Book Review - Emily Mason

(For those of you who know I am at present in Budapest, I scheduled this post before I left)

I am an avid collector of art books. Many are instructive but lots are about artists whose work I admire. One of those artists is Emily Mason.

GROUND FOG - Emily Mason

The above image is on p.78 and the cover of the book "Emily Mason - The Fifth Element"  by David Ebony (managing Editor At Art In America Magazine) 

FENCES FLED AWAY (p. 68)

Emily Mason was born in 1932 and is an American abstract painter known for her work in colour field painting and lyrical abstraction. This book showcases her career as an abstract painter active in New York City since the 1950s.

Her most recent exhibitions have been at the David Findlay Jr Gallery, NEWYORK

Her work incorporates elements of abstract expressionism, colour theory, references to the natural world, and personal intuition and instinct.  No wonder I'm besotted with it.

DEW DROP (p.76)

I found her by accident while cruising the net, and immediately went to the Book Depository site (see link on right hand side bar) to look for anything about her. I choose to buy from the Book Depository because local bookshops do not have the range of books available, they are relatively inexpensive, AND they deliver to my door INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE FREE usually within ten days.

Anyway, this book has become a fave and is the source of much inspiration for me. I often collect women artists because I admire their dedication to their work, often against all odds.

Emily Mason's abstractions have underlying geometric structures, but  the artist's work is driven, above all, by colour. Her abstractions are rich with areas of layered, saturated colour contrasted with delicate, translucent washes and glazes that resemble watercolour, with push and pull...

EMBRACE (P.66)

...with monochromatic planes interrupted by fissures and crevasses of other colours...

JUICE (p.67)

...expressive brushstrokes, scumbled, rubbed, scratched. Her masterful use of colour imbues her canvases with mysterious luminosity.

GOLDEN RAIN (p 47)

Overlapping and layered shapes in glowing yellows, brilliant reds, vivid oranges, rich blues, greens and deep purples shift and flow into each other.

In case you want to find it, details for the book are

Format: Hardback
Number of pages: 128
Width: 229 mm
Height: 254 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight: 871 g

Language English

97 illustrations (86 colour)

ISBN 13: 9780977757152
ISBN 10: 0977757153

Included are a chronology of Mason's life and work and a list of illustrations.

The book concludes with a selection of prints made by applying ink and a paste of silicon and carbon to glass plates; in these works Mason's ethereal colours reach new heights of intensity.

The beautifully produced volume, the first comprehensive account of Mason's work, is a splendid tribute to an artist whose paintings deserve to be better known.

If you love colour, you could go no further than Emily's wonderful, luminous creations for inspiration.  I'm so glad I found her.

 



 

ON SHOW.....IN BRAZIL!

At last the 18th International MiniArt Exchange is going up on the walls of  this wonderful building in Porto Alegre, Brazil....

...and I am a part of it.  Who would believe?  My collage, 'Concept', will be on show on the other side of the world.

To see the other participants, click HERE.

For those of you who might be somewhere in the vicinity, here's the invitation.

It's too far away for me to attend but I'd really love to hear from anyone who goes to it.

LOCAL ARTISTS

After last week's post on my collection of Aboriginal Art I did promise to show you some of my collection of local (Sunshine Coast, QLD) artists. 

Hope you enjoy them:



Peter Hudson - Ray & Moon, bought as a gift for my husband

 

 

My friend Aileen Shaw with her painting, bought at her exhibition



Noela Mills (collage), traded in the International Collage Exchange

 

Kym Barrett, bought at her exhibition



Kim Schoenberger (wallpiece), traded

Wendy Epp, bought at her exhibition

Mieke Van Sambeek (wallpiece), traded

Josephine Knight,  bought at her exhibition



Wendy Van Der Drift, traded for one of my works

Hope you follow the links to see more of their work.  I am privileged to own these pieces, and to live in a place where art proliferates.




Collecting : 1- Aboriginal Art

I fancy myself as a bit of a collector of art.  Let's face it, money burns a hole in my pocket when I'm faced with a piece I love.  Unfortunately, having a few spare dollars doesn't always coincide with a 'must have' moment.  In those rare times when I've had a few wins, or sales, and my 'art' account is looking relatively healthy, I indulge myself.  Perhaps you'd like to see a few. I'll start with some of my Aboriginal Art.



