BREATHING INTO 2019

Lily Pond II
oil/paper 24" x 24"

Its unbelievable today is already the 16th of January.  My Wild Beauty show has been up for that long.  Last Friday night was the reception at SheBreathes Balance and Wellness Studio in Walpole, MA. I had a fabulous evening greeting old friends, family, former students and meeting many new acquaintances.  Seeing the paintings through others' eyes is a rewarding experience for any artist.  And catching up with everyone in colorful setting on a cold winter night of a new year was priceless. 

The Gallery Wall
Photo courtesy of Jay Wu

The show will be on display through this month.  Gallery hours are Mondays & Fridays 10-1 PM, Wednesday 10-12 PM, and open for viewing during scheduled events.  The show can also be seen by appointment by contacting Beth Knaus at bethknaus@comcast.net.

A sweet turnout of friends, family & new  aquaitances
photo by Jay Wu

photo by Jay Wu

Though I tend to favor black outfits I did wear some bright turquoise shoes that also were quite a hit!

photo courtesy of Robbin Bell

Many thanks to everyone who came Friday night!  And to Jennifer Gulbrand, owner and creator of SheBreathes Balance and Wellness Studio;  her husband Dave, art & lighting installer extraordinaire & musician; and Beth Knaus, gallery curator and owner of That's a Spade.

WILD BEAUTY

Wild Beauty Exhibit
photo by Pip Shepley

2019 is starting fresh with new paintings from my Wild Beauty series hanging in the beautifully appointed SheBreathes Balance and Wellness Studio in Walpole, MA.  I am very happy to be showing here again as well as launching the new year with a new show.  In 2016 my Slip series were exhibited when Jennifer Gulbrand launched this business.

SheBreathes Balance and Wellness Studio is the brainchild of Jennifer Gulbrand and her goal is to create a safe space for all women, all ages, advocating education, empowerment, balance and nurturing self-care, support and sisterhood to navigate the world.

In this exhibit I have 9 paintings, some created in the last month for this show.  Hanging the show on Wednesday afternoon was the first time I was able to see all the work in one space and breathe a sigh of relief!

Friday, January 11th from 7-8:30 PM the studio is hosting an artist's reception. The address is 85 West Street, 2nd floor, Walpole, MA  02081. 508-243-7211.  Parking is across the street from the large construction of the neighboring building and there is a walk way to the 85 West's entrance between the two buildings.  Also there is additional parking on the right at 55 West Street just before the 85 West street building.  

Please join us, experience this lovely space and see some new paintings of my Wild Beauty landscapes capturing the importance of the world, mysterious, ancient, yet reborn constantly.

                                   

Special thanks to Jennifer Gulbrand, Beth Knaus, David Gulbrand and Pip Shepley for their, invitation, support and help!

NEW CLASSES FOR 2019

I am pleased to announce my class schedule for 2019 with courses and workshops at the following art centers: Concord Art, Eliot School, New Art Center and Cambridge Art Association.

Alchemy of Color II Fall 2018

At Concord Art my popular Alchemy of Color I course will resume in January and at the end of February Alchemy of Color II starts.  Here are the course descriptions:

Alchemy of Color 1

Medium: All Mediums

Instructor: Martha Wakefield

Learn the properties and personalities of colors to make your paintings more luminous and vibrant. As Henri Matisse said, “The chief function of color should be to serve expression.” Color is the dominant element of strong paintings. In this class, we will learn the language of color and color relationships through exercises, demos and examining past and contemporary artists’ work to further enhance your color knowledge. Martha creates a supportive environment to assist each student with strengthening their expressive voice.

SIX-WEEK CLASS
Tuesdays, January 8–February 12
(no class on 2/18/19)
1:30am–4:00pm
M: $215 / NM: $265

Color Mixing

Alchemy of Color 2

Medium: All Mediums

Instructor: Martha Wakefield

“Each color lives by its mysterious life,” said Wassily Kandinsky. In these classes, we will delve deeper into understanding the mysteries and properties of color through explorations of pigment personalities to color psychology for creating dynamic, expressive and meaningful color choices. Artists will strengthen their color knowledge through exercises, demos, critiques and examining classic and contemporary art. Students should have a general understanding of color properties and preferably taken Alchemy of Color Part 1.

www.marthawakefield.com

SIX-WEEK CLASS
Tuesdays, February 26–April 2
10:00am–1:00pmM: $250 / NM: $300

mixed media on paper

At the Eliot School,  I have been invited to teach a new class:

Non-Realistic Painting AC1012
Paint with an artist who investigates making images in 

non-realistic ways. Master light, shade, perspective and composition. Using acrylics, explore graphic language through a series of exercises and demos and studying the works of master artists. Work from a still life each week, honing skills to strengthen your own work and enhance your unique voice—all in a supportive, creative environment. Good for beginners as well as experienced artists. Limit 10 students 

Section 1: 8 Wednesdays, 1–4pm (Martha Wakefield)  1W: Jan 9–Feb 27 (snow day make-up Mar 6)$365. Materials list online 

Crayon Studies

Also new is a 1-day workshop Embrace the Sketchbook at Cambridge Art Association on Thursday, February 14th, 2019.

This 3-hour workshop will invite or re-engage artists to the importance of maintaining a relationship with a sketchbook.  The sketchbook is a wonderful tool in any studio practice to improve creativity, explore ideas,  stay inspired and motivated.  It becomes visual diary committing to paper those ideas rattling in the right brain. We will review some master artists’ sketchbooks (most pretty messy), sketchbook options and experiment with a variety of materials from a simple pencil to markers, paint and collage. Through exercises students can engage in the process of playing as it is the beginning stage of creativity allowing more risk taking since a “finished” piece is not the goal here.  At the end of the workshop artist may find some gems to explore further in their art practice. 

