The WIP (work in progress) October 2009, state 2

3 figures, state 2, the figure on the right
changed. i will either eliminate it, or turn it
into a Rembrandt "Saskia" pose, the rushed
figure moving through, in my case out of the
picture plane. My drawing reminds me of
Picasso. the feet remind me of giacometti.
it is definitely me. the painting is a glass panel
36x24", worked on both sides, with an oil painting
on canvas support, it also acts as a shadow wall.
the painting occurs in space, with layers of material
scraping, and re-drawing. it is a palimpsest: the
ground and materials show their use, again and again.

3 figures reflecting my kitchen light.

3 figures: the open guts: 36x48" glass left,

canvas right

figures: guts detail, mirrored silver glass left,

right: canvas shadow wall detail

figures guts detail: left glass back, right canvas

figures: glass front, no canvas support

figures: glass with canvas support

figures detail with mirrored silver

my blogger friend Paul at Cape Ann Painter (he's in my links) thought it might be good to show a step-by-step. there is not step by step to my process, but i thought you might enjoy looking into the guts of my unique glass/canvas paintings. I think of these as drawings and sculpture due to the graphic nature of the work and the art appears in space, changing constantly throughout the day due to light source and the color of the paintings surroundings. a work unto itself. enjoy, i sure do!

best,

deb.

The WIP (work in progress) October 2009

Figure Series. 36x24" glass and canvas. full size pic, cropped, no flash. followed by flash, followed by detail, no flash

copyright debbie clarke, gloucester ma 2009

St. Peter's Thumbprint

St. Peter's Thumbprint

24x36"

copyright clarke 2009

gloucester ma

2 panes of off-set cold glass with stretched canvas mount

verre eglomise, hand silvered mirror, gold leaf, oil, sharpie marker, tape

dedicated to the memory of my friend Captain Eddie Lima, from whom I first learned of

St. Peter's thumbprint.

Falls Village Connecticut?

Just finished the commission: "St. Peter's Thumbprint" photos will follow when the light allows, lots of mirroring on these fish. brownie points offered for anyone knowing what the title of this fish painting refers to.

on another note my feedjit shows a visit from Falls Village Connecticut. When I was a child my family had a summer home in Falls Village. our house was perched on a hill overlooking the YMCA and the General Store. The extended family would walk on summer afternoons across the bridge near the electric generating station up to the falls to the sluice and the pools below. sometimes my cousin richie would swim in the pools. us younger folk would dally in the errant streams.

comp4 zinc palimpsest

copyright clarke 2009

molded zinc with metal leaf and sharpie

Comp#2, a palimpsest

10x10x1.5" wax and aluminum leaf on canvas
copyright clarke, gloucester ma 2009

Peabody Historical Society & Museum: Historic Interpretation

If you click the title you will be taken to the Peabody Historical Society's site with further information on location, show dates, etc.


There are three of my reverse glass paintings in this show, and they are for sale. Previous entries detail the progress of the work, to see the finale, you must go to the museum. The following 4 works are donated for the raffle. All proceeds to benefit the museum. There is a lot of great work in this show, and the venue is charming with a warm grandparent's home kind of feel.

"Peabody Historical Society's B&W Bath"

18x20", unframed, reverse glass

"An Elephant in the Room"

20x20" mixed media on canvas

"An American Collection"

12x12" reverse glass with metal leaf

"the Things We Keep"

10x10" mixed media, antique lace

a copy of my blurb to accompany my work.

Dear Heather (Lovell curator PHS&M),

Here's the info for the work I will deliver on Saturday sometime between 4 and 5.

1. "An Elephant in the Room": mixed media on canvas, 2009, 20x20"
2. "What we Keep": old lace mixed media, 2009, 10x10"
3. "Peabody Historical B&W Bathroom" verre eglomise mixed media, 2009, 18x20"
4: "An American Collection, artist on art" verre eglomise mixed media, 2009, 12x12"

short bio:

Debbie Clarke works in her kitchen studio in East Gloucester. A life long artist, she began her studies at age 13, in exchange for modeling for his classes, with landscape painter Ken Gore in his East Gloucester studio. A graduate of The Art Institute of Boston '77. Debbie was a founding memeber of Gloucester's longest running artist's cooperative "Local Colors. She taught hundreds of students the art of drawing through her studio/gallery on Lexington Avenue in Magnolia, which ran for 10 years. Her work is in many local and international private and public collections, most notably "The Species", 7 reverse glass paintings of fish at The Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester MA. She is a self representing artist who works regularly on a commissioned basis to manifest the visions of her patrons.

The work produced for the Peabody Historical Society's Historic Interpretation Show has allowed Debbie to work outside of her usual focus on fish and expand her visual language through her discovery of the common ties of 'objects' that define an American legacy: cups, dishes, chairs, lace, etc.

Heather, I would also like to add how important local historical societies are to the communities they represent. As a child I lived for a few years behind the Wenham Museum. For a few pennies donation they regularly allowed me into their museum to spend somewhat unspervised time looking at their doll collection and I explored the world through their stereographs. Seeing the American flag in your society reminded me of the Betsy Ross doll that was (perhaps still is) the centerpiece of their doll collection. and later The Cape Ann Museum (then historical society) and Judith Sargeant Murray House opened my eyes to the reality of how the world literally touched our shores and that the objects of the refined became objects of emulation which defined and represented the cultured mind. I was a religious educator at The Independent Christian Church Unitarian Universalist for 15 years. As I went through your collection it suddenly struck me that every object, and wall paper could be used in a home environment to introduce young minds to the greater world.

Gloucester's Block Party and What I Did.

The window.

The painting

The artist in front of Bananas

Palimsest: The Peabody Historical Society, historic interpretation

18x20" glass with paint, with foiled panel.

copyright clarke 2009

gloucester ma

Historic Interpretation: AA BB Chair Reel

Two views, same painting, under different light sources. "The face we love the best" (paraphrase Leonardo) becomes incorporated into the glass artwork, as the viewer can see their own reflection in the glass. The artwork constantly changes.

copyright clarke 2009 gloucester ma

clicking the title will bring one to Peabody Historical show that this work is for. My work will be in part 2 opening in August.