Introducing Painter Photographer, Fleur-Ange Lamothe

"Dansons" by Fleur-Ange Lamothe © 2007

"Every time I meet a tree, if I am truly awake, I stand in awe before it. I listen to its voice, a silent sermon moving me to the depths, touching my heart, and stirring up within my soul a yearning to give my all." - Mary Webb, 1917

The above quote comes to me through Fleur-Ange Lamothe, a Canadian artist who blends photography and painting to create visionary art. Lamothe used Mary Webb's words as the sole description for one of her elegant photos of trees. Yet the quote could as well describe Fleur-Ange's entire approach to life and to communicating her vision of Nature into powerful, transformative art.

Fleur-Ange's art is part performance, part canvas or film and part installation; she is all about communication and connection; counterpoint and balance; birth, death and rebirth. She translates her fertile psyche's impulses and emotions into works of tangible beauty that challenge her viewers to look (and feel) under the surface of things.


All photos © Fleur-Ange Lamothe 2007

I have been a "follower" of Fleur-Ange Lamothe on Flickr for the last couple of years. Recently she pulled all of the photos of hers that I had "faved" into one collection called MR's Favorites. It is an understatement to say I was captivated by the slideshow of that set ... watching a fluid river of incredible beauty float and dissolve on my computer monitor. The slideshow is so worth watching -- with 66 photos playing 4 seconds each it takes only four and a half minutes to watch (unless, like me, you keep pausing the show to drink in the beauty every frame or so.)

Whenever I spend enough time to really look deeply at a piece by Fleur-Ange, I get the sense that I am on a journey with an old soul, with someone who has an inborn sense of connection to all of life, who sees even the stones as living beings. I get the sense that I am walking with a kindred soul, someone who has seen into the very heart of the Earth and who is striving with sincerity and courage to help others touch that place of healing as well.

Someday I really have to see her paintings in person. Actually, it would be wonderful to meet Fleur-Ange in person! In the meantime, since I can't just hop on a plane and fly to Ontario, I satisfy myself by cruising through her flickr sets -- on slideshow mode -- at least once a week. And I have many of her images on my computer as a screen saver. I'm fortunate she is so generous with her photography.

I am honored to be able to introduce my friend, Fleur-Ange Lamothe, who is also an accomplished artist, to the folks who read my blogs. I hope you enjoy her photography and paintings as much as I do.

All photos © Fleur-Ange Lamothe 2007

to see the individual photos enlarged, click the titles below:

• A Moment of Solitude, Italy
  
• Meadow in Late Afternoon, Italy
• Where Have All the Plastic Water Bottles Gone?
• Tree Habitant, England

Find more of Fleur-Ange's photos at Wildflower Watch, or on her (Eglantine) Flickr stream

Portland 1st Thursday Art Update

Gabe has posted an update and a bunch of photos (shot by Arian Stevens and others) of his one-man show during the First Thursday Art Walk in Portland.


photos by Arian Stevens

Check out the live painting event at Berbati's with Gabe Shaughnessy painting his impressions of local d.j. Cool Hand Luke who spins his magic for club-goers and art-lookers alike. Sounds like the opening was a success. Here's an album with all his pics from the opening night.

Portland Urban Art Exhibit

Live Painting Sol Ball, originally uploaded by Gabe Shaughnessy.

photo by Arian Stevens

Exhibit of Paintings by artist, Gabriel Shaughnessy
To my Portland blog readers who also happen to love art, I encourage you to attend the opening for Gabe Shaughnessy's art exhibit on Thursday night. Even if you don't live in Portland, if you might visit P-Town in the near future, the show will be up until the end of June.

full disclosure: Gabe is my son

Gabe will be exhibiting 16 oil and acrylic paintings and four large UV reactive paintings in a one-man show at Berbati's in Portland. The paintings are from the last two years, with some new work. Gabe will be creating a live painting (left) at the opening.

