Stop to Smell the Roses

Life never seems to slow down for me, my work as an artist, and the life shared with my little daughter & husband, but I still attempt to slow myself down. I think life does get too busy but we have to make a conscious choice to walk in the sunshine, to taste a cup of coffee and to look eye-to-eye with a loved one. Although I have had some extraordinary experiences in the last month, I am still happy to return and be home. I am fortunate - to have traveled to England with my dearest friend and to reunite with my English family warms my heart, and to close myself to purely focus on my professional development as an artist at a recent conference on Encaustics - and I will continue to count my blessings and stop to smell the roses. That is where the inspiration begins.

Artist Talk this Saturday at 3 PM!

Come on over to Cerulean this Saturday at 3 PM for an artist talk with me and Bill Duffy! Sweets and coffee included.....

Enough

Whenever I haven't been into my studio enough, I start feeling an artistic withdrawal. This hasn't been the case lately. I can't believe it but as I said to the family today, "I'm a little painted out." Yep, my need for a break from moving this wooden stick around with hair on the end, gobs of paint, finger nails filthy and stained, couldn't come at a better time. In one week from tomorrow I'll be getting onto the bus here in Augusta and heading to London. This trip will be part reunion, part artistic rejuvination, part vacation, part contact making but most importantly reconnecting and sharing time with one of my best friends in the world! I'll share more about this trip here when I return.

Anyhow, in the past month I have been juggling many creative endeavors including the painting to be featured for Old Hallowell Day, submitting my work to juried shows (and I will be in one at the Fairfield Art Council - near NYC) as part of the group I am in called New England Wax, finishing my encaustic and oil paintings for the show opening at Cerulean on Friday with photographer friend Bill Duffy called "Revisiting Old Haunts: From Dogtown to Frankfort" and painting a BIG mural for a neighbor. Now I have taken video of all of these projects and if I can get over my computer fears I will get these on shortly.

Even in the midst of complete chaos, I do find some time to locate some quiet. We walk a fair amount together in my little family here. Most recently on the ocean near a family home in Northport and in the trails behind our house which sweep along some beautiful and neglected apple orchards. Walking gets me to slow down and look a little more closely at the world. I have a bit more time to think, and not do. I look forward to doing this on my trip to England when I walk the banks of Cornwall, a really beautiful place....

Enjoy.

Moving Towards Abstraction

It may be said that you can find the abstract in my artworks, but forms are dually readable as tree, rock, etc. My interests as a painter rely heavily on basic ideas of rich surface and color, engaging composition, and tangible idea or source. Sometimes my hand moves away from the subject to make playful and gestural marks but I do come back to the form. When preparing to create my works for the Cerulean's current show "Unpinned: The Abstract Response", I found myself continuously making works that felt too contrived... and I had to leave a couple of paintings out on the way. Even with the deadline quickly approaching I found myself willing to start over, and so I did. In one manic evening I ripped apart some silkscreen prints I did a number of years ago out at Haystack and used them as a beginning to create these four little paintings on paper. Using gouache, watercolor, caran dache crayons and india ink I set to work and had a marvelous time. Here are the four images that resumed.

What are they? Mental landscape, physical landscape, kandiskism? Until this evening I did not
know. Now I am playing with the idea that they represent layers - possibly the complex and busy-ness I live on a day-to-day. Perhaps if I create some more at the end of May, they'll feel a little quieter.

Anyhow, I encourage you to come on down to Cerulean to see this show. Its really lovely and I am very pleased with all of the work we have done to improve and jazzy up our spaces. Show runs until May 8.

This Friday at Cerulean!!!!

Come on out this Friday for some lovely eye candy at Cerulean from 5 - 8 PM for "Unpinned: the Abstract Response"!

Response to "Cycles"

This week I focused most of my energies to finishing four works for a collaborative project titled "Paper Exchange" with the group New England Wax, which I have been a member of for two years now. The title/subject we were to toy with as each encaustic artist created four panels each 10 X 10 on 300 lb. paper was "Cycles". My response to this playful "assignment" brought me to new understandings of this luscious medium and time to bring back together my creative writing musings and my artworks. Enjoy the following works and creative writings still in progress. Artwork titles are: "Daily Burden" "Freeing the Lost Sock" "Fruits of Labor" "Freeing All Of The Lost Socks".

