Bohemian Artist: Painting & Thought

New Sculpture: Goddess Fragment Series

2012-01-23T09:53:00.008-05:00

“The only journey is the one within.” ~ Rilke

The long road of winter led me away from home, hundreds of miles away to warm Florida sunshine and tropical breezes. As ever, I continue to choose the rockier paths, the road divided, and it does make all the difference, to paraphrase Robert Frost! I've turned in notice to the gallery day job, made other changes: and sat at a sidewalk cafe downtown Sarasota, leaves fluttering in sunlight over head, and felt free, open, and that it will all be alright in the grand scheme. Two art shows are coming up, so I've come back to get work ready for those. It dawned on me, during the time I was away, that paintings and sculpture I've been making have become solely an extension of myself: simple and true, a statement. Life is short: make art. Follow your dream; don't be afraid. Spin the wheel, walk into the day.

This sculpture is part of the "Goddess Fragment Series" and is fired clay, concrete, barbed wire, mixed finishes mounted on rebar/black walnut base. Collection of Joyce Fox, Sarasota, Florida.

A New Dawning

2012-01-05T14:29:00.003-05:00

The new year has come, and with the cold days of winter, new journeys and paths open up. Old doors close, others in the meantime open. All things are changing, and under the snow, crocuses, daffodils and buds yearn to break free. Such a metaphor for life! Winter is a pensive time, a time for thought and understanding that bare branches hold green leaves. This month, I'll be heading for a respite from ice and cold here to warm sunshine in Sarasota, Florida again...thanks to a generous friend who's a supporter of the arts. In driving those many miles betwixt here and there, I'll take time to think about all roads, including those that are metaphysical. As ever, I'll be taking the one less traveled, and that will make all the difference. What's your road ahead?

“When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it is over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.”
~ Mary Oliver

New Work: The Landscape

2011-11-25T23:09:00.004-05:00

"Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving." ~ Kahlil Gibran

This is a new landscape in progress from the "Esto Perpetua" series I began several years ago. The paintings keep evolving and transcending...and each one becomes a new love of mine. This one will head to the Southwest to Santa Fe when I get it done to Patricia Carlisle Fine Art, Canyon Road. It's 36 x 36 in a muted soft palette that dances in the evening woods.

The Landscape: New Work

2011-11-14T19:37:00.002-05:00

“I am a forest, and a night of dark trees: but he who is not afraid of my darkness, will find banks full of roses under my cypresses.” ~ Nietzsche

This is one of many new landscapes I've worked on with oil and cold wax finish, either on linen or gessoboard. Some have been sent out to Santa Fe, to the Patricia Carlisle Gallery, and some are being worked on now. Also, I just finished up a bamboo grove: a commissioned painting where the buyer has been willing to let me do my thing, without heavy demands or a forced viewpoint. By going with the flow, and letting the paintbrush find the way, it's become a beautiful piece!

Color & Light

2011-11-06T20:47:00.003-05:00

Color and light shine beside one of my new paintings on a late fall afternoon, fleeting summer flowers peek through brilliant maple leaves, the golden painting alongside. For me, color and 'feel' are much of what give a particular piece 'soul', plus that extra touch that is without definition. It just 'is'...

The Landscape: New Work

2011-10-16T11:27:00.002-04:00

Do you love this world? Do you cherish your humble and silky life? Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath? ~ Mary Oliver

The Landscape: New Work

2011-10-03T13:14:00.012-04:00

'Let choice whisper in your ear and love murmur in your heart. Be ready. Here comes life.' ~ Maya Angelou

More leaves tinged with scarlet, gold, russet hues brush softly through the fall grass; the sky today is impossibly blue...colder weather brings a melancholy, a time of remembering to the heart, as it does every year--the changing of all things is constant. Seasons have their time, as do we. This painting is in progress: a gold gesso ground, with layers of oil paint and Gamblin cold wax. Those falling leaves whisper secrets of the road ahead--a underlying desire to pack up and head to parts unknown, to be a gypsy spirit. Yet, as an artist friend of mine reminds me: it's always good to have a place to hang your hat. And your paint brush!

The Landscape: New Work

2011-09-25T15:44:00.003-04:00

'The artist does not see things as they are, but as he is.' ~Alfred Tonnelle

Fall has arrived; summer a blur of warm days. The sun shines today in a high blue sky; the morning mists long gone. Leaves and acorns are beginning to fall, a crescendo of rustle and nature's songs, reminding me that change always comes. Fall tends to make me pensive, thinking. All seasons have their own beauty, their own 'feel'. Again, I'm reminded of the shortness of life, and the continuing drive to make art while here...to stay true to purpose and course. This is one of a number of smaller oil paintings I've worked on lately to get ready to send out into the world. Some have cold wax: all have many layers.

Art: From A Different Point of View

2011-09-08T21:04:00.009-04:00

'A leaf fluttered in through the window this morning, as if supported by the rays of the sun, a bird settled on the fire escape, joy in the task of coffee, joy accompanied me as I walked.' ~ Anais Nin

September brings cooler nights here, blue-skied days growing shorter, and a sense of change in the crisp air. Sunny mornings find spider webs sparkling over the boxwoods out front. While sitting in the front porch swing, surrounded by late summer petunias, trailing geraniums, and lush ferns, I watch all of nature with my cup of hot fresh coffee in hand. No hurry, only the soft whisper of the swing, a sense of peace, of realizing that all things change: that this moment is beautiful, to be enjoyed in the present.

