Helen Gwinn, New Mexico Artist

Workshop: INNOVATIVE WATERMEDIA AND COLLAGE

hgwinn — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:10:32 +0000

INNOVATIVE WATERMEDIA andCOLLAGE
HELEN GWINN, INSTRUCTOR
APRIL 11, 12, 13 in Albuquerque, NM
at EXPO NEW MEXICO(which is the State Fairgrounds)

This class will be a delightful, experimental, creative, innovative approach to developing a watermedia painting or a mixed-media painting or an assemblage or……….who knows? Take a look, on the pages of this website, and you will see the variety of images I create. I will demonstrate, discuss, critique and give individual help throughout the class. Contact one of the individuals below for additional information, enrollment procedures, and a list of suggested supplies.
Contact persons:
Fran Krukar 505-292-3917 or
Kathy Arneberg 505-379-2448

KEEPING WATCH
mixed media, 16X12X2 inches on a cradled panel

Sacred Encounter

hgwinn — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:15:46 +0000

On one of my routine early morning walks up the Ocotillo Trail I noted a cluster of walkers standing in the trail ahead. One person raised a hand of caution and directed my attention off to the side of the trail. A night hawk, a Whip-Poor-Will, was on the ground not far from the trail. She was difficult to see, for her coloring was the same as the rocks and dirt where she nestled. Eventually when I could see her I joined the awestruck focus of the little group of reverent spectators touched by God’s amazing creation.
Day after day, I could barely wait to walk the trail. Hastily scribbled signs were stuck to the gate at the trail head: “Please leave your dogs home!” and “Keep dogs on a tight leash?”and “Bird nesting near trail.” Mother Whip-Poor-Will episodes were better than the movies. Sometimes we had to look for a long time which caused fear that she had moved away from us. Sometimes she was very close to the trail, sometimes under a bush or near her favorite rock.
One day, a friend and I stood for a very long time watching her breathe, open her eyes and close them again. Suddenly we were stunned when a tiny yellow fluff ball popped out from under her soft brown breast. The miraculous birth had taken place! The mother bird barely seemed to notice when two more tiny babies moved from her warm protection into the hazy morning light and joined in an awesome ritual of newness. For days the playful dance of the wee birds continued. We gasped as they moved farther and farther away from Mother Whip-Poor-Will. She seemed uninterested in their antics yet always ready when they ducked back under her breast for solace. Amazed and dazzled by this encounter with God’s creative force, we watched, hushed by sheer wonder.
“NEAR THE TRAIL” (mixed media)

This painting belongs to a series of art pieces I have entitled “THE GIFTS.” Most of the pieces in the series have little gift packets which contain mysterious literal gifts: passages from scripture, musical score, beautiful papers, postage stamps, medallions, quotations from life’s spiritual seekers, meaningful symbols of faith and/or tiny natural objects such as feathers, stones and shells. They are hidden from view but their mysterious presence is intended to impact the composition.
Selecting colors and textures for this piece caused a sense of worship to develop in my spirit. It’s a sensation I often experience as I work. The sensation of worship runs the gamut of emotions from doubt to exhilaration to peace and joy. Time disappeared as my focus intensified, trusting the Spirit, choosing symbols to include, deciding on shapes and brushing on the paint, for I hoped to commemorate the sacred encounter I describe above.
“NEAR THE TRAIL” has an overall shape I associate with a worshipful place, a sanctuary. Eggs often symbolize new life or new beginnings and they do for me too, along with other varieties of newness. The delicate green leaves in the upper part are an additional symbol of newness and growth.
The art piece includes a portion of Psalm 139 handwritten from my memory. It contains the question: “Where can I go from Your (God’s) Presence?” and its answer: “If I ascend to heaven, You are there and if I make my bed in the pit, You are there. Even if I take the WINGS OF THE MORNING and settle at the most remote place, YOU ARE THERE. Your hand guides me and your right hand holds me fast.”
NEAR THE TRAIL (detail of gift packet)

Desert Warmth

hgwinn — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:16:01 +0000

I love the desert! Where I live, we’re actually having a winter this year. We even had a white Christmas! It was exquisite and brought a quiet calm with it. New snow is predicted! We have had enough snow to make desert rats shudder in fear that “climate change” may be drastic. I go to my portfolio album to reassure myself with my hot images of desert land. Maybe I’ll even put some orange pigments on my palette in the studio and put the brush to paper reminding myself of hot days among my favorite cliffs and try to be a better sport about winter.

