Sawyer Rose Lyra, 2017 Silver solder, copper, fiberglass 18 x 18 x 18 inches
An Interview with Sawyer Rose
Sawyer Rose
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?
SR: I grew up in Charlotte, NC, middle kid of three. My mom had all of us in art lessons from a young age. It was just at the nice lady’s house a few streets over, but as the creative kid of the family, I ate it up. At home I had three or four unfinished craft projects lying around the house at all times.
MKM: Why did you pursue art and where did you study?
SR: I went to Williams College which has a wonderful Art department. It took maybe 6 weeks of my first year to decide that I wanted Art to be my major. Fortunately, the department required both Art History and studio classes, so I ended up with a well-rounded experience.
MKM: Did you have any memorable teachers at Williams College?
SR: My senior year painting professor was completely comfortable with my odd studio hours and wild experimentation on canvas. So was my photography tutor at Glasgow School of Art. I learned loads in both of their classes, but the most valuable takeaway was that it was ok, even encouraged, to let my practice develop outside of the academic box.
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns?
SR: Daily routine? No. All work patterns conform to the elementary and middle school calendars.
Sawyer in the studio
MKM: How has your practice changed over time?
SR: I began my practice as an oil painter, but I kept wanting to add a third dimension to my 2-D works. After many years I decided to try my hand at true 3-D sculpture and found it suited me much better. It’s only in the past year that I have started making 2-D works again, but now I make them by choice rather than by default.
MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums? Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?
SR: I work in metal, wood, and fiber mostly. I find natural, earthy materials to be the easiest for me to wrap my mind around. Metal is a finicky, willful material to work with, which I have learned to enjoy. Metal does as it pleases.
MKM:What themes do you pursue?
SR: I like to make work that shines a light on social and environmental topics that are important to me. My metalworks are based on the native flora of California and ask viewers to consider what plants would look like if they could grow armor to protect themselves. In another vein, my work on The Carrying Stones Project takes a deep dive into women’s work inequity. I look at women’s paid and unpaid labor, but also at the wage gap, representation of women the workplace, and other ways in which people who identify as female are fighting an uphill battle at work and in their communities.
MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
SR: Does whiskey count? (Kidding!!) I love my belt sander. It’s powerful and versatile and can solve a lot of sculpture problems quickly.
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of? Why?
SR: I’m most proud, seemingly counterintuitively, of the pieces I make that don’t feel like they came out of me. It’s a thrilling way to get a glimpse of what my subconscious might look like.
MKM: What art do you most identify with?
SR: I’m attracted to art that highlights repetition and pattern while still maintaining an organic sensibility. Near-symmetry and flawed reproduction are mainstays of my production process.
Lyra installed in 31 Women at Whitney Modern
MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history?
SR: Lee Bontecou’s sculpture work is stunning. It takes my breath away every time.
MKM: Is there a specific work from Lee Bontecou that you find interesting?
SR: Bontecou’s steel and canvas wall pieces are particularly inspiring for me, as I also work in metal. Her armatures are the stuff of dreams.
MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
SR: “Never assume anyone else’s motivations are the same as your own.” My high school Spanish teacher told me this, apropos of what I can’t remember. When I’m trying to decide how to best educate my audience about a particular topic, I try to remember that every viewer comes with their own history, their own learning, and their own prejudices. I want people to feel comfortable starting their learning from where they are right now.
MKM: What can we expect from you in the next year?
SR: In the next year I will be building a new group of installation sculptures for The Carrying Stones Project that tell the stories of some truly fascinating working women. Eventually, I’m going to publish a book of all the work from the project.
Working in multiple mediums, Josette Urso makes paintings, drawings and collages in direct response to her immediate environment. Large windows in her Brooklyn studio space afford her expansive views of the city, the weather, the light and colors, which all inform and inspire her work. Art making materials, in their variety, also nourish her practice. Urso’s approach to painting involves “moment-to-moment extrapolation where the contrasts and cross-fertilizations are cumulative, non-linear, free flowing and interpretive.” For Urso, space is “ambiguous and malleable” and she delights in the resulting acrobatic “mark making and image collision” on the canvas. With her collage works, Urso explores the dualities of information overload as it fuels our minds and creativity, but also desensitizes our attention. Her collages are packed with imagery that could both intrigue and overwhelm, but the information is ordered in a mandala like circle that conveys a sense of meditative peace amidst the spinning chaos of life.
Josette at work on a painting in her Brooklyn, NY studio
Growing up Urso’s parents brought creativity into their everyday lives; she describes her mom as “resourceful and fearless”. Her father, a math professor, also played the guitar. Both encouraged Urso’s artmaking, arranging lessons with students at the nearby university where he taught. Spending three semesters in New York during her undergrad years inspired her and made a profound impression. Urso immersed herself in the art, seeing everything she could, while becoming familiar with works by a wide range of artists. Women artists that have left a lasting impression on Urso include: Lee Krasner, Florentine Stettheimer, Anne Truitt and the choreographer Pina Bausch.
Collage materials and works in progress in Josette’s studio
Urso received her MFA from the University of South Florida in Tampa. Her work has been exhibited extensively, including exhibitions in New York at Markel Fine Arts, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, The Painting Center, The Drawing Center, The New York Public Library, The Bronx Museum of the Arts and in California at the Museum of Los Gatos and Chandler Fine Art. Urso has received grants and residencies including those from the NEA, Basil H. Alkazzi and the Gottlieb, Pollock-Krasner and Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundations as well as the Camargo Foundation, Ucross and Yaddo.
Sandy Ostrau Encountering Light Through the Fog, 2020 Oil on wood panel
An Interview with Sandy Ostrau
Sandy Ostrau
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?
SO: I grew up in Palo Alto. I enjoyed art making from a very young age. You could often find me surrounded by my treasured art supplies, drawing and coloring for hours at a time. One of my bedroom walls was covered entirely with bulletin board so I could hang my art.
