Ghost Ranch Tree - Natural Mineral Pigment on Paper, H 30" x W 22", 2024
I spent last winter and spring painting in my studio in Brooklyn, which was gratifying and fundamental to my practice. At the end of the summer, I spent a week in Taos, New Mexico, where I took a workshop on finding and preparing natural pigments organized by Ecoartspace's founder, Patricia Watts. Scott Sutton taught the workshop known as "The Pigment Hunter," his art and teaching studio is outside of Taos. Scott knows where to find the mineral pigments and plant-based pigments, how to prepare them, and the geological land history that formed the mineral pigments. He is a wealth of information.
We gathered our pigments on expeditions into the dramatic mountains and cliffs where Georgia O'Keefe painted and lived, returning to the studio to process our findings. This is a labor-intensive process, but I am pleased I could use some of the pigments to paint. My color palette changed from vibrant, saturated, artificially made colors to the natural colors of the earth: ochres, siennas, deep browns, dark grey-purple, olive and aquas.. Here are some pictures from the excursions, the studio, and the natural pigment paintings.
Our Fragile Moment
I am grateful to have been invited to show a series of still-life pencil drawings titled Remains in the exhibition Our Fragile Moment, consisting of a diverse group of thirty-one creators who turn their artistic visions to the crisis. Our voices blend beauty with sadness, overlay fear with hope and optimism, and apathy turned into action. My drawings underscore the contrast between organic materials such as wood and dried seed pods with man-made detritus such as telephone wire, bubble wrap, and plastic. While organic materials eventually become part of the earth, plastics will remain unintegrated. These works study how light interacts with different forms and textures of these materials. They are unlikely partners.
Respire
The title connotes a time for refueling, deep breathing, and finding new energy.
I am honored to have been chosen by curator Jennifer McGregor for the show Respire at the BAU Gallery in Beacon, NY, among other talented artists.
The exhibition opens on August 12th with a reception from 6 - 8 pm and runs until September 3rd, 2023.
On Exhibition: Magical Underground, Oil, and Acrylic on canvas, H 24" x W 20."
The exhibition at The Roger Tory Peterson Institute, curated by Maria Ferguson, highlights the importance of interconnected relationships in building strong communities, using trees as an analogy.
Exhibition dates: June 24th - October 8th, 2023
Intimate Cooperation - Watercolor on Arches Paper, H 24"x W 18"
To plan a visit, please check the website for hours.
https://rtpi.org/exhibitions/art-that-matters-to-the-planet-interconnectivity/
Roger Tory Peterson is credited with creating the modern field guide. He used art to educate people about the natural world and enable species identification without causing harm.
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I am so thrilled to be part of Re-Imagining Conservation: From the Ground Up, an exhibition of multimedia artists organized in partnership with Swale House, Creature Conserve, and Urban Soil Institute on Governor’s Island. The focus of the exhibition, seen through the lens of the artists eyes, is to view the relationship between healthy soil and all species health.
The show was curated by Mary Mattingly (founder Swale House, curator, artist), Heather Mc Mordie (curator Creature Conserve), Margaret Boozer (curator Urban Soils).
Pamela Casper, Mary Mattingly-
Curator, Artist, Founder Swale House
Pamela Casper, Dr. Lucy Spelman -
Founder Creature Conserve
Tatiana Morin, Chino Tanikawa -
Directors Urban Soil Institute