These days find me creating art from a different point of view, you could say. The eyes have been having issues, causing blurry vision (this will be fixed at the end of the month!) So, instead of feeling sorry for myself, I've found a chance to see things a bit differently. Hey, Matisse and Monet did the same when their vision worsened. Here is one of two new portraits of my neighbor, Joni. To make a long story short, she'd had a portrait done by someone who used a projector and painted her 'literally'. It was her, yet lifeless. Could I do something, she begged. So, I took her out on my front porch and snapped pictures...the wheels in my head turning (of course!). So here is one of the resulting paintings from that moment.

**If you're interested in having a "AS I SEE YOU" portrait: I'll fix you one up. I can work from your favorite photo OR take one of you if you're local. Just inquire...

New Work: The Landscape

2011-08-18T12:28:00.004-04:00

Hints of fall color blue-sky August afternoons; mornings grow a little cooler, a welcome respite after the merciless heat of summer. I've been moving things around after the Open Studio tour, trying to get back to 'normal' (if such a thing can exist!). The dining room has been undergoing some transitions, too: curtains pulled down, sculptures rearranged, and a gas stove added for those frozen days of winter ahead. While pulling curtains down, I found Jungian symbolism in letting more light in, a clearer view. Changes.

New Work: The Landscape

2011-08-06T15:06:00.003-04:00

'When you possess light within, you see it externally.' ~ Anaïs Nin

This is a small painting I worked on recently, with gold gesso subtly shining through layers of rich color. It evokes Monet and spring, and something about this piece touches my spirit, the spring that still blooms in my heart, despite the odds. The touch of indigo blue? A trace of green? The hint of water, of willow? Perhaps defining things are not as important as just knowing.

New Work: The Landscape

2011-08-04T22:16:00.007-04:00

This small landscape hung in my study for the past year; I'd look at it and think about doing something else to it a number of times. Finally I took it down before the open studio weekend, added touches in fresh rich oil hues, then framed it in a plein air frame. With a few brush strokes, it transformed into a piece I loved. It sold, to someone else who loved it too! Thank you, K....and I hope to hear how you're enjoying the piece, when you come to a resting phase on your journeys. Ah, when a piece finds the 'right' home, I feel good about it! Sometimes paintings find the right person, and vice versa.

New Work: The Landscape

2011-08-01T10:04:00.002-04:00

Here's a new painting I just completed for the open studio event, along with several larger pieces with the same color fields. As I was working on the first one, I applied paint directly to the canvas, then added a bit of this, a bit of that. Luscious effects happened. I like this! By going with the flow, so to speak, I found that something happened: my mind was free, I wasn't worried about the finished piece, and magic happened. These are deceptively simple, yet I have found over the years that less says more. Sometimes there's too much information going on in our lives, and it's time to take a step back to simple and beautiful.

Open Studio Tour: 2011

2011-07-23T16:17:00.010-04:00

Mark your calendar! Art Trek 2011 open studio event arrives July 30-31 at artist studios all over the area! I'll be one of them again! The fabulous preview party will be held at Upstairs Artspace, Tryon, NC featuring all artists and a corresponding gallery show on display for two weeks. Open studios will be July 30, 10-5. Then July 31 from 12-5. It's a great time to get in the car and visit lots of artists, ranging from painters, clay artists and potters, a luthier, wood-turners and more! I'll have both painting AND sculpture. Plus, as a special treat, will have note cards featuring four different bird paintings, and a moon hare note card, too. Here's a new piece I'll be putting in the gallery show along with others--it started out as an abstraction of a computer circuit board, then evolved to an orchid painting with gold gesso background and many layers of finishes.

New Sculpture: The Goddess Fragment Series

2011-06-21T19:53:00.007-04:00

This is my latest sculpture: it's almost completed, with the exception of applying English wax on the wood--that'll give a soft sheen and velvety texture to the finish. Today, I put the pedestals together, after drilling my finger just 'a little', but it's all in the name of ART! Luckily, I still have ALL ten fingers. At some point, I must get more handy with the tools. The figure is fired clay, with acrylic washes. Using spalted-maple base, I drilled through as far as I could, then configured another hole on the bottom...therefore meeting in the middle...the rod could then be inserted into the bottom piece as well. No engineer around here: only artistic brain, means this is always a big puzzle to me. However, it worked, and so far, I like the new piece. The base is finished with genuine milk paint, wiped down carefully to show the grain of the maple. Thank you, Packard Woodworks, for your generous support of my art, for wood supplies and more! In this world, there are good people who believe in us struggling artists, and make sure we have materials to work with. Bless 'em. Bless 'em.

New Sculpture: The Goddess Fragment Series

2011-06-08T16:29:00.009-04:00

From my new goddess fragment series, this piece is finished as of today. Mounted on steel rod in spalted-wood maple base, the clay figure is finished with multiple layers of acrylic washes, then paste wax. Rusted wire detail on back. Next goal is to build these larger, as I teach myself more. One thing that I will work on is making copies of pieces: my first attempt with a silicone mold support technique failed...the mold process is extremely complicated for my simple mind! There must be an easier way. Like life, it's often a rocky road. Learning, failing, and trying again is all part of the journey. To make self feel better, I did smash the failed experiment with a hammer--after I'd spent untold time chiseling it off the silicone encasing the original sculpture beneath!

**This piece won First Place, Tryon Painters & Sculptors Member Show, Peoples' Choice, Sculpture Category. Thanks to all who voted for her!

