We're moving!

blog content that is. I have long struggled with passing out the name of my blog to interested persons. Try penning the words "a still life" and you'll see what I mean. So rather than worry that people will never be able to correctly enter my url into their navigation bar, I have set up a site with a more accessible name. Blogger has facilitated the move of all the current blog content and future posts will only be uploaded to that site. It is easy to remember, and has the added bonus of already being printed on my business cards! Enjoy. http://www.claudine-metrick.blogspot.com/

New drawings

12 x 12" charcoal on Arches

approx. 20 x 16" ink, charcoal and yarn on Arches

20 x 20" charcoal, acrylic, and yarn on Arches

I began these pieces in our Friday studio class. I am trying to combine the image of the bird with the stitching that I began last semester.

New painting

I started a series of roosters in acrylic paint. These pieces are 24 x 24" and going very well. I felt so relieved to be working with paint that dries quickly. I am able to lay on a color and a mark then restate it immediately if I want. There are still some technical issues I would like to resolve with the paint; i.e. it seemingly flattens when it dries. But I am well on my way to figuring that out with some new mediums and natural bristle brushes. I apologize, the color in the photo posted above is a little off. I will repost photos in a couple of weeks when the series is finished.

Natura closed last Friday. We were sad to take it down, but the feedback we got was overwhelmingly positive. Thanks to everyone who attended and offered encouragement.

New exhibit and classes

Natura is up in New Bedford and it looks great. Artist Mellissa Morris and I were down there today organizing and hanging the show. We decided to hang our works in pairs - one of her small encaustic landscapes with my slightly larger bird studies in oils. I am posting photos below. The work will be on exhibit until March 12th from 9 -4 Monday through Saturday at 715 Purchase St. New Bedford, MA.

This summer I will be teaching another introductory oil painting workshop at the Brookline Arts Center. It's a great thing to do on a summer night and typically the class sizes are modest giving me lots of time to interact with students. If you know anyone in the area looking to add a little art to their lives, let them know about the course. The class will run on Tuesday nights from 6:30 until 9:30 pm beginning June 29 - and ending August 10. The catalog will be out soon and I will post an update on registration when I know more.

Below are photos from the current Natura exhibit.

Just begun today

I should likely resist the urge to post photos such as this one which are not entirely in focus. But I can't. I began this in the studio today in hopes of doing something slightly less demanding than a painting. It was cloudy and rainy outside and I simply didn't have the energy to worry about color. As I develop this piece, I plan to use some actual stitching into the ball of thread at the bottom right.

New ground

I have already put in more work on this painting changing it from how it is pictured here. I am working with a new ground on my panels in order to get the oil paint to handle better, and I am pleased with the results. My next challenge is to find a good recipe for size that will allow me to work on paper so that I can combine some of my stitching work with these painted images of birds.

Museum visit

Pat Steir, Kyoto Chrysanthemum, woodcut

I'm going to the RISD museum to see their new exhibition of Pat Steir's drawings this weekend - very exciting. There are lots of events and talks lined up in conjunction with the showing. I'm also hoping to photograph the Graduate Drawing Show now hanging in New Bedford and get some shots online.

Birds from life

I think I have photographed all of the studies I painted last quarter - finally! They are photographed but not entirely edited. Here are posts of the few that are complete. The actual pieces are quite small - no more than 12 inches in any direction; and they are rather gritty. The series is an exercise in quick observation and risk. I chose to make either a dark or a light painting and spent little more than an hour attacking the articulation of the form of the bird and the surrounding space. I intend to keep on with these as a way to push my ability to manipulate the paint. I think the winter break is going to help me get further in my painting of the atmosphere around the birds. I feel refreshed.

More white drawings

Holiday Hiatus

The blog has lain dormant for a few weeks now as I finished up with end of the semester reviews and took a break for the Holidays. School is still not back in session, but the studio in New Bedford is calling me; and I thought it would be a good way to start getting back to it by posting some images of work still unseen.

two wrens, 20 x 30, oil and collage on panel

rooster, 12 x 12, oil on panel

owls, 24 x 12, oil sketch on panel

I sold a piece!

The Miniature Masterpiece show opened last Friday at the Guyer Barn in Hyannis. There was a short review of the show written up in the local paper. And I sold a piece. Check it out if you're looking for a unique holiday gift.

Working from life

When the blackbird flew out of sight,

It marked the edge

Of one of many circles.

-Wallace Stevens, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

I began a series of short paintings from life. I am working with stuffed birds that the school had stored in the basement of the fine arts building. The two examples above happen to be a few of the light paintings I am making. The majority of the work is very dark and rough looking, but it hasn't photographed well yet.

Images of grad studio

I wanted to give you an idea of where I go everyday to spend my time painting. The top image is a good portion of the paintings I've produced in the second half of the fall semester. And the bottom image is a good shot of the studio with my recent works on paper hanging over the sewing machine.

I found this wonderful link

for artist Ke-Sook Lee (click on her name at the left). She is working with thread on paper and using many of the same ideas and materials as I am in my new body of work - tea, doilies, domesticity. Check it out.

New works on paper

I have been developing a new body of works on paper in graduate school. Recently I had to photograph a few of them, and I have uploaded them in a link at the right under "portfolio" "new works on paper". Enjoy.

Solo exhibition next October

I've just been invited to have a solo exhibit at the Guyer Barn next Fall. Thanks Mellisa!!! If you're planning to be in New England next fall consider taking a side trip to Hyannis.

Check out

Mindy Bray's residency blog. She's in Aspen Colorado right now completing a ten week artist's residency at Anderson Ranch.

portrait

Ira 24 x 18"

Figure drawing is not my favourite activity in grad school, but the result this day was particularly good. It was a product of circumstance. Ira is the only male model I've seen so far, and his physique is striking - "railish"ly thin. Just as the pose was beginning he snapped at one of our classmates for fussing over the heaters; and I was struck with the sense of his hawkish profile which I set about drawing.

small painting

le morte 8 x 12"

One of the grad students noticed a dead creeper while on their way into the building. It is finding a second life in several different incarnations within the graduate program. I made this small sketch of a painting and a sculpture student is casting the little bird in bronze.

Two Painters Exhibit

Don't forget, next Thursday is the opening for a collaborative exhibit involving the UMass painting department. Click on the link at the right for details.