Opening Date: Thursday, June 7
Time: 5 pm til whenever
Venue: Berbati's Restaurant
Address: 231 SW Ankeny, Portland view map



Gabriel writes that he is

"looking for potential collaborators for the opening night, June 7th. It'll be on the first thursday art walk and listed in the papers. I'm into whatever, the restaurant is open for music, performance, art production."

from Gabe's P-Town sketchbook:

for a little retrospective/perspective, a few illustrations from Gabe's (much) younger years:




a thank you card for his Grandma ...

Biomimicry: Wasp Nest Paper/Home/Garment

I stumbled upon the coolest blanket yesterday and wanted to tell my blog readers about this group of artists: Los Osos. Check out their product development slideshows and this awesome wasp nest blanket. I want one of those!

For inspiration, here are a couple of wasp nest images from my flickr pics ... the birdhouse engulfed (swallowed) by a hive of paper wasps is in my sister's garden on Vancouver Island. I've never seen anything like it -- have you?

Margie's wasp nest on birdhouse


Guardian -- look closely, originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.


I am using the term, Biomimicry, loosely, in an artistic sense rather than scientifically. My examples of a blanket inspired by a paper wasp nest may not technically fit the definition of "biomimicry" put forth by Janine Benyus of Stevensville, Montana in her book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. To me, it's a start in thinking about way to innovate by gaining inspiration from nature.

An example of true biomimicry/innovation inspired by nature might be an innovative fabric that changes according to the ambient temperatures -- deer have evolved a fur structure that changes it's properties in response to seasonal temperature fluctuations. Deer fur properties might inspire textiles for human clothing or building envelope structure and materials.

If you'd like to learn more about biomimicry, check out the Biomimicry Institute.
The Biomimicry Institute also has a newsletter available here as downloadable PDF files.

Here are a few other resources about Biomimicry:
Article in Bay Soundings (Tampa Bay)

Book by Janine Benyus






Biomimicry Guild website
World Changing (article)
What people are saying on technorati about Biomimicry
A conversation with Janine Benyus

A doorway, a mirror, a meditation

Raspberry Leaf Autumn Nierika
copyright 2005 by Maureen Shaughnessy


Amur Maple Nierika
copyright 2005 by Maureen Shaughnessy


Cleome Flower Nierika
copyright 2005 by Maureen Shaughnessy

Soul of a Tree

The Festival of Trees #6 is up at Arboreality ... and here is a link to the main Festival of Trees blog. I'd like to share this slideshow with my blog visitors, in celebration of trees, photos I have taken over the last 4 seasons:

If you'd like to see any of the slideshow photos individually and/or at larger sizes, just click on the photo in the slideshow window and it should take you to that photo's page in my flickr account. For the large sizes, you have to click the button above the photo that says "all sizes"

Thanks for visiting my blog, for reading and (hopefully) enjoying the photos
Maureen

Pond

Small Craft on Pond, originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.

My sister, Marybeth, gave me a wonderful book for my recent birthday -- a book I intend to read cover-to-cover the way I read the Webster's Dictionary I received 30+ years ago as a highschool graduation gift. The book is Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape edited by Barry Lopez and Debra Gwartney. Thank you, Marybeth! Here's the first of (hopefully) many photo/word pairings inspired by this book.

Pond:
Pond is one of the most flexible words for describing a small body of freshwater. Uplift, landslides, volcanoes, and glaciers can create ponds, as can human beings and animals. Beavers are great ponders, and so are farmers and ranchers who dig them for irrigation and livestock. Glacial kettle-hole ponds such as Thoreau's Walden and Cape Cod's freshwater ponds are important features of the New England landscape.

George Stewart tells us in Names on the Land that native peoples of the Northeast called ponds paugs, and that this has resulted in felicitous redundancies such as Mashapaug Pond in Massachusetts. At least since 1641, the English have referred jocularly to the Atlantic Ocean as the great pond.