Open Studio Tour: In The Life of an Artist

2011-05-30T20:49:00.006-04:00

These photographs are by dear friend and wonderful photographer Elaine Pearsons, from last summer's open studio event with Art Trek. Over 40 artists were on the tour, and it was one of the hottest weekends of the year. Yet, people came out, enjoyed art and visited! I'll be doing it all over again this summer; although my little helper Pooh won't be with me this summer. That silly Shar-Pei boy greeted each and every person who came through the door, and he will be missed by his adoring public! Thank you, Elaine, for sharing your photographs: they capture an essence that is both magical and a Faulkner-esque Southern Gothic feeling!

New Sculpture

2011-05-18T19:08:00.008-04:00

This is a new sculpture, fired clay with barbed wire and found wire, acrylic washes, paste wax finish. She'll be mounted on metal post to antique wood pedestal. This figure was loosely built by the Bruno Lucchesi coil method. Ever symbolic, the rusted barbed wire wings symbolize flight, spiritual growth, a sense of yearning. As ever, I find pure magic in the metaphysical.

"Inside myself is a place where I live all alone, and that's where I renew my springs that never dry up." ~Pearl Buck

New Work: The Landscape

2011-05-18T08:53:00.005-04:00

'The song of the brush.'
~Chinese saying

Landscape

2011-05-10T03:14:00.003-04:00

'Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.' ~ Buddha

Art Exhibit: Upstairs Artspace

2011-04-20T21:59:00.004-04:00

"Something To Crow About" and "New Waves" will be on exhibit through May 28 at the Upstairs Artspace, a contemporary, non-profit art gallery downtown Tryon, NC. That's my sculpture "Crow Angel" in the window, composed of barbed wire, concrete, steel mesh, and other elements with fired clay crows. Enjoy the show if you're in the area! There are many notable artists in both exhibits; truly something for everyone.

Bohemian Spring

2011-04-18T17:56:00.003-04:00

The warmth of spring and lush green sings in the veins, and life renews...an ancient pattern: over and over, again and again. Sunny days find me busy doing yard work, pulling vines, more vines, and then MORE vines. Creating: painting, sculpting. Thinking about what's next...excited over what is. Spring serves as a metaphor for internal change, and hope. This season won't last, but reminds us that life is beautiful, and we have the now.

Something To Crow About: New Exhibit

2011-04-14T11:02:00.005-04:00

"Something To Crow About" and "New Waves" opens April 15 at the Upstairs Artspace gallery, with a public reception on April 16 from 5-8. I'll be in the crow exhibit with paintings and new sculptures...this is my first public showing of sculpture! Take a peek at "Crow Angel" in the gallery's front window. Downstairs, for "Crow Face", I took a hammer to a full-size fired clay head and gave it a new direction. You'll have to see it--talk about taking art in smashing new directions! Also this month, I'm in "Studio Visit" magazine, page 10. Lots of new ideas are percolating with the advent of spring time...and thanks to a generous donor, I'm getting sculpture and painting supplies this month, too. THANK YOU to all who continue to believe in me and my work!

New Sculpture

2011-03-27T15:54:00.005-04:00

Meet "Rotator"...a crow with barbed wire wings/feet; fired clay body. Nest has nutmeg 'eggs'. This piece will be in "Something To Crow About" at the Upstairs Artspace's next exhibit that opens April 15. I'll have crow paintings too. This is a piece I've worked on over the weekend, carefully handling the rusty barbed wire with gloves. Have a little more finish work to do on the piece, but it's close to finished! The great thing about this sculpture is: the clay was GIVEN to me. The barbed wire was GIVEN to me. The nutmeg eggs in the nest came from an exotic island: GIVEN to me. People are so good to me!!! Thank you, generous spirits out there: to those of you who buy my art, to those of you who believe in me and give me materials. THANK YOU.

Spring Ahead

2011-03-15T13:07:00.007-04:00

While the silver fog hangs low over town today as rain drips off my front porch roof, I can see hints of tender green budding out, daffodils smiling, and my heart knows spring is coming. It's been a long winter here; month by month I remind myself if I can just make it a little longer through the cold days, spring will come. The heart blooms. There are paintings to be done; any kind of blue sky sunshine-kissed day will find me outside painting. Yard work is a distant side chore! While it needs to be done, somehow I am reminded that my clear purpose in life is to make art, which seems more and more pertinent in the state of events throughout the world. Simple, clear, connected: the thought is direct and pure as a bird call upon the early morning silence. Make art: live. Here is a photo I just took of a Nora Ephron novel amid pink roses...both things I love: delicious books, fresh flowers, vases of brushes in the house.
“What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” ~ Mary Oliver

Spring, Cupcake Outfits, Art Thoughts

2011-02-16T23:32:00.005-05:00

Did that headline above get your attention? Spring is coming, so on Monday, I dressed up like a cupcake. Full of hope and pink color, eager to be rid of the winter grays and blacks for a while! Perhaps I'm pushing it, but I am living for longer sunlit days that are warm enough to allow me to work with clay and paint outside, with blue skies and birds singing. Maybe a little Bob Marley on the tunes...or something going in the CD player! It's time to think about doing open studio on Saturdays again; if you're interested, call ahead for an appointment. I'll be working steadily on work for an upcoming "Crow" art show at the Upstairs Artspace; opening in April. And tomorrow, I'll deliver two pieces: one sculpture, one oil painting to the Tryon Fine Arts Center for Tryon Painters & Sculptors member show which will open this Sunday with a reception from 5 to 7. Come on by if you're in the WNC area...it's always a good show, and fun to see what other artists are up to.