Some folks have asked me "Why do you write?" and quite simply it has always been a way of channeling my artistic thoughts to some coherence and even direction, my writing much informs or relates to my narrative artworks. Neither do I have desire to get published, nor am I searching for others to applaud it for its elegance or wit. I think my writing is really for - me, to feed, heal and another way to play.

Writings to come... they are giving me some trouble getting here...

Momentum

Its a well-known understanding that once you establish some momentum in anything you do, its easier to keep going. My studio work has a lot of energy now but its spread among many projects, maybe even too many. I have shared with you a collection of photographs that demonstrate what I have been doing lately including researching ideas and "places" for the upcoming Old Hallowell Day - which I am honored to be doing this year's painting for promotional activities, a small series of encaustic paintings on heavy paper titled "If I Only Knew What I Knew Now" for a project with the group New England Wax, more birds, and a series of paintings in both oil and encaustic featuring one of my favorite areas to paint - the blueberry barrens and glacial landscape of Frankfort / Prospect, Maine Show for a show at Cerulean with photographer Bill Duffy. Enjoy. And more to come soon!

3 Minute Artist Talk January 22 2010

Little Spaces

It seems that in my busy daily juggle I find little "spaces" to fill my creative side - whether its exploring books on the library shelves or listening to jazz music. These spaces help to balance my intense need to create but nothing replaces this act other than doing itself. This time of year for many marks its days with cleaning out our houses, setting resolutions for the year, and plans for yourself and your family. I add to this list my career goals which can seem a bit overwhelming but by writing them down seems to solidify them even without having to reexamine what they were in the first place. I do want to clean my studio, continue to organize and orient myself so I can locate things among my large art material collection, found objects, old photographs and fiber elements. However, this will have to wait a little longer. I need to get messy, put my ideas to paper, draw, turn on the wax and gather my creative juices for a productive and rich artistic year. I am excited to share with you via my blog what I have been up to. I have set some goals and as the time passes I will reveal how i am doing on them --- more to come! Anyhow, in my studio I am in the beginning stages of a few projects. One is a collaborative project with a group called New England Wax which I am a member of where we are doing a paper exchange project of four pieces. I am working on a series of paper encaustic pieces that plays off the quote, "If I only knew now what I knew then________." I am using views of domestic objects and their relationship to mundane household chores juxtaposed with childhood propos that symbolize play, freedom, and a place to escape to adventures. I am also pulling together another series that focuses on my continued fascination of the area of land located just North of Bucksport, Maine, the blueberry barrens of Frankfort, Prospect and Winterport. These works will take form in both encaustic and oil. And the last project I am beginning is a small works collection for beginning collectors of works on paper that are small in scale, and affordable in price. They will be examinations of my everyday - more to come. And of course, more BIRDWORKS to come too! By popular demand there will be more to see of these at the upcoming Teenie Tiny Show at Three Graces Gallery in Portsmouth, NH in mid-February. And if you haven't stopped by to Maine Cottage Furniture in Yarmouth lately, you'll now see more of my BIRDWORKS collection there. Happy New Year!

New Beginnings

Aren't we all pleased to have a new year to unfold and stretch into! I am for sure. Cleaning and sorting and planning. Here's a little piece on me for the University of Maine at Augusta's webpage. Enjoy! http://www.uma.maine.edu/helenefarrar.html

what inspires me?