And there is no end to the compound forms of the word: sagpond, millpond, fishpond, duckpond, pond life, pond lily, and pond yard to name a few. Regardless of size, location, or purpose, any pond can become the radiant and beguiling point of a landscape, even a muddy or algae-covered farm pond that's nothing more than an isolated earthen water tank. Thoreau thought of Walden and nearby North Ponds as Lakes of Light in which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.
-- Michael Collier from Home Ground

This is my sister, Marybeth

So, thanks again, Marybeth.

Look what you started!

This photo of the small leaf-boat is also part of a series of leaf photos I made for our weekend Utata tagging project, Utata Leaf. You can see everyone's thumbnails in this Utata Leaf project here.

Cowgirl Dreaming

Cowgirl Dreaming Originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.

This digital painting for Beautiful Sunday, is dedicated to one of my flickr friends, Christine, whose photo-imagery I truly enjoy. She has a keen interest in and love of horses and all things-horse ... and she is consistently generous with her comments not only on my photos, but on many others as well. Christine, may all your dreams come true.

check out this idea, if you're into blogging on Sundays:

Art from Nature: Inspiration & Links

Lotte Glob is a Danish ceramics artist living and working in Scotland. Her work is intimately inspired by forms she finds in nature, especially around the Ultimate Rock Garden, as she calls her Scotland studio and home. I'd love to live and work in a place like this someday:

Glob has a beautiful online portfolio exhibiting her ceramic sculptures, books, fountains, tiles and bowls. These are incredibly beautiful pieces -- if you are at all attracted to artwork based on natural colors, shapes and textures, check out her portfolio. This is one of her pieces, ceramic floating stones, photographed in place on the shore. She often places her sculptures in nature to take photos of them before delivering them to the buyers.
Here's another, a comissioned fountain. Shown are some of the glaze shapes up close.

I like Glob's ceramic "books" -- Books of the Land, Earth Air, Fire and Water elements shaped into the pages and covers of book forms. Here is a detail of one of Glob's books.

Nature is the source of most of my own artistic and creative inspiration and it's right outside our house. In Helena, it literally takes just a couple of minutes to get from "town" out into a more natural environment. But even right in town, all I have to do is get down on my hands and knees with my eyes, my camera, my sketchbook, my sense of wonder... to find something inspiring and worth using in my artwork.

Speaking of finding inspiration in nature, last weeks Painter's Keys Letter from artist Robert Genn, was all about being inspired, influenced, shaped as artists by ... Nature and natural forms. Here is what he writes in his weekly letter:

"Here are a few non-rigid thoughts for those who might be thinking about nature in their art:
Gradations attract, enfold and please.
Curves are more sensual than straights.
The obvious is enchanted by the hidden.
Protrusions are contrasted with indentions.
Patterns fascinate, involve and deceive.
Repetitions are to forms what beats are to music.
Symmetry mirrors and honours the human body.
Whorls and vortexes tempt and seduce.
Colour, pure or muted, is its own magic.
Strong contrasts provide drama and excitement.
Soft edges invite touch and caress.
Disappearing acts create mystery and intrigue.
Camouflage has both honour and mirth.
Bracts and branches are a principle of life.
Articulation rattles the bones.
Spikes and spines provide discomfort and unease.
Radiation echoes a sun god and the hand of man.
Water brings both tranquility and turbulence.
Squares and triangles give strength and stability.

The list goes on. Nature's designs range from high schlock to understated good taste. They present us with an ever-changing march of variety and magnificence. "Nature," says biologist Hans Meinhardt, "has been allowed to play." Artists may take courage from this cue." ---- Robert Genn, from the Painter's Keys.

Another artist -- a photographer, Karl Blossfeldt made a large body of work in the 1920s and 30s, photographing natural plant forms. A recent project over at the Utata artists' group was the "Utata Pays Homage to the Masters" exhibit. Some Utata photographers chose to honor Blossfeldt with their own beautiful plant-forms photos. Here's one by a Utatan and Flickr photog, Brenda Anderson, titled Koru:

koru in homage to Karl Blossfeldt, originally uploaded by curiouskiwi.

