mantras, wishes and prayers.

Tonight I won a prize at bjsartworks' "From Victim to Victory: A Domestic Violence Awareness Project" art show. It was a good show - normally I'm not wowed by every single piece in a show, but there was so much emotion in every single one of them that I really was in awe. The reception itself was powerful, too, with a sing-along and original song by Pam Barker, who had inspired Bev Saunders to put this show together.

The painting I put in is called "STOP." I have a way of trying to use my art as a way to wish, pray, do mantras or voodoo or - I don't know what. It's like if I painted this hard enough, it would stop. I've done that with others - if you look on the website's gallery and click "Tell the Sky" or "Wish" you'll see the same sort of thing. Let's hope this stuff works.

Here's the winning painting, and the ribbon. Thanks to Bev for putting it all together - this was a really wonderful show and I'm glad I could be a part of it.



Bjsartworks is located on the second floor of The Shirt Factory, on the corner of Lawrence and Cooper Streets in Glens Falls, New York. The show is up until Halloween, and I really recommend checking it out.

Okay, maybe I get it now.

I just may have figured out why so many people around here paint pictures of Lake George.



Some background, if you're not from around here: When you're checking out the local art scene, it's kind of a "blah blah blah Lake George" thing. EVERYONE does paintings of Lake George, and it's a serious snooze. Sure, it's pretty, but it's decorative. My idea of good art isn't decorative. Blecch.

My idea of good art is that it means something. It pushes envelopes. It's personal, it's emotional, it's important, it invokes a reaction and conveys something real and human. It makes people angry, or sad, or joyful, and number one, it's original - it's not just blahhhh, ANOTHER painting of a lake - how very exciting for you. There's so much "pretty" art out there, and I really have no desire to clutter up the world with more of it. How many times can people paint the same thing before the painting police put a stop to this!?

Honestly, I realize that people want to have something pretty in their homes, but gosh, it's so boring. Admittedly, I've done a landscape or three, done my small share of florals, succumbing to the sad fact that nobody really wants to buy my angsty life on paper.

However, I had the opportunity last week to go out on Lake George for the first time, for an Editorial meeting in my boss Mark Frost's boat. And I think I get it.

When you're actually there, soaking up Lake George, you want more than anything to paint it, to take that feeling of exhilaration and relaxation and capture it so you can share it with everyone else. When people buy paintings of Lake George, they can point out the islands - Lake George vacationers and natives know the names of them, and have good memories associated with them. It is a personal thing. I took lots of pictures...



I even liked it so much that I went back to the Lake with my boyfriend Cory. We hiked in, laid out a picnic, jumped in the water and laid in the sun. I took pictures of that, too. Watch out - you just might see some Lake George paintings from me yet!



... I'm not gonna pretend they're anything original, though.

Going digital

My sister came to visit me last night and I helped her make herself over for an internship interview at SPAC. After work, we went for a walk around downtown Glens Falls in another outfit I picked for her, and we ended up doing a spontaneous photoshoot. I played around with some of the pictures in GIMP and am really loving some of them.

This shot is strangely similar to a drawing I did back in 2003 or so...




And this one was a lucky accident - she was fixing her headband, but the way the camera blurred made this really wonderful and intense...


They're both available for sale on http://aephemera.etsy.com now!

Flower painting...

Well, I'm 26 now. Working at The Chronicle is still going well - it's a lot more brainwork than I'm used to, but that's not a bad thing!

I came out with some surprisingly nice flower paintings at Garden Time last weekend. It was nice to have time to devote solely to painting. I haven't done that in a long while. Here's a photo of some of the work that came of the plein air painting:

From left to right, that's an orchid, a Venus Fly Trap, and some kind of lily. I had a good time. Nothing sold, but painting just felt really nice. I'll have to make more time for it.

