The work of Coco Larrain

I am so excited to be posting more work by my friend Coco Larrain! Coco lives on Cape Cod and is a painter (and pet portrait artist) and a collagist. Recently while working on her collages, she was using small cut-outs of "creepy" figures. She decided that rather than adhering the paper versions of the creepy people, she would use them as "models" and paint each of the tiny figures on the self-portrait she painted on canvas. The results are shown here. I think the work is inspired and AWESOME!!! Here's what Coco has written about this work (printed with her permission, of course). “These women (the men too) represent suppressed issues/addictions/creepy people, who we deal with,
they're being drawn into the "therapist/higher self/good conscience”. Issues hopefully get resolved (pencil drawn woman).

[The] woman in back is in pencil...emerging or disappearing, she's the first one [from] the bottom [group] to meet with the 'therapist/higher self/good conscience, fellow. Hence, resolving an issue.

My beloved dog, who died this past June. He'll be in all my work. He represents for me unconditional love, he's sitting on a strap = support.”

ENJOY!!!

More art from Amsterdam

We visited some interesting small galleries whilst walking around the beautiful streets in Amsterdam. Here are several works that I found interesting created by Sunil Padwal. Enjoy!

Art in Amsterdam

We saw lots of cool artwork on our trip to Amsterdam, Maastricht and Dresden; including in the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum. But there was also lots of interesting artwork "on the streets" as well. We bought a piece from Hanneke Taneja at a large flea market one afternoon in Amsterdam. He and his wife integrate photography with ornately decorated matchboxes to create beautiful pieces as shown here. More work and contact information can be found at "www.haveli.nl"

New York State Fair

I was very happy last night to see that collage/mixed media was well-represented in the Fine Arts exhibit at the State Fair. The Second Place prize in the Professional category went to Kathie Beale for her work entitled "Yosemite Collage" and yours truly won First Place in the Amateur category. There was a piece in the Embroidery category of the Arts & Crafts exhibit that won First Place and was collage-like as well. My good friend Tom Nettle received an Honorable Mention in the Amateur Photography exhibit. I hate to say it, but it was my first experience with the Fine Arts Exhibit at the Fair and I must say, I was very impressed with all of the entries!

European Adventure

This morning my wife and my mother and I are heading off to Amsterdam! We will be spending a few days there and at Maastricht, before going to Dresden, Germany. In Dresden, I am presenting a paper at the 21st Congress of the International Association for Empirical Aesthetics. This is a great group of international scholars (actually MANY from outside the United States) who study various aspects of art and design and psychology and perception. I will be presenting a paper entitled "The role of 'nostalgia' in the perception of artwork" (my student-- Tim Wilkinson -- is a co-author on the paper). I will try to do some posting on this blog site while I am away (so that a number of folks can read, if interested, rather than sending separate e-mails). I will be posting photographs upon my return! We're off!!!

Sculpture Space WIP

Sculpture Space is a local arts gem in Utica, NY offering residencies for contemporary sculptors from all over the United States and across the globe (see www.sculpturespace.org). Every several months, the work of the three or four current artists-in-residence is showcased in a "Works-In-Progess" Reception. The WIPs are wonderful events at which you not only see brand new works from accomplished artists from various places, but at which you will meet many local artists as well. The people I've met at Sculpture Space are wonderful and inspiring. Last month I attended a WIP and saw several artists' work including Jimmy Kuehnle's work (see www.JimmyKuehnle.com). He created this HUGE colorful, inflatable piece which can be "worn" (he walks around engulfed inside of this piece). Helping Jimmy in this photo is local collage/assemblage artist Frank Viola. I was also intrigued by the small sketches/paintings of Loren Ehrdrich (see www.okloren.com) as she takes advantage of her residency to explore new ideas. The next Works-In-Progress event is November 16th. I plan to bring my "Psychology and the Visual Arts" class there that evening. Enjoy!

Nora Reynolds' artwork

I am very lucky to be an uncle to 10 nephews and nieces. I should spend more time with all of them, but that's another story. Anyway, whenever they come to Uncle Steve's house for a visit, I often bring out the art supplies and get them involved with some sort of fun project. Recently my 12 year-old niece Nora visited and we did collages (4" x 4"). It was interesting to see her go from hesitant (about this novel medium) to actively and enthusiastically involved. After we were finished, I asked her what she wanted to entitled it. She said "I don't know"... but I insisted (because I think it's part of the process). I also think it is a cool title. I think she did a good job--it's just as good as the collages I do (hmm, I guess I'm not as special as I thought I was ;-). We had a great time together and she did a collage on her own when she got home. Cool! Enjoy!