More details to follow on this workshop. 

My sketchbooks

And at the New Art Center I have been invited to teach a 1-day workshop: Dynamic Color & Expressive Painting.  This will be a landscape based workshop.  

Cascade oil/panel 18x18 2017
sold

Dates: 3/9/2019 – 3/9/2019 – 1 sessions.
Time: 10:00AM – 4:00 PM
Painting – Martha Wakefield

In this 1-day workshop we will use the landscape as a point of departure and explore the possibilities of personal expression. Through close observation, and in-depth study of form and structure, your skills will be enhanced, leading to unity and enlivened content. By traveling beyond what is seen we will instead realize the landscape’s poetry, rendering it into an authentic and visual response. We will focus on the 2 key elements of the graphic language, and through exercises and examining master artists’ work, this workshop will support you in your artistic growth. Open to all levels. See website for materials list.

I hope you can join me for one of these classes/workshops and explore, experiment and play!

NEW WORK

Saturday on the first day of December I delivered new paintings to Powers Gallery

Five are mixed media on birch panels framed in black floaters.  They measure 6" x 6"  to 8" x 8" panels - small and colorful work.  The media is cold wax, oil, graphite, India Ink & crayon.  These are part of my Memory Vessels series.  And cold wax is a new medium for me and I am loving its versatility. 

Along with those I also delivered nine 10" x 10" matted paintings, also mixed media on Arches oil paper.  The paintings measure 5.5" square and are matted with 6 ply archival mat & backing board.  (Note the color of the mat is not color correct as this is leaning towards yellow.)  These paintings I did in June when I was an artist in residence in France.  

This is one of the paintings on panel, titled Mixing Memory & Desire, so inspired by a T.S Eliot poem.  The new work has not been added to my website yet.  That is another project.  However you can see these paintings at Powers Gallery in Acton, MA.  Their hours are Tuesday - Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM.  The telephone number is 978-263-5105.   In the meantime more small works are in process and progressing.  

INSPIRATION

Happy Holidays!  Thanksgiving was delicious and now our thoughts will turn to sugarplums.  I was in Maine over the holiday at my childhood home visiting my family. Early snow has already covered the ground.  The day was cold with a chilling wind and the temperature hovering around 10 degrees (F).  Outside a pile of wood was covered in snow as if to hide from being handled.  After filling the bird feeders and relishing the fact it was also a very sunny day I decided to deal with it. 

Stacking wood can be considered a labor intensive muscle aching boring job.  It is not one I get to do often.  And there are many experts in my family who know how to stack a stable pile.  But I discovered the whole process to be meditative and inspiring realizing I was transforming a pile of haphazardly spilled logs into something different.  As I worked I started to look for certain shapes of wood to make the puzzle all snap into place.  And I relished being outside on a cold day quietly working while listening to the sounds of the wintery world.

Here it is (not quite finished) against the backboard where I hit many a tennis balls growing up and the basketball hoop where my brother and I would play endless games of round the world.  

My sister found this bird nest on the road by the lake.  It was sitting there as if waiting for her.  A gift from the birds.  This nest is small.  It will fit in the palm of your hand.  But to see it is the witness a marvelous creation that these photos do not do justice to.  This is art.

The birds used twigs, pine needles and birch bark to mold this fine nest.  It would be an event of a lifetime to see them actually building this.  

I was thinking of how the wood pile and this nest are both examples of building something from something else.  Of giving new life to what surrounds us.  And taking time to build the things that can bring such joy even though their original goal is more of need... for a home or for heat.

So if your are in the studio stuck with your work not progressing the way you want it to think about stacking wood or better yet take a walk in the woods. breathe the air, listen to the sounds of the forest and look up, down and all around as a gift may fall from the sky.

GREY MATTER

New work oil on paper on panel

This new series Grey Matter is mixed media on Arches oil paper mounted on birch panel.  Each painting measures 7" x 5" x 1.5" deep.  They are created to either be displayed individually or as a group of four.

Grey Matter 1

The mixed media consists of cold wax, oils, graphite, India ink, pencil and pastel.  Cold wax is a new medium of me.  I took a class with my friend Pam Caughey last April in Snow Hill, Maryland.  This is a medium I have wanted to learn for sometime and Pam is the teacher I wanted to learn it from.

Grey Matter 2

I love the versatility of this medium and have been exploring it since spring in many small paintings gradually working bigger.  Painting in black, white and the greys that result from mixing these two colors is a wonderful palette to explore a new medium.  I love black and white and the graphic impact that results.

Grey Matter 4

These paintings are now available on Saatchi Art.  They offer a modern clean graphic punch for any space large and small.

Grey Matter 3

Side view

NEW CLASS

The Wild Unknown
30" x 22"
mixed media on paper

My new class Expressive Non-Realistic Painting with acrylics is starting Wednesday, October 3rd, for 8 weeks at The Eliot School.  The class will be held at the Annex classroom on 253 Amory Street in Jamaica Plain.  Class time is 1-4 PM.

If you are interested in loosening up, become more expressive and push your work towards abstraction this is the class for you.  We will cover foundations of the graphic language, do painting exercises to warm up then explore and experiment with paints, other tools and mediums.  And we will look at the masters from Claude Monet to Jean-Michel Basquiat and present day artists exploring abstraction.

I give each artist personal attention and help each one strengthen her or his unique voice supporting the creative journey.

You can download the catalog here

I hope to see you in class!




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