Here's a link to one of Blossfeldt's black and white photos ... of a fern fiddlehead similar to Brenda's above. Karl Blossfeldt has several books out, some published by Dover, all are wonderful collections of botanical diversity and most can be found online as used books.

Aqua-Nine Flower
by Ernst Haeckel

Ernst Haeckel was a 19th century zoologist who supported Darwin's theory of evolution. He was also an amazing artist. I've used his book, originally published in 1899, as inspiration for years and years: Art Forms in Nature, or "Kunst Formen der Natur" (the original title). His illustrations are stunning -- they were drawn and painted by Haeckel from life yet many of the creatures look as if they were from another planet! It's weird that both Haeckel and Blossfeldt have books with the same titles, though Haeckel concentrates on animal forms and Blossfeldt focues on plant forms ... both books are excellent source of the many beautiful patterns, textures and forms found in nature. Both books can usually be found used online. Definitely worth checking out.

A most exciting Flickr Project

Co-curatoring 9, originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.

This sketchbook page is part of my process on one of my favorite Flickr projects. It's called the Co Curators' Resource. The idea is to "curate" someone's photostream on Flickr with the goal of articulating their style or a common theme or thread of artistic vision with a smaller collection of photos you choose as if you were curating an exhibit of their work in a gallery or museum.

In doing this curation project with Irina Souiki I am learning tons, not only about her photos and her artistry, but about my own growth as an artist and photographer as well. It is helping me to think more clearly about what I am trying to accomplish with my photography and other artwork.

If you want to see more of these sketches or find out more about this project and read why I'm sketching to curate someone's photos ... you can click here to see the whole set of sketches. Each sketch has a description of the project and a link to the Co Curators Resource page where there are discussions and explanations of what we're all doing. Enjoy!

A Record of the Living of a Simple Life

Reach for the Realm of Light


I've been painting and drawing this willow for at least 15 years. It has several companion willows along the borrow-pit on a dirt road near my home. Although they are the type that would normally become large, venerable trees, these particular willows don't get much bigger than this. They are routinely abused by the county roads department - their trunks hacked off without thought for beauty, empathy or esthetics ... yet every summer, they come back more unkempt, each year denser and wilder. I love them just as they are -- even more, I love them because of the way they are. They are indomitable and I take that as inspiration for my own life.

So, at times I've deeply identified with the willows along this lonesome road. At first I noticed them because they had a wild air about them and I felt we could understand each other - me and the willows. That was in the middle of winter. I painted their colors with multiple layers of pastels, working fast in the cold, but not wanting to leave out a single nuance of their vibrant character. The colors of their branches were enlivened by the cold, and contrasted with white snow all around.

The branches drew tangled lines against the paper sky seemingly without rhythm or sense. To me that first time, this one looked like a girl just waking up next to her lover ...

Someday in the near future, these friends of mine will be pulled out altogether -- a large subdivision (i.e. ugly suburban sprawl) is planned for this very meadow I've loved so well. I will be sad when that day comes.

Until then, I go back again and again to record these simple lives ... to record the fanciful or dark or poignant or confused emotions they invoke in me. And to document their existence before they cease being.

When I get a chance, I'll repost this photo and written piece with a couple of my sketches from years ago. Just for context and comparison.

Inspiration

Inspiration
Originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.

Have you ever thought of where your inspiration comes from? Of how there are so many widely different images in the world -- human-made objects, natural textures, patterns and shapes -- that inform your art, no matter what medium you use to express yourself -- poetry, prose, dance, photography, fiberarts, metalwork, painting, ceramics ... what does your muse look like? Where do your ideas come from? What inspires you?

December Sketches

We're back from the winter meeting with our study group ... I will be posting a few drawings I did in my sketchbook/journal while on our trip. It was incredible weather - just perfect for Tim and me -- when we left Montana last week, the temperature was -16F ... brrrr! And on the coast, it was in the balmy 60s. Ahhh, to have a few days when I could go barefoot (or just wear my zorries) when just a light shawl was enough of a covering even in the sea breeze.