Sun Cliffs
watermedia collage
14X14 inches

God’s warm spirit resides in my spirit, there’s actually no place I can go to avoid God’s spirit, or be out of his sight. If I climb to the sky, he’s there! If I go underground, he’s there! Even if I fly on the wings of the morning to the far western horizon, he’d find me there in a minute- he’s already there waiting. (adapted from Psalm 139: 7-10)

Labyrinth Crevice
watermedia collage
8X10X2 inches

Differences

hgwinn — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 03:02:49 +0000

When I teach a painting class, I often challenge painters to think about painting the shapes which occur between objects. In the art world, we call it “painting the negative.” That is “emphasize the positive shapes by painting in the spaces between them.” For beginning painters it is often a difficult concept to grasp; however, when the aha moment occurs a leap of skill and understanding enriches the painting surface immediately. One is never the same after he “gets it.” The artist begins to see how a composition is woven together by developing the relationships between the positive and the negative. Matisse put it this way, “I don’t paint things. I paint only the difference between things.” Truly, it is a metaphor for a deeper understanding of life events. As we see differences, appreciate them, accept them, and acknowledge their value, life’s journey develops a confident trust in the positive, supported by the “spaces between.”

“Geranium Joy”
(watermedia/collage, 12X12X2 inches)

The shapes of the dark spaces between the shapes of the leaves and stems supports and establishes the brilliance of “Geranium Joy” in a similar way that rest, quietness, retreat and contemplation support and establish life’s joys.

I paint not by sight,
but by faith.
Faith gives you sight.
A. Ferguson

Trusting

hgwinn — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 01:00:57 +0000

“INTO DEEP”
(collage, 10X10X2 inches)

“I like to have the maximum lack of control
so things can happen
that I can’t think of.”
Robert Rauschenberg

I’ve written about this quote before, emphasizing how it is that “thinking,” (rational logic) can get in the way during creative pursuits. Recently I’ve had a deeper revelation about this quote. It is a spiritual lesson in letting go of control and trusting the ONE TRUE CREATOR to make things happen in my life, including my relationships, my prayers, my devotional practices, my giving, my studies. That is not to exclude my creative expressions in paint, paper and varied embellishments. I want to have “lack of control” even the “maximum lack of control” but just imagine what could happen! ! ! Chaos? or…more meaningful events, experiences, paintings, collages than I could possibly THINK of? Things can happen that my tiny finite mind cannot think of!
Could Rauschenberg have thought about the spiritual implications of this statement? Could he have thought, as I do, that all activities and thoughts have spiritual content? Or is this deeper spiritual revelation that has come through his words something that has happened that he couldn’t have thought of?

Aspens in Taos

hgwinn — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 03:14:36 +0000

When a tree dreams
it’s of eggs.
Robins, dove’s
the gentle cradling
the perfect fit
of bluestem straw,
alder, sprig, mud,
down, hair.
In the wind
strong cup
of sky-reaching branches.
D.J.Gaskin

I savored these astonishing autumnal aspens on the property of the Fechin House in Taos, NM, home for a period of time in the twentieth century to artist Nicolai Fechin, a fabulous painter who came here from Russia. The house and studio have many of his creative appointments, carvings and some of his paintings and drawings. It is open-to-the-public, a delightful inspiration.

Tripping

hgwinn — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 04:48:10 +0000

I’ve been tripping nearby; I’ve always claimed, “New Mexico is God’s country.” Many of our nation’s finest painters came here early in the twentieth century. The light, the hues, the textures, the vistas, the spirit they found here is still here and it is still inspiring some awesome expressions. The grace of the Almighty, fully evident around me where I live, poignantly touches me with freshness when I’m tripping.I have just returned from a quick jaunt around a portion of this state known for the artists it has both bred and attracted from afar. Saturated and brimming over with inspiration from the textures I’ve encountered, I’m eager to return to the studio and surround myself and my panels with compositional elements which sometimes speak softly into my spirit, and sometimes raucously make demands about their plans to be part of my expressions.

Those elements (color, texture, shape, line) woo me into a love affair that sometimes pushes and pulls, but often soothes, comforts and multiplies life-giving meaning. My personal windows are open, welcoming “God’s country” to abide in my spirit and to brush it’s inimitable marks on my compositions.

