line

Line. Until recently, line did not figure prominently in my work.
I was all about the form. In the field.

hard rain (prototype) 2004
12 x 12 encaustic on panel
collection of Ruth Morpeth

Sometimes a horizon line was called for.
But I don't really think there is a line
so much as there is a juxtapostion of forms.
In the field.

untitled landscape 2006
24 x 24 encaustic on panel
collection of the artist


More form in the field. Maybe a few drips.

Lacuna (red cassandra 1 & 2) 2008
24 x 24 encaustic on panel (each)



Then came the drips. Big time. Lines as drips.
Drips as lines. Lines caused by drips.

ophelia red 2009
36 x 36 encaustic on panel
private collection


And then, the horizon line became insinuated into the work.
A little obsessively, I think. But not aggressively. It's lurking in the background.

false walls (umber) 2009
24 x 24 encaustic on panel


Line takes front and center and
pushes form and field to the background.

from the sea 1 2009
6" x 6" digital photo

Update: I'm No. 29

I've completed my postcard for A Book About Death and the image appears on the project's blog site. I hope you'll consider participating in this interesting project. I'll be looking forward to watching the project grow online and to meet other participating artists in September at the opening reception. You can see the image here.

Also on the blog are links for more information about the Emily Harvey Foundation. Emily Harvey (1941-2004) was a pioneering gallerist (Emily Harvey Gallery at 537 Broadway) and champion of Fluxus artists as well as artists who made mail art, concept art, and performance pieces.

Here is an example of one of the postcards, this one by Cecil Touchon

new blog...

OK...so it's not like I don't already have plenty to keep me busy, but I've launched another blog, p farrell photo art blog, this one for my digital images.

I've been spending quite a bit of time using my new digital slr. Because I don't know any better, I've been taking pics outside at night using my flash and auto settings, then using Photoshop Elements to play with the images. I'm no tech person, so much of this is trial and error. I've been amassing images and have printed them out with my non-archival ink jet printer just to use for reference/source material for paintings. I'm having fun as well as feeling productive, and I've put together another blog to house some of the images I'm wanting to share as I develop my photo skills. At some point I plan to upgrade my printer to one that uses archival inks so I can produce archival images.

I hope you'll visit and take a look. I don't expect to include much text, just images and a blog roll as I find relevant websites. Feel free to comment about the images, ask questions, or make suggestions.

Lisa Pressman Art Blog

Hey All Y'all... Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!!

Take a look at my buddy Lisa Pressman's new artblog...

Here's one of her works on paper. Lisa, welcome to the world of blogging!

Between the Lines #12 encaustic on paper

Kathryn Pannepacker at Museum of Arts and Design

Kathryn is a Philadelphia artist who paints and works in textile. She's having an eventful month, with a speaking engagement at the Museum of Arts and Design in NYC, and being featured on the cover of the current issue of American Craft magazine. More info below. Go Kathryn!

from the press release:

In Print/In Process: Artist Talk with Kathryn Pannepacker

Thursday April 16, 6:30 pm

Free with Thursday evening pay-as-you-wish-admission

The Museum of Arts and Design and American Craft magazine present: In Print/In Process – A new series of artist talks and studio demonstrations featuring today’s most innovative makers. Every two months, MAD and American Craft team up to bring the articles in the magazine to life at the Museum. Visitors and readers will hear directly from the artists, and experience their materials and processes first-hand in the MAD Open Studios.

Weaver and painter Kathryn Pannepacker’s urban interventions are featured in the April/May issue of American Craft. Trained in the French tapestry tradition, Pannepacker has melded her love of traditional weaving and textile work with gritty public art – creating murals in West and North Philadelphia that integrate textile designs from around the world with the industrial architecture of her neighborhood. Pannepacker’s work is subtly political, inherently social, and deeply invested in the art-making process. In part one of this two-part program, Pannepacker will provide an overview of her 20-year career and discuss her recent projects, including her guerilla weaving “tags” that are stealthily appearing in cities across the USA.

About the artist:

Kathryn Pannepacker is a textile/visual artist living in Philadelphia. She graduated from Penn State University with a major in English and a minor in art, and apprenticed with 3rd generation French tapestry weaver, Jean Pierre Larochette and his partner, Yael Lurie, a painter and designer for tapestry. In Aubusson, France Pannepacker continued weaving as an artist-in-resident. Though still weaving pictorial tapestry, she also weaves with unusual materials. Through the Mural Arts Program in Philadelphia, Pannepacker painted a 7' x 500ft wide mural called Wall of Rugs: the global language of textiles at Girard and Belmont Avenues featuring the textiles of 43 countries. Pannepacker exhibits locally, nationally and internationally, and has work in private and public collections. She is committed to the transformative power of art in people's lives and the sustainability of such transformation by involving the community.

Read American Craft's cover feature on Kathryn Pannepacker: A Local Take on Global Textiles.

new work at morpeth gallery

ISBP installment no. 18: Rebecca Crowell

Rebecca Crowell gives a glimpse, inside and out, of her rural Wisconsin studio, as well as her work, which was inspired by her residency in Catalonia. See more on her website and blog.

Rebecca writes:
My studio is in a separate building behind the house, on 40 acres in west-central Wisconsin, a beautiful natural setting. I like the fact that I have to leave the house to go to the studio, as it always feels like moving into a different world. The building is a simple metal outbuilding with a foot of insulation in the walls, and part of the south-facing wall is made of cinder block to provide some solar gain. It is a large, utilitarian space that I have occupied for over 20 years, and inside it's quite messy and chaotic, with paint on the floors, walls, and other surfaces, and piles of stuff that are far from neat or organized.

In my house I keep reasonable order and cleanliness, so I sometimes wonder why the studio mess doesn't bother me. But being neat is not what comes naturally, and I guess for me it is a matter of where to put my energy. Nothing about the studio space is pristine or precious, which allows me to relax and focus on the work and feel free to muck around. And I rather enjoy the studio clutter--the accumulated stuff, piles of old paintings, sketchbooks, art books, journals, tools, materials, rocks and shells, and forgotten, half-finished work. The whole place feels intensely mine, full of my personal history, my art history--yet not in an oppressive way, it's just there in the background when I paint.

In the photo is the large wall on which I do most of my oil painting, hanging the panels up with push pins or small nails. There are always a lot of panels in various states of completion leaning around. I also have another wall that is cleaner, where I can view finished pieces with less visual distraction. My painting table is elevated to a comfortable height so I don't have to bend over it--a great relief for my back--and I have a couch by the wood stove, a table and counter area for doing mixed media work, and an air-to air heat exchanger for ventilation. About a year ago I got some excellent daylight fixtures, and there are high, north windows too. So it is a very functional space. Just outside my door is a rock garden set into a steep bank (the studio is at the bottom of a small hill, accessed by stairs) and that is a beautiful, secluded spot to sit in warmer weather.

Remembering Catalunya
74 x 30 oil on board