First artist interview, sunshine, and "Off with her head!"
Today I started interviewing fellow artists. Meet Penny Dell! She is a mixed media artist from New York. She draws, paints, does printmaking, encaustic painting, collages, the list goes on. Recently, she has been exploring hexagons. Pictured here, Penny created hexagons from the inside of various envelopes that contain customized prints depending on the company. Some are from Bank of America, American Express, and even Ireland. She’s also repurposing printed luggage tags and barcodes from different airports. The contrasting yellow dyed paper she found in the residency ‘supply closet’ left by a previous artist. How fun that she’s making beautiful art with the help of another artist! I love her use of indigo dye, the bright yellow paper, and the blue print from the inside of the envelopes to create depth, contrast, and dimension.Â
Everyday here in Orquevaux has been mostly cloudy & rainy. Today, the sun shone through as I walked from my house to the chateau. After I arrived, it began raining. I got lucky! The area is so green, even with the changing leaves. Nothing more picturesque than a pair of swans on the pond.Â
Now for my work…..I’m creating a wall panel in relief. The wood panel is wrapped in 4 layers of fabric. The top layer is a rich, thick, black velvet. I will be stitching on sculptural crochet pieces to create a scene. Picture Paris, 1897. The Moulin Rouge, Montmartre, artists of the time and the absinthe they drank! Absinthe; The Green Fairy, (la fee verte). This panel will be the 1st of a series of “Green Fairies”. This panel will have a green fairy flying up into the night sky on an absinthe glass, balancing on a spoon while feeding a sugar cube to the moon. Crazy right? Well, that’s absinthe for you! The influence is Art Nouveau artists, Mucha, Klimt, and even Erte (Art Deco). Colors are pastels & metallics with elements of symmetrical, organic line-work, and fun characters and objects that take you back in time with a dreamy midnight scene only begotten by drinking enough absinthe to see “The Green Fairy”. Â
Absinthe was invented around 1792 and includes green anise and fennel giving the potent drink it’s licorice flavor and iconic iridescent green color. There is a lot of controversy around the spirit but it has made a revival. To find out the whole juicy story of why it was banded, check out this great article: https://sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/the-devil-in-a-little-green-bottle-a-history-of-absinthe/
Today was a slow day but I learned a lot. I wasn’t happy with the fairy’s head, so I beheaded her…….4 times! I’m currently working on head #5! I believe this will be a keeper. As my roommate mentioned, “this residency is the only place you’ll hear someone say, “I beheaded my fairy today.”” In the meantime, I began exploring positioning of the moon. Thanks for reading and more to come!Â
Thank you Stacy for your excellent questions and active listening interviewing me—and thank you describing my work so beautifully! I must also thank you for the silk thread you found for my pierced rock—and for the new, adjustable, way you showed me to tie it🧶🪢🪢🪡
You are most welcome!