The Rusty Matcutter & Muses' Gallery

I'm busy getting ready for my next show at Rock Hill Bakehouse. I'll be hanging it April 20th, and the reception is Thursday, May 15th from 5:00 - 7:00 pm. But I want to share a tip with readers about hanging a show - There's a new frame shop in town!

The Rusty Matcutter & Muses' Gallery will be framing a bunch of art for me for this show, and I was really surprised to find that their framing prices came up to just about exactly what it would cost for me to frame something myself! I've been doing my own framing for the two years I've been showing my art, and while I certainly am proud of that fact, it's such a relief to leave the grunt work up to somebody else - especially when I'm not paying anything extra for it! These guys really appreciate the starving artists out there.

Another exciting thing about these guys is that they have a gallery. There's a Figures Show coming up Friday, April 18th from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm that coincides with shows going on in the Tom Myott Gallery and Dave Francis Studio - all located in The Shirt Factory, at the corner of Cooper and Lawrence Streets in Glens Falls, the same building that houses my studio.

Timeless Comfort, M.C. Huskie

What's even more exciting than the gallery at The Rusty Matcutter is the gift shop, and I'll tell you why - they're carrying my chainmaille jewelry and upcycled bracelets! In time for the May Open House, on Saturday, May 3rd, there will be a display of Ivy Teakettle jewelry. It's especially exciting because presently they are the only brick & mortar store carrying my items. Now you can go in, try things on, and see them in person - and while you're there, peruse the other neat goodies in the gift shop! You can always look in the Ivy Teakettle etsy shop to see what's new, as well - it's updated almost daily.

The Rusty Matcutter and Muses' Gallery is open:

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday from 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sunday 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Stop in and check them out!

Red Cross Art Auction

Last night was the Art Auction at the Queensbury Hotel to benefit the Adirondack/Saratoga Chapter of the Red Cross. They collected Windows and handed them out to local artists to decorate with the theme "Windows on the Adirondacks". I made one - pictures 1 2 3 4. They did a good job of advertising, a mass mailer, lots of posters and even went through the work of putting all the images up on their website.

However, the hors d'oeuvres were lacking, the drinks were expensive, and most importantly, the auction seemed to be mainly attended by the artists themselves, not necessarily patrons of the arts with fat wallets. Of course I love events where I can meet socially with my fellow artists, but the "starving artist" title isn't ironic - it's true.

No art went for more than $250, I believe, which is an insult to the artists - the time spent on some of these is worth thousands of dollars per window. There were windows sold for a dollar. There were a total of 112 windows, which makes for a very impressive show, but also for an excruciatingly long auction. The fee to even get in to the auction was $35, which is steep, in my opinion. I think that if it was lower, more people would have come to the auction and bid, and also that people attending would have been a little more excited to spend money if they hadn't already dropped a chunk of it at the door. The fact that the auctioneer didn't know much about art and had to practically beg people to bid was very nerve-wracking to me as an artist. The entire time, I was mortified that my painting was going to be insulted and then sold for a dollar.

To my relief, mine found a good home with Post Star photographer TJ Hooker. HUGE thanks, TJ! Here are the pictures TJ took for the Post Star.

I couldn't help but think that there must be more efficient fundraisers that aren't as frightening to artists. As is, art isn't the most thriving business - there is a very small percentage of the population who cares enough about art to make it to such events, and an even smaller percentage of that percentage that can afford to pay a fair price for artwork. The auction was impressive as an art show, but I feel badly that the Red Cross (and the artists donating their work) put so much work in for so little return.

Of course, with Glens Falls striving to cater to a more sophisticated and cultural audience, perhaps the next charity auction in this town will be better than the last few.

New art

Last week I was thinking about my art, and thinking about how I wanted it to be edgy and raw and honest, the way it used to be, but how I had really strayed from that autobiographical and guts-baring path. I had all these thoughts, these self-doubts milling around in my head, and I wrote them out on scraps of paper. Then I thought - hey, why not take these insecurities and just go for it and make them into art? The finished product is here: "On the couch - Insecurities and Truths". I think I'll go with this theme for a while... will likely frame these, and just go with the writing a la Jenny Holzer. Stay tuned for detail shots of this one...

