Monday, November 16, 2009

Adrift



Adrift was created from photographs of water that I took up in Maine. I digitally manipulated the photos and transferred the photos onto fabric. On the larger view, I added an overlay of a propeller.

This piece was in my two-person show at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton.

Size: (h x w) 10" x 17"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Forgotten

Forgotten was created from a photo I took of an old chapel in Paris, France. I can't recall the name of it, but I believe it was in the Latin Quarter, near a park where we sat and ate pastries. I was drawn to the run-down, isolated feel of it as I walked by. I put an overlay of trees from a photo I had taken at the Genessee Monastery in New York in order to play up the sense of abandonment and intrigue.

This piece was shown in 2nd April galerie in Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Resilience

Resilience was created from a shot I took at the beach in Holland, MI on an amazingly windy day in November. It was very windy, sand was blowing all around and the waves were crashing in hard. I felt a sense of awe at the display of power. I love the image of the lone tree in midst of it all, buffeted, but standing firm. I incorporated wire to extend and emphasize how the branches were whipping around in the wind. Some of the wire branches flow onto the matt around the image.

This piece was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 17" x 21"
Media: Mixed media
SOLD

Upward Mobility

Upward Mobility is constructed of two images taken in France. The background is a shot taken out of the window of our hotel room looking upward and the front layer is a photo I took inside the Grand Trianon at Versailles. I like the play of contrasts, a lavish interior juxtaposed onto a humble exterior, looking up and peering forward simultaneously.

This piece was featured in ArtsinStark promotions and was in the Stark County Artists Exhibition at the Massillon Museum. It is currently on exhibit in my studio located in 2nd April galerie at 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
AVAILABLE

Monday, November 9, 2009

The Source

The Source was created as a starting point for a maquette for a commission. (Though in the end, they wanted something more abstract, see Circuitous posting). I was playing around with the idea of metaphors for strength and what might be of encouragement to those who find themselves in a place where they need to be braced and encouraged in a trying time (as this was going to be for an ICU waiting room).

The photo was taken at Stadium Park, just down the hill from the new ICU. I overlayed the tree growing beside the water with a metallic gold tulle and metallic gold thread 'branches' flowing down to capture the notion of strength being manifested from The Source.

This piece was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.


Size: (h x w) 21" x 18"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Review of my current two-person show at The Little Art Gallery

This is taken from Tom Wachunas' blog: ARTWACH http://artwach.blogspot.com/

Monday, November 2, 2009


Tactile Soliloquies


Tactile Soliloquies

By Tom Wachunas

The title of the current exhibit at The Little Art Gallery – “Sheer Obscurity”- presents a bit of a conundrum. Is the art intentionally dark, or its meaning deliberately arcane? Or is it simply a poetic, even cautionary announcement of the art’s “personal” qualities, thereby preparing us for art that is more meditative than merely decorative or “entertaining”? I favor the latter reading, while considering the act of meditating on art quite entertaining nonetheless. In any event, I find the show’s title to be an effective hook on which to hang some observations.

Ken Carter makes hand-blown glass objects. Michele Waalkes makes (for the most part, here) pictures from photo transfers on to translucent as well as opaque fabrics. Hence, both artists work in “sheer” mediums. And both artists share subtle palettes that effectively make their works exude an earthy spirituality.

Carter’s glass pieces are, at their most fundamental level, connected to traditional functionalities of the medium – vases, bowls, and bottles. But those functions seem secondary to the pieces’ truer natures as independently engaging objects – intimate glass sculptures inhabited by an archetypal spectre of timelessness. Many of them look as if they were made from molten geological strata – viscous, swirling, and still gently seething and breathing under their polished patinas.

That sensibility of breathing is intrinsic to most of Waalkes’ pieces, too. Many of them are sylvan visions of interlacing tree limbs that shimmer and shift ever so slightly the longer you look at them. Some appear to go impossibly deep into the picture plane. Into the woods indeed, these are not so much mysterious forests as they are elegant invitations to simply explore and marvel at nature’s intricate, lyrical depths. Other images are fascinating juxtapositions of arboreal motifs with classical-looking architectural settings and quiet interiors – a kind of humanity-nature morphology.

