Body as an Open Book

Body As an Open Book is from a series of mixed media prints using photographs of my body that were taking before and during treatment for breast cancer.  It is currently part of my exhibition at Willow on State in Kennett Square, PA.

Body as an Open Book
Digital print on hand made paper with collage
10" x 22"
©2011NanciHersh

It's easy to feel like a specimen rather than a person as you move through all the stages from diagnosis to healing.   And, there is no recipe for getting through the physical and emotional trauma of any life altering experience.

But I found, that the more I made work about it, the more control I felt I had of the situation. Focusing on process. finding images and various materials that intuitively felt right with each piece helped me find distance, healing and even the lighter side of life.

What connection do you see between my body and the elements incorporated into the piece?

Up & Running at Willow on State

Our show is up and running at Willow on State in Kennett Square, PA.   

We have the honor of having our work featured at two First Friday Kennett Square Art Strolls this fall season.  If we missed you this past Friday, October 7,
November 4, 2011 is the next one. Nathan Laing, Maya Winters, and myself will be there along with FishCastle; original music by Cyril Caster and Catherine Braik Selin.

Featured at the gallery are mixed media prints, collages and sculptures from my Body as an Open Book, and Inherently Found Series.

Prints, paper, dried pulp on wire, encaustic, collage
Flotsam & Jetsam speak of what we inherit,
what we hold onto, and what clings to us
©2011NanciHersh

Nathan Laing of Habitat Studios has photographic collage prints hanging upstairs of the gallery and Maya Winters has her allegorical paintings on the street level.

Nathan Laing at Willow on State

Maya Winters at Willow on State

There are also alot of great hand made items- jewelry, pottery, altered books and vintage and retro collectibles. Owners, Sandy Mayer & Hillary Sculthorpe bring their own unique eye to pull together an exciting new vision for Kennett Square.

See you on the 4th.   Be there AND Be Square (couldn't resist!)

The Art of the Studio Visit

Last week, Sandy Mayer and Hillary Sculthorpe, gallery owners of Willow on State, an exciting new space in Kennett Square, PA came by for a studio visit.

Hosting a visit with gallery owners, museum directors, curators, collectors, other artists or friends, is an opportunity to show or sell your work, as well as get feedback on where you are at any given point.

It also motivates you to clean your space, curate your work, and consider how you speak to other about your work.  A great clarifier.

Hanging Spoon with Net
Wire, flax, encaustic

Net Drawings, 2011
Acrylic, graphite, collage on paper

Untitled (for now) installation with Nets (wire, overbeaten flax,  collage and encaustic)
I seem to be channeling Lady Haversham from Great Expectation
by Dickens

Detail of hanging Nets

Exhibition at Willow on State coming soon... keep you posted.

Do you have a tip or favorite story from a studio visit you have had?

Sure Sign of the Season

This recently commissioned painting is a sure sign of the season - Fall Soccer.

Jake's Cleats, 2011
acrylic on canvas
10" x 10"

Cleats, cleats and more cleats- at least around here. With the start of school comes fall soccer and with each season the feet get bigger and the cleats get brighter.

Hello soccer, good by open weekends.  Wouldn't have it any other way.

Carolyn's Roopalees

Author and photographer, Carolyn Viens recently commissioned me to paint her Roopalees. 

“I found my Roopalee sandals shortly after I moved to Singapore, in a tiny little shop in Little India. The Indian women wear these sandals along with their gorgeous multi-colors saris and bangles.  I discovered Asia with my Roopalees, roaming through the side streets of Saigon, the back alleys of Kuala Lumpur and the beaches of Bali.  Nanci’s painting perfectly captured the comfort, beauty and uniqueness of my favorite  sandals along with the kilometers they covered in my explorations” 

                                           

Carolyn's Roopalees, 2011
Acrylic on canvas
10" x 10"
©2011NanciHersh

Girls just want to have fun.

Sole Sister

Adventures and inspiration are never far away, especially if you are on foot and take the time to explore.

Helen, my friend visiting from Australia and I spent an afternoon in Old City, Philadelphia.  It was there at Three Sirens that we found some far out shoes and and met Aubrie Costello- a "Sole Sister."

Aubrie, it turns out, is not only a super friendly sales clerk, but a wonderful artist. She also, paints shoes and incorporates them in installations.  I shared with her my Walks thru Life: Shoe Portraits Series, and she in turn, showed me her work.

One of her pieces, Ladies in Waiting is right behind the register.

Ladies in Waiting, detail
©2011Aubrie Costello

New finds, new friends and new muses .... what's your favorite recent discovery?

Red Hot Red #3
Acrylic on canvas
6" x 6"
©2011NanciHersh
from Walks thru Life: Shoe Portraits
$150.00

House Dreams: Tapping into Valuable Real Estate

Net Drawing with House, 2011
Gesso, Stabilo pencil, collage on
book page
©2011NanciHersh

House dreams seem to be a barometer of where my head is emotionally.  Renovating or moving dreams stayed with me for months following both of those activities. My nightime sleep reflecting the challenges and anxiety that came from those experiences during the day.

During a summer printmaking program at the Santa Reparata Graphic Art Center in Florence, Italy the house in my dream was a vast and gorgeous palace.  No doubt, reminding me that my days spent in the museums, streets, and art studios of Florence had the power to inspire and transform me well into my return to Oahu and my failing marriage.

The most recent House Dream took me to an urban setting of undiscovered rooms including an exquisite glass atrium, and one filled with lots of old and unused easels. Meandering through I met interesting neighbors and discovered street windows surrounded by brightly painted bricks that offered exciting possibilities for work, not unlike my exhibition last summer at theFashionCenter in NYC.

Waking up to a reminder that opportuities and possibilites can be found in every situation - whatever the Real Estate Market!