Hope of Spring

2011-02-13T09:48:00.008-05:00

Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.
~Theodore Roethke

The day dawns sunny, with promises of spring in the chill February air. Frost sparkles on crushed winter grass, but the dogwood buds turn their hearts to the blue sky above, waiting, like I do. Upon discovering a delicate blue flower out in the snow melt, the first flower of spring ahead, I smiled. Despite the harshness of winter, there is hope of spring ahead, of promises. Warmer days will get me outside to paint new canvases and work with clay in the sunshine. On nice days, I can set up my art out on the back deck, and spend the whole day working. Those are the best of days: simple, in the 'zone'...timeless. Birds singing, the rustle of quiet breeze through tree leaves. Warmth touching the spirit. Art is what saves me, through the hardest of times: it's a form of therapy and my way of giving back to the world. Artists do that; whether they are writers, musicians, poets, visual artists, you name it. There it is: what they create and send forth. May spring find your heart this day, wherever you are.

Moon Hare

2011-02-01T09:43:00.004-05:00

This is my first "Moon Hare" painting...I recently completed a similiar commissioned piece; of course, no two paintings will ever be alike. However, I find the Moon Hare to be a spiritual creature, and will work on yet another. February is now here, and I find myself continuing to contemplate the 'road ahead'. Having just returned from a stay in Florida thanks to good friends, I had time to think about where I'm going. The main focus is MAKE ART, despite the economy, and what goes on around me. In order to bring in extra income, I've thought about doing workshops, teaching a class, or finding art patrons--if there is such a thing in America these days. It's a struggle for serious artists, every day. One thing I know is that I'm not alone. Art makes this world a better place; for those of us who make it, it's essential, as much as breathing. Please support us starving artists--there's so many of us out there: musicians, artists of all genres, writers. It's all part of the circle.

The Road Ahead

2011-01-08T14:31:00.004-05:00

All we need, really, is a change from a near frigid to a tropical attitude of mind. ~ Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Winter cold pulls her blankets over the land...delicate tracings of snow in the air today. My heart longs for warm sunny skies, colorful blooms, and time to create outside. Sometimes hopes do come true: a generous friend and fellow artist has offered to host me a bit in Sarasota, Florida...so I'm already going around looking for what art supplies to pack for the adventure ahead. Clothing seems much less important! I've already got ideas going for "Florida" work...more women paintings with luscious pinks, corals, peach tones...whatever is around me serves as inspiration.

The Road Ahead: Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T12:19:00.002-05:00

The earth has disappeared beneath my feet,
It fled from all my ecstasy,

Now like a singing air creature
I feel the Rose
Keep opening. ~Hafiz

A Happy New Year ahead to all! Doors close, others open. Where will the road ahead lead? It's up to each of us to find the path, no matter how rocky or narrow it may be. For there it is. The road beckons.....

Happy Holidays To All

2010-12-15T19:30:00.005-05:00

From me to you, wherever in this world you may be...a blessed and happy holiday season...a warm heart and hearth...and may there be ART in your life. Always!
~ Bonnie

New Work: The Landscape

2010-12-12T20:42:00.006-05:00

Thanks to all who made it out for my open studio during the town Christmas stroll! Someone left a pair of eyeglasses in my powder room, so if it was you, let me know. Winter is here; snow today. Art projects get a bit harder in a cold house...but I'll be working on new ideas, dreaming of driving Route 66 in the desert. So, now, it's time to be reflective, to listen to nature's quietness.

“I am a book of snow,
a spacious hand, an open meadow,
a circle that waits,
I belong to the earth and its winter.”
~Pablo Neruda

Open Studio/Art House Dec. 10

2010-11-25T21:46:00.007-05:00

Mark your calendar for the evening of December 10; that's the Saluda Hometown Christmas evening when shops are open from 6-8 p.m. One of my favorite Saluda events! This year, I'll have open studio at my "Art House" on Greenville Street-- featuring paintings and new sculptures along with introducing great work by Moonshiner Metalworks/Mike Cowan, and also maybe a surprise guest artist! My neighbor Joni at the Saluda Inn & Wine Cellar will be featuring local artists, writers, and live music from 6-9...and the Oaks Bed & Breakfast will be open too. Plan on visiting us all!

New Work: The Landscape

2010-11-07T19:28:00.003-05:00

A small landscape: evocative of remembered summers...and now, winter ahead. Take your pick.
"The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep." ~Paul Strand

New Work: The Figure

2010-11-01T16:26:00.008-04:00

This painting came about from a vision I had during a recent medical procedure...while lying face down, draped with a white blanket on a not-too-comfortable table (and wishing I could escape): I could see my reflection in a wall painting--the lights were dim and my eyes were shining like stars: all in the glass. Let's just say the painting changed from that initial view, although the dreaming/angel figure of a woman remains at the bottom of the painting...she's transcended into a feeling of absolute peace, tranquility and love. That's what we artists do: take an event from the world around us, and translate it into our own language--into something 'more'.'

New Work: The Landscape

2010-10-08T23:15:00.007-04:00

Random Thoughts: I'm trying to keep my chin up these days....and continue making art, despite the economy and struggle with art sales. I'm not alone out there, so I know we're all in the same boat. It's hard, though...thinking of winter coming, the cold...the bills that seem to increase despite the lack of increase with income! There are those who are worse off, though...and I continue to give thanks that I've gotten up in the morning, Pooh the dog is still with me and has another day too; that I have paints, good friends, a roof overhead, and that the car will crank (we hope). So, pensive thoughts aside, here is a small landscape, now framed...and more sculpting projects percolating...I've now come up with the "Sentinels", tall figures standing silent, peaceful. What do you think?