What a luxury - to have five days with no responsibilities other than to really focus on being there -- at the ocean ... sleeping, dreaming, dancing and breathing the smells, sights and sounds of waves and shorebirds, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets ... the constantly changing reflections and colors on the wet sand ... the shifting shapes of dune, intertidal zone and wave patterns. I had a beautiful, relaxing time.




The drawing below is our view out the window of our plane, on the right -- as we were cruising over eastern Washington, I was really fascinated by the huge variety of cultivation patterns and natural patterns in the agricultural areas of the state -- the ground was "neatly" divided into square sections which were further divided in many cases, into different shaped fields. It reminded me of a crazy quilt. On the left side of the page is my view of the east slope of the Cascades just before we came across the top and headed down into Seattle.

Meditation on Autumn Garden

Meditation on Autumn Garden
Originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.

another in my series of leaf experiments.

Helenans are Lucky to Have World-renowned Ceramic Arts Center

Arch sculpture at the Bray


From the Bray website:

The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts is a public, nonprofit, educational institution founded in 1951 by brickmaker Archie Bray, who intended it to be "a place to make available for all who are seriously and sincerely interested in any of the branches of the ceramic arts, a fine place to work." It's primary mission is to provide an environment that stimulates creative work in ceramics.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Bray is located three miles from downtown Helena, Montana, on the site of the former Western Clay Manufacturing Company. Set against the wooded foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the 26-acre former brickyard is internationally recognized as a gathering place for emerging and established ceramic artists. The nearby mountains and brick factory ruins provide a backdrop for the creative environment; more important is the dynamic arts community created by the resident artists that come to the Bray to work, share experiences, and explore new ideas.

Richard Swanson, a longtime Helena resident, has these "dervishes" in unexpected places around the grounds of the Bray - you have to keep your eyes open to notice the off-balance spinning top shape in a high window, at the top of a smoke stack, on a fence post ...

For more photos of the ceramic arts around the grounds of the Bray ... and photos of the old brick kiln structures, click here

Garden Quilt of Colors

Another rescue (maybe) of some horribly blurred (on purpose) photos of our garden late in the day.

This is what I did today: I was the artistic director for setting 6 large boulders in place, then the dirt-shaper and water sprayer. A bit like making mudpies ...

Here's Mike getting ready to yank out an old caragana with his loader:




Before i did much shaping ... here, the boulders had just been placed by Mike with his skid steer with the fork/loader attachment.



Some of the rocks are set




and ... just after I finished raking the (almost) final shape




I'm wetting down the new mound to compact the soil





This large flat rock forms a great bench - large enough for two people to sit and watch the sunset with their arms around each other. This is the front of the stone.



wet rocks ... i sprayed down the new soil, expecially around the boulders, to fill up any air pockets and loose soil. The lower stone is the "bench."





spraying the mound


Boulders can be used in landscaping to great effect -- or they can be plopped down any old which way and look terrible. When you are installing boulders in your garden/landscape -- remember to be sensitive to the way they are settled into the ground. Bury at least 1/3rd of the boulder so it looks like it has been there for a long time rather than just dropped from the sky randomly. If you are grouping the boulders, try to set them so they relate to each other as one rock outcropping. The angles are important - how would a large bedrock look after it becomes exposed, fractured and then weathered? Wherever possible, use stones that are available locally, so they "fit" into the natural landscape. There are lots of examples on the web of poorly-designed and executed boulder landscapes .... or you can almost as easily find examples of well-designed stone arrangements. It takes skill and artistry to import boulders into a garden with natural, pleasing results.

Curvaceous

Curvaceous
Originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.

I had fun one day playing with my camera -- hunting around the house and garden for natural objects that reminded me of human body parts. This first one recalls a variety of female body shapes, mostly round and curvy ...

Or two breasts

two kissing lovers

a belly button