MKM: Why did you pursue art?
SO: I started a business selling my designs on textiles and clothing and that launched my career of selling my art. I moved into painting because I was interested in learning to use oils. I found them to be a perfect medium for my style of art.
MKM: Where did you study art?
SO: I studied Art History and took drawing classes at UCSB. After college I have taken numerous drawing and painting classes at the Pacific Art League and Palo Alto Art Center.
MKM: Did you have any memorable art teachers?
Jim Smyth and Brigitte Curt have both been incredible teachers and mentors throughout the years. Brigitte Curt teaches impressionist plein-air painting and Jim Smyth is a drawing and figure painting instructor. They are excellent teachers and both accomplished artists.
Sandy Ostrau’s studio
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns?
SO: I arrive at my studio by 10 am and I begin my day by mixing colors. I find the rhythmic movement of using the palette knife to mix is a great warm up and I then have a palette to work with for the day. It’s a wonderful ritual to focus my attention and loosen me up. Most importantly it switches my thinking to a work mode.
MKM: How has your practice changed over time?
SO: It hasn’t changed much over the years other than I used to spend more time painting outdoors and now I do most of my painting in the studio.
MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums?
SO: I paint with oil paint, but I often sketch with graphite or ink and sometimes paint with acrylic on paper. I use paper and acrylic for studies.
MKM: Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?
SO: Print making. I’ve been thinking about it for a while and in the near future I’d like to try it out.
MKM: What themes do you pursue?
SO: Mostly I work at integrating the figure into my paintings, whether interiors or landscapes. I’m mainly a landscape painter but I use figurative elements to connect the viewer to my work and to instill a feeling into the painting.
MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
SO: My favorite tool is my large rolling palette cart that my husband built for me. I can wheel it around and it’s a big area for mixing a lot of paint. I use brushes and palette knives. I don’t really prefer one to the other and can transfer from one to the other easily. Also, Viva paper towels are essential.
Sandy Ostrau’s studio
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of?
SO: I did a painting that was exhibited in an exhibition called Inspired by David Park a few years ago. I sold the painting after the show to a couple that moved to Santa Rosa with that treasured painting a few months before their home (and the painting) burnt down. It was so tragic for the family to lose everything. They kept telling me how much they missed the painting too. In addition, I think my early small outdoor landscape paintings are very special because they allowed me to paint the same scene over and over and experiment with value, color and shape in a way that you just can’t working large in a studio. Working from nature not from photos I think produces the best work and really trains your eye.
MKM: What has been a seminal experience?
SO: Painting outdoors. It allows you to work directly from nature, make a lot of small works so you can learn the painting process without worrying about making a great painting, and work quickly. I came to love outdoor painting and working from nature. I actually prefer it to painting in the studio.
MKM: What art do you most identify with?
SO: The art of Nicholas De Stael, Edward Munch, Joan Brown, Kim Frohsin, David Park and Richard Diebenkorn are painters I greatly admire. Also, Masaccio from the early Renaissance.
MKM: What inspires you?
SO: Nature is what inspires me primarily. More specifically, I am always astounded by the beauty of California.
MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history?
SO: I am particularly interested in the work of Joan Brown. I love how she depicts her scenes with such simplicity yet she captures the gesture and persona of her subjects. The impasto paint and expressive brush and knife work is thrilling.
MKM: Is there a specific work from Joan Brown that you find interesting?
SO:Girl Standing, Girl Sitting 1962
MKM: Who are your female role models from history or present day?
SO: I have always admired Kim Frohsin for how dedicated and her accomplishments as an artist. She follows her own voice, which I admire. Her work is entirely original and expresses her own interpretation of the figure or any subject. She is also highly skilled as both a draftsperson and a painter.
MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
SO: There are two things my teacher Jim Smyth taught me that have been instrumental in my work. First, paint what the subject is “doing” rather than “what it looks like.” This is a way to shift your thinking so the work will express what is happening rather than just depicting a scene like a photograph; the work will have more feeling. The second is that value (light and dark) is more important than color, and the relationship and patterns created by dark and light is the basis for composition.
MKM: What is your dream project?
SO: I love creating a body of work for an exhibit, especially a solo exhibit.
MKM: What can we expect from you in the next year?
SO: More exploration of figure work and possibly some portraits; also larger works.
Sandy Ostrau is represented by Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, CA; Gallery North, Carmel, CA; Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA; Thomas Reynolds Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Anne Loucks Gallery, Glencoe, IL; LeeAnn Brook Fine Art, Nevada City, CA; Anne Neilson Fine Art, Charlotte, NC; Peterson Roth Gallery, Bend OR; and Meyer Vogl Gallery, Charleston, SC.
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?
JC: I grew up in Southern California, the only girl in a four-sibling household. Because of that I had my own room for the most part. My parents encouraged my natural making proclivities and put an old door on sawhorses in my room to use as a table. It gave me a place to make and experiment without interruption. It was a place away from brothers and a place to learn to be with myself. Looking back, I realize I never really acknowledged what a wonderful and supportive situation that was!
MKM: Why did you pursue art and where did you study?
JC: I pursued art because it was what I found enjoyable. I also got encouragement for my efforts. But it wasn’t really until college that I discovered the type of art that I wanted to pursue. I went to undergraduate school at several places- first Reed College where I was not a good fit and then at UCSB, and then at Stanislaus State in Turlock CA! It was at UC Santa Barbara that I happened to take a printmaking class, not really knowing anything about it. I had a wonderful (and handsome) TA and I was hooked.
MKM: Did you have any memorable teachers?
