Artists’ Co-op of Mendocino Blog

Peace Action through Art by Lynne Zickerman

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 13:53:56 -0700

PEACE ACTION Working for Peace Since 1957
September 11, 2011 reflecting on the 10th anniversary of the 2001 tragedy
October 7, 2011 reflecting on the 10th anniversary of the longest war in US history, the invasion of Afghanistan
Sep 11 - Oct 7: marking a decade of war with a month of art

Artists and all, are invited to take this historic moment as inspiration and use the power of creativity to illustrate the costs of war and imagine a more PEACEFUL WORLD.

CONTACT: KEVIN MARTIN, PEACE ACTION
Montgomery Center
8630 Fenton Street St 524
Silver Spring, MD 20910
951-217-7285
kmartin@peace-action.org
pmartin@peace-action.org

THOUSANDS of ARTISTS, POETS, MUSICIANS, PUBLIC PROJECT MAKERS, GARDENERS, RUNNERS and other INTERESTED PEOPLE, are joining in marking and reflecting on what would be possible if there were a sustaining PEACE.

My Peace Action
New York Poems: Opening to Grief Through Intimate Connectedness,
are stories of the survivors of September 11, 2001. Just as we all are. The people in the stories lived it closely as they were intimately connected to one or many who died that day. Each person can tell you where they were standing, with whom they were speaking, what they did next. All were heartbroken but lived to tell their stories to us.

Each had strengths brought to help them survive and live on bringing sense and understanding of the values of remembering, being brave and going forward in the face of pain, violence and misplaced retribution.

Lynne Zickerman
September, 2011

Mendocino-Miasa-Omachi Art Exchange

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 11:57:11 -0700

I was one of 4 artists who traveled to Omachi/Miasa this July to participate in the gala opening of the newly renovated Omachi Asagura Art Center, which featured works from Mendocino as well as local Miasa/Omachi artists. The opening was well attended and a special performance by Japanese group “Gonna” added to the festive atmosphere. My work was well displayed and I sold the 2 mokuhanga pieces as well as the plovers. My interest in woodcut block printing originated from a previous trip to Japan where we saw work by Hokusai & Hiroshige, who’s famous series “Tokkaido Road” as well as “Views of Mt. Fuji” were inspirational to Mendocino Art Center founder Bill Zacha, who recreated those views from a modern perspective as a series of seriagraphs. He and Toshi Yoshida mokuhanga artist) became friends and the Mendocino Sister Cities Association was formed. For 20 years, middle school children from Miasa & Mendocino have visited each other every other year as a cultural experience not to be forgotten. This is the 2nd time the Mendocino Artists have traveled to Japan and next year the Miasa/Omachi artists will come to Mendocino.

Debra Beck Lennox
ACM Artist
July 2011

For more images, go to Debbie’s Artist Page on the ACM web site
http://www.artcoopmendocino.com/ACM/Debra_Beck_Lennox.html

Visions in Athens By Lynne Zickerman in conjunction with her Jan 2011 show Visions of Greece

Tue, 4 Jan 2011 09:54:34 -0800

After our Pilgrimage to Ancient Oracle Sites in the Peloponnes, I took a tour of Athens w/ Vasilis and Emmanuelia. He had picked me up at 4:00 and I did not bring my camera, glad to just be looking. I had a great, free time without it.

We saw the Acropolis from many view points but headed for the Mountain at City Center, which you drive up 2/3's and then walk 10 more stories. There is an amazing 360o view and a lovely Greek Orthodox Church. It is dark with huge Icons on all walls and 2 two-foot sand boxes with real bees wax candles 10" long, hand dipped and about 1/2" in diameter. The candles glowed with an incredible warmth in the dark sanctuary and we 3 lighted more candles placing them in the sand. I silently said prayers for my friends in need, and when I got home, my friend Beth's daughter-in-law's sister had come out of a week's coma at the moment I had lighted the candle.

Outside, I was overwhelmed with the views of luxury apartments immediately below in the City Center. All had huge bright blue swimming pools. Parks dotted the city; the bright orange Stadium where the team Panathenan has won in Soccer this year; the Acropolis looked tiny among the houses covering every inch of my view like tiny blocks of marble with little tile roofs. There are not many trees among the houses. They are mostly apartment bldgs, straight, square, non-descript cement from the 20th Century as in Turkey, mushrooming over the cityscape, up hillsides in all directions.

From this mountain top, I also saw an incredible pearl gray sunset. The sun was like a Mabe Pearl in an Abalone shell, a round gray spherical blip in an already gray sky. It had a dark gray line extending west and east from its two sides, of darker gray, lined with thin slivers of orange, yellow and red. The west-east lines made a diagonal slash across the sky, not purely horizontal. The west end was high and the east end
went low to my right. I knew the sun was in there but its brightness never showed, just the roundness and slivers of color.

We drove past many ruins, 60 feet tall, familiar from the bus ride on the Pilgrimage. We parked and walked through many blocks of market, which had become stores in the 40 years since I was there. I was very lucky to find two Cycladic sculptures of Alabaster for six Euros each! Very simple and beautiful. I got a 300 recipe cook book which recommends "1 tea cup of cheese, 1/2 tea cup of Olive Oil." I have made Greek Salad!

