MAKING MUSIC AGAINST THE HARD EDGES

 Into the Hartz (oil on paper) by Caroline Rannersberger. See website here

We, in our immediate family,  seem to discuss the serious, deeper things in life early in the morning over our first cup of coffee. The discussion some times stretches to a second and a third cup. This week we had a three cuppa conversation about the way humans tend to fight against the natural flow of life ..... which brought to mind a poem I love .................

Caroline Rannersberger. See exhibition here

Passage by John Brehm

In all the woods that day I was
the only living thing
fretful, exhausted, or unsure.
Giant fir and spruce and cedar trees
that had stood their ground
three hundred years
stretched in sunlight calmly
unimpressed by whatever
it was that held me
hunched and tense above the stream,
biting my nails, calculating all
my impossibilities.
Nor did the water pause
to reflect or enter into
my considerations.
It found its way
over and around a crowd
of rocks in easy flourishes,
in laughing evasions and
shifts in direction.
Nothing could slow it down for long.
It even made a little song
out of all the things
that got in its way,
a music against the hard edges
of whatever might interrupt its going.

 Caroline Rannersberger. 

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." - Lao Tzu

The Treeness of Trees by Bridgette Guerzon Mills. Read blog post here

"If you watch nature,
how nature deals with adversity, 
continually renewing itself, 
you can't help but learn .... "  -  Bernie Siegel

 Deposit of Silence(3) by Xavier Verhoest. See website here

Stone Speaks to Water by Bill Gingles. See website here

 Talking Low in a Boat by Bill Gingles

Undercurrents by Judith White. See more of Judith's work here    and here

Julie Shackson. See more of Julie's work here    and blog here

"I look at a stream and I see myself; a South African, flowing irresistibly over hard obstacles until they become smooth, and one day, disappear."  -  Miriam Makeba 

Miriam Makeba, nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award-winning South African singer and civil rights activist. You might recognize Pata Pata, the click song, here

Scanned Assemblage found at Morning Earth. I will definitely go back to browse! Click here.

STRIPES, STRIPY, STRIPED

Sean Scully. See more of Sean's work here.

Sean Scully immediately comes to mind when thinking of stripes in contemporary art but there are also many other wonderful artists incorporating stripes into their work. These are just a few of my favourite pieces.

Minnie Pwerle. Acrylic on linen. See more here.

Minnie Pwerle. Acrylic on linen.

Stripes #4, oil and mixed media on panel by Rebecca Crowell. See website here.

Tea Bag Quilt by Sophie Truong. See Sophie's Flickr photo stream here.


Mathew Harris. See more of Mathew's textile art on his website here.

Bill Gingles. See website here.

Sam Lock. Website here.

Detail from sculpture by Ursula von Rydingsvard. Photo taken by Mathew Felix Sun. See Mathew's blog here.

Large ceramic pieces by South African artist Louise Gelderblom. See website here.

"The shape of the piece and the surface markings on it create a rhythm, a percussion beat that I think of as a wordless tactile language." - Louise Gelderblom

PEBBLE COLOURS

Confluence by Alan Magee at Green Hut Galleries, here.

"Thousands of years of grinding on seashores turns pebbles to sand; in the meantime their softened, rounded edges and many-colored hues make us yearn to pick them up and put them in our pockets as a keepsake and to rub their smooth, cool surfaces." - Quote from Paint by Elizabeth Hilliard and Stafford Cliff

Diving Bell by Jen Bradford. Website here.

Shades of pebble beach, mountain stream and stormy sky. These are the colours that make me feel pensive, introspective and calm.

Another beautiful piece by India Flint! Website here.

I'm intrigued by the physiological effects of colours and the way they can calm or stimulate one. I keep returning to these shades of grey because of the peaceful effect they have on me. See previous post .

Water Koan by Bill Gingles. Website here.

"Art should be something like a good armchair in which to rest from physical fatigue." - Henri Matisse

Mi Casa by Luca Bray. Website here.

Perhaps by Yves Leterme. Website here. I'm so glad Leslie introduced me to Yves' work!

Old Stained Wall by Yves Leterme. Website here.



She Opened the Box by Jeane Myers. Website here.

h75 by Sam Lock. Website here.

"My aim is to create an emotional sense of space and place, where time ravages, wind blows, seas swell, places are found, days dwindle, moments are present then past." - Sam Lock

Lava Roots. Etching by Anna McKee at the Francine Seders Gallery here.

Wool Clip by Rosalie Gascoigne. See more here.

I was delighted to find this little box of memories by Joel Henriques. Blog here.

SPOT THE ZEBRA

Territory. Fiber art and mixed media by Jette Clover. See Here.

Well not really. I came across a post on Art Biz Blog about coming up with more interesting exhibition themes. Since this post is about black and white stripes, zebras came to mind......So the title stays until someone comes up with a better one. What I love about black and white stripes in these artworks is the way they sing in contrast to the other colours.

Passages. Fiber art and mixed media by Jette Clover.

While rebuilding her home in Florida, Jette Clover used the rusty objects she found in the ground, to rust fabric.  Thus began the Rust Series. These pieces need to be enlarged to see the intricate stitching. Click Here to take a closer look. 

"I like the color rust, and I like using the unpredictable designs that occur during the rusting process. It makes me let go of some of the control of art making. I react to the rust stains with painting, printing and stitching my own signs and lettering on the fabric. It is like being involved in an exchange of mark making with nature." - Jette Clover

Looking Glass by Bill Gingles. See more of Bill's work Here.

Tarn by Bill Gingles

See more work by Michael Shemchuk, Here.

Wiggleroom by Michael Shemchuk.

One 2 step by Michael Shemchuk.

The piece above is by Mary Buek. See Mary Buek's Flickr Photostream, Here and blog Here.

Panel by Bill Fisher at the Jane Sauer Gallery, Here.

Experiment by Robyn Gordon

Zebrawald II. See les surfaces Flickr photostream, Here.

..... AND WISDOM COMES QUIETLY

By the Seaside. Mixed Media by Linda Nardelli.

"Come away from the din.
Come away to the quiet fields,
over which the great sky stretches,
and where, between us and the stars,
there lies but silence;
and there, in the stillness
let us listen to the voice
that is speaking within us." - Jerome K. Jerome

Head in the Clouds. Mixed media by Linda Nardelli. Website here.


There are times when I gravitate toward art that invites stillness, introspection and connection with the greater scheme of things.

Begin with the Breath by Linda Nardelli

Linda Nardelli's work originates from a profound inner realm. "It becomes an alter of spirituality and a place for healing" - Linda Nardelli

Motion in Stillness by Kathryn Frund. See exhibition at the Chase Gallery, here.

"Kathryn Frund’s compositions… are landscapes of the mind – vast visions of barren desert, slate seas, and familiar but unidentifiable objects and places that read like hazy memories." - Ken Shulman

Quiet Hope by Kathryn Frund

Talking Low in a Boat by Bill Gingles

Goose Honk, Stillness by Kurt Jackson

Collage by Joanna Nash

Mirage. Mixed Media by Janet Jones

Crystal Crescent Beach by Tom Ward

"Let us spend one day as deliberately as nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls on the rails. Let us rise early and fast, or break fast, gently and without perturbation .... Let us not be upset and overwhelmed in that terrible rapid and whirlpool .... If the engine whistles, let it whistle till it is hoarse for its pains. If the bell rings, why should we run." - Henry David Thoreau

Forest Floor. Oil and acrylic on paper by Michael Porter

Monotypye by Jylian Gustlin