Jack of all trades, Master of none

One of the things I always seem to be angry about is my tendency to change horses midstream. (Is that the phrase?) I took ballet from age six to ten, then decided I'd rather ice skate. So I was a crappy ballerina and also a crappy ice skater. I could have been one or the other and been it well, but I wasn't. This pattern has continued my whole life.

I worked in the social work field for two years. I worked in the sales field for what, five or six years total. But I don't want to do that, I want to be an artist. Or do something with the community. Or maybe try social work again. Or make a lot of money, which means none of the above. I'd also like to be a writer. Or a teacher. Also maybe a librarian or a carpenter. Or a crafter, with my own business. Of course, most of those require more schooling, which I don't feel like doing. I just want to jump in without committing to more fat stacks of student loans.

I do this with my promoting - I'm on MySpace, I'm on Facebook, Etsy, Craigslist, the Post Star, the Chronicle, the Saratogian, the Times Union, LARAC, Google Calendar, my website, IndiePublic, my blog is on Blogger--no wait! It's on LiveJournal. Well, how about both? I'll have a blog for idioms and a blog for my art. And a blog for my political beliefs and a blog for my every single thought. Plus the MySpace blog. And the private journal. And my art journal. I'm hanging posters up in The Shirt Factory, I'm hanging them up all over, I'm on message boards, I'm in the NCAC newsletter, the LARAC newsletter, the Killington Arts Guild newsletter, the Watercolor Society newsletter, I'm sending mass emails, I'm all over the fricken place like a crazy person and you know what? If I was earning an hourly pay for all my running around talking myself up, I'd be super duper rich. But I must be doing a crap job. I'd say right now I might be earning myself five cents an hour. Whoopee.

I do this with my art, too. Okay, I'm a watercolorist. No I'm not, I'm a mixed media artist. My work is autobiographical and experimental. Except for that Britney Spears one. Britney Spears is not a part of my life story. And the one I painted of a model that I don't know. And all those goddamn landscapes I painted because people like goddamn landscapes. Also, I like acrylics. And painting on wood. And photography. I'm a photographer! Also, I paint with my hair. Actually, I do idiom cartoons, I'm not autobiographical at all. Well, I'm doing decorative things now to sell on etsy even thou nobody's buying them. I do whimsical cartoons of little kids. I do custom graphic arts work. I'm a website designer. I'm doing paintings writing out all my insecurities. Now I only paint on windows. I paint on glass. I'm super edgy and in your face! I'm going to make art magazines because i'm so edgy and controversial. I'm guts-baring. Actually, that's tough because people might pick on me so I'll say the same thing except quieter, and I'll erase half of it. I'm cryptic. I paint on huge boards that have been covered with gesso. Maybe I'll start a business selling chainmaille jewelry. I'm a teacher, I teach classes. I want to change the world with my art! I'm political. I'm environmental. I'm feminist. I want to learn to sew. I want to silkscreen. I want to learn ceramics. I want to revisit welding. I want a welding studio! I will only make huge sculptures. I want to make jewelry. I use found objects in my art. I'll just make notecards, actually. My style is impressionist, kind of. No, i mean cartoony. I will do cartoons in newspapers! Actually, I only do abstract pieces with lots of texture.

This drives me crazy. Because it's bad business. If you want to be an expert at anything, if you want to succeed at anything, if you want to make money, you have to be a recognizable person. You have to have a style. A brand. Use the same colors in each piece, or the same brushstrokes, or characters, or hell, even the same freaking medium. You can't be all over the place like this. Renoir does ballerinas. Georgia O'Keefe does flowers. Gus Fink does horror. Pollock does paint drips. Casey Dwyer does funky feathery headbands and neckerchiefs. Tom Myott does stained-glass horses. Betty O'Brien does bright colors and birds.

