Birds, Birds, Birds in My Studio!

Spring Inspirations...

The Subject is Spring

As we all are, I am feeling very happy to be outside again. Spring has been inspiring me to clean my studio and play with images of birds. I just can't get enough of them. In fact, I have 10 of them started right now in both oil and encaustic with more to come.. to be seen in my show at Coffee By Design.

Hot Off The Wax!

These are three of my most recent paintings in encaustic (wax). Both a continuation of my interest in using old photographs as a source for developing a narrative, and birds - a subject I have visited for a number of years... I admit it everyone. I am most fascinated with the form and symbolism of bird... And I am really happy to hear them again. Welcome Spring! And enjoy.

NYC free write...

Since I was very young I have made regular trips to New York City, particularly by bus. This was my first time back to the Big Apple by myself as a newly liberated young Mother myself. Between my Mom who grew up in the Lower East Side (5th Street) and me being born only a stones throw from Queens, New York City has always felt like home. And I was really happy to go back home. I was long overdue for some urban culture, artistic inspiration, and a break from my regular roles at home and work. A big thanks to my husband Stan for supporting this and to my business partner Janna for holding down the ship for us at the gallery.
Not feeling 100% and only 12 hours after Stan came home from work feeling very ill, I set off at 8 AM on Friday morning on Concord Trailways from Augusta. Ignoring my flu/cold kicking in with severe hydration and acetaminaphen, I arrived at Penn Station (42nd Street) at about 6 PM. And I hate 42nd Street for every damn tourist is there, the combination of congestion of cars, billboards, flashing lights, and too many people tells me to "GET OUT OF HERE!" I started walking north, in the drizzling rain, in the direction of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), hungry, knees aching from being very squished on the bus, and all over chills from newly acquired flu/cold. I decide to stop feeling sorry for myself after a few blocks and find a great little french restaurant called Maison, on the edge of the theatre district. Because I had changed my mind about heading down to Chinatown and then following up through little Italy for some authentic flavor, I settle for French. And I was not disappointed. And even more delighted after the shock of the hostess when I confidently said I would be dining ALONE. I suddenly felt sympathy for a scene of "Sex In the City". Anyhow, the food was great. I ate my hot tea, perfectly crusty bread, crab cakes and French Onion Soup (is this really french?) in pure heaven, reading my poetry by Amy Oliver and forgetting my physical woes of the day. I headed over to the MOMA full and happy and ready for artistic fillings. The MOMA is free on Friday nights like most art museums in NYC, just to note. Otherwise, you're paying for tickets around 20 bucks. The MOMA was very nice. I greatly enjoyed the variety, particularly the works in the contemporary art collection. From seeing archetypal Wyeth's Christina's World, which weighed heavy in my mind after his recent death, to seeing the full version of Monet's late (and huge!) waterlilies, my eyes were happy. My favorites - seeing some works by Frida Kahlo's that framed intricately in a mirror/mosaic fashion. I STILL left and experienced the MOMA asking "where are all of the women artists?" They disappointed me in this department. I wanted to yell "where the hell are the Guerrilla Girls?" I ended the evening walking towards Rockefeller Center to do some window shopping. These displays are amazing... I picked up the subway and headed up to my Cousin Ilene's who lives on Fort Washington Avenue, the top of Manhatten on the western side, about 30ish minutes from here.
The next morning I still felt awful so I took a little extra time in the morning to let the acetaminaphen to kick in and to hydrate. We had a nice breakfast in Ilene's apartment of Bagel, Lox, and cream cheese - just perfect for the Jew in me! I got up my gusto, ignored my illness, and off we went to the Javits Center for the International Art Expo. Costing 30 bucks and another 5 if you wanted to check your coat, we were visually overloaded in this cast iron framed building in paneled windows. There were three sections of this convention set up art show. One was of dealers, the other of artists representing themselves, and the other a mix of ethnic imports, and home interior "foo-foo". My observations varied. First, this is not a juried event so there was a very big range of quality in work. Some works looked like an assignment from high school and few things wowed me. What did wow me was how an artist's presentation greatly appeared to carry a lot of influence. It seemed that the selling male artists wore suits, and I even saw a few painting in them! These paintings lacked a lot of originality in subject and style, but the artists gesturally applied the paint, and appeared to paint by number! And they received quite a crowd. The female artists wore sexually revealing clothing, lots of make-up - one female artist even had a model wearing a string bikini modeling for her. Some of the trends I saw,.. international dealers carried artworks in rolls - as many as 200-300 paintings that had been on stretchers and canvas, now on canvas alone. Another trend, acylic paintings mixed with lots of compound to produce great textural qualities, direct paintings (very little layering) and kitchy design based paintings with HEAVY resin coating. This was most definitely a show turned mostly towards painting. There was very little three-dimensional work. I did find one encaustic painter but her pallette was dull and the motif the same - six or so flowers lined up in red with brown background. Individuals and dealers did display from all over the world. The question is, was it worth it? It was definitely worth seeing...and I am still processing it. Off we went for lunch to a fun little minimalist restaurant called Hamburgers and Cupcakes. I skipped dessert but enjoyed my burger and sweet potato fries, and especially the coffee which got me through the next of my day... to be continued.

