Unbound Art

New Project by Fernando I think that it was at the end of March that, moved by the COVID 19 tragedy unfolding in China, Europe, and NYC, I made a very quick sketch representing one human being embracing another. That sketch became a formal piece in which the embrace occurs between two stylized figures cut out of painted paper. The title of this piece was "Quarantine Love". I shared a pic of that piece with Rennie Castelino of Bay Area Faceting in San Mateo who liked it enough to suggest Mark Oros (o f Hashnu Stones in T-Burg) and I worked together in the creation of a new piece in which the same design would be transposed to stone using some extraordinarily beautiful Polish flint of his. After a couple of meetings with Mark, I made a new drawing and, on that basis, cut the paper templates needed to transfer the design to slabs of the Polish flint. Since the three rectangles central to the original design could not be carved out of the stone outright, following Mark...

  I'm announcing my retirement from 34 years of teaching.

Today I was looking back on some files of paintings in which the grid was a dominant part of the composition. Fernando Llosa documented the development of this painting through 10 stages. The form was made with paper and the folds stiffened with gesso. The first stage captures the light and dimension of the form. Oil paint was then added. The painting was made in 2010.

I've been working on a series of graphite drawings for the last couple of years. Yesterday I was at Pioneer Printing in Lodi to see the printing and embossing of the cover for a book of this series. That was a treat in itself as there aren't too many shops like that left. They have both the newest copy machines and traditional machines for letterpress printing. I am happy to say that the book will be ready for me to pick up from the printer next week. There are 76 drawings in the book. If you are interested in having a copy of the book, send me a personal message or e-mail.

This wedding guestbook, made by Fernando, has Taughannock Creek shale and fossils. It is 7x7" and has 90 sheets of 24 lb. acid free paper. If you're interested, send an e-mail. Price: $150 + tax.

Fernando is showing hand-made books and paintings at  The Bookery in Ithaca. The work is up and the opening is  Gallery Night, May 3, from 5-8 pm.  The Bookery is in the DeWitt Mall, Ithaca, NY.

Over the years, I have used the house image to show the human desire and need for security, both physically and psychologically.  The house can portray the actual structure that protects us from the elements of nature but the  house is also a home, the extension of our personal selves, the place where our family, our memories and values reside.  The house can call into question our relationship with nature. Other animals seem so integrated into nature, but we survived by building this physical boundary around ourselves. As necessary as a house is, was this need for physical security the first step in forgetting our relationship and dependence on the natural world? The house image can expose our relationship with others - why do some people have excess padding (even the middle-class have mansions) while others have only the covering of blankets and cardboard? The house can be a place of protection, but when we find that our safety is compromised,  (t...