I don't have a brand, I don't have a style, I don't have a medium. I don't have one website as the go-to, or even one goddamn blog. And that's just how I am. I get bored. I have too many ideas to just pick one thing and do it to death. But it gets me down that I really know better, I really know that it's smart business to have a "look"... but I just can't stay put. I get angry with myself over that.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go cross-post this in my personal LiveJournal, my LiveJournal art blog, and my MySpace blog.

Classes

The class on how to sell your artwork online went really well yesterday. Thanks to Brian, Nicole, and Janet for coming! The feedback I got was very positive, and I'm inspired to offer the class again in February...



Other news is that it's Martin Luther King Day! There's an event happening in Glens Falls that I helped to plan. Read a blog post I wrote about it here.

Also, for some reason, kateaustin.net is acting up and not linking. To access the site, just keep going to aephemera.net.

Lastly, I also do some writing! Check out my article on Gus Fink that was recently published by Associated Content.

Images of Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane, the inspiration for the Rolling Stones song of the same name, reigned as Queen of England for nine days, and nobody knows for sure what she looked like. Jane was well educated, lauded as one of the most educated women of her time. She turned to her books as an escape from her mother, Frances Brandon, who was abusive and who beat her daughter daily for being too "meek and gentle" in an attempt to harden her. In 1546, she was sent to live as the ward of the more nurturing Catherine Parr, the wife of King Henry VIII. After King Henry VIII died, Catherine remarried Sir Thomas Seymour, and then died herself during the birth of her only child.

Jane went back to the custody of Brandon, who forced her to marry Lord Guilford Dudley against her will. With the help of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, the throne was willed to Jane by Edward VI and she was named Queen in 1553. She refused to name Dudley King, but offered to make him Duke of Clarence instead. Within only nine days, the people of England voiced their support for Mary Tudor to take the throne, and she did, charging Dudley and Jane with treason. The sentence was death, and she was beheaded in 1554 at the young age of seventeen.

To date, there is only one authenticated artistic rendering of Queen Jane. Several portraits have been thought to be her, but evidence has shown that none of them were painted from life.

Battista Spinola, a Genoeses merchant, has left a contemporary report of Jane's appearance:
'This Jana Groia...is very short and thin, but prettily shaped and graceful. She has small features and a well made nose, the mouth flexible and the lips red. The eyebrows are arched and darker than her hair, which is nearly red. Her eyes are sparkling...her colour good but freckled...In all, a charming...person...very small and short."

Experts at the England National Museum recently deduced that a portrait formerly thought to be Queen Jane was actually a portrait of Catherine Parr. Analysis of the jewels worn in the portrait below yielded this conclusion.



The "Streatham Portrait of Lady Jayne" underwent much scrutiny as well. Faint writing on the portrait reads "Lady Jayne" and was painted at the same time as the painting. Dr Libby Sheldon of the University College of London examined it using several techniques including spectroscopy and Raman laser microscopy, concluding that the painting is authentically Tudor-period in origin. However, dendrochronological analysis of the boards on which the portrait was painted yielded conclusive evidence that it was painted at least forty years after her death. So although it is possible that this is a copy of another painting that was painted while she was alive, there is no substantiation that this is what she really looked like.



In March 2007, Dr. David Starkey of Yale University discovered a brooch that was identified as portraying Queen Jane as the sitter in the portrait. By studying the jewelry worn by the portrait's subject, Starkey and experts conclude that "It is the first confirmed image of her painted in her lifetime."



References:
http://englishhistory.net/tudor/relative/janegrey.html
http://www.britannia.com/history/ladyjane/portrait.html
http://www.show.me.uk/site/news/STO969.html
http://www.somegreymatter.com/streathamportrait.htm
http://www.geocities.com/jane_the_quene/portraits.html
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article1469701.ece

The story of the Pawn Girl

I went through a phase of drawing "woman monsters" - hideous caricatures of women whose only purpose was to destroy men. At the time I felt that this was how men saw women - as oppressive, destructive monsters, and that was how I felt myself. Inspired by a character in Pink Floyd's movie "The Wall" (1982) that morphs back and forth between skinny high-heeled flame-haired woman and hideous scorpion who stings the man, reduced to a puddle...