JC: In graduate school at San Francisco State , I had memorable teachers. (The handsome TA was great but mostly handsome!) John Ilhe really inspired a kind of technical appreciation that printmakers seems to get wrapped up in. There is so much technical jargon and protocol – printmakers can spend hours discussing the merits of wheat paste and paper. After graduate school I was lucky to meet Kay Bradner owner of Katherine Lincoln Press. Working for Kay is where my real knowledge of printmaking took off. I learned to print all kinds of prints, wipe all kinds or ways and appreciate printmaking in an entirely new way. From the “grunts” perspective to the distinguished printmakers proof. I believe Kay was the best teacher I ever had, and I still call her occasionally for help.
Jen Cole in the studio
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? rituals, patterns?
JC: My daily routine is relaxed now as I retired my jewelry business when my husband retired. I usually manage to get to Kala three days a week and other days I work at home or do “laundry” (the symbolic word for home activities). But mornings are always devoted to a meditation practice and walking the dog or/and yoga. If I can do these activities before arriving at Kala, I am ready to work.
I love the process of printmaking so much that I often let this take a long time and finishing a print is a nice outcome that sometimes happens. It means I go to work and really just enjoy whatever problem presents itself during the making of a plate. I work with very little premeditated imagery. My prints evolve and transform a great deal over time. Physical labor is definitely part of my process- scraping, burnishing, re-etching, re-aquatinting. For monotypes this means many layers and covering up parts of images that don’t work and tearing images down, whatever it takes to discover what I am looking for.
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of?
JC: Being proud of artwork is a relatively new experience. When I started teaching monotype at Kala about five years ago, I realized that I was actually very well informed. Students give so much, and I have learned to become a better teacher as well.
MKM: What has been a seminal experience?
JC: Most of my seminal experiences have been of the internal kind of work–which most definitely is expressed in some way through my art. Maybe my most seminal experience was to finally understand that what I was learning through meditation and internal self-exploration was actually expressed visually in my art. It’s hard to verbalize but the joy that comes when working on printmaking is such a lovely and opening experience and that experience becomes the image.
MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?
JC: There are many artists whose work I love- Paul Klee, Kiki Smith, Kazuko Watanabi, Sean Caulfield, Golbanou Moghaddas… so many more. I like so many kinds of images. But I love prints most of all – above all other forms of art.
MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
JC: The best advice that was ever given me was when my kids were young and a colleague of my husband said, “be flexible”. Buddha has a lot or good advice too like “things change”.
MKM: What is your dream project?
JC: My dream project would be to have a year to just work away on prints; actually I am living my dream now!
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative? Why did you pursue art?
MC: Although I was born in NYC, I grew up in Maine and Nova Scotia, I had an idyllic childhood full of beachcombing for sand dollars and amethyst, canoeing on lakes and building forts in the woods. I lingered in orchards of apple blossoms, and hillsides of lupine. I gathered wild blueberries, blackberries and picked apples in the fall. In winter there was cross-country skiing and all year long there were crafts! My mother and grandmother taught me embroidery, sewing, crochet, quilting, rug hooking, rug braiding, block printing, refinishing furniture, woodworking and painting – there was always the sense that you could do anything! I loved drawing and painting the most, and though art was not available in our schools, I enjoyed the odd lesson, including watercolor classes by Mi’kmaq artist, Leonard Paul, and I was chosen for a summer art intensive at Acadia University conducted by Jeannie Edmonds Hancock and David MacNeil, culminating in a show opened by Alex Colville! Although I was always interested in going to art school, this one-on-one with these artists made me understand that it was possible to have a life as a working artist. I couldn’t not make art!
MKM: Where did you study?
MC: I earned my BFA from Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada where I majored in painting, and minored in sculpture and photography. I graduated with honors and was awarded a Lavina Esterbrooks Art Scholarship and later a Canada Council Explorations Grant.
MKM: Can you tell us about your memorable teachers?
MC: My teachers from University were all memorable in their own way, Thaddeus Holownia (photography), Rebecca Burke (painting), Tom Henderson (sculpture), David Silverberg (printmaking), John Asimakos (foundation), Dan Steeves, (printmaking), Terry Graff (sculpture), David Bobier (sculpture). Mount Allison allowed me the time, space and support to focus on developing my work and style.
Marie outside of her studio
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns?How has your practice changed over time?
MC: My favorite thing is to have a long stretch of undisturbed time to work in my studio. I can see my studio beckoning me from my breakfast table and I like to get out there with a hot cup of coffee as soon as I’m fueled up! Ideally, it’s a Monday morning and I’m starting with a new canvas full of possibility, reference material (if needed) already printed out and gridded up, creamy paint squeezed out and clean brushes on hand. I like to listen to NPR, it keeps me connected and engaged without being obtrusive, it helps to keep me in the moment and in front of my easel. I am at my best in the morning, so I try to protect that quality painting time by scheduling all the other stuff (research, photography, prep, cleaning, applications, social media, appointments and gallery visits) for late afternoons, evenings and weekends where possible. I take breaks in my garden to stretch my body and eyes, to get some clean air and to see what’s blooming or why the birds are making a ruckus. It’s all about honoring the flow and showing up for it. Routines definitely change over time. When my children were small, I would snatch what time I could, turning artistic pursuits that were more child-friendly, like photography (in which they were often the subject). Currently, I like to rotate through my various series, working on something very large, followed by something very tiny, working with something very familiar, then playing with unfamiliar materials, this helps to keep things fresh.
MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums?
MC: I am primarily an oil painter, working in imaginative realism, with the narrative taking precedence over the medium, but I also love to dabble in mixed media assemblage and even encaustic to explore and appropriate the intrinsic properties of various mediums and objects as part of the message, reinforcing the narrative.
MKM: Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?
MC: I was given some exquisite crushed shell pigment from Japanese artist, Hiroko Ohno, which she uses in her amazing Galaxy paintings. I am saving it for something special, perhaps a mixed media painting; an ode to the ocean.
MKM: What themes do you pursue?