This simple question thrown out to me by one of my Drawing I students last week surprisingly left me with no immediate answer. It would be simple to respond with just "everything" or just "anything" but that feels a little too... opaque, fake, pathetic? Or, though I have been making art a little too much like a machine lately, maybe I am just NOT inspired. How does one read that? When I was deep in graduate school (now almost five years ago) I was easily turned on to my graduate residencies, the air of artists and artist mentors sharing coffee and ideas, or coming back home to my books, writings, and even at that time the dialogue of my middle school art students, or the company of my old beloved studio mates at Running With Scissors in Portland. When I returned to Central Maine, I found myself in a quiet place for new artistic journeys in downtown Gardiner in a place called Artdogs. It was a delightful 'place" to be. I think I needed that quiet then for my life which became more of a rollercoaster ride shortly thereafter. Artdogs gave me some time, space (and love) for me to be where I am now. The artistic "core" and repertoire of its artists, the sneak peak into the practice of a private studio, and the opportunity to quietly play in my studio gave me fresh air. Life was much quieter then and eventful walks down to the A1-To-Go with my artdog Sophie for an afternoon cup of coffee and a walking loop to the stream cleared my head for daydreaming. My head needed that clearing for the cycles I have witnessed within my personal sphere can not go without mentioning, the completion of graduate school after three rigorous years during which two and a half of them I taught art full-time in public school, the loss of my mother (and sharing the tough road of her fighting cancer for three years), and then almost a year later the birth of my daughter, and then, the move from a quiet private artistic life to an open door studio with an attached gallery and artists to manage, and even a "new marriage" to biz partner and dear friend Janna (etc.). Yep, I think I am still trying to fill these shoes but they do find me energized, but am I INSPIRED? I am not sure but this babbling is getting me there. There I things I like to do to prepare myself for receiving inspiration. This sounds a bit funny but I don't think I have made time to be really be inspired lately. This time is coming, and it comes from DISTANCE, STILLNESS, and QUIET. Do you think this may be challenging to find in my life? Certainly. But it is coming closer. Within two weeks we'll be packing our family van for ten days of a slightly warmer climate, my grading will be completed, the gallery will be closed for vacation, and space will be created for a little more of me just being. I'll be working on my personal roadmap to good cafes, coffee and bookstores and playing with my husband and kiddo. There is nothing better than rollerblading with coffee and stroller in hand(s). This will give me the quiet to breathe and open myself up for a new year. A new start with new inspirations. Thanks for asking that question _____. I am still working on it.

Off Again

Again I find myself at the end of a busy but fruitful time of art making and professional opportunities. The exhibition “Considerations of Place” featuring works by Kate Buehner, Cynthia Ahlstrin and myself opened at Cerulean Gallery last Friday evening. A rich and curious show which plays off the concept of place, and unsurpringly, we all have such different responses. The following statement might help you in guiding my vision of my works which took form in encaustics on panel, an artist book using acrylic on rag paper, and mixed media paintings using bits of textile and embroidery.
"This work demonstrates my consistent investigation of the use of abandoned photographs as a source. These works uniquely use small amounts of embroidery, reclaimed textile pieces, and drawing and painting onto raw canvas. These choices in materials were drawn from my intention to speak metaphorically about how life is weaved physically into where we live, play, and work. Drawing from locations specifically near to my home and personal landmarks here in Central Maine, I am speaking about our sense of belonging to place. Working to see how the language of landscape (its meandering roads, rolling hills, tall pine trees) in painted form with references to the figure, I wanted to create dialogue about our own relationship to place and to articulate emotional attachments we have to place personally and communally. After my third return to this area, our landscape of the Kennebec Valley has spoken to me as home. I hope you can feel this in these works and look a little closer at our gem of the state of Maine."
Whenever a show comes to fruition, the artist always comes to a “place” of a possible change in direction – will the works continue? In this exhibition I began an exploration in the use of textile, either in embroidered elements with charcoal work, or in embedding found textile pieces, also an artist book form that locates my voice as a painter, and I’d like to push these developments further. I'm not sure how and that’s what makes it most interesting. When the dust settles and I’ve breathed a bit more I’ll get my road map back again.

I’ve also been working on a new body of work featuring my favorite subject of birds in encaustics. This subject really allows me to play with this wax paint without a lot of tight constraints and this is something I need to push harder into this complex medium. My newest pieces feature some generous carving into the wax with woodcarving tools and an inherent interest in the whimsical. I am pleased to announce that you can now see more of my encaustic bird paintings at Maine Cottage Furniture with a showroom in Yarmouth. More to come.

