Up for Air- in My Drawers

Day #7, November 24, 2013 of What's in My Drawers.

Up for Air
Acrylic, water based ink, graphite and collage on paper
11" x 14"
©NanciHersh
$125.00

                                                              

Up for Air is a painting I did on a page in a large sketch book with water based ink, acrylic, graphite and collage. I dated it 3/23/13 so most likely it was "officially" Spring but didn't feel like it - yet.

By the end of March, I am SO ready for warmer temps.  Our koi stay submerged until the temperature warms up to 50 degrees or so.  I always feel optimistic when I see them come up to the surface.

I like the freedom and spontaneity in this piece. Reminds me to stay loose and playful like my beautiful scaled friends.

Click here to see the post about What's in My Drawers and be in the loop for the rest of the art and stories in this blog series.

Searching Beneath the Surface for a New Perspective

Finishing up the last of the pieces for my exhibition at the Siegel JCC ArtSpace in Wilmington.

*to the Stranger that has loved you, 2013
Acrylic, spray paint on canvas
16" x 20"
©2013NanciHersh photo by Dain Simons

The title of the show is "Beneath the Surface" with paintings and works on paper of koi and sculptures of objects made out of wire and paper pulp as containers to hold experiences that wash up in our lives.

Water and fish have appeared and reappeared in my art throughout the years.
Now nets- and their shadows are a part of the exploration.

Suspension (detail) 2012
Acrylic, spray paint, graphite acquarelle, pastel on paper
48" x 96"
©2013NanciHersh photo by Dain Simons

A conversation in the 2013 Omega catalogue titled "Beyond Your Wildest Dreams, Debbie Ford on overcoming fear and igniting self- confidence" seemed to capture the metaphor of the shadow for me spot on.

Here is an excerpt.

Omega: You've written that you can't have the full experience of the light without knowing the dark. Why do you consider the shadow to be the gatekeeper of true freedom?

Debbie: You can't be fully yourself if you have aspects that are hiding. The shadow holds the truth of all the authentic parts of being human- your vulnerability, your discontent, your jealousy, or an experience from the past that you haven't digested.  The only way to invite them out of the shadow is to bring them into the light. The light is a new perspective in which you see that everything that's happening is happening to help you develop your soul.  Then your're free- free to be who you are most authentically, free to ask for what you need, free to find your joy and bliss, free to share your gifts.

Always in search of a new perspective...

Hope to see you at the opening reception on Thursday, April 11, 5-7 pm.

*the title of this painting is a line from the Derek Wolcott poem Love after Love.

Continuing the Conversation- Artist as Collector

Philadelphia area artist Bill Brookover is this week's guest blogger for the Artist as Collector Series.

Fran Gallun, Untitled
collage and mixed media on paper,
10"  x 7 1/4" 

I’m lucky to have been a friend of Fran Gallun’s for over 30 years. We are part of a small group of friends who have watched our kids grow from diapers to kids of their own. Over the years I’ve watched Fran’s work evolve from large square canvases of still lives and scenes from her studio, to installations of sacred spaces, to small collages evoking the landscape of Israel and the spirituality of Judaism.

Several years ago my wife and I bought one of Fran's large still life canvases; we have been watching this recent phase of her career with great interest. She uses strips of intensely colored paper laid done onto equally intensely colored backgrounds. They evoke landscape, layers of history, and layers of time through their sheer beauty. 

We visited her open studio last month and, when we saw this small collage, we decided the time was right to own a piece. Its small size made it affordable for us. We’ve recently moved into a new house and can’t wait to see it framed and in conversation with the still life from decades before.

Fran Gallun is represented by the Rosenfeld Gallery in Philadelphia; her work is currently on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art at Congregation Rodef Shalom.

Bill Brookover is a photographer, printmaker and teaching artist based out of Haddonfield, NJ.

Bill has taught silkscreen printing at Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia. since 2010. His work celebrates the beauty of everyday life in the buildings, cities, and landscapes around us.