MC: I have several themes that thread through my work. I like to reflect on the fleeting nature of life which makes beauty even more precious due to its ephemerality. I bring this perspective to my environmental work, (Critical Masses, Birds and Teacups, All Water is Holy, Fade to White) and human nature pieces (People in my Neighborhood, Florilegia, Tattooed Babies, and portraits in general). I like to lace my narratives with contrasts, wild and domestic, light and dark, life and death, beauty and sadness, holy and profane. White hummingbirds and deer, (seemingly conjured but real) are examples of recurring motifs in my work, symbolizing the startling moments of beauty in an increasing ugly and domesticated world. My lexicon also includes teacups, shells and anything ocean…then there are my portraits. One day they will all come together.
MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
MC: My paintbrushes are my most important tool and it’s criminal how I neglect them, but without them in tip-top condition all is drudgery and missteps!
Inside Marie’s studio
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of? Why?
MC:Memento Mori (1998) is the piece I’m most proud of. It’s a painting of a visual field of mussel shells bisected by the impression of a barnacle and seaweed covered basalt cross. For me it’s the perfect synthesis of personal and historic narrative, laced with environmental symbolism. The up-tilted, in-your-face perspective and scale, the use of masses of naturalistic shells with a centralized, surreal element (symbolizing a human interaction) all feels unique to me and this piece continues to hold a central spot in my heart and studio, giving rise to the entire Critical Masses series.
Studio shot of Memento Mori, 1998
MKM: What has been a seminal experience?
MC: I would say I have two seminal experiences; 1) traveling to Pakistan with Canada World Youth helped me to see myself as a global citizen, to grow in empathy and understanding and perspective, and upon my return, 2) making my home in a small seaside church in rural Nova Scotia, exploring how the impact of culture, history and nature would inspire my art making process, throughout art school and beyond. I carry the influence of these connections in my work and life to this day.
MKM: What art do you most identify with?
MC: Imaginative Realism
MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?
MC: Nature is my primary inspiration, I love to spend time by the sea, hiking in the woods or even in my own garden which attracts many birds and deer, reptiles and insects. I take loads of reference photos and mental notes. I also love antiquing, pondering what these objects can say about who we are. I think combining intriguing objects of our past with nature can make for interesting and even powerful representations, harnessing the power of the familiar but in unfamiliar contexts. Gallery and museum going is also endlessly inspirational, I love learning how other artists have approached their work, and feeling part of this [art] community.
MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history?
MC: Ha! I am wearing a Frida Kahlo T-shirt as I write this! Frida Kahlo, all day, every day! I love the way she was able to tell her personal narrative through her art in a way that was grounded in her cultural tradition but also universally accessible, using a lexicon of powerful and totemic imagery and color she elevated the personal to the iconic. She painted through pain and love and pain, living her life as art. I draw so much inspiration from her as a person, as an artist and a feminist!
MKM: Is there a specific work from Frida Kahlo that you find interesting?
MC:Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940. I love the direct gaze and all the symbolism she communicates with in this densely packed portrait with its shallow depth of field. I feel her power and passion emanating from this work like an icon.
MKM: As we think about Women’s History Month, who are your female role models from history or present day?
MC: Frida Kahlo, Maria Sibylla Merian, Ayesha Durrani, Malala Yousafzai, Michele Pred, Elizabeth Kolbert, Rachel Carson and Rachel Maddow, Greta Thunberg, Toni Morrison, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Danielle Krysa, Rina Banerjee, Pantea Karimi, Ana Theresa Fernández and Maude Lewis!
Marie with recent work: (left) Unwilding, 2020, oil on canvas; (center) Periphery, 2020, oil on canvas; (right) Hinterland, 2020, oil on canvas
MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
MC: To follow your passion and to believe in yourself. I know how cliché this sounds, but it takes a lot of dedication and perseverance to be an artist. You must deeply love what you do to stay with it through the struggle of each piece and over the larger arc of finding your voice and developing your process. You must have the confidence that what you find authentically interesting and that which resonates fully in your own heart is worth exploring and will speak to others as well.
MKM: What is your dream project?
MC: I would like to see my Critical Masses paintings on exhibit in sea-side art museums with related sculpture installations and a companion series of speakers addressing ocean health and the importance of biodiversity and sustainability.
MKM: What can we expect from you in the next year?
MC: Melting oysters, a bombardment of barnacles and an abundance of abalone.
Marie Cameron is currently represented by Curated in Capitola, CA http://mariecameronstudio.com
Sherry Karver “At the Edge of Perception”, 2018 Photo images, oil, narrative text, and resin surface
An Interview with Sherry Karver
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?
SK: I was born and raised in Chicago, and as an only child I found ways to be creative at a very early age. I collected rocks and shells and built little sculptures with them on the kitchen table. My father was a tailor, so often there were scraps of fabric and large shears at home that I wanted to use even when I was just three or four years old – round kid’s scissors were not for me! My mother worked for a company that made the colored squares for paint chip samples and she brought home extra samples that I cut up to create collages. I was probably the only child who knew what color aubergine or chartreuse was.
I attended children’s painting classes on Saturdays at the Art Institute of Chicago when I was about 9 or 10. Classes started before the Art Institute was open to the public, so the kids were allowed to come in early and wander through the museum by ourselves, on our way to the classrooms which were in the basement at that time. The lights were barely turned on yet, and the semi-dark, cool hallways filled with art left a great impression on me. There was a simple obscure door between the famous paintings that opened into the school section, and when I opened the door the smell of oil paint and turpentine immediately hit my nostrils and it was delicious.
MKM: Why did you pursue art? Where did you study? Memorable teachers?
SK: Although I always loved art, I didn’t seriously pursue it in college because I didn’t think there was any way I could make a living doing it, and my parents weren’t going to pay for college unless I studied something “useful”. So, I got my undergrad degree in Sociology from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. I took one or two art classes each semester, and during my senior year I took a class in ceramics and the rest is history. I was hooked! Clay spoke to me like nothing else ever did, and even though I had already been accepted to a graduate program in Sociology, I decided not to go, and instead started doing ceramics full-time. The teacher who inspired me in this early stage at IU was John Goodheart.