"I get up every morning determined to both change the world and to have one hell of a good time. Sometimes, this makes planning the day difficult." ~ E.B. White

Recent Work: The Blue Shawl

2010-10-07T20:10:00.005-04:00

"A leaf fluttered in through the window this morning, as if supported by the rays of the sun, a bird settled on the fire escape, joy in the task of coffee, joy accompanied me as I walked." ~ Anais Nin

"The Blue Shawl" is a painting I've worked on and off with for a period of months...a number of layers, deceptively simple...rather like life...many layers indeed. She's not finished yet, so keep an eye out for what's next! Enjoy.

New Sculpture In Progress

2010-09-25T15:19:00.012-04:00

"Heat lingers
As days are still long;
Early mornings are cool
While autumn is still young.
Dew on the lotus
Scatters pure perfume;
Wind on the bamboos
Gives off a gentle tinkling.
I am idle and lonely,
Lying down all day,
Sick and decayed;
No one asks for me;
Thin dusk before my gates,
Cassia blossoms inch deep."
~ Po Chu-i (772-864), Autumn Coolness

The turning of summer to fall brings pensive thought and a turning to working with hands: concrete, rusted barbed wire, mesh, clay, plaster cloth, paper mache, and more find their way into my fingers to evolve and transcend into something more. This new piece is built on metal armature with a concrete and burlap core...she's a dancer...a fairy...an angel...I'm thinking of making a fired clay face to add, or may refine the face a little more with paper mache. However, the abstraction and 'rawness' of the piece match my painting style--I like her! She'll be going on a heavy square polished wood base, and will twirl in the stand if turned. Inspired by my friend Jan, who had extra armatures, concrete, and a great outside area to work, this piece has continued to change since day one.

September Musings

2010-09-07T14:43:00.009-04:00

September: it was the most beautiful of words, he’d always felt, evoking orange-flowers, swallows, and regret." ~ Alexander Theroux

Ah, September. After a record-breaking summer of heat, September brings us warm days, cooler nights and a turn to the season, to the senses. The changes of nature tend to make me pensive, to go to the inner-self...the heart of things. Longings, yearnings, a remembering. I am reminded of the coming of fall, of winter. Perhaps a reminder of the shortness of my own life, of all that is...the impermanence of things. Yet, that is the way of the natural world--the ceaseless turning of the seasons, of change inherent. Not something to fear, but something to embrace. The sunlight warms my face another day--a leaf spirals to the earth, the hummingbird rests on a branch. I inhale the dry sweet afternoon breeze, a coral zinnia in my hand, reflecting the glow of my heart and the bittersweet scent of longing.

New Work

2010-08-08T20:15:00.008-04:00

'I walk without flinching through the burning cathedral of the summer. My bank of wild grass is majestic and full of music. It is a fire that solitude presses against my lips.' ~Violette Leduc, Mad in Pursuit

Art Trek 2010: open studios and gallery exhibit

2010-07-26T11:53:00.004-04:00

A successful Art Trek open studio event! Thanks all who came out in the summer heat. The gallery exhibit of all 41 artists who participated will be on display through mid August at Upstairs Artspace. I truly appreciate those who came in my house/studio and loved my work.

“Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come.” ~Chinese proverb

New Work

2010-07-12T22:26:00.008-04:00

July finds me painting as hard as I can for the second annual Art Trek event: an open studio tour featuring 41 area artists: myself included! Starting with a preview party at the Upstairs Artspace on July 23 from 5-8 p.m., the open studios are Saturday and Sunday. All artists will have work featured at the gallery for six weeks, so if you miss the tour, you'll be able to stop in to see the show! Here's a sample of new work in progress...enjoy.

New Work

2010-07-04T14:00:00.002-04:00

New Work

2010-06-01T18:03:00.011-04:00

This painting is one of a pair. Right now, I'm thinking it doesn't need much more, but I'll continue to work on it along with the companion piece. So far, I like it! When I fall in love with a painting, I know it's right. That doesn't always happen....sometimes I go back and redo a piece, and am willing to take a piece on a new journey. Kind of like life, isn't it?

Esto Perpetua: Night Spaces

2010-05-24T18:12:00.009-04:00

As a recipient of a grant from the Regional Artist Project Grant made through The Arts Council of Henderson County, I wish to thank all who made it possible for me to purchase art supplies to further the “Esto Perpetua” landscape series I have worked on for several years. I wish to return the help I've been given in a concrete, meaningful way. My project was funded, in part, by a Regional Artist Project Grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, administered by the Arts Council of Henderson County.

As of April 2010, I have chosen to donate a percentage of each “Esto Perpetua” painting's proceeds to Saluda Community Land Trust which is a tax-exempt non-profit organization dedicated to preserving my town's rural small town character by protecting its unique natural heritage. 90% of private donations to SCLT are dedicated to land and easement acquisition.

About the Esto Perpetua series: started several years ago, the paintings are based around the Latin phrase of 'esto perpetua' (it is forever) which is written within the painting, worked into many transparent layers for the viewer to find and ponder. These canvases, both large and small, are always one of a kind, and depict nature and the sacredness of our earth. No trace of mankind is ever found in these landscapes: only mystery and peacefulness, quiet beauty, a sense of timelessness and spirituality. My belief is that nature is omnipresent, precious, powerful, and sacred. This series has become my language, my message to a world that needs to hear it. While a quiet, contemplative message, I hope it comes across loud and clear.

New Work: Sculpture

2010-05-17T17:22:00.006-04:00

Life-size hand-built clay head from a Mike Lalone workshop I did at TFAC....it had been many moons since I'd touched clay....but found I loved the feel, the textures...the finish was experimental: tonal acrylic washes over the fired clay surface, then paste wax, buffed.

