the world create papercuts, including Mexico, China, and Eastern Europe. With my unique papercutting style, I am continuing the tradition of papercutting with a more painterly approach. I love being part of this artistic heritage that crosses the boundaries of culture, art, and craft.

Lorraine Bubar, Going Up, Papercut, 38 x 26"

Lorraine Bubar, Butterflies, Papercut

Lorraine's work can be viewed at TAG until September 26.
Meet Lorraine at her Artist's Reception on Saturday, September 12, 5-8pm

Do you have a question for Lorraine?
Add it to the comments below and we'll have her answer it at the Artists' Panel discussion on Saturday, September 19, 3pm