I moved back to Chicago and had the wonderful and magical opportunity to open my own ceramic shop and studio with a business partner Barbara (Bobby) Prignano. Since we were both relative beginners to ceramics, it was quite an undertaking to open a shop. I don’t know if we were just dumb, naive, or ballsy!
During this time, I went back to the Art Institute of Chicago and to Loyola University part-time and took more ceramic classes to hone my skills. The teachers who inspired me and were most supportive at this time were Harris Deller and Bill Hoffman. Also, I met the amazing ceramic artist Ruth Duckworth, who really became my main inspiration even though I never had the opportunity to study with her. She was really the only female artist I was aware of at the time who was a ceramic professor and did large scale wall sculptures in public places. To this day I love her work.
After four successful years of having the ceramic shop/studio in Chicago, I decided I really wanted to teach ceramics on the college level, so I went back to graduate school at the Newcomb School of Art of Tulane University, in New Orleans, LA, where I received my MFA in ceramics and minored in glass. My terrific teacher Gene Koss taught me the work ethic I have today, and how to compete in a man’s world. I went on to teach ceramics at San Diego State University; Chico State University; U. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; and Laney College in Oakland, CA.
Sherry Karver in her studio
MKM: How has your practice changed over time?
SK: Although I continued to teach ceramics until just last year, and I did many large-scale 2D wall sculptures that are in numerous public corporations and private homes, my own work gradually shifted around 1996. My work evolved into photography and painting, adding narrative text around 2000. This might seem like a drastic change from ceramics, but really it was just a hop, skip, and jump away. I was already working with clay in 2D on the wall, using representational imagery, and painting on the clay. It just gradually morphed into a different medium. I still do ceramics on the side, just for enjoyment, but professionally I only exhibit my photo-based paintings, and most recently have been doing photography that is printed as dye sublimation on metal.
Works from the “Movement Interrupted” series
MKM: What themes do you pursue?
SK: I pursue a couple of different themes in my two-ongoing series. My photo-based work combines photo images that I take in public places, with oil paint, narrative text, and resin surface on wood panels. This series called “Identity and Perception”, confronts today’s individual and societal issues so rampant in our impersonal metropolitan areas: alienation, loneliness, loss of identity, time passage, and how others view us. I write fictional bios on some of the figures as a way to personalize them and make them stand out from the crowd since we each have a unique story to tell.
My photography series called “Movement Interrupted”, harnesses data corruption glitches for aesthetic purposes. I photograph my TV screen when the images pixelate due to uneven reception. It seems we are in a difficult time in history where things are disintegrating and falling apart which is what this series represents. Currently, I am focusing just on these two related mediums, but I can see pursuing more traditional oil painting in the near future. Changes in medium happen very gradually for me over time and are an outgrowth of one another.
Sherry’s studio
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? rituals, patterns?
SK: I don’t really have a daily routine or pattern. I think my routine is to not have one! The reason for this is that every day is different. I spend about equal or more time doing the business aspect of my art, so when one of my galleries asks me to send images, price list, etc. I have to do that right away. Art is a full-time business for me, and I am good at multi-tasking to make sure everything gets done, but the order of when it’s done always varies.
MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
SK: There are many tools I can’t do without in my studio as they all work together to create my art. The computer, the printer, and my camera are essential, as are my oil paints, brushes, etc. It would be impossible to choose just one item.
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of? Why?
SK: I also don’t have just one artwork that I am prouder of than another – maybe one of my large-scale ceramic wall sculptures because they were technically difficult and complex to make.
MKM: What has been a seminal experience?
SK: A seminal experience for me actually happened many years ago, which encouraged me to make the switch from ceramic wall sculpture to photo-based painting as my main focus. I had been invited to send 5 or 6 large ceramic pieces to a group show at a university in Los Angeles. The university had applied for a grant to ship all the work, but at the last moment the grant fell through and there was no money for shipping. Since my work was large and heavy, requiring separate crates for each piece, I couldn’t afford to send the work, and had to withdraw from being in the show. The university was upset about this, as was I.
Then a thought hit me – I had 6 small photo-based mixed media paintings in my studio that I had just begun playing around and experimenting with and had never shown them to anyone except my husband. I asked if I could send those instead – all fit into one box, and the university was thrilled. After sending them off I began worrying that maybe they wouldn’t be good enough in comparison to the other artists in the show (one was a NY painter), since this series was very new for me and quite ‘beginnerish’. Long story short, they were a big hit, hung in the window of the university gallery, one sold, and the NY artist and I became great friends. At that seminal moment I knew I could go full force professionally with my new series, compete on a national level, and I never looked back.
MKM: What art do you most identify with?
SK: I like a lot of different art, mainly contemporary, but I don’t really ‘identify’ with any one school or ‘ism’. I’ve always been on my own trajectory, and don’t get influenced by other’s work, even if I admire it. I didn’t have much influence from women artists, or women in general when I was in school or even now. It would have been nice to have a female mentor to look up to, but that never happened. Maybe that’s for the better – I always had to forge my own path.
MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?
SK: One wall sculpture I always liked at the Art Institute of Chicago was by Lee Bontecou, who I had assumed was a man, and was thrilled to find out many years later that Lee was a woman! Other than the ceramic sculptor Ruth Duckworth, there aren’t any women from art history that I relate to. Of course, I was aware of such artists as Sonia Delaunay, Louise Bourgeois, Louise Nevelson, and Eva Hesse, but their work didn’t resonate for me personally, though I admire their visions and technical skills.
MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
SK: The best piece of advice was given to me by a friend who was a financial advisor. I called him after I made my first big sale of a ceramic wall sculpture back in the early ’90’s for $1,000. I asked if I should invest it in stocks, bonds, CD’s, etc. He said, “Invest it in yourself”. I followed that advice and bought a really good camera. I have followed that advice ever since.