Viewed in the aggregate, these works could well address a wide range of narratives and sensations both private and universal. And so it was unsettling to me to witness two other individuals come into the gallery during my 40-minute visit. They blew through the exhibit in 3 or 4 minutes, never getting any closer than about 4 feet from any single piece. With such a careless embrace, how could anyone possibly see, or perhaps even hear what message might await them? Their loss, I thought. Good art deserves better. Allowing ample viewing time seems a paltry sacrifice to make when the pay-off is the abiding serenity and unique, palpable pleasure for the eyes that this show so richly provides.


Photo: “Sheer Obscurity” (publicity art) from The Little Art Gallery/ left: “Alluring,” Fibers, by Michele Waalkes; right: “Encalmo Doughnut Bottle with Stand,” by Ken Carter. On view through November 17, gallery located in the North Canton Public Library, 185 North Main St., North Canton (330) 499-4712, extension 312

Interplay


Interplay was created by painting color blocks on sheer fabric and layering it over a screen printed image of a wrought iron fence. The piece actually hangs diagonally.

This piece was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.


Size: (h x w) 17" x 17"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Midnight Breeze

Midnight Breeze is a new work experimenting with painting on sheer fabric. I layered the sheer over a piece of fabric that I had painted by actually blowing paint through a device to administer a fine mist of black paint over branches that I had laid on the fabric. I attempted to echo this motif with my painting on the sheer.

This piece was included in 2nd April galerie's "In the Company of Friends" exhibit.

Size: (h x w) 17" x 17"
Media:Fibers
SOLD

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Dimensionality

Dimensionality is created from three different layers of sheers overlapped. I used a photograph that I had taken of a mosque in Egypt, near the Citadel. I cut out the main design into a linoleum block and printed it, then carved out more details and printed it again in a different color on a different layer, and finally carved out even more detail and then printed one more layer in a different color. I aligned the sheer layers and framed them so that it can be viewed from both the front and the back.

This piece was shown at the Massillon Museum's Stark County Artists Exhibit and in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.


Size: (h x w) 16" x 13"
Media: Fibers
AVAILABLE

Complexity

Complexity is created from a photo I took of a tree after an ice storm in Canton, OH. I manipulated it to abstract it in order to best highlight the intricacies of its silhouette and then adhered it to lucite panels wired together.

This piece was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 34" x 8"
Media: Fibers, lucite, wire
AVAILABLE

Prospect

Prospect is constructed with a hand-colored black and white photo I had took at Stadium Park in Canton, OH. This photo is overlayed with a sheer image of a pathway and trees, taken at Genessee Monastery in New York. I combined the two images to capture the gap between reality and desire we sometimes experience, in a grass-is-always-greener kind of way.

This piece was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Mixed media
SOLD

Lost

Lost was created with the intent of illustrating the sense of feeling lost along the journey of life. It is a self portrait of sorts at this stage of my life. It is meant to show the reflection & reevaluation that happens along the way by uniting a subtle image of a pathway, taken on a hike at the Genessee Monastery, along with a photo I took of a compass on a boat in Maine.

This piece was part of "The Company of Friends" exhibit at 2nd April galerie.

Size: (h x w) 12" x 12"
Media: Mixed media
SOLD

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing was created by fusing an image from a hallway in the Grand Trianon in Versailles with a shot I took of a humble lantern on a hotel in Charlottesville, VA. I wanted to emphasize the light coming through the window and the shadow of the lantern to suggest the idea of foreshadowing of time, ambitions, and the future.

This piece was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 12" x 12"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

The Unknown

The Unknown was created for a group show entitled fabric-ations at Malone University's McFadden Gallery. It is created with two identical images I had photographed while on a walk at the Genessee Monastery in New York. The back layer is opaque and stitched with silver threads dangling down eerily, the front layer is a sheer image that is raised to add depth and allow movement. It is intended to create a sense of intrigue about what is to come and how we may "fabricate" our notions of the future.

