Thursday, September 29, 2011

The Still Life, Elliott Fouts Gallery, and Harmonia Axyridis


The Still Life  
An Invitational Group Show
Elliott Fouts Gallery
Sacramento, CA
October 1 - November 2, 2011
  Opening this weekend is The Still Life at 
Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA.  
Other participating artists include Jeff Cohen, Jelaine Faunce, 
Todd Ford, Russell Harris, James Neil Hollingsworth, 
 Mary Ellen Johnson, Judy Nunes, Alvin Richard, 
and Christopher Stott. 
Link to the show:

 Harmonia Axyridis
16" x 20"
oil on panel

Growing up in the farmlands of the Midwest, I took delight during the Summers chasing and catching butterflies and various beetles. One particular Summer when I was around 8 years old I had caught quite a few, and poured over my families insect books trying to identify all the varieties. The following Summer there were hardly any butterflies. I believed it was because of all my chasing and catching. I never caught another live one after that Summer. Many years later I learned it was because of a particularly harsh Winter we had that year and not because of my 8 year old self.

I still love bugs. I have added some bugs to my collection, but of a tin wind up variety. The title Harmonia Axyridis is latin for Asian Lady Beetle. I thought it was appropriate for this Japanese tin ladybug wind up toy. The orange handled school scissors remind me of my young self.

detail from
Harmonia Axyridis

 Monkeying Around
12" x 12"
oil on panel

In Monkeying Around I really wanted to explore transparency. More glass. More marbles. The star being the green plastic monkey
playfully balancing on the marble. 


4 comments:

  1. I don't remember the monkeys being transparent, but rather a dull red. Are you using black for the background or a color with the black - like Indigo Blue? The Lady Bug is fabulous...

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  2. For my darkest dark I mix Raw Umber and Ultramarine Deep.

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  3. Thank you for the tip on the background!

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  4. Came over here from Dave Dube's blog. You do amazing work and I really love your choice of unique subject matter.

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