MKM: What is your dream project? What can we expect from you in the next year?
SK: My dream project would be to have a solo exhibition in a major museum like NY MOMA, The Met, The Art Institute of Chicago, etc. or at a big New York gallery. I do have gallery representation in various cities, and in the next year I plan on continuing to create and show my art as much as possible. Since this is how I make my living, it’s important for me to sell my art too. I am working on getting representation in a New York gallery, as well as a local gallery in San Francisco. You can expect to see new art from me in the coming year!
Sherry Karver’s work is held in more than 175 public and private collections and exhibited nationally. She has is represented by Stremmel Gallery, Reno, NV; Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA; Shayne Gallery, Montreal, Quebec, Canada and Cumberland Gallery Advisory, Nashville, TN
Stephanie Peek Last Paradise II, 2016 Oil on panel Courtesy of Satellite of Love Gallery, San Francisco
Suspended in silence, these flowers speak for me of fragile beauty and the ephemeral nature of worldly concerns. Flowers traditionally represent the intransience of life, a kind of memento mori, yet the very fact that they ever existed can afford solace and be seen as an intimation of beauty as an immortal quality. – Stephanie Peek
An Interview with Stephanie Peek
MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?
SP: The genesis of much of my painting is the garden of La Pietra in Florence. This Italian garden triggered memories of a garden I had known as a child. Revisiting these sites of memory in my studio, I became aware that paintings themselves could be a refuge, as gardens are in real life; they could be a site of meditation.
This romantic notion inspired my Dark Arcadia series exhibited at the Berkeley Art Museum and was furthered during my stay as a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome, where I studied more Renaissance gardens. Into one of these dark paintings, I painted a loose rendering of a deep red flower from a still life by 17th Century painter Rachel Ruysch. She painted from age 15 to age 83 while raising 10 children. Her floral work is free and luscious; rich colors glow out of dark backgrounds.
In addition to floral borrowings from the Northern European tradition, I appropriate flowers, leaves, insects from many different sources, for example, the iconic magnolia from the 19th century American painter Martin Johnson Heade. I also work from direct observation and photography.
I have also been inspired by the writings of Agnes Martin and Barbara Hepworth because they bring a spiritual dimension to their practice. Mostly, my intelligent painter friends have been the most inspiring by being both encouraging and critical.
Stephanie Peek’s studio
MKM: Where did you study?
SP: At Wellesley College. Weekly studio classes accompanied the art history eras we were studying. For example, when studying early Italian Renaissance painters like Fra Angelico, we learned how to apply gold leaf and paint with egg tempura; when studying the Early Northern Renaissance oil painters like Van Eyck, we practiced underdrawing overlaid with layers of oil paint glazes.
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? rituals, patterns?
SP: My daily studio routine begins with a review of my previous day’s work. At the end of each day, I stick pieces of tape on the painting to remind me where to enter back into the canvas. My practice has not changed much over the years. I am less conscious of technique; just as in The Zen of Motorcycle Maintenance, I keep my tools in the same place, so I don’t have to think as I reach for particular brushes or colors. But I do get a charge from new colors now and then, such as Robert Doaks’ unique paints. I stick with oil paint although I’ve worked in many different mediums, such as Japanese brushwork and watercolors.
MKM: What is your dream project?
SP: My dream project would be to paint wall work as if I were surrounded by gardens remembered from my childhood.
Stephanie prepares her palette
Stephanie Peek is represented by Seager Gray Gallery, Mill Valley, CA ; Satellite of.Love, San Francisco, CA; SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Michelle Bello Fine Art Consulting; Sloan Miyasato, San Francisco, CA; Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA; Argazzi Art, Lakeville, CT; Jason McCoy Gallery, New York, NY; The Great Highway Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Jeanne Vadeboncoeur 12. Bologna, 2020 Oil on canvas
An Interview with Jeanne Vadeboncoeur
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?
JV: I grew up in Cupertino, and except for a brief stint in Southern California for college, I have always lived and worked in the Bay Area. I’ve always been creative but have strong analytical side too. I think that’s why my work is so literal and precise.
MKM: Why did you pursue art?
JV: I thought that I had found the perfect blend of art and science in the field of art restoration and was heading that direction when an opportunity came my way to take a more traditional studio arts/gallery artist path. I fully admit [I’m] a path of least resistance kind of gal, and when that door opened, I went through it.
MKM:Where did you study?
JV: Laguna College of Art and Design (called Art institute of Southern California when I attended) and San Jose State University.
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns?
JV: [I don’t really have a routine or ritual,] except that I make huge messes. Truly bomb-went-off in the studio, tornado passed through, earthquake aftermath, kind of mess, which is very at odds with my finished work. Also, I’m much more productive at night. Working at 10am feels forced and awkward, while at 10pm I am hitting my creative stride.
Jeanne in her studio on a “fainting couch turned painting couch”. Her favorite place to work when the pieces are small enough to permit.
MKM: How has your practice changed over time?
JV: Works have gotten larger. There was a time when I considered 24” x 24” “big”. Also, I’ve embraced canvas, which I used to hate as a surface for painting on. A side effect of working large: 6 foot + hardboard panels become unwieldy and impractical.
MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums? Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?
JV: I focus mostly on oil and alkyds on canvas or panel. I would love to do more with paper. I have files full of papers I have collected but haven’t figured out what I’m going to do with them yet.
MKM: What themes do you pursue?
JV: My work is very object oriented. Sometimes the objects are stand-ins for interpersonal relationships and other times they are just strict glorification of the everyday and ordinary. I like to include a touch of humor or nostalgia whenever possible.
MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
JV: My reference objects. I always start each piece with an actual real-life item. If I can’t find what I want to paint – I make it. I can’t live without an audiobook playing and keeping me company in my studio.
MKM: What has been a seminal experience?