AWELYE - Betty Mbitjana

Betty Mbitjana was born in Utopia, NT circa 1945.  She is the daughter of renowned artist Minnie Pwerle. Betty paints the awelye, bush berry, and body painting motifs. Betty’s paintings depict the designs that the women would paint on their bodies, and the dancing tracks which are made in the sand during women’s (awelye) ceremony. Through their awelye ceremonies, women pay homage to their ancestors, show respect for their country and dance out their collective maternal role within their community. A design based on these dancing tracks is painted on women’s bodies before a ceremony is performed, and this same design can be seen today in Betty’s works on canvas and in the works of her mother, sisters, and aunts. Ochre, charcoal and ash are all used to paint designs on the women’s upper bodies, and Pwerle women paint their chests, breasts and upper arms for awelye in ochre, red and white. The designs they use have been passed down for many generations, and only the Pwerle or Kemarre owners can paint them.

AWELYE ATNWENGRRP - Emily Pwerle

Emily, when only in her early 80s, began painting in 2004 after being encouraged by her older sister, Minnie. Emily instantly took to painting on canvas, applying many layers of acrylic paint in linear brush strokes, creating dense patterns of colour which represent the body paint women apply to each other during traditional bush tucker ceremonies. To the women these works are spiritually relevant, paying homage to their ancestors and the land that provides them with life. To the general viewer, the work is a mass of moving colour, carefully orchestrated to guide the eye across areas of dense abstract beauty on the canvas.  Emily’s work has been exhibited & represented in several fine art galleries across Australia, as well as in New York, London, Paris & Seoul.   

Kudditji Kngwarreye with his painting, now framed and on my wall.
  

Paintings by the eighty seven year old legend Kudditji are hot property right now, both in Australia and internationally. Like his half sister Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Kudditji (pronounced goo-beh-chee and called Goob), seems set to take his place as one of Australia's foremost indigenous artists.

Born around 1925, he began painting around 1986, he was encouraged to paint in the fashionable style of the time, executing works with detailed infill. Some years later he came to find his current style of abstract imagery, bold colour use and intuitive interplay with space and form.

 

Now Kudditji's Dreamings have profoundly evolved into extraordinary juxtaposed colour fields, startling in both composition and hue. Harsh or soft and often surprising to the Western eye, his painterly style maps out the creation, his country, and his traditional Dreamings. While his spatial, painterly compositions have a Rothko-esque quality to them, the work of this Anmatyerre elder from the Northern Territory is clearly a unique Australian voice. His highly intuitive and gestural method of painting together with his vibrant, colour saturated spaces is ground-breaking in Aboriginal art, and although he is already well collected it is felt by many industry insiders that his work is poised for a major market leap.

 

It's blatantly obvious that I really like colour and mark-making isn't it?

 

Next time I'll show you some work by local Sunshine Coast artists, so don't go too far.

TEENSY WEENSY COLLAGES - Traded

Seems like I'm having an ATC moment...or several.  As you know I just LOVE collaging...but what to do with them all.  Aha...make them tiny, and TRADE.  So, here are a few that I've parted with recently.



Half Hidden - went to South Africa



Oriental Moon - went to a friend in QLD



Rainforest - went to Florida, USA



Houston We Have Lift Off - went to Chicago, USA



Acid Free - went to New Hampshire, USA



Moon Over The Battlements - went to Pennsylvania, USA



To Life - went to Guatemala



The Blue Vase - went to the Gold Coast, QLD

Across The Desert - went to Bulgaria
 



Bean - went to Germany



My Home Is My Castle - went to The Netherlands

OK...so I chucked in a couple of painted ones...just to keep you interested.  As you can see my trading world is HUGE...and that's just part of it.

It's time consuming, but FUN.  It's also a way to keep on playing with art when the market for paintings is so slow.  There are only so many paintings will fit under the bed.

Perhaps my next venture will be selling paintings online.  Have to sort out whether I want to pack and post first.

ATCs... from everywhere.

You've had a giggle at my previous post now here are some favourite ATCs that I've received.

Cathy Calamas - Paper Traders

Angelica Paez - Ipernity

Risa Profana - Ipernity

Lee Kirk - Artful Collage

Pam Prosser - Artful Collage

Sanna Burgess - Fine Arts  ATC

 

These clever people trade in the following groups....just in case you might want to join in the fun.

Paper Traders
Artful Collage
Fine Arts ATC
Ipernity

FUN WITH MONA

One of my ATC trading groups, ATCs For All,  has set a challenge to 'alter' the Mona Lisa.  How I LOVE a challenge. This one has set me off on a mad whimsical whirl.  Hope they make you smile.

Moaner Lisa - collage

Mona Pizza - collage

Mono Lisa - collage

Winona Lisa - collage

Mona Freezer - digital manipulation

Mona - Lisa - collage

Ki - Mono Lisa - collage

It's Not Easy Being Breen - collage

We were meant to do only three....but I can't seem to stop!

Help!!!!!!!!