All of the above are scenes from Pink Floyd's "The Wall" (1982)

... I painted my own versions of the "woman monster", mimicking the gaping, consuming features that intimidated Pink in the movie, portraying the woman as oppressive and controlling, using her feminity against men.




Kate E. Austin, "Monster Women" One, Two, and Three, Watercolor, 2004.

This character had many incarnations, as a snake, a spider, a vampire...


Kate E. Austin, "Victim", Collage and acrylic paint, 2004.

This one shows the woman with blood on her face and fangs, and is titled "Victim" - I felt as if I was crying wolf when I complained about the relationship I was in, because I felt just as guilty of the controlling and manipulative tendencies, but was also hurt by his.


Kate E. Austin, "Spider and Fly", Colored pencil and watercolor on matboard, 2004.

This one was also inspired by the Rolling Stones song of the same name, in which the singer cheats on his girl, saying "hi, like a spider to a fly" to a woman at a bar. This one I liked so much that I made it into a mixed-media sculpture as well.



Kate E. Austin, "Lola", Mixed Media, 2006.

Over time, this character/self-caricature has evolved. I left that relationship and moved out of town. The character kept her thin shape, pale face, and flame-hair, but set out on her own. In a piece titled "Being without you is like being with you - It's lonely" she left the figure, locked up in his own cage. She grew her hair long and looked on with blank eyes and no face, desexualized, simplified, and mute.


Kate E. Austin, "It's Lonely", Colored pencil and marker, 2004.

Sometimes without even eyes, reduced to a white body, thin and purified, with her flaming hair. Her face was quiet, but not her hair...


Kate E. Austin, "Pawn", Mixed Media, 2005.

Finally she opened her mouth! After a brief fit of screaming...


Kate E. Austin, "Siren", Watercolor and pen, 2005

...This "pawn" girl, a symbol of simplicity, helplessness, being lost and yet independent and singular, loosened up. She started to bend and to become more playful. She began to enjoy her long locks, and to speak with the words behind her...


Kate E. Austin, "Pawn", watercolor on gesso, 2007.

Finally, she makes it to the end of the board and is "queened," as in chess, publicly, on a sidewalk in Glens Falls.


Kate E. Austin, "The Pawn is Queened", Chalk, 2007.

In recent incarnations, she's reclaimed her human form, flipped her hair back, and resurfaced, taking a gasp of air after being underwater for so long.


Kate E. Austin, "Dive", Acrylic and watercolor on yupo, 2007.

Studio-Warming Party!

The Escape Artists (Casey the Candy Thief, Zack Zoll, Heidi Price and Kate E. Austin) cordially invite you to check out their rad new studio at The Shirt Factory! All are invited!

This is a fancy-times art reception as well, so get your little black dress and/or tux out and let's do this up all posh-like. (Or come as you are, if you're not the dressy sort.)

Friday, November 2nd
7:30 pm
The Shirt Factory, Third Floor
CORNER OF COOPER & LAWRENCE STREETS, GLENS FALLS NY




Get in touch if you need directions. RSVP on MySpace or just show up! See you there!

Gus Fink Interview!

Consume Till Death, copyright Gus Fink

After seeing my review in the blog, Gus Fink contacted me and informed me that I was mistaken on certain points of my review. He asked if I would interview him and write a more accurate article and I agreed. We wrote back and forth on MySpace and I asked him some tough questions, which he answered gracefully.

