This was my final work from the class. The inspirations for this work came from the child hood home I remember and the spirit of the west.  Snow covered in the winter and soft pastels in the summer worked with the aspen trees and mountains to create the feeling of peace.

Creativity and the Brain/my reactions

What a wonderful setting and group of people to listen to.  Learning about the challenges that were posed to them was wonderful.  I had never thought about being "creative" when making art and how others think about that was very insightful.  Chuck Close expressing his focus and how he began to think about his work was wonderful to learn.  I never thought that the creative process was more "problem solving" than production.  I can really respond to that with my ceramic work.  I get an idea, then look forward to investigating the idea and bringing it to fruition.

I was so pleased to have witnessed this video and will use it with my students at the upper high level.....

Artist statement

CONNECTIONS

by Annelise M. Mayer

How do we see, touch, and connect? I left the mountains at a young age and find comfort in the connections I will always have.  In this set of works, soft blended colors with organic shapes reference connections between nature, mountains and home.  Rhythm, texture and organic shapes repeat and blend together as if looking through nature’s window. The feelings each color and texture evoke along with their interaction is important. Rubbing alcohol, table salt, coffee grounds, dirt, wood ash and acrylic paint creates a layered effect.  I singe, scrape, and burn the surface of wood panels and then layer the colored papers for atmospheric depth. Paper and wood ash connect to each other from their origin repeating the connections I have with nature.

Anderson Gallery, Wed. July 27th, Felting workshop

A community activity!  How wonderful for art to invite all ages to participate.  People of all ages able to use their personal creativity in the process of taking wool and felting a ball for decoration.  Sometimes the smallest and easiest of art activities gains the most enjoyable of interactions.  All ages were able to participate in an informal setting with an art instructor guiding the process.  Choosing colors, learning a short process and sharing time was the focus.  The more we experience art making together the more we open our minds to sharing and accepting what others choose and create.  I have taught felting to others and taken many classes so the process was very familiar to me and seeing the enjoyment for others that have not experienced the fun was enjoyable.  I dont' feel that art making needs to be long, or elaborate to recieve the benefits of art making.

Fieldtrip Thursday, Anderson Gallery and Linden Row Inn 2nd show

Linden Row Inn, 1708 Satellite exhibit, "Pushing Boundaries" show review.  The works in this show all related with the theme they are titled from.  The works that most impressed me are two done from the same artist.  Joshua Poteat and Roberto Ventura worked in collaboration to create a work for viewing, experiencing, sharing and promoting thought and idea.  The work which was created from fragments of Poteats Poetry was an unconventional memorial.  The sentences from the poem were printed/carved into strips, "sentence strips" on wood panels and placed on the wall in a staggered arrangement.  Electrical boxes were attached to the wall, back light, and images shown through the front to give a very commercial impression of the whole wall installation. 
     What impressed me about this piece was the staggered sentence structure, individual sentences on each finished wooden piece and the total composition.  Using a wall space of about ten feet by ten feet the piece invited the viewer to come up and read each individual sentence.  As impressive as the piece was, the end result completed the work for me.  Each individual sentence was for sale and proceeds would go to the homeless support shelter in Richmond.  The piece created a metaphor for the life that it represented.  The piece came from a total beginning, was shared with others then split apart to be shared with others and proceeds were raised to continue supporting the location that gave it support. This work of art was created from the persona of a person, viewed by people, then produced revenue to continue the life support of other people.  Full Circle.

Field Trip Thursday July 20th

Page Bond Gallery
works by Reni Gower
Pivot. 10 2010
Acrylic & Paper on Canvas covered panel
38 1/2 by 27 inches

This cool color scheme geometric image recalls the quilts my mother creates for her loved ones.  The piece is sectioned off in geometric circles with a line boarder.  The repeated shapes connect in shape, color and pattern.  They relate with my mothers quilts in their organic theme with organized pattern.  The artist uses cool colors in a harmony which creates comfort and unifies the composition.  The surface has some texture and layering of the circles which emulates the surface of quilted fabric.  The connection of the artist work and my mothers quilts create a connection to the work I am going to produce.  Harmony, comfort, color and shape are the themes in this piece and the quilts in our family which all will relate to my work in this class.


Linden Row Exhibit
Lhasa with Love by Andre Liew
Mixed Media and Hair

This sculptural work reminds me of women and their connections to themselves along with their inner strength which they use to complete all that is asked of them.  The females hair style becomes their "signature" and the connection to the inner person.  In this piece, the softness and length show the tenderness and power that woman possess.  As on a clothes line, Black hair hangs in graduated lengths from left to right, longer in the middle and shorter towards the end of the line.  There is shorter and less hair hanging from the left side and it gradually becomes longer and thicker towards the middle then tapering off at the end in a symmetrical progression.  White silk cloth hangs at both ends of the composition flanking the length of hair.  Woven silk with the ends somewhat frayed reminds me of the life we as women carry on each day. 

Mixed Media Examples...

These works were the first in the line of examples created.  These did not work for my concentration, but served as a good start in the total group.

This grouping will be used for the beginning of my final works

This work is one of the more successful work of the group.

The connections found in the composition and color scheme will work in my three major focus pieces.

The composition and color connections worked well with this piece.

The three-dimensional work in the upper right corner of this grouping shows a movement from the flat plane.

The depth and use of multimedia in this work has the feeling I am working towards in the final works for this group.

Images of works created for basis of final works.