In the Studio 2011

Because of my devotion to teaching, I continue to enjoy my position as Professor of Art at the University of South Carolina Upstate, and as Director of the Curtis R. Harley Art Gallery. Both positions have contributed greatly to my journey and made available opportunities that would otherwise be unrealized. One of the great benefits of these positions has been the requirement, or rather the gift of travel.

I begin the blogging journey by posting recent works completed in 2011 from the Venetian Lace series that is created with encaustic wax, pigment, resin, graphite and oil on panel. Future posts will document works from the past and jump forward to current developments, weaving to and fro as I chronicle the evolution.

As the blogging continues with more details of my past work,  followers will see the Venetian Lace series is actually a stretch for me at this period in my career. For many years I have worked more monochromatically, and in many ways past work has been more focused on content. The statement about this series explains how I got to this point.

Venetian Lace Series

The Venetian Lace series began when I was experimenting with new color combinations and tree resin. Early results immediately reminded me of the beautifully textured and colorfully weathered walls of Venice Italy.  Further exploration of the process rendered rich textures and patterns that were pleasantly reminiscent of my Italian travels when I was teaching there in the summers from 1999 to 2008. These are a few examples that reveal the luminous layers and play of lacework in the series. Currently I have works from the VL series that range in size from 10” to 36”. 

Venetian Lace.01- size: 11 X 12.5"

Venetian Lace.02- size: 10 X 8"

Venetian Lace.03- 11.75 X 12"

Venetian Lace.08- size: 30 X 20"

Venetian Lace.10- size: 9 X 9"