Pages from the Past with a Story of its Own

Reading a recipe is the start of a narrative with a life of its own.  Another page from the Ladies Luncheon book I picked off the curb when my neighbors moved away, another idea to chew on. (ok, ok)

Cocktails
Acrylic, collage on paper
7" x 5"
©2011NanciHersh

More on view at Willow on State in Kennett Square, PA.  

This piece is floated on archival white mat board and framed with a blonde ash molding.  Pages from the past offering up a recipe for the imagination.

Tip: For a good read along these lines The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman.

Only in Art- Fancy Cakes without the Calories

Wayne Thiebaud, 1963
Oil on canvas

I have always been seduced by Wayne Thiebaud's paintings and prints of cakes and pies, his lush color and graphic composition. There is also a sense of nostalgia in those rows of desserts that remind me of the NJ Diners I would frequent growing up.  The ritual of sitting down to a meal and the narrative that goes along with that particular time and place has been a part of my work over the years.

Fancy Cakes
Digital print on hand made paper
with inclusions
14" x 11"
©2011NanciHersh

This piece Fancy Cakes, is currently on exhibition at Willow on State in Kennett Square, PA.  A mixed media piece with handmade paper incorporates images of a set of stirling silverware  I inherited from my grandmother and an old Ladies Luncheon cookbook I found.  Both of which, speak of a time when a women's place in the home feels a bit out of touch, but really, not that far away.

A Matter of TIme

Time is a funny thing.  It seems like it's moving way too fast, like when you are having a great time or on vacation.  Or way too slow, anticipation, waiting for .... whatever that is.

A Matter of Time
Encaustic, collage on hand made paper
with inclusions
6" x 4"
©2011NanciHersh

Time is often a reoccuring theme in my work. Passing of time, collecting moments, waiting, aging.

This handmade paper collage with encaustic was created one warm day as I was farther along the healing process from surgery... a matter of time.

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.