Weems International Artfest, 2011

hgwinn — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 03:17:00 +0000

The Weems International Artfest was superb, the art exhibited there gets better every year. Many of the top artists in the Southwest participate: Chris Morel, Kristin DeSantis, Dan Stouffer, B.C. Nowlin, Russ Ball, Sarah Blumenshein, Fermin Hernandez etc. etc. Some of us have been a part of Artfest for many years and it’s interesting to see the growth and maturation in our expressions. The recession in our national economy may be affecting sales somewhat but it is not making a difference in the quality of the works of art nor in the amount of works being produced.

“In human life, art may arise from almost any activity, and once it does so, it is launched on a long road of exploration, invention, freedom to the limits of extravagance, interference to the point of frustration, finally discipline, controlling constant change and growth.“: Susanne Langer (1895 – 1985)

Weems International Artfest

hgwinn — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:30:02 +0000

Twenty three years! It’s hard to believe but I’ve been showing my works of art at the Weems International Artfest for twenty three years! An amazing range of emotions and experiences fill that history. Frustration, exhilaration, joy, madness, delight, sadness, hope satisfaction, affirmation….you name it, it’s been part of Artfest. Jeni, my daughter has been my right-hand helper at the show for about 8-10 years, before that Allen, my husband, made it all work for me. These days, the division of labor goes like this: I create the works, document them, maintain the mailing list, file the photographs and do some of the framing. Allen photographs the work, packs it and loads it into the car. Jeni unloads, installs and makes sales (she’s an all-round friendly PR person). I help them with their jobs and they help me with mine except for creating the works. What a deal! I’m one fortunate artist to have such a devoted and loving “staff.” Truly I could not do it without them!
I will take my new pieces from The Window Series which I wrote about in the last blog. Here are a few. I have posted some of the others on the pages of my website. (Note: click on the pages along the bottom of the heading on the homepage of the site)

The Window Series: Finestra watermedia/collage, 15X15 inches. This one is “floating in a clear maple frame.The Window Series: Habemus ad Dominum
collage, 10X10 inches, matted and framed in clear maple.

The Window Series: Western Window
collage, 10X10 inches, matted and framed in clear maple

Looking In, Looking out

hgwinn — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:37:58 +0000

“One eye looks within, the other eye looks without.”
(Henri Cartier-Bresson)

Window in the Duomo in Orvieto, Italy.
The panes in this equisite window are very thin slices of alabaster. They allow a sacred glow into the sanctuary of the Duomo.

“The artist must train not only his eye, but also his soul.”
(Wassily Kandinsky)

Narni Window
My recent concentration in the studio has been a consideration of what I’m choosing to call “Looking in, Looking out.” Robert Genn recently wrote in one of his twice weekly “letters” that his life as an artist is something akin to the monastic life. He wrote: “Art reaffirms life and is in harmony with many universal principles. Perhaps the studio is even greater than the nunnery or the monastery….To be in touch with creativity on a daily, even hourly, basis may just happen to edge you closer to divinity. If our universe is indeed a creation, then perhaps we need to be on that wavelength. Pushing paint is a high calling. To do it well you need humility. You need to walk the walk. You need a well-regulated, simple life so that you might become both servant and student.”
Perugia Window
Being the introspective type, I’ve encountered much of that “monastic life:” solitude, soul searching, and simplicity in my cluttered studio, but lately I’m feeling the need to look out also. If the greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is to love others (Mark 12:30-31), my question is, am I loving others when I work in the studio alone? Am I “looking out” enough? Creating images is a task I consider to be an act of love and worship. It is indeed a high calling. But the personal touching of “others” is calling me. I’m choosing windows and maybe doors as metaphors for “looking in and looking out.” As I physically and spiritually “look,” I’m also metaphorically attempting it with paint and paper and glue and a variety of other embellishments.
San Gemini Window

“Above all, be patient. One looks, looks long,
and the world comes in.”( Joseph Campbell)

Spoleto Duomo: Rose Window

I’m looking long, prayerfully and meditatively, both inwardly and outwardly and I’m seeing more.

Window Series: Three Graces
10″X10″ collage
New pieces from the Window Series may be seen on the PAINTINGS page and also on the COLLAGE page of this website.