JV: On a personal level I think making that leap to paint larger than life has had a massive impact on my work. Outside myself, the Daily Painters or Painting-A –Day movement, though I never participated in it, really opened my eyes to how everyday mundane items could make interesting paintings.
MKM: What art do you most identify with?
JV: Anything narrative, but you have to work for it. Nothing too literal, but just enough of a hint of a story.
MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?
JV: Surfaces. I love figuring out how to recreate the illusion of a given surface.
MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history?
JV: Wendy Pini. She is the artist and co-creator of an independent comic called Elf-Quest. I don’t quite know how she fits in the pantheon of woman artists in an art history context, but I do know I can credit her for single handedly launching me from a child who liked art to self-actualized artist.
MKM: Who are your female role models from history or present day?
JV: Most of my female role models have been familial or literary. [For example, in my family I admire] the strength and endurance of my librarian paternal grandmother who went back to school for a masters while raising 10 kids. I remember visiting her at the Stanford Medical Library and being shown ancient texts that required gloves to handle. Literary role models were found in the “sheroes” created by Tamora Piece, Joan Aiken, Mercedes Lackey, and Anne McCaffrey. The characters I connected most to were tough, independent, problem-solving girls and women.
Rozanne Hermelyn Unrepeated, 2020 Monoprint, oil on paper
“They say identical, but we are not. They say interchangeable, but we are individual.”
Unrepeated honors human diversity and expresses the tension and duality between what is universal and what is unique. As with every human life, no one-paint stroke is exactly the same. We may all share a common form, but we differ in race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, skills, and many other attributes. Collectives have flourished because of the innovative alchemy that occurs when diverse people and ideas merge to collaborate and create. However, in many diverse cultures the history of intolerance is long and callous. To heal intolerance, it is critical to develop prosocial skills like empathy and forgiveness, to cultivate relationships across differences, and to value individuality. Diverse communities thrive when they appreciate and protect what is universal and unique. – RH
Rozanne Hermelyn is a San Francisco Bay Area artist working in printmaking and mixed media. Since she can remember, she has painted, drawn and followed her passion for the arts. Hermelyn tells us “I’ve been creative every day most of my life. It’s like breathing – not a want, but a need.”
Growing up in Los Angeles, Hermelyn attended UCLA and Art Center College of Design, receiving a BA in design and BFA in graphic and package design, with distinction. She moved to San Francisco to begin her career and within five years became owner of Arc & Line Communications.
After twenty years in her successful design business, Hermelyn has now transitioned to focus full-time on fine art. She has been awarded Best of Show and 1st place in numerous exhibitions, her work is shown nationally and abroad, and can be found in the permanent collections of the Harvard Art Museums and the Library of Congress. Rozanne at the Boston Printmakers 2019 North American Biennial. The Boston Printmakers 2019 North American Print Biennial presents the best in contemporary and traditional printmaking, and has long been recognized as one of the most prestigious events in printmaking. Her piece, “Facts Are Stubborn Things“, was selected to be the featured work to promote the event. “Facts Are Stubborn Things” was acquired into the permanent collection of the Harvard Art Museums.
31 Women – Artist Interview with Rozanne Hermelyn
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up?
RH: I was born in an English colony called British Guyana in South America. My mother is Portuguese and my father is Dutch and Chinese. My parents moved our family to Los Angeles for education opportunities when I was one. You could say my life was that of a stereotypical “California Girl”; school and beach on the weekdays, and beach and work on the weekends. For my college years, I lived in Westwood, studied at UCLA and explored the Hollywood scene. Two years after graduation, I went back to art school at Art Center College of Design. Both were very exciting and explorative times in my life.
MKM: Were you always creative?
RH: My mother was an amazing and talented fashion designer and seamstress, so I was surrounded by creative energy my entire life. I remember drawing a lot when I was young and making my own clothes with her through middle school. Around 12 years old, I dragged my entire family to the Getty Museum to see the Queen’s edition drawings by Leonardo Di Vinci. Soon after, I begged my mom to let me take the life drawing class at the adult education center where she took a painting class next door. I recall being the only youth in the class and I would sit in the front row without any thought, just like a pro. I laugh now because it would not be allowed today.
MKM:Why did you pursue art?
RH: After a very successful career in design, I felt it was time to speak with my own voice.
MKM: Where did you study?
RH: I enrolled in UCLA as a math major to appease my father, but a year and half later, I secretly applied to the Design department. I ended up graduating in design without him even realizing it. Actually to this day, I have never even told him about that. After graduating, I worked for a few LA design agencies. I soon learned the fastest way to get where I wanted was to go back to art school because, of course, I wanted to be a top creative director. I was so motivated that I again secretly applied to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Believe it or not, Art Center would not allow me to enter a Masters program because they did not accept the BA design degree I received from UCLA. I was required to enter the undergraduate program again to earn a BFA. At the time, I didn’t care what I had to do. Fortunately, they allowed me to enter as a sophomore, which was never heard of at the time, with a full scholarship.
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns?
RH: There is no routine in my creative process, especially in the conceptual initial phase. Sometimes an idea will come from experiences or contemplating the daily news. Sometimes it’s during a run, or in the state when I’m half awake, or in the shower. Sometimes it develops in an instant, or in a few days, or at times over years. I need to visualize the image first in my head, and it often develops right away, or sometimes over time like slow motion viewing. With every project it seems there are times I just hate the piece so I have learned to walk away, to absorb, stew, stew some more, and then jump back in. I can’t say how or when but my work always seems to need time to percolate and just become.
MKM: How has your practice changed over time?
RH: I have learned to accept and trust the images in my head and also the surprises that happen along the way. It’s all about following my gut that always leads.
MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums?