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures." ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Of Spring & Thought

2010-05-03T15:39:00.011-04:00

I am spending delightful afternoons in my garden, watching everything living around me. As I grow older, I feel everything departing, and I love everything with more passion. ~ Emile Zola

It is true: how one feels the ticking of time...the shortening days of life...of all things departing, the impermanence, the immediate click of a moment. Living in the now. In spring, the impossible lush greens, the vibrant blooms, the high azure sky...the hum and whir of life all around: you feel it, you inhale it. It makes you dizzy with love for life. As for me, I want to simplify even more now. What matters to me? Not things. All I really want is to be able to create, to paint...to have my dog under my feet, to just live in the day: in the moment, to take this with me. To be honest, I care less and less for the 'real' world: that of incessant cell phones, the jarring blare of talking heads, of people who are insincere or out to use others, of cluttered roads, crowded malls, and over-developed space...I find my salvation in the songs of birds, sweep of breeze, ray of sun warm on my face, the dog's soft ears under my hand, of artistic spirits all over the world, of quiet thought and brush stroke whisper against the canvas. "Make art, live now" it says. As for me, I'm going back to the garden.

The Painting World

2010-04-27T14:09:00.004-04:00

"It is not the moon, I tell you. It is these flowers lighting the yard." ~ excerpt from 'Mock Orange' by Louise Glück

Welcome to my blog, paintings, poetry, photography, thoughts, plus those who inspire me and my work daily. Welcome to the front porch swing....visit a moment with me. Come into my art studio...stay awhile. Feel free to touch the brushes...to look around...that is, if you can possibly find your way through the canvases, easels, piles of paint jars.

Poetry & Painting

2010-04-11T21:11:00.003-04:00

Colors intertwine, colors unfold before my child’s eyes
and bloom. Colors of sky, earth, all here, between us.
Connecting us.

Suddenly,
I see the color of blue love,
All the colors of love
Rising like startled clouds
Above hills far in the distance
The good earth below, brown and rich.

Excerpt from "Rosa..." by Bonnie Joy Bardos

Esto Perpetua: The Landscape

2010-03-28T10:41:00.010-04:00

Featured photo is of my "Esto Perpetua" series...I just got a RAPG grant to purchase materials for the series, which I began several years ago. This is exciting to me: my first grant endeavor! There's more within this blog about my thoughts about the sacredness of nature and the Esto Perpetua landscape series of paintings. Here is another Derek Walcott poem I found today, and enjoyed...hope you will too.

Derek Walcott: excerpt from "In The Village" from White Egrets.

...My veins bud, and I am so
full of poems, a wastebasket of black wire.
The notes outside are visible; sparrows will
line antennae like staves, the way springs were,
but the roofs are cold and the great grey river
where a liner glides, huge as a winter hill,
moves imperceptibly like the accumulating
years. I have no reason to forgive her
for what I brought on myself. I am past hating,
past the longing for Italy where blowing snow
absolves and whitens a kneeling mountain range
outside Milan. Through glass, I am waiting
for the sound of a bird to unhinge the beginning
of spring, but my hands, my work, feel strange
without the rusty music of my machine.

The Landscape

2010-03-03T13:10:00.003-05:00

Esto Perpetua: Blue

2010-02-01T11:24:00.006-05:00

The Lonely Road Home

On the edge of the darkened wood,
silence falls:
a silk-veil whisper
echoes
through stilted trees standing sentinel along quiet fields.
Here, no whippoorwill remains.

Those undulating fields fold like a prayer: soft into blankets of earth.
Red clay furrows bristle with cornstalk-stitched rows: the little girl walks alone down each row, cornstalks brushing the faded cotton of her dress. She gathers arrowheads in a old coffee can, under blue fall sky.
Shells from ancient seas lie far in the earth beneath her feet.

I, lover of stones, shells, whippoorwills:
meet you on the boundary, the tree-line
of that dark unspoken land
far beyond the line i always knew.

a thousand miles distant
the sea tosses
unsettled, restless
in her bed--
and the summer wasps
tick, tick, tick
against high pine ceilings
in a forlorn clapboard country church
perched on red dust roads that lead into pine-forested shade.

I too, turn, restless
into the waiting haze..
leaves of memory
drift unanchored in the rain of unseen oceans, furrowed red clay fields.

The sea moans low and unyielding-
far, calling me to her.

Mother, I whisper,
oh my mother,
I hear you in the salt of my longings,
the droplets on my face, in the whispers of shells.

Shells twist forlorn in the slow bottom current,
cornstalk shadows underneath.
Clouds roil gray over the water,
the ocean hums
a thousand miles distant,
every word clear.

The heart turns on axis,
gravitating in magnetic pull
to the yearning of shells caught in the sea's depths.

In the call of the vanished whippoorwill,
memory sings loud in the shells
with their red clay hearts,
the rasp of corn stalks under the fall blue sky,
the ticking of summer wasps on that dry pine ceiling.

Oh the lonely road home.

--Bonnie Joy Bardos ©2010

A Bird Rose And Flew Skywards.....

2010-01-22T17:08:00.005-05:00

"Out of my deeper heart a bird rose and flew skywards.
Higher and higher did it rise, yet larger and larger did it grow.
At first it was but like a swallow, then a lark, then an eagle, then as vast as a spring cloud, and then it filled the starry heavens. Out of my heart a bird flew skywards. And it waxed larger as it flew. Yet it left not my heart." -Kahlil Gibran

Orchids, Birds & Winter

2010-01-17T18:33:00.005-05:00

Because you have a sunlit mind/you are destined/
to become a moonlit heart. - Sri Chinmoy (excerpt from: Ten Thousand Flower-Flames)

2010-01-12T10:09:00.015-05:00

Lone Tree

2010-01-02T19:53:00.016-05:00

In the New Mexico desert, a lone tree stands; solitary under high blue sky of winter days, of silent silver moons hanging in black veils...weeks pass, then years. The tree stays, a fortress in the unrelenting wind, a sentinel of the dawn: scattering clouds paint dreams at its feet.

