NEW...LARGER PAINTINGS

At the advice of an acquaintance/artist I took some of my newer work and enlarged it from 18"x24" to 36"x 48".  This gave me the opportunity to make adjustments and fine tune the images.  I found that I really enjoyed the process and am thrilled with the results.
The new size was also out of my range for photographic lighting control so that gave me the impetus to hire a professional (Dan Kvitka), who was extremely helpful and did a beautiful job. 

Here they are...in their larger glory with the "study" version next to them for comparison.

Storage - study 18" x 24"

"Storage- years of collecting "- 36' x48" final painting

River of wheels - study 18" x24"

More searching at the river of wheels - 36"x48"

Deluge- study, 18" x 24"

Deluge and debris - 36" x 48"

Winter 2013
contact info:  nchelmsworth@gmail.com

Explorer Series- on display now through 2/28/13

The wonderful framers (and I really mean this...they are great at what they do, helpful and reasonably priced) at Frame Central - Bethany are hosting a show and studio sale of my Explorer Series, which has traveled quite a bit this year and been displayed in several locations. 


All framed work has UV glass and archival mat board.

Frame Central - Bethany
16157 NW Cornell Road
Beaverton, OR 97006 

Hours

Mon-Sat 9am-7pm 

Sunday 10am-5pm

     Collision of Postcards
     mixed media, 22"x30" image
     

 Telescope 1
    mixed media, 11"x14" image
  

     Searching for the exotic.
      mixed media 18"x24" image
       

 Telescope 2
    mixed media, 11"x14" image
  

 Telescope 3
    mixed media, 11"x14" image
 

      It’s a clue.
       mixed media 18"x24" image
       

Telescope 4, mixed media, 11'x14" image

.

 

      What next?  (arctic penguin)
       mixed media   18"x24" image   
       

      Arctic Explorers
      mixed media 11"14 image
       

      What? such an unsettling family adventure into the wilds.
       mixed media     
       

       Searching above and below
        mixed media  22"x30" image     
        

Wrong Way, mixed media 18"x24" image,

      Us and Them
      mixed media 14"x17" image
       

New in the "Explorer" series. These pieces are 18"x24" mixed media pieces that I am using as studies for 3'x4' paintings. Fun! and an opportunity to clarify my intent and adjust/tweak my compostions.

"Storage"

"River of wheels" 

"Tools"

"Wrong way"

Toile series
For those who missed the Guardino Gallery show, here is a visual and expanded recap.
Artist statement below.

 "Toile Series"- a suite of mixed media paintings inspired by original "toile" printed in 18th century France.  I have been working on this idea on and off for the past two years, looking at the historic toile with its illustrations of genteel society and thinking about how it compares to interactions and/or conventions of today.  Toile is a starting point allowing me to sort my own thoughts about society.  Compositionally it is a little different, as it is flat and arranged in floating vignettes.  Also, if you are familiar with my work, you can witness my fascination with layer upon layer, often variations of mesh, netting, fencing, woven or something sheer.  Maybe that is really what this is all about for me...who knows?

How did they turn out?

In the winter I posted some images of new work from my studio.  Some colors were brighter and I was really wondering how they would develop, what direction they would take? 
I took some photos of the finished pieces a week ago and have the "before" and "afters" below.
(Kind of like a "hidden picture," as I was wrestling with these pieces, I went on a tour of Vigor Industries- a large local shipyard, collecting ideas for a different project, art about the "working waterfront."  There are structures in each of these paintings that I saw on my Vigor tour and rendered, added to contribute to the theme and solve some compositional problem within each piece).

before

after

 

 

 

 

 

before

after

I am looking over my work for the upcoming show at the Guardino Gallery - opening 6/28/12.  This work consists of my other series "Toile," about women's' roles in society...or at least reflections on how those roles are the same over time.  The original Toile was made in France in the 17th century with an instructive goal of communicating middle-class mores, but the most famous images are about romance and the harvest.  Heck, I don't want to get into a history lesson here, what I wanted to show was how it is important as an artist (and my students know this) to be honest about the work. 

I had a piece, "Mother and Daughter," that I liked, but suspected did not "work."  (I am still unsure, if the "Toile" format is worked out or I have more struggling to do?  Of course the "struggle" is stressful, but is the real fun and challenge of making art).  I worked on "Mother and Daughter,"  trying to define the weaknesses.  I decided there was some awkward rendering and the overall piece needed more structure to be unified.  Of course it took some time, question posing, thinking and step by step revisiting, diagnosing, and proposing solutions...all to myself, but I am very happy with the current result.

So I thought I would post a before and after version of the piece, just because I find those examples interesting to compare.

 

 

 

BEFORE

 

 

 

AFTER - rough photo

photo I took 20 years ago, that I love and has resurfaced several times in my work

March 19, 2012
"the more things change...the more they stay the same"

I dug up old slides of work to include in an art application.  I was pleased and only a little surprised to see the formal continuity in the work.  Some of the sculptures were done in the middle 1990's....which was just a few minutes ago, or at least it seems.  I'll pair some of the "look-a-likes." 
See what you think.

~2003 painting, 36"x36"

 

 

~1994, sculpture, 8"x8"x4"-ish

OR

2010, 12"x24", eves

~2002, painting, 12"x24"

OR

2010, 22"x30" searching above and below

2005, sculpture, stepping stone, 8"x8"x5"-ish

OR

2011, arctic explorers, 11"x17"

2003, painting, 24"x24", red chain

that was fun...