New Arrivals!!!

My online shop www.helenefarrarart.flyingcart.com is now up and running!!!!
Let me know what you think...

IN-between

Whenever I am about to begin an artistic route in content (what something means) and know will be a serious undertaking, I seem to meander in subject and materials for a while. Wanting to "finish" pieces, or by framing works finished, and working with less permanent media, I find the in-between time. In the studio this week and last, I am "finishing" my four Italy inspired watermedia pieces, framing works, preparing for my encaustics class this coming weekend, and working on also finishing up some encaustic paintings that have been hanging around.
Then I will begin preparations for my important shows this year, specifically at Cerulean.
Here's a picture from a late night in the studio this week, working at my table... enjoy!

Cozy Artmaking

When the weather dipped in early January and my fight began for feeling warm physically and emotionally, I felt the need to work on "closer" work.  Sitting at a table, with shoes off and reading glasses on, I could be a different sort comfortable making art. This has taken form in two different bodies of work both on paper. One series focuses on my continued fascination with using old photographs as a source, and then creating a series (20) of drawings on vellum paper using china marker,graphite, and turpentine. These drawings will then become a source for encaustic paintings, lively artist books using my creative writings, and some book assemblages that I have only so far developed in my head - using old found books.  The other works on paper are some playful paintings working with water media based on my photo journal of our trip to Italy, and paintings I had done in oil in the fall. Here is a drawing I was working on yesterday.

Enjoy! 

Swimming To The Top

Like many of you, it's that time of year where I dig out from the holidays and start anew. Most of the activity in my studio lately has consisted of purging old papers, framing, organizing materials and information, and cleaning. This refreshing of my space and my thoughts, gives me the feeling of "swimming to the top." I can breathe a bit better now and can focus better on the future and the present.

In my studio I am currently working on a variety of projects. A "family" of drawings based on old photographs created on vellum with china marker and turpentine - to be later used in artist books, cards, paintings and more, a series of paintings on rag paper in watercolor, charcoal, gouache, and acrylic based on our June trip to Italy - an extension of the works I created in later summer, more pond paintings in oil, and beginning research/creations of my formal narrative project on potato farming in Maine with the Thompson family.

The gallery is busy with private lessons and an overall facelift to the entire space... come and see for yourself!

Holiday Craziness...

We are all a part of the craziness of this time of year whether we want to or not. From decorating my house and gallery, which at some times physically hurts for my great resistance to this commercialized holiday, to having a sale at the gallery where I hope that customers embrace the concept of purchasing handmade, locally created, original artworks for their loved ones, I am taking part in a month of complete craziness. But this craziness and my philosophies on gift giving forces me into a corner where I can jump out of my norm, and create artworks and artful gifts that require originality and at the same time, the pressure of time! Last week only two days before the sale, I made 8 original encaustic paintings in 1 day that pushed me in some new directions - drawings that surfaced encaustics and a small series of paintings titled "Flying Practice." Soon to be posted here.