This was on exhibit at Malone University's McFadden Gallery and in my two person show entitled Sheer Obscurity at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH. In addition, this piece was selected to be part of the juried Stark County Artists Exhibition at the Massillon Museum.  It was awarded Best in Show.


Size: (h x w) 21" x 17"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Alluring


Alluring is constructed from a shot I took at the Gethsemani Monastery in Kentucky. I manipulated it digitally and then added copper stitching to heighten the deep feel of mystery and clarity that one can experience when walking deep in a forest alone.

This piece was part of my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 21" x 17"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Revelation


Revelation was created with two separate images. The back layer is a photo transfer of a photograph that I took of an outer hallway of the al Fateh Mosque in Bahrain. The front sheer overlay is of a pathway through the trees at the Genessee Monastery in New York. I particularly love how the foreground of both images work together to draw the viewer in.

This piece was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 11" x 14"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Looming

Looming was created from a photograph I had taken in Bahrain, looking west over the gulf toward a beautiful sunset over Saudi Arabia. Despite the political turmoil in the region at the time, there was such a sense of peace in that view, in that moment, out on a dock with my son.

In general, I tend to view sunsets as a bookend to the day. They loom at the end of daylight and signal a sense of closure, marking an end. I chose to juxtapose this beautiful sunset with an image of a barren tree branch with vultures subtly flying amongst the branches. This was not intended to be morbid, rather it was a visual exploration of the idea that The End of one's journey may very well be brimming with beauty, just like the sunset.

The tree branch photo was taken at the Raccoon Creek State Park in Pennsylvania. The photograph of the vultures was taken at a lake near Hocking Hills, Ohio.

This piece was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: 12" x 12"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Ambition


Ambition was created with a photo sensitive fabric. A transparency of a photograph I had taken of the Eiffel Tower was laid on the fabric and then exposed by the sun. I really enjoyed the process and would like to play with it more in the near future. I chose to place an overlay of steps from Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio to help portray a sense of drive or ambition.

This piece was part of my solo exhibit entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum and in a group show entitled fabric-ations at Malone University's McFadden Gallery.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
AVAILABLE

Monday, May 11, 2009

Navigation

Navigation was created with a sheer overlay of an image of a compass, taken on a boat in Maine. The back layer is an archway at The Citadel, in Egypt. I sought to visually portray the reality of the unknown that lies ahead on the journey.

This piece was part of my solo exhibit entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum.

Size: (h x w) 12" 12"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

The Wait

The Wait was constructed from an overlay of photo I took of a gargoyle on the top tower of Notre-Dame, in Paris. I was very drawn to the bored posture of the sculpture, as if tired of waiting and perhaps not even sure for what it is waiting. I used an image of a cloudy sky taken in Pittsburgh for the back layer to provide an imminent context for the gargoyle.

This piece was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum and in a group show entitled fabric-ations at Malone University's McFadden Gallery.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
AVAILABLE

Options

Options was created from a photograph I took near Marie Antoinette's Hamlet in Versailles, France. I happened upon the secluded bridge while taking a quiet walk with my husband. I found it so beautiful and inviting, its aged-looking structure (probably reconstructed?) just seemed to evoke a sense of history. I overlayed a sheer image of trees and a path, from the Genessee Monastery in New York, to help reinforce the intrigue.

This piece was a part of my solo show entitled NEXT which was exhibited at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Monday, May 4, 2009

Simultaneous

Simultaneous was created from a phototransfer of an image taken of an abandoned looking bridge at the Gethsemane Monastery in Kentucky. The timelessness of the alpha and omega symbolism on the bridge was an intriguing contrast to it's aging, deteriorating, overgrown setting. Threads are stitched along the branches within the image and flow onto the mattboard surrounding it within the frame. It has a companion piece, Eternal, which features a Chi- Rho carved into the other side of the bridge.