RH: I wasn’t trained as a “fine artist” in art school, but I have always studied life drawing and much later, oil painting. At some point, I came upon a book about Russian-American painter Sergei Bongart whose work just spoke to me. I would study the small red book I found with his recorded lessons. I remember his words “There are two kinds of artists, the emotional painter and academician…The academician always creates something acceptable, boring, but acceptable. The emotional artist often misses, but when he/she hits, it is breathtakingly beautiful…touched by the gods!” It all made sense to me, that a great painting should express an emotional message, and that the emotional connection was equally important as color relationships and values, painting passages, and modeling light. This drew me toward the monoprint printmaking technique that I love. Every stroke and mark made is recorded and the process is full of unknown surprises.
Rozanne in her studio
What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
That’s easy, my hands and eyes, but it would be difficult to live without my etching press.
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of? Why?
RH: Today, I am most proud of my “Facts are Stubborn Things”. It might be because it’s my newest piece. The image speaks of my worst frustration of today’s struggle between facts and truths. Rather than factual evidence, today unwelcome truths have become the narrative of reality. Facts have become overwhelmed by false information so it’s difficult to believe that the truth will overcome. Trust has been lost to fear.
What has been a seminal experience?
My mother’s death was a seminal experience. It marks the first time I entered a series of monoprint paintings into a juried show that won the Best of Show award for the exhibition. The images portrayed moments of the experience and suffering that comes with terminal cancer. They were my tribute and my final goodbye to my mother.
What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?
Sadness, fear, anger, happiness and joy inspire me. The emotional connection when making, seeing and experiencing art is universal. It is what makes art, art.
Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history? Is there a specific work from this artist that you find interesting?
I feel most connected to the pop art movement, maybe because of my design background. I appreciate the hidden messages, graphic contemporary style, use of typography and simplicity of image. Idelle Weber, an American pop artist, who later switched to photorealism, is known for her figurative silhouette paintings with bright colors (think Mad Men) and later her photorealist trash and litter work. She also went through phases of monotype works and collage. I really appreciate how she reinvented herself/work from one extreme to the other. Corita Kent also did some interesting things. She was a LA pop art screen print artist in the 50s and 60s, she juxtaposed ads, street signs, billboards with poetry, scripture and song lyrics, transforming them to hopeful messages and call for action. I love anything type.
Who are your female role models from history or present day?
I respect Angelina Jolie because she’s owned her bad-girl reputation while growing into an amazing humanitarian, aiding those in need and traveling to visit those suffering in places like Pakistan, Kosovo and Syria. She confronted her risk for cancer publically and then became a poster woman for breast cancer-related issues. Did I mention, I was the ‘bad girl’ of our family, following in my older brother’s foot-steps. My two sisters were rule followers while I was forging my own path.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Don’t waste your time and energy convincing yourself you can’t do something, instead spend that energy doing it. Believe you can and it will happen.
Opening March 1st and on view through April 12th, 2020, Whitney Modern Gallery is pleased to present 31 Women, an exhibition curated by Marianne McGrath with Karen Gutfreund and Suzanne Whitney-Smedt. 31 Women celebrates the work of 31 female artists in honor of Women’s History Month. Women’s History Month annually commemorates women’s contributions to history, culture and society throughout the United States. 2020 is an especially exciting and powerful year for women as it is also the 100th anniversary of the 19thAmendment, which granted the right to vote to women in the United States.
Highlighted individually throughout the exhibition are each artist’s process and inspiration, as well as her sense of connection to women in history and art history. Along with the show at Whitney Modern, artists will be featured on social media, blogs, websites and in the gallery – one woman each day for the month of March. This aspect of the show is intended to be a virtual exhibition that will be available to those out of the area, and it provides an opportunity to focus on a particular woman artist, emphasizing her unique practice and contributions to the art community.
Exhibiting artists from the Bay Area and beyond include: Shannon Amidon, Elizabeth Barlow, Marie Cameron, Linda Christensen, Jennifer Cole, Sara V. Cole, Kim Frohsin, Karen Gallagher-Iverson, Carla Goldberg, Michelle Greggor, Laura Gurton, Christine Hayman, Ellen Heck, Rozanne Hermelyn, Kelsey Irvin, Ivy Jacobsen, Julia Jensen, Pantea Karimi, Sherry Karver, Michelle Mansour, Brigitte McReynolds, Lisa Noonis, Sandy Ostrau, Stephanie Peek, Jennifer Pochinski, Astrid Preston, Carole Rafferty, Sawyer Rose, Jeanne Vadeboncoeur, Josette Urso, and Elena Zolotnisky.
The opening event for 31 Women will take place at Whitney Modern on Sunday, March 8th, International Women’s Day, from 12:00noon – 4:00pm. For more event information please contact Suzanne Whitney-Smedt at Whitney Modern Gallery (408) 402-5922.
Marianne McGrath is an art historian, independent curator and consultant. After a successful decade with New Museum Los Gatos and The Museums of Los Gatos curating exhibits and presenting art and education programs, Marianne founded MKM Art Consulting, which offers curatorial projects and consulting services to art institutions, galleries and artists. Marianne holds a BA degree in Art, MA degree in Art History and her professional affiliations include ArtTable, College Art Association and the Women’s Caucus for Art. mkmARTconsulting.com
Suzanne Smedt is director/owner of Whitney Modern Gallery. Since opening more than two years ago, Whitney Modern has become Silicon Valley’s Contemporary Fine Art Gallery, fulfilling the need for high quality fine art in the South Bay. Whitney Modern is committed to engaging the community through the creative experience by showcasing thought provoking, collectible works of art from internationally recognized, mid-career and emerging contemporary fine artists.
Karen Gutfreund is a curator, exhibition director and art consultant, as well as an artist. Her focus is “art as activism” to create dialog and social change; a strong focus is promoting women in the arts through national exhibitions. Karen has worked in the Painting & Sculpture Department for MoMA, the Andre Emmerick Gallery, The Knoll Group, the John Berggruen Gallery, Arc Gallery and the Pacific Art League. Karen is a member of ArtTable, CAA, the Women’s Caucus for Art and The Feminism Art Project (TFAP).
