from the sketchbook archives

Threads drawn by machine and threads drawn by hands imprinted on paper with graphite.  The ambiguity of whether these are prints or drawings pleases me.

an elusive silver

When my mother died, most of her art supplies and tools found a new home in my studio. Among the pencil stubs, pastels, paper and jewelry tools was a jar of graphite powder. Its presence deeply comforted me. Some of my earliest memories of toddling around my mother's studio were of the little plates of powder set on her worktable just at my eye level and the stern admonishment to keep away from them. When she sharpened her drawing pencils she'd save the graphite scrapings and use it and the jarred stuff to brush soft veils of grey onto her detailed drawings. My current work uses lots of graphite, but my mother's jar is unusual. The powder within reflects a silver gray rather than the velvety black found in my own jars.

The silver tantalizes me in the same way certain shades of blue found in the sky do. My eyes are simultaneously hungry and full.

Despite the draw for this particular shade of gray, I've been unable to bring myself to use it beyond a tiny bit of experimentation without knowing I can find it elsewhere and let this particular jar stick around. Yes, I'm a sentimentalist. Is it truly Sennelier graphite as the label suggests or a rarer shade of thousands of pencil shavings? I've looked a bit from time to time without luck for the same shade of silvered grey, until a few weeks ago when an artist I spoke to mentioned Kremer's Pigments carried powdered graphite of differing shades. They do have something labeled silver graphite and it's on its way here. Perhaps it's what I'm looking for.

vitality

comes from play

pARTy at 817

opening Friday at 7pm-2am

a group exhibition featuring works by a diverse group of more than 28 artists.

The show presents works by:

John Burns, Erin Curry,Richard Heipp, Nathan Sapio, Julia Morrisroe, Kristin Reeves, Varian Wolf, Zach Castedo, Dan Luo, Margaret Ross Tolbert, Donald Keefe, Camille DeMarinis, Stacy Streeter, Lauren Garber Lake,Leah Floyd, Kate Helms, Andrew Hendrixson, Chisum Justus, Logan Marconi, Galen Olmsted, Carrie Smith, Donna Flannery, Joshua Kubisz, Dandee Pattee, Kalina Winska, Charlie Cummings, Chloe Rothwell, Nicole Yatulis, Brian Weaver

817 SW 5th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32601
Show Dates (by appointment): September 4 – October 2, 2010
Contact: gallery817@gmail.com

Gallery 817, the brainchild of Kalina Winska and Galen Olmsted, brings a new art venue to Gainesville. It's a small space with lots of potential for experimentation and creative growth. I'm thrilled to be a part of the debut show.