Don’t miss the artist talk for “Considerations of Place” on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 3 PM at Cerulean and our 2nd Anniversary Celebration on this Sunday the 22nd from 11-1. Please come and join us as we celebrate with good foods and company.

….My mind races forward with next preparations such as the Cerulean holiday sale on December 12 & 13, holiday presents for loved ones, finishing up some old works, and other bizarre artistic interests inspired by retiling my bathroom shower, hmmmm?

Come and see a wonderful collaboration of 34 artists at the Richmond Store Gallery opening Friday, November 6th.

Momentum

I am off and running with many new works going.... My works with birds in encaustics continues to be lots of fun and engaging. I am now pushing my use of pattern through using a collected box of vintage fabrics I acquired at a yard sale this fall. Also, propelling me forward is a trio show titled "Considerations of Place" with artist friends Cynthia Ahlstrin and Kate Buehner at Cerulean in November. I am creating some mixed media works that again use abandoned photographs as part of a source - only this time I am embroidering and painting onto raw canvas. Drawing from locations specifically near to my home, I am attempting to speak about a sense of belonging and how the language of landscape can be used to ground these ideas. I was fortunate to discover a Welsh artist named Eleri Mills in Fiber Arts Magazine recently whose work I have found very intriguing and I can pull from. My use of cloth material and the act of sewing, designing fabric I think may be coming back to surface after many years of neglect. If one grandfather was a tailor and the other grandfather designed and created dresses, how long can an artist surpress this need to loop string, needle, and cloth together? Does anyone remember my senior prom - yikes, I think I am still trying to forget it but I do remember the dress!

Anyone want to come and learn about encaustics this weekend? I am offering a one day workshop on Saturday from 10 - 3 at Cerulean. Just give us a call at Cerulean if you'd like to come 626-9009.

Tray Chic at Bangor Children's Museum this November!

After the Summer Rush

It seems as though "Summer" just existed for the month of August. We all went running around catching every ray of sunlight and warm air, and in my artistic practice I went running around gathering inspiration from everywhere. Following the closing of my show at Cerulean with Cynthia Ahlstrin in August, my dear artist friend Kate Buehner swooped myself, my family, as well my business partner and friend Janna and family to join her in Lubec. We were fortunate to stay at her family's "Crow Neck Farm" and absorb all its splendor of quiet and space. We all talked and made art, and relaxed and enjoyed day adventures into town. We all participated in the Lubec Arts Alive Project, and I spent some time working on the mural project pictured here. My work is central, of the large black bird. Go figure. The birds in Lubec are big. Really. The project was very engaging and enjoyed so much meeting some fabulous Maine artists including Robert Shetterly and Rose Marasco. The portrait and oral history project going on simultaneously was very inspiring. I liked watching the artists studying their individuals and hearing them collect stories and gestures. Back at Crow Neck Farm, I was greatly influenced by this Buehner artist family's home - particularly by Kate's dad who had a strong presence in the home by his lovely paintings. Paintings of his children, birds, with such an endearing flare for daily life and a combination of tribal and outsider art. I was completely enamored. I think a little bit of my heart wanted to stay in Lubec. Partly because I needed to breathe some new fresh air and enjoyed my stay at Crow Neck Farm but partly because it reminded me of my artist family too. We all want to be surrounded by things and places that have sentiment and love, and by Kate sharing hers with me it made me hold a little more onto mine. My greatest artistic influences have been my Mother who had summer painting trips to Lubec most of my childhood, and with my extended artist family - where I had also shared many summer inspirations. A bitter sweet experience. When we returned home I think my heart was still away in the idea of Lubec. I started painting a motif on a table for a benefit for the Bangor Children's Museum directly influenced by Kate's dad Frederick Buehner. Pictured here is the top tray and legs. There is another painting on the table itself under the tray of some geese running around an island. I titled the work "I didn't see any geese in Lubec - after Frederick Buehner" and it will be auctioned in November. At the same time, I also spent a tremendous amount of time putting my mind and body into working on a HUBCAP inspired artwork for Cerulean's HUBCAP HEAVEN show. See my red tricycle. I also created six new small encaustic works for the Three Graces Gallery's Teenie Tiny Show in Portsmouth, NH.
So, now I breathe. I am cleaning up my studio, reorganizing everything, gathering inspiration from books and journaling and gearing up for some new pieces. We head down to Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Monday morning for symposium "Creating in Maine." To be continued.