"And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair..." — Kahlil Gibran

Relections

2009-12-25T18:54:00.003-05:00

The holiday season for me tends to bring reflection and pensiveness...gray days move slow: winter is a time to be in rest phase, as is nature. Bare branches struggle for light. Somehow we are reminded that spring WILL come, renewal blooms eternal in the wheel of the sky, the turn of the earth, the softening of the ground. For now, I rest, and think, and wonder. How often I am reminded that life is short and fleeting; that we must live in the now, in the moment. One thing I also am reminded of are all the people out there who believe in me. Whether you've bought my art, or appreciated it...or given me a kind word of encouragement or a box of supplies: I thank you, and am grateful and humble. When you see beyond the surface of my paintings, you see into my soul and heart: I hope you are taken to a higher plane, a step up the ladder of this existence. Art lives on, the energy turns and whirls into the breeze, into the light. Thank you. I wish all of you a happy New Year ahead, and that there will be change, a renewal, and light among us all.

2009-12-14T19:07:00.006-05:00

Tree Branches of Winter

There is a beauty
In stark tree branches--
Lace sculptures held in gray hands of winter sky.
Something there that was not seen yesterday
But spoke to me today,
As I stood at the old weathered apple tree: fallen to frozen ground.

I silently, reverently, gathered
An armful
Of dead branches, bereft of leaves and life,
Held them in my warm hands,
Brought them in to the house
Arranged them in vases
Where suddenly

Those stark tree branches
Spoke eloquently of green life to come.

--Bonnie Joy Bardos

Night & Moon, Rose & Thorn

2009-12-02T20:46:00.001-05:00

...The way the night knows itself with the moon, be that with me. Be the rose nearest to the thorn that I am. --Rumi

In The Storm Of Roses

2009-11-17T13:18:00.005-05:00

Wherever we turn in the storm of roses,
the night is lit up by thorns, and the thunder
of leaves, once so quiet within the bushes,
rumbling at our heels. --Ingeborg Bachmann

Painting & Thought

2009-11-06T10:05:00.006-05:00

"...and I, infinitesimal being,
drunk with the great starry
void,
likeness, image of
mystery,
felt myself a pure part
of the abyss,
I wheeled with the stars,
my heart broke loose on the wind." --Pablo Neruda

Landscape

2009-10-25T12:57:00.001-04:00

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." Anais Nin

Blue Sky

2009-10-19T19:45:00.008-04:00

Fall is upon us here in the mountains of N.C., and this landscape with brilliant blue sky captures the moment. I've just returned home from Arrowmont School of Arts & Craft in Gatlinburg, TN, after an oil painting workshop with Baton Rouge artist Libby Johnson. Many ideas are percolating!

Of The Soul & Joy

2009-10-03T19:00:00.005-04:00

...Seat yourself next to your joy and have your awakened soul pour wine. ~ Rumi

Art Show

2009-09-14T21:18:00.026-04:00

My paintings on display at Salon Blue Ridge in Flat Rock, NC.

The Journey Home: Rising Dreams

2009-09-08T14:46:00.012-04:00

The Journey Home series evolved from one initial painting depicting land, the tip of a canoe, and water...it evokes ancient Japanese and Chinese poetry: the poet and his lone boat on the sea under a moonlit sky. As a poet and a thinking artist, I'm reminded that we are on a journey...and to grow and find our way, turn from all we know, have known, being fearless...to a unknown sea in our metaphoric lone boat. Over the years, in my personal life, I've done that very thing. Lessons in all experiences! I've since done more of these paintings, and think they will continue to appear on my easel by magic. For me, the small boat symbolizes the soul traveling home. For you, the viewer, let it symbolize whatever you may find within.

New Work: Esto Perpetua

2009-08-23T19:19:00.004-04:00

Art & Life

2009-08-05T10:38:00.000-04:00

Moving Water

When you do things from your soul, you feel a river
moving in you, a joy. --Rumi

Painting & Thought

2009-08-05T10:22:00.004-04:00

Excerpt from "Summer" by Bonnie Joy Bardos

Summer twilight dreams waft into night
onto a dreaming summer moon
kissed by lightning bug wings;
Summer comes on night dew,
bull frog drums,
and untold things.

Esto Perpetua: Blue Field

2009-07-28T08:59:00.004-04:00

About my ongoing Esto Perpetua series: I began this series several years ago, based around the Latin phrase of 'esto perpetua' (it is forever) which is written within the painting, worked into many transparent layers for the viewer to find and ponder.These canvases, both large and small, are always one of a kind, and depict nature and the sacredness of our earth. No trace of mankind is ever found in these landscapes, only mystery and peacefulness, quiet beauty, a sense of timelessness and spirituality. My belief is that nature is omnipresent, precious, powerful, and sacred. This series has become my language, my message to a world that needs to hear it. While a quiet, contemplative message, I hope it comes across loud and clear.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field.
I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about. -Rumi

Art Trek Show

2009-07-08T17:11:00.005-04:00

One of my paintings at the Upstairs Artspace...shown with Jim Cornell pottery.

