Addams Family Gathering Preview

Here's a little sneak peak of the piece I've been working on for the Addams Family Gathering show opening Oct. 2nd at the Mac 650 Gallery in Middletown. As you can see, my work table is kind of a mess but the new studio is working fabulously. This is another mixed media piece. It will end up being an installation of Morticia's Garden. It's still in pieces but it's coming along nicely. Come check out the opening, it should be a blast. Nine artists are showing, including myself and our styles are very different so it should be an eclectic show even though everything will be tied into the Addams Family in some way. This is a Joe Dinunzio & Joe Gallucio production so as always there will be fun stuff happening along with the free food and wine. Here is the flyer for the opening. Joey Marsocci designed the poster and will have a few pieces in the show also. If you can't make it, the show is up for the month of October and gallery hours are on the weekends. Also, check back here for photos of my finished piece and some of the other work in the exhibit.

Wandering Uterus Pieces

So, finally, here are the photos from the Wandering Uterus in Jan/Feb of this year. The show was an amazing success. We had some great feedback, an awesome turn out for our opening and the Middletown Press came by to interview me, do a photo shoot and they printed a story in the weekend edition. We even made the cover! woo woo, props to us.
The photo above is of one of my pieces titled Onoclea Opening #1. It's fused, slumped and blown glass with resin in a bed of sand. There's another angle to the right, you can see the form better. Again, there I go working with those ferns. In the background of the photo to the left you can see my painting From Within on the left and H.L. Groen's paintings on the right. I love her use of color!!!
With this entire series, I continued my exploration of the connection between the sensitive fern (onoclea sensibilus) and the human form. These are, in a way, self-portraits. I see the strength and simultaneous fragility of the sensitive fern as being similar to my own, a metaphor for humanity as well as my experiences. I chose the materials and forms of these pieces to echo those characteristics. Each piece is a representation of the sensitive fern with its fragility and ever present potential for rebirth while also being representations of myself.
I know I normally don't get serious on my blog but I figured I'd throw in a bit of an artist statement since I'm showing so much of my work this month.
Above is a closer look at From Within, the only painting I did for the show. It's Acrylic on Canvas and the photo doesn't really do the color justice but what can you do.
To the right is Onoclea Opening #2. This one is ceramic, glaze, resin and blown glass. And it's the only piece in the show that was licked. Thanks Jen! Apparently she thought it looked yummy. In the background are illustrations by Katie and Shelley Osowiecki. I love their work! Here are some closer shots....
The squid piece is Katie's and the Ipod piece is Shelley's. Yeah, their styles are similar but they're twins so what did you expect?!
The piece below and to the right is the biggest piece I did for the show, Onoclea Dying. The top part is ceramic and glaze. It's filled with water and glass. The base is made of steel rod that's been welded and I used a plasma cutter to get some texture and it's also sitting on a bed of sand. This is the piece I posted photos of last year as I was working on it. Check out the Wandering Uterus in Progress post.
The other pieces were a set of glass masks I made from a casting of my face. They are also fused and slumped glass.
For Overgrown (to the left) I also incorporated copper wire and Acrylic Coated Polymer Clay. Sensibilus Immortal has a bold orange piece where the fern was placed that I was told made it look like a samurai. I don't see it but to each their own interpretation. And last but not least Blinded has a slightly different format. It's difficlut to see in the images but all of the masks have conte drawings embedded in the glass along with the skeletons of ferns that I picked from my yard last year. I explained that process in my last post about the jewelry. I hope you like them and if you actually read all of that you deserve a prize! I have more photos of the other artists work from the show that I'll post later. *carrie

Uterus Opening!

So, the Wandering Uterus was a smashing success! We had a great turnout for the opening. The work was amazing! I realize it's been a while since the show but a lot has happened since then! I moved! (probably the biggest thing) Fabulous new studio! That required a little work to get going but it's up and running. I hope to share some photos of that soon. And I promise my next post will include photos from the Uterus show. But, for now, check out the glass jewelry pieces I made special for it.
They're fused glass pendants with sensitive ferns and their seed pods fused between the layers. When the organic material burns off it leaves a skeleton image behind on the glass. Those of you that know my work....yes, this series continues my obsession with the fern and the seed pods. Encasing their skeletons in glass feels like a preservation process to me, I made one for myself and I always feel like I'm wearing a sort of amulet when I have it on. I'm sold out at the moment but I will probably be making more. Let me know if you're interested. They're all one of a kind, and the image depends on the reaction of the fern in the kiln so there's a little bit of chance involved which makes them exciting.