What a summer!

I have had a greatly refreshing and inspiring August! We traveled to Lubec to participate in Lubec Arts Alive, also to do some of my own work, and to breathe. We were invited to come and stay with good artist friend Kate Buehner, and we loved the relaxation of her "Crow Neck Farm"! Pictures to come soon. Also, I am busy wrapping up works for the Cerulean's Hubcap Heaven exhibition opening next week, finishing up works for the Tiny Show at Three Graces Gallery, teaching drawing I at UMA starting next Tuesday AND a lovely table painted for a benefit at the Bangor Children's Museum - wowee. Stay posted. Here's an image from my recent show"Harboring the Significant" at Cerulean which is in its last days.

Hubcap Heaven is Here next Friday the 4th!

Come and join me at Cerulean next Friday, September 4 from 5-8 PM for Hubcap Inspired Refreshments, Live Music, and the Cerulean Collective for a special exhibition featuring HUB CAPS

I am making a relief sculpture of an old tric with composite resin pedal and all! Totally wild!!!

Here's some words from our fearless Hubcap Leader, Barbara Loken
For the past four summers, while driving back and forth to a boys camp
that I work at in the summer in Wayne, I daily drove past a small white
house on Highway 133 surrounded by piles of hubcaps. When the camp
needed decorations for a coffee house evening, I suggested hubcaps and
in no time I was introducing myself to Margaret Hawes who runs A and M
Wheel Covers with her husband Arthur. Margaret kindly showed me a pile
of slightly dinged wheel covers,( the correct name for what is commonly
called HUB CAPS) and I was awestruck by the hundreds of ways a circle
can be designed to suggest speed, wealth, economy, practicality, or
beauty. My first forty hubcaps were scrubbed by the boys with the Dawn
detergent that Margaret suggested , enhanced when necessary with spray
paint, and proved to be spectacular on the theater buildings walls. One
small lad immediately saw a connection and quipped, “ Coffee and
Cars, they both keep you running all day long.” which became the
theme of the coffee house.
This spring Bill Duffy and I visited Margaret who again helped us pick
out another batch from the scrap cap pile for the Cerulean artists. A
Hub Cap has a history and evokes nostalgia for the cars that we have
owned or loved or coveted or is just cool to look at and enjoy. Each
artist was challenged to transform a Hub Cap or two into a work of art.
We hope you enjoy the show in present time and are also reminded
fondly of a car that carries special memories. Anyone ever own a ’57
Chevy boat-car with fins?
No one has taken me up on the idea of a Hub Cap rhythm band, maybe
next year.
-Barb Loken

WE'll BE OPEN MORE FOR THIS EXHIBITION:
Friday, September 4 11-8 PM Reception 5-8
Saturday, September 5 11-8
Sunday, September 6 10-2
Monday, Labor Day CLOSED
Tuesday, September 8 11-5

Image Compliments of our Photographer Bill Duffy

"Harboring the Significant" Opens NEXT SATURDAY!

Please come to the reception on Saturday, August 8th from 4-7 PM. Also, come to the preview party on Friday, August 7th from 5-7!!!!

Busy Bee at the Botanical Gardens

As we all know, Maine has received a tremendous amount of rain this past June. But the Botanical Gardens in Boothbay haven't hurt. I painted there last Sunday in a wet paint event...and not having been before, quickly settled into a great spot on the path down to the fairy houses. It was a lovely day with some unsettled weather...and was challenged to compose a painting where all of the natural forms and greens spoke very different languages. With only less than four hours to make things work, I must have been half crazy to choose the composition I did. However, I did end up happy with it and had a lot of fun! Come by the studio and see it.