A successful and busy "Art Trek Tryon: Foothills Open Studios Tour"! Thanks to all for making it a great event. More information can be found at the link to the right for the Upstairs. Art is work! And...life.

The Landscape

2009-07-08T17:03:00.005-04:00

"The true artist is not concerned with the likeness of form, but aims at bringing forth the rhythm that pulsates within it, and then is carried to the beholder.” -- Su Tung-p’o, 10th Century Chinese poet

Sunset: Remembering

2009-07-06T20:00:00.003-04:00

You are cloud, sea, forgetting;
you are also what you lost in a moment--
we are all those who have left.
The reflection of our face in the mirror
changes each instant
and every day has its own labyrinth.
The cloud vanishing in the sunset is our image;
endlessly, a rose becomes another rose.
--Jorge Luis Borges

Remembering Sunset

2009-06-23T14:23:00.002-04:00

The Art Studio

2009-06-02T10:59:00.003-04:00

I am a lonely painter
I live in a box of paints... -Joni Mitchell

New Work

2009-05-25T22:48:00.001-04:00

This delicious Derek Walcott poem appears this month in the Purple Onion's newsletter compiled by Robert Seiler...and I love it. Poetry, good food, art, music all make this world go round. Despite the upheaval in the world, we must ground ourselves, and pay attention to the soul, to the spirit. I'm sharing this poem and others, including some of my own in this blog....please enjoy and find good energy!

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give Bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

--Derek Walcott

New Work: In Progress

2009-05-24T11:20:00.003-04:00

This painting is in progress, 30" x 30" on linen...what started out as peaches transcended into apples...who knows where the road ahead will lead! I'm loving the rich, sensual colors. The three golden bars are part of an on-going series that are Jungian symbols for door hinges, a book opening to the metaphysical and more.

Update: August 2010 Well, this piece languished a while after I started it! It sat, and waited patiently...although I often have walked by it and loved the colors--so saturated and rich I could roll in them with abandon. The apple is GONE. I have painted over what was precious! Oh my! My intuition kept poking me about this...so I finally did it. What will come next? Hmmmm...how do you like those apples?

Joni Mitchell, from Clouds

"...Something's lost
but something's gained in living every day."

New Work: Esto Perpetua

2009-05-21T20:14:00.000-04:00

Esto Perpetua: The landscape of the soul...

Artist Statement

2009-05-07T22:34:00.006-04:00

Art, like writing and poetry, for me is an expression of the soul…the deepest self, where time and place do not matter…I am on a higher plane when creating. There is intense spirit and energy in my hands—often I do not know where I will take my painting—I am influenced by color, by thought, and by the natural world around us. I see nature as spiritual and symbolic—and seek to speak the unknown, to convey the unseen. My work is based on intuition, and what feeling I am attuned to at the moment. I feel the world intensely, both the ‘outer’ world, and most of all, the natural world: which is deeply connected to my inner world. The natural and inner world are more important to me.

New Work: Oranges & Thought

2009-04-29T23:15:00.004-04:00

The Mythology of Birds Amid Dreams

2009-04-01T18:14:00.006-04:00

"Art Is What You Can Get Away With." -Andy Warhol

2009-02-24T12:35:00.003-05:00

Mary Oliver (one of my favorite American contemporary poets) excerpt from The Summer Day

"Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"

2009-02-22T18:08:00.004-05:00

Thoughts: the harder times become, the more determined I feel to create something that transcends to another place, to create good energy and beauty in a world that desperately needs it. Art is life....life is art...have you heard that before? This is the first piece I've put cherries into, but all the symbols I use are intuitive.

The Landscape

2009-02-01T18:34:00.000-05:00

Commissioned Work (sold)

2009-01-17T16:48:00.000-05:00

She Flew Away....And That Is So....

2009-01-17T16:41:00.003-05:00

Open Studio: Starting In January 2009!

2008-12-24T15:32:00.002-05:00

Open Studio/Art House: Scheduled to begin at my house on Greenville Street, Saluda, in mid-January 2009 on Saturdays from 11-3. By appointment or chance! Drop by and see new works in progress and more, and have lunch downtown at one of our fine restaurants.

December Art Shows

2008-11-30T22:17:00.001-05:00

Bonnie Joy Bardos and Linda Seagroves will have a two-woman show featuring paintings and clay art in historic Abbeville, South Carolina at Trinity Street Market and Gallery. The reception will be on December 13, from 6-9 with live music and cheer. The exhibit continues through February 2009.

December 18: The Cellar at the historic Saluda Inn in Saluda, North Carolina will feature Bonnie as guest artist from 6:30 to 9:30--, along with exquisite wine tasting in a beautiful stone cellar reminiscent of cozy French cellars. Come see art and taste wine!

String of Pearls Show: Upstairs Artspace

2008-11-23T20:18:00.001-05:00

Yellow Bird

2008-11-09T17:04:00.002-05:00

Fall Trees

2008-11-09T17:02:00.002-05:00

New Work

2008-10-07T14:50:00.000-04:00

Crow: Detail (sold)

2008-09-30T14:15:00.000-04:00

Between Flight & Dreams: WNC Biennial Juried Show (sold)

2008-09-14T14:39:00.001-04:00

Distant Dreams (sold)

2008-09-12T21:09:00.000-04:00

She Dreams Of Flight: Sold

2008-09-03T13:02:00.000-04:00

Esto Perpetua: Red Evening

2008-07-21T22:05:00.000-04:00

Crows Wanna Go School: SOLD

2008-07-12T18:22:00.000-04:00

New Work

2008-06-02T14:27:00.000-04:00

Blue Nude I

2008-06-02T14:22:00.000-04:00