This piece was exhibited at Malone University in 2009, at 2nd April galerie's The View From Here show, and in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Eternal

Eternal was created from an image that I took of a crumbling old bridge while on a hike at the Gethsemane Monastery in Kentucky. I was particularly drawn to the overgrown setting in which it sat, seemingly forgotten. There is a companion piece, Simultaneous, that features the other side of the bridge. A sheer overlay of trees from the Genessee Monastery was integrated to give the dimension of time and space. A Chi- Rho symbol or Christogram is incised into the stone of the bridge. This symbol was used long ago and incorporated the first two Greek letters of Christ's name.

This piece was exhibited at Malone University in 2009 and was shown in my two-person show, entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Continuum

Continuum was created as an attempt to visually explore time, progression, and digression. This work has one opaque layer and two sheer layers of a balloon at different stages or sizes. Depending on your perspective, the balloon is either inflating or deflating. To me it is a continuum containing both perspectives.

This piece was exhibited at Gallery 6000 in 2009.

Size: (h x w) 12" x 12"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Circuitous


Circuitous was a commissioned diptych that I recently completed. It was based on an earlier work, Ambiguous, that I finished last year, featuring many variations of a photograph I took of the spiral steps inside the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The top layer is a sheer overlay of the outline of the same spiral steps. It is the largest scale photo-transfer piece I have attempted to date, though now I am inspired to work larger yet!

The diptych is hanging in the new ICU waiting room at the Mercy Medical Center in Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 131/2" x 76"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Monday, April 6, 2009

Gravitation

Gravitation is a fusion of a sheer overlay of trees and a pathway with a photo taken in a park in London. I can't recall which park it was, perhaps Regents or Hyde? All of the parks we strolled through were so beautiful. The two images combine to create an intriguing lure toward a port of call along the journey.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum, in a group show entitled fabric-ations at Malone University's McFadden Gallery, and was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Indecision

Indecision was created with a photograph I took in Versailles, France combined with a sheer overlay of a weathervane taken at a friend's house in Ohio. The two images seemed to work so well together to visually portray potential possibilities.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Anticipation

Anticipation is intended to evoke a sense of suspense and excitement as one journeys onward expectantly. The front overlay is of a cloudy sky in Pittsburgh, PA. The back layer is of a colonnade at the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media:Fibers
SOLD

Elusive

Elusive is another attempt to visualize the vantage point of looking forward trying to see what lies ahead. The archway image was taken in an outdoor corridor at the Louvre in Paris and the tree image was taken at the Genessee Monastery in New York.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum, at 2nd April galerie's The View From Here show, and was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Sanctuary

Sanctuary is made up of a sheer inverted image taken in a park in Paris. This image overlays text that suggests a space to linger and rest.

This has been displayed at the 2nd April galerie, Gallery 6000, The Repository lobby in Canton, OH, and at the Arkon-Canton Airport.

Size: (h x w) 24" x 24"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Resolve

Resolve is a mixed media piece created with an inverted image of steps making their way up the dune from the beach at Lake Michigan, in Holland, Michigan. The text unites with the image to explore the concept of what makes us press on toward an elusive destination.

This was exhibited at 2nd April galerie.

Size: (h x w) 17" x 21"
Media: Mixed media
SOLD

Friday, March 27, 2009

Parallel

Parallel was an experiment using two versions of the same image taken at the Genessee Monastery in New York. To me, it explores the mystery and perception of reality, that which is seen and unseen, known and unknown.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 21" x 17"
Media: Mixed Media
SOLD

Embarkment

Embarkment was another effort to communicate the complexity of growth and progress in life. The pathway image was taken at Quail Hollow State Park in Ohio. Text repeating "one step forward two steps back two steps forward one step back" overlays the pathway.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 8"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Beckoning

Beckoning is meant to play with the concept of destination and calling, of how one can feel pulled in a certain direction without necessarily being able to see where it leads. It was created with an image taken at the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville. This was combined with a sheer overlay of a photo of my son's bedroom door slightly ajar.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum, at 2nd April galerie's The View From Here show, and was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Urgency

Urgency is made up of 2 images. The back layer is an image of a weathered old door in a crumbling wall on the grounds of the Gethsemane Monastery in Kentucky. The sheer overlay is of an expired parking meter on 3rd street in downtown Canton, Ohio. I wanted to create a sort of mysterious intrigue that the viewer could personally resonate with as to what may be the urgency to pass through the portal and where might it lead.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum a group show entitled fabric-ations at Malone University's McFadden Gallery.