Fink related that he was never going for a gimmick, but that he wanted to praise his deceased grandfather for being his childhood role model. He also made art under his own name, Josh Fields, but creating as Gus Fink helped him to deal with his grandfather's death. Besides Gus Fink, he has used other aliases to paint as well, including Alice Koon, his female character. He booked a show as Alice Koon, engaged in a collaborative project under the guise of Irving Berman, worked with a friend as Ed Beans, and his latest work has sold on eBay under the name Enwood Berger. Gus Fink has been living off his work since 2001, and has pushed his friends to do the same, with great success - his friend Jesse Reno brought in over $50,000 last year, Fink says.

I have always been overwhelmed at the fellow's productivity, and being able to live off one's art would account for some of that. When I questioned the time frame involved in each piece, Fink relayed that it could take anywhere from ten minutes to three hours to complete a work. He says that it's draining and often it's difficult to work for more than 4 straight hours, but that he multitasks as he works, and that he goes through phases alternating large pieces and small ones. He uses the cheapest materials he can find, including cardboard and found objects, as can be seen in his eBay store.

I was mistaken before by insinuating that Gus Fink had formal art training. He corrected me and said that his only related training is in computers, PhotoShop and Flash - meanwhile, most of his art is handmade, and he only uses the computer to scan the finished images into the computer. He lists his influences as Todd MacFarlane, Sam Keith, Jim Henson, George Lucas, and all the "cool horror movies of the 80's". He says that he always pictured himself as becoming more of a Walt Disney sort of figure, rather than a painter/artist. Gus is married with two daughters now, and even his wife calls him Gus Fink. He is looking into changing his name in the future and has cashed many a money order or check under the name.

I recalled that in the eBay listings several years ago, the character of Gus Fink lamented his dead wife and claimed her death to be his reason for his artwork. In reality, Gus' grandmother is still living, and when I asked him what she thought of the claim, he replied that she had a good sense of humor and was glad to see his grandfather's memory with so much recognition and success. I also asked Gus about the reaction of his customers when he was outed on the internet as Josh Fields, and he said that most of them were already aware due to his outrageous bio, and many thought it was genius. He said that maybe two out of 600 collectors were upset and he offered their money back. Fink said that most of the people who were offended were jealous artists who weren't selling their art well. He was actually surprised to see my review, since there hasn't been any negative publicity since 2003 or so. I attribute this to Fink's excellent vigilance and desire for good press, and his impressive track record and damage control proves him nothing short of a brilliant businessman. Speaking of which, he's had quite a few accomplishments, including comic books, magazines, and his latest series of toys, which are linked to from his website, GusFink.com.

Fink concluded our interview with some advice to artists just starting out: "Give it your all, don't give up and you'll find your own way. It's better to find your own way on anything in life then to get too much advice from others. I learned that and its good for others to know it too."

My art will be in a movie!

The motion picture that's being made here in the Glens Falls area filmed a scene at Rock Hill Bakehouse Cafe directly in front of one of my pieces! I heard about it and wrote to the director of the film, Colin Bannon, and he said he loves my art and will credit me and aephemera.net in the movie. Keep an eye out for "Love Conquers Paul," touring independent film festivals and showing at the Glens Falls Centennial Celebration next year!

Art News - Studio

Well, we're moving into the studio! It needs a good sweep and some paint and extra light fixtures, but we should be up and running soon. We've decided to call our group "The Escape Artists" - I'll update once we have a better idea of what our hours will be, but if you feel like walking by to see if we're in, here's where the studio is:


Click for Google Maps.

It's at the corner of Cooper and Lawrence Streets in Glens Falls, on the third floor. The number is 307 - it's closer to Lawrence Street, in that right-hand leg of the "L" seen above. If you go in via the Lawrence Street entrance (by the Tom Myott Gallery) and take the elevator up to the third floor, you'll walk out of the elevator, take a left, and then take a right down a corridor, and ours is the one that says 309 on the wall and 307 on the door. Soon, I'll be putting up signs all around the building so you can find me when you walk in! Stay tuned...