It was an adventure, under the Acropolis, finding both antique and modern treasures. We went past ruins under thick glass viewing the place where two rivers cross and still run below the Acropolis. The Parthenon and temples were lighted and shown in yellow orange above the city at night. Right below were fields of stone ruin groups as we saw at Dodona and Dephi, fenced off with viewing windows, the levels changing among the long blocks of land as we walked around the borders.

I loved our Pilgrimage and our trip to Hydra and mine to Athens, again. I regret that none of us got to go to the great Accropolis and Parthenon, actually standing on that ground. We all saw it many times as we traversed the city in any direction. The Spirit of the Ancient wisdom is still felt in the dignity of the people. Athens is in good hands, at least in the care of Vasilis and Emanuelia.

Hoping this description has taken you to Athens for a few moments.
Lynne Z

Giving Titles to Artworks by Karen E. Reynolds

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 21:36:22 -0800

The title is part of the art. Viewers usually read the title when they view the art. Frequently more time is spent on the verbal title and comments than on the visual work itself. Watch people in a gallery; you’ll see. Titles seem to be viewer-centered, artist-centered, or management-centered. Here are some categories of titles:
(1) Good for management. The title sounds like part of an inventory list and is easy to match with the work of art. For example, a painting of two hens is called “Two Hens.” The literal and obvious connection between the title and content does not lead the viewer to think diversely nor gain new insight. There is no twist of the mind, surprise, revelation, nor invitation to imagine. Maybe that’s OK. Meat and potatoes.
(2) Good for interpretation. The title relates to the context of the picture and helps the viewer make sense of it or consider an aspect that is of interest to the artist. For example, a painting of two mature women chatting over coffee is called “Two Hens.” Viewers are likely to consider the metaphor, alternative titles, or how the visual and title relate to their own experiences. There’s potential for humor, seeing relationships, acquiring information, and getting more than the sum of the parts.
(3) About the artist. The title has meaning only for the artist or leaves the viewer running in neutral. For example, a sculpture of a broom is called “Two Hens” or “Untitled.” For most viewers the disconnect between title and art results in time wondering what the artist meant instead of looking at the art itself, or sensing that “untitled” indicates indecision or lack of interest, is a cop out, smacks of condescension, or … whatever. The esoteric can be effective, but avoiding false mystique is a good practice. Explanatory comments can clarify.

Of course these three categories are arbitrary and not exhaustive. We could find titles that (4) are offensive, (5) have an ephemeral reference, (8) are too broad to be meaningful, (9) present inconvenient truths, (10) provide Inspiration, and more. Bottom line: artists can name their works as they like. However, for art that is put on display for the purpose of being viewed, considering the title as something to be read by the viewer seems worth making a conscious and concerted effort. If nothing else, assigning a title can be a challenge and a first step toward interesting discussion.

One Encaustic Thing Leads to Another by Lisa Orselli

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 10:18:01 -0700

Recently I was given a new opportunity by a business owner, Rebecca Deerwater to teach a class in the work space in the back of her store, Racines which carries art and office supplies in Fort Bragg, California. It happens that I am an artist who works in encaustic, which is a new old medium that is currently experiencing an enthusiastic resurgence. She has started to sell encaustic materials and thought it would be fun for me to give interested people the experience of working with beeswax. Becky, an artist herself, has invited other artists to share their media and makes a very generous arrangement: the artist sets and collects the fee, Racines offers a 20% discount on any materials a participant wants to buy. I decided on a one-day (10:30-3:30) Saturday class for $65, materials included.

Not having taught before, the challenge for me was to organize it in such a way that five hours would give them the basics, time to play and to understand how to work safely on their own. Becky supplied the worktable and infra structure (lots of electricity) and I gathered all my supplies and set it up. Because we need pallets to melt the wax and heat guns or torches to fuse the wax as we layer, I decided to keep the class size to 6 in order to give everyone good space and access to the materials and three “melting stations.’ I also had them work on museum board in small sizes to encourage them to play and experiment. I provided the paint and the materials; they brought paper towels and their curiosity.

Encaustic is a forgiving medium with infinite ways to work. I demonstrated how to apply a smooth surface of wax, a textured surface and then how to fuse and layer. Also how to use tools to scrape away wax, to add paper, transfer drawings and use pastels and graphite. Then they took off. They pored wax, they layered and dug down to make more three dimensional images, some became fond of flame and some even skipped lunch (and the bakery next store is divine) so they could keep on working.

The back room at Racines is a great environment to make art. It’s been a gift to me in many ways not the least by exploring and pushing my own work so I can better assist the eager beavers who come to meet a new and decidedly approachable medium. After three workshops I took my turn at our Artists Co-op in Mendocino, California, to be the featured artist and had the satisfaction of seeing all the new work I’ve done get out of the studio and into the world.

Lisa Orselli, artcoopmendocino.com Oct. 24, 2010
Member, Artists’ Co-op of Mendocino

With appreciation to Rebecca Deerwater,
owner of Racines in Fort Bragg, California