EVERYTHING STARTS FROM A DOT

New Abstractions

"Three Blue Notes" oil and tar on canvas 20" x 27" by Velvet Marshall

"La Petite Vague" 33 cm x 48 cm oil and tar on paper by Velvet Marshall (Sold)

"Evening Tide" 33 cm x 48 cm oil and tar on paper by Velvet Marshall

"Merced Fields" oil and tar on canvas 18" x 24" by Velvet Marshall

ONCE UPON A WAVE

Reclaiming the clay, beginning the process of creating a new sculpture installation, "Tsunami "

Ever been driving down the road when all of a sudden, your hear one of your favorite tunes on the radio and started singing along? Perhaps, at some point later, you discovered the artist lyrics were completely different from the words you belted out vibrato in the car but you still love to sing along  with your own version of lyrics because of what the words meant to you personally? That's exactly what I love about conceptual art.

I've begun the preliminary work on a sculpture I've been dreaming about for quite some time. "Tsunami" is a participatory sculpture that engages the visual, auditory, and tactile senses. It is a mixed media piece that combines clay, wood, metal, latex, sand and tar.

clay

reclaimed wood frame for sculpture

sketch book notes

After soaking awhile, I'm ready for an exciting day...I am able to mix the clay with my drill and prepare it for pouring into plaster molds.

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND BRUSH STROKES

I'm always looking to discover different ways to express my mutual love of painting and photography.
In this series of over painted photographs, I've combined a playful melange of the two.

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" Acrylic on silver gelatin print 28 cm x 35.5 cm by Velvet Marshall. Photo: James Creighton

"L'Orange" Oil on color photograph 23 cm x 54 cm by Velvet Marshall

"Tiny Dancer" Self-portrait (1) Oil on silver gelatin print 25.5 cm x 31 cm by Velvet Marshall.

"Blue Monday" Self-portrait (2) Acrylic on silver gelatin print 21.5 cm x 31 cm by Velvet Marshall.

WATERCOLOR, COFFEE, TEA & ME

"Petals by the Sea" 28 cm x 35.5 cm watercolor, tea and crayon on paper by Velvet Marshall

Untitled Abstract (1) 28 cm x 35.5 cm watercolor and tea on paper by Velvet Marshall

POETIC FRAGMENTATIONS

Recently, I've been using a combination of under painting, sgraffito, scraping and tar to create multifaceted layers of texture and color. The results evoke a sculptured canvas that conveys mood and depth. The tar acts as a form of fossilization and reacts differently under various degrees of luminosity, revealing or concealing what it chooses. The ensuing pieces suggest work, whispering of the color contained underneath, color that you can no longer unlock.

"Sargasso Sea" 23"x45" oil and tar on canvas by Velvet Marshall (Sold)

"The Bridge-Over Troubled Water" (San Luis Obispo) 8'x8' oil and tar on canvas by Velvet Marshall

Our cat Whitey, who freelances as the chief art critic for "Cat Fancy Magazine", contemplating my new piece "The Bridge" in early morning sunlight.

EARLY WORK

When artists are younger or inexperienced, they don't really know where they're going, where they'll end up, what the future holds, or how their art will be received. Producing and creating art is a genuine adventure.

"THE GROCER" 8"X11" Pencil on Paper, 03/04/84

These sketches are beaten and torn at the edges though weathered by time, they endure. Art from the past holds clues to life in the past and points to art yet to be created. As the artist, these sketches are important to me because they reflect my experiences in my life at the time. These drawings are a benchmark, a vantage point, from which to see how my interests have change and how they have remained the same and how they might evolve in the future. Like a wavefunction in quantum physics, we, by analyzing artwork from the past and looking at their details, can rewind time and experience what a time period different from our own was like.

"DREAMS OF MY HAIR" 10"X17" Pencil on Paper, August 1984

"GAYLE MARSHALL (Mother)" 11"X13" Pencil on Paper, 1984

In Shakespeare's words, "the past is prologue to the future."

THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE

When I am creating a painting it is not the image that I think is of principal import. I feel it is the paint itself that is my subject matter. My voice.

A detail from the preliminary stage of the 8'x8' oil on canvas painting "The Bridge- Over Troubled Water" (San Luis Obispo) By Velvet Marshall

I had purchased tickets months in advance to experience what is still one of the most lavish exhibits I have ever seen in LA. "Van Gogh's Van Goghs" in 1999 exhibited at LACMA--in part because of the crowds it attracted and in part because of the artist’s inscrutability. I had seen his work in many books but nothing could have prepared me for the real thing. Standing in the drizzling rain an hour or two, waiting in line before the mad rush of arms, elbows and heads bobbing when they opened the doors. Fortunately, I had gone with another artist, my daughter Nastassia, who knew that art appreciation is not to be rushed. Rounding the last corner of the exhibit in front of me was the “Wheat Fields” and immediately I was consumed, transported to another dimension with every stroke of paint. I slowly and against all conventionality, wrapped my arms around my waist and with a heavy sigh, I sobbed. After each stage of his life had been retold corridor-by-corridor, the exquisite agony had finally come to a conclusion on a French countryside.  I would never look at paint the same again. In the most basic human way, he reached out with his pallet knife and touched me. Some decades of years in between us-- a transmission sent and received-- I understood there was a way for me to be free. A place where I could go and allow the paint to speak for me- the things for which I had no words.

Me-  begining the painting process on "The Bridge"

Wheatfield with Crows, 1890 Vincent van Gogh

ONO MY APPLES

I love Yoko Ono's early art installations circa 1966 such as her "Yes Painting", "Cut Piece", and "Apple". Like Zen riddles, Ono's early work of conceptual art value the process of reflection they stimulate above any particular outcome. I enjoy her bold invitation to visitor interaction which transfigures the material at hand. I began thinking of ways in which I could combine expressing my thoughts and feeling through the action of art and utilizing that medium to communicate a greater thought; that our refusal to accept being human, which soon kills compassion, is tantamount to most of the worlds troubles.

My Unfired Clay Apple Sculptures

"Apple" by Yoko Ono

These pieces "Forbidden Fruit" are part of a much larger installation, the "Paradise Lost" series, that is a work in progress. They are life size, unfired, clay sculptures. When finished they will be glazed and Raku fired for an individual effect. Once fired, these still fragile artifacts are but the memory and representation of apples. Made of clay, the earth, they are unique, but imperfect, natural, simple, and transient.


Forbidden Fruit in Genesis, these fruit can be transformed into actual food. When purchased, they will no longer be forbidden fruit, but giving fruit. Proceeds will go to assist those in need.

Me sculpting the clay

Me throwing the clay

BOSSA NOVA NIGHTS

I like to spend most of my evenings painting and listening to good music.

                

                      

NUQUES DE FILLES - UNAJI 項

Unaji 項 the nape of a woman’s neck, sensual in Japanese culture. Inspired by this I am creating a series of portraits centered on the subtle appeal of the curve of a woman’s neck. More seductive than the obvious, soft, long, fragrant and elegant…it is a place where secrets are secluded gracefully under the warmth of a woman’s hair.



Mizoreru sono unaji e mesu o sa sasei


Your nape

where melted snow falls -

let me burst it with a scalpel.


Ippekiro Nakatsuka

Utamaro Kitagawa 1750-1806 Beauty in front of the Mirror

In traditional Japanese culture the nape of the neck is one of the acceptable exposed areas of the Geisha.