Art Review - "Crossing Borders"

“Crossing Borders” – Laura Neadle’s show at Gardenworks

To arrive at Gardenworks in Salem, New York, one must first drive through farmlands and fields, twisting country roads and sunlit groves. Raspberry fields and friendly staff welcome you to the store and gallery, an old converted barn housing local produce, homemade jams and cheeses, and kitschy home décor, arranged busily. To get to the gallery upstairs, you must first pass rows and rows of dried flowers on pegs, reminiscent of colonial life.

In the gallery, the ceiling is high and the barn doors are open, allowing the sunlight to brighten the gallery. Light streams in through cracks in the big wooden slats of the walls. Laura Neadle’s work hangs on large white panels suspended from the walls and beams in the old barn. Dusty and cobwebbed antique farm tools are placed decoratively in the middle of the floor. Laura’s work pops off the panels at you – framed in gold to catch the sunlight, her colors brighter than the capabilities of paint. There is a unique texture used throughout her paintings – most notably in her work “Pillars of Stone”. This texture, combined with the bright colors and dramatic composition, sets a theme for her show, which is titled “Crossing Borders”.

She uses inks as her base, poured on yupo and inlaid with foreign texture. The texture is created by laying plastic wrap in the ink while it’s wet and then letting it dry. She then peels it off, and paints with watercolor over the interesting ink shapes. The bright oranges and warm yellows used throughout the show pop off the page, while the distinctive textures, and use of dark, heavy paint in her watercolors differentiate her landscapes from the traditional brand so common in the Adirondacks.

Her subject matter is unique, as well. These are not your typical locations for landscape paintings – they are off the beaten path, farmland most people drive by without noticing; bridges, quarries and shops documented on a lazy drive through the country. She concentrates on Rupert and Salem, where the show takes place, and the viewer’s long, languid drive out to Gardenworks sets the mood for the works. Take “Between Salem and Bedlam Corners” for instance – this piece is a landscape, but it’s no typical lake or forest scene. The texture of the foreground is that same ink-and-plastic-wrap technique, and looks like a stained-glass scene, stretching into the distance with extreme perspective. Houses are barely visible in the background – this is a familiar scene to anybody who’s gone for a drive through the country in Upstate New York, but the intensity of the dark-blue mountains and the rough texture of the dark soil makes it almost surreal.

All the houses in Neadle’s work are distant, always dwarfed by mountains or sky, and always outdone by the colors of nature. In “Red Sky at Night”, she uses the paper in a portrait fashion, rather than horizontally as most landscapes, and ¾ of the page is an intense red and blue sky, above what would be a bland watercolor of a house save for the color-storm hovering above it. “Farm Near Rupert” is practically abstract, a farmhouse in the distance, reverse-silhouetted by dark colors, with an enormous foreground of color leaping off the page in that stained-glass texture.

Neadle also had some traditional landscapes for the more conventional taste, admitting that some of it was older, and noting that her newest traditional landscapes are much freer, easier, and looser after her experimental materials and colors. The show blends with the location incredibly well, with a modern and surrealistic spin on the old standbys.
This show can be seen at http://www.lauraneadle.com under “Galleries” and “Gardenworks”.


Between Salem and Bedlam Corners, Laura Neadle

Art Show - Lake George Lakefront Walkway Show

The First Annual Lake George Lakefront Walkway Show was well-attended, but unfortunately not by people seeking art. I'm grateful for the exposure, but I don't think I'll do this show next year unless they decide to advertise it better. I spent most of the day plein air painting (and getting a sunburn!), and created a new piece - Wishes. It's just about finished in the above picture. This piece is on a large piece of yupo, painted blue with acrylic paint, and then overlaid with watercolor drips and spatters. The swirls are places where I wiped away the watercolor to show the blue acrylic paint underneath. I touched everything up with watercolor. With pen, I wrote thoughts, wishes, prayers, and affirmations in the swirls coming out of the figure's mouth.