Finally, some real ink

On December 23rd at 6pm I'll start taking down "Walk the Walk," a collection of more than sixty mixed media drawings and paintings created over the eighteen months in 2006 and 2007. After a three month run at Plant Zero I am pleased to announce that the show was reviewed here.

If you happen to pick up a copy of Style Weekly this week you'll also notice that they graciously reproduced two other pieces and one of those if of my dear, departed friend Jackie Wall. A color reproduction of that painting can be seen here.

The art dialogue in Richmond evolves around "process" so I'll take the dialogue one step further and tell you all that have time to read the review (in this busiest of seasons!) that I refer to my technique as "staining" or a series of washes rather than "spilling." Spilling refers to "accidents" and I can tell you, there aren't that many accidents in what I do though I am always open to the "happy accident."

A watercolorist would understand this way of working and it is also something particular to working with acrylic or flashe or any water-based medium. It relys on transparency and a degree of control over the elements of water and gravity in relation to the surface one is washing or staining... but this is something I don't think anyone would want to read about so I'll leave it at that. If you are interested in seeing more of this work please visit my website! If you click on the picture you'll wind up with a slide show of the catalogue for WALK THE WALK and it includes a thoughtful essay by Howard Risatti. He saw the work outdoors originally, prior to the show and I know that changes context and how the work is perceived. It is something I'd like to explore further... come to think of it Anaba has fun with some of these ideas in relation to his own painting.

Blogger has introduced a new kind of scrolling slide show... whenever I have time I'll post the exhibitions sequence of images here using this new system. In the meantime I've posted a sequence of sunflower (tournesol)and portrait paintings on YOUtube and they can be seen below:

Industrial Arts

For those of you who may need to escape the dreary skies and pressures of holiday hysteria you can ponder the artifice and industry of Roberly Bell's sculptural installations here. She recently had a show at ADA Gallery in Richmond and I found her work to be fascinating.

Those of you who who have an appetite for the silliness and camp potential of the season you'll likely enjoy this. Ho, Ho, Ho....

My friend Jackie Wall

20" x 20" flashe, acrylic and graphite on birch panel 2007
part of WALK THE WALK on view at Plant Zero through December 23rd
the obituary below was published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on December 13, 2007.

WALL, Jacqueline J. "Jackie", passed away on December 10, 2007 surrounded by the beauty of her land. Jackie was born to the late Geoffrey and Olga Jardine in Calcutta, India. At the age of six, she moved to England with her aunt, Marjorie Cleghorn. At 14, she traveled with her aunt through Ellis Island en route to Baltimore, Md. During WWII, Jackie served in the WRENs (Women's Royal English Navy) in Norfolk, Va. Jackie Wall attended Longwood College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Westhampton College with a degree in Psychology. In 1952, she married the late J. Barrye "Bo" Wall Jr. and lived in Farmville. She worked for The Farmville Herald as a staff writer and compiled a cookbook of the best known recipes in the area. Jackie received her Masters in Art Education from V.C.U. She taught art at Prince Edward Academy, the Campus School of Longwood College and Prince Edward County Public Schools. She was also a professor at Longwood College, teaching art education and supervising student teachers. While at Longwood, she was instrumental in procuring the Governor's School for the Arts for the college. She was director of the summer program for the years it was at Longwood. Upon retirement from teaching, Jackie became a full-time artist, her work being shown in galleries in Virginia and North Carolina. She drew her inspiration from her land and her spiritual beliefs. Jackie Wall is survived by her three sons, Barrye of Singapore, Geoffrey of Greensboro, N.C., Angus of Los Angeles, Calif.; one daughter, Marcie of Richmond; and three daughters-in-law, Victoria, Charlotte and Linda. She also has seven grandchildren, Jardine and Eliot Wall, Kenny, Ian, and Alex Wolfe, and Quinn and Jake Wall. In addition, she leaves behind adopted members of the family, Eleanor and Sidney Trent, and their family and many loyal and generous friends. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts, Office of University Advancement, Longwood University, 201 High Street, Farmville, Va. 23901 for the Jackie Wall Memorial Fund. Online donations can be made here.

Please note the one time donation to be allocated to "Other" and specify "LCVA-Wall Memorial". Memorial services will be held at John's Memorial Episcopal Church in Farmville on Saturday, December 15, 1 p.m. Doyne-Burger-Davis Funeral Home is in charge.

To hear Jackie talk about her life in an interview on NPR you can listen to the second part of the Separate but Unequal story linked here.