Size: (h x w)14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
AVAILABLE

Luring

Luring was created as a way of considering the powerful influence of material comforts and longings. The hallway image with the chandelier was taken at Versailles in France. The overlay of trees, suggesting life's journey, is from the Genessee Monastery in New York.

This was exhibited at The Little Art Gallery where it was awarded 2nd place in mixed media in the 66th Annual May Show. It was also exhibited at 2nd April galerie.

Size: (h x w) 12" x 12"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Monumental

Monumental incorporates an image of a pathway, which serves as a metaphor for life's journey, along with an image of a sundial. The sundial was purposefully enlarged in comparison with the pathway to suggest its looming presence, since time tends to be such a constant preoccupation in life. The images were taken at the Genessee Monastery in New York and the Gethsemane Monastery in Kentucky.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Unmoored

Unmoored was an attempt to portray a sense of not feeling grounded, of losing direction and focus in one's life. It is not necessarily intended to be a negative reflection, for sometimes those moments can provide glimpses of new horizons we never before imagined. The photographs were taken in Maine on a misty boat ride.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 12" x 12"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Astray

Astray was made up of images from the Genessee Monastery in New York. In an effort to show a sense of confusion and obscurity, I overlapped layers of tree and pathway images on sheer and opaque fabric and paper.

This was exhibited at the Massillon Museum in the juried Stark County Artists Exhibition, at the Sixth Street Gallery's juried Natural Beauty Show in Vancouver, WA, and in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Mixed Media
SOLD

Ambiguous

Ambiguous is made up of manipulated images of the spiral steps inside the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. I wanted to visually process the ambiguity of discerning whether one is making progress. By flipping and overlapping the steps images, I sought to explore the dynamics of progression or growth which invariably involves a combination of moving forward and backward, up and down, back and forth.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9, at 2nd April galerie's The View From Here show, and was shown in my two-person show entitled Sheer Obscurity, at The Little Art Gallery in North Canton, OH.

Size: (h x w) 11" x 25"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Drawn

Drawn was created from a photograph of the beach in Holland, Michigan on a rather hazy July 4th. The sheer overlay image of steps was taken on a hike at Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio. This combination seemed to really capture the essence of being drawn or pulled toward something, even when that destination is not fully known or understood.

This was part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum in 2008-9.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
SOLD

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Aspiration

Aspiration was part of a larger study on what pushes one onward and why. I photographed an old propellor which to me, serves as a great visual metaphor of progression and potential.

This piece was exhibited at Gallery 6000, 2nd April galerie, and was also a part of my solo show entitled NEXT at the Massillon Museum.

Size: (h x w) 16" x 40"
Media: Fibers
AVAILABLE

Solitude

Solitude was the first mixed media piece I made using a variety of photo transfer processes. The images used were taken while hiking at the Genessee Monastery in New York. The embedded text ponders the concept of space for oneself and the joy that can be experienced when one carves out space to be alone.

This was exhibited in the 65th Annual May Show at The Little Art Gallery.  It was awarded 1st place in mixed media.

Size: (h x w) 11" x 17"
Media: Mixed media
SOLD

The Clearing

The Clearing was created with an image I had taken in a small, barren chapel in the Tower of London. The structure was so stark and beautiful. I chose to overlay a pathway/tree image that I took at the Genessee Monastery in New York. I actually use this image quite frequently as a visual metaphor for life's journey. The fusion of these images seemed to create an interesting juxtaposition of traveling toward a sense of space or destination or purpose.

This was exhibited at the Massillon Museum's juried Stark County Artists Exhibition as well as the Sixth Street Gallery's Natural Beauty juried show in Vancouver, WA.

Size: (h x w) 14" x 11"
Media: Fibers
SOLD