I began the series with a portrait in oil titled “Girl with a Corset” which I am painting using a traditional Flemish technique that includes adding mid tones and light tones of under painting and layers to give life and dimension to the overall effect. It is a seven layer process and does require some patience. I plan to mix it up a little bit with my own style also adding texture and mix media…

"Girl with a Corset" Portrait in oil 58"x37" (under painting stage 2 & 3 - Umbra layer) oil on canvas

My painting “Tahiti Femme avec Fleur”  is also a mixed media piece using black tea which I boil down to a dense consistency then thin with water to the desired color. With the use of water colors I use a technique of layering and staining to create a multi dimensional effect. It was the first time I used water color on linen which I love but found difficult at first to work with. 

Both of these pieces are still in progress…

work in progress - “Tahiti Femme avec Fleur” 32" x 43" watercolor and tea on linen

MY RELATIONSHIP WITH WATER

I grew up along the shoreline and sandy California beaches of Santa Monica, Malibu and Venice and have spent half my life in water. As a result, I have a very special, spiritual connection with water and the ocean and that is reflected in my work and the images that draw and attract me. As an artist, I am still traveling a path of self discovery along a journey where I hope I can create art that reflects life – My goal is to tell a story, create an emotional response and on a loftier level, stimulate the imagination in others. This I believe is something of value. I know my stories, the images have a definitive destination in my mind - however, the path to get there is yet unknown which leaves an element of organic uncertainty to my work that I enjoy and believe is the fundamental nature of what being an artist is all about. Like breathing, it’s best done naturally.

“The Tempest” oil and tar on canvas 76" x 56"


I began working on my painting “the Tempest” as a self portrait of sort. Raised by a southern woman, in social circles, I still feel confined to maintain a certain decorum, while underneath swells a sea of emotion. I used tar as a medium to emphasize this feeling and also as an expression of my concern and protest over the pollution of our oceans and the preservation for the wildlife that resides within. The sunlight breaking through the heavens however, epitomizes a new horizon, hope, which exist with the expectation of a more positive outlook for me and for the future of the Sea.

CONCEPTS IN CLAY - A NUDE, A HIPPIE AND A SNAKE

About a year ago, I got introduced to working with pottery, raku and clay sculpture. It was around this time that I stumbled across an article on the incredible artist Paul Thek and his beeswax-cast sculptures. One sculpture in particular that caught my attention included a life size cast of himself, which was part of an installation called “The Tomb- Death of a Hippie.” The Whitney Museum included photos of it in an exhibition of his work “Meat Pieces” which interweave personal meanings along with wider cultural and political concerns. I loved the concepts and ideas in his work and thought…I wonder if I can do that in clay?!
 

Me - sculpting the clay

Thus began a series of clay sculptures I have titled “Paradise Lost”. I created these pieces primarily as an expression of my own personal journey of faith and spirituality but also to attract attention to delve beyond the singular, to push the viewer to experience their own spiritual moment, whatever his/her religious conviction. Much like Paul Thek, I wanted to communicate and interweave my thoughts, ideas and experiences both on a personal level and one that explores a wider range of concern for and with the world around me.The piece I titled, "The Temptation of Eve" for example, is a metaphor of my own struggle with intense sensual passion but it also examines social concerns of greed and technology that destroy the human spirit.

I intend of firing and later staining my piece "Modern Eve" with an evergreen color then mounting her to the press board which will serve as a backdrop. Around the press board I intend to stretch a canvas which I will paint in a define abstract style of drip painting. To complete the piece I will need to create an iron welded stand that will erect the sculpture facing upwards.

For my piece "The Temptation of Eve" I will to slow fire the clay, then raku, and mount on a welded stand. Both sculptures will receive a counter part of Adams in like.



"The Temptation of Eve" - unfired clay sculpture, 24" tall - "Paradise Lost" series




Paul Thek working on “The Tomb” in his studio, circa 1966

61” tall, unfired sculpture (modern) “Eve” on 73”x 29 ½” press board – the modern day Eve is a distressed sculpture to reflect the times that we live in. In today’s world, she is tempted by the propaganda of commercialism and consumerism, again lured into not thinking for herself. – from the “Paradise Lost” series