I am preparing for a new year of shows and sales... the most upcoming exhibit will be the "Teenie Tiny Art Show" at Three Graces Gallery in Portsmouth, NH and followed by the
Cerulean Collective Group Show in March. Stay tuned.

Maybe the grinch in me is starting to dissolve - after my little daughter Olympia begged to sleep under the Christmas Tree, its hard to curl my frown!

Going Organic!

Since my work began with my collection of abandoned old photographs, I have been searching for some new ways of approaching them - and for looking at them for an immediate inspiration and source for new works. This week I started experimenting with making drawings from them, and using frosted vellum, china marker and turpentine. Enjoy! And stay posted for a whole new line of characters to create your own stories with.

Midnight With The Sisters

The Return of the Rust and the Nuns

As the leaves and the vegetation become the color of rust, I find myself reflecting and as always catching my breathe. The gallery and its responsibilities have found me a little too busy, but now I am beginning to have some time to gain some momentum again in the studio. My Italy paintings painted this past summer had sent me back to painting in a more traditional process. Now I find myself playing with some imagery of a pond that I have been visiting on my return trips from teaching at Thomas College in the afternoons.  Once they have evolved a bit more, I'll share them here.

Also moving along is my work with encaustics where I am having a lot of fun letting the wax do its thing but also building up a heavily drawn and layered surface of etched marks, thick wax, and collage elements such as dress patterns, found wood pieces and more.  Here exemplifies one of my newest pieces, yet again the nuns!

Enjoy!

From the Rooftop of Spannochia

Breathe.

Life is busy.  And making art makes me busy. Between late night painting sessions, squeezing in time in-between Olympia's naps, private lessons, meetings and gallery "stuff", I have put together a body of work that reflects our recent trip to Italy.  This will be presented in a solo show at Three Graces Gallery in Portmouth, NH that is set to open next Friday night. Putting final touches on my triptych paintings I have had a chance to catch my breathe and look at the work with some distance.  I am still trying to formulate my reflections though. This will take some time. But please feel free to see what I have been up to and let me know what you think. 

Flying

Wearing her tights, shiny patent leather boots, and onezie all organized in a flat black hue, with left leg turned in just a little, Olympia races down the long hall of our local YMCA. Its Halloween and Olympia is a monarch butterfly. As she turns towards you, you notice the hand-stitched butterfly cutout on her chest, orange and yellow patterns swirling and bringing you to her squishy quilted wings, attached by Velcro straps. She keeps tugging at her black antennae but stops when another trick-or-treaater or guardian notices her. She is eager to wave and “make friends.” While smiling at an older girl in a princess costume, I notice how Olympia’s blonde thin mop and ivory skin glows against this sexy and cute Halloween “get-up” for a one-year-old.

Her nose is running, and I wipe with every turn of her head. She runs across the chaotic gymnasium of screaming kids, of fake witches and white sheets. I chase her through the madness to which she slows for nothing but the little red toddler car. She trips lifting her big feet in – she’s been walking for over three months now but still so easily toppled over.

I push her in the little car. She waves to Grammie, Grandpa & Dada. I worry about her running nose, being too tired, and getting worn out. Worrying doesn’t do you any good, I know. I used to worry, now, not so much. I look ahead. I look at my daughter wearing the black suit waving and smiling at the craziness in this world. I want to be a butterfly too.

First and Last Kicks

The Humble Sheep of Spannochia

Ready, Set, Go!

Although I did not have a chance to work in the studio today, I am still thinking about my new paintings. I have attached here some works in process from inside my studio for you to see what I am up to.  Yes, I am having fun!  After my summer travels to Italy, I am retrieving back with my paintbrush and imagination.  These pieces are part of an upcoming solo show "From Italy To Paint"  at Three Graces Gallery in Portsmouth, NH to open on this October 3rd, 5-8 PM.

I also have some creative writings that I am working on to be released here later in the week. Keep posted.