CIVA Network

I now have a page on the CIVA Network.
Check it out at http://civa-artists.ning.com/profile/NancyGoes

I still have not completed any new work and I'm not sure when I'll get back in the studio. After the first of the year we'll be heading to sunny Florida for 3 months. I'm hoping that the warm weather will get those creative juices flowing again.

Advent

"The Mystery"
mixed media collage

I haven't made any new art for several months as I have been working on Christmas gifts and cards. However I did have an older piece framed recently. It seemed appropriate to the season so I thought I would share it.

6 weeks

It's been 6 weeks to the day since my knee surgery. All went well and I am healing but still have a little way to go. I was hoping my recovery period would give me a lot of time to make new work, but the creative juices just don't seem to be flowing yet. I will be sending this older piece to the Doane College exhibition.

"Tenderness"
monoprint, drawing & thread on canvas

Time Off

This will be the last posting for a month or so. I am having knee replacement surgery on Sept. 6. While I'm rehabbing I will be working on one more icon for inclusion in an exhibition at Doane College in NE in Nov.

I have lots of ideas for the "frames" but probably won't get to them until next spring as a bunch of other projects take priority over the winter.



"Mountain Wildflowers"
necklace: beads and copper



Necklace: copper, brass and paper



They're Off!

YEA! Today I shipped my work to the University of Dayton for my solo exhibition that runs from Sept. 6 to Nov. 11, 2011. After the show opens you can read about it online at http://campus.udaytonedu./mary/gallery.html and click on current exhibit.
I've been working toward this show for many years and it feels good to have come to completion.

Without the icons my studio walls were very bare so I have hung these frames that I bought in Santa Fe, NM years ago. I am waiting for the Spirit's inspiration. This is the first time that I will have started with the frame.

Blue Madonna

I have completed all 30 pieces for my exhibition in September with this Blue Madonna.

Jackstraw

brass, copper, paper

I created these 4 pieces of jewelry for Marjorie Cranston's Jackstraw Gallery in Grand Lake. The graphic inserts in the bracelets are snippets from cards of Marjorie's beautiful pastel paintings. The beadwork in the necklaces was inspired by her paintings. The outside dimension of the pendants is 2" square and the beadwork is 1 1/4" square.

copper and glass beads

copper and glass beads

My Brother

"EVE" by Geoff Koetsch

My younger brother, Geoffrey Koetsch, is a professor of art at the Art Institute of Boston @ Lesley College. He works in sculpture, photography, installation and multi-media . As an adult he surprised me when he told me that I was his inspiration to become an artist. Our work is very different in many ways. For one, he works large and I work small, so I was surprised and honored when he asked me to collaborate on a piece a few years ago. I was to select one of several figurative sculptures to work with, to transform any way I chose. I selected his Eve, a sculpture cast in polyester resin. My desire was to transform this Eve of the fall into the redeemed Eve, Mary, the mother of God, redeemed through Christ. In an exhibition at ArtSpace Gallery in Maynard, MA in 2010 three Eves formed a larger whole (see bottom photo). From the beautiful exhibition catalogue I quote my brother: "I am a dropout from three of the world's great religions, and my Eve is a product of Eros, so the statue of Eve has been redeemed by my sister. Thus the work has three aspects: Eve of the origin of the world (cosmic egg), Eve of the fall, and Eve as Mary."

In this piece I wanted to represent the redeemed Eve through the beaded veil. The veil is a redemptive covering. Gold, the symbol of divine intelligence, the color of God and divinity. The star on her forehead symbolizes the star of the nativity. For the veil I used a netting stitch with glass beads on fireline.

Eve redeemed



The three aspects of Eve









Art out of Thin Air



Under the Sea



The third annual AOTA exhibition opened to a large and appreciative crowd last Tuesday evening at the Pole Creek Golf Club near
Tabernash, CO. Art Out of Thin Air is a loosly structured coalition of Grand County artists of all media. We meet once a month at varying locations and show our work once a year at Pole Creek.

The above mermaid was runnerup in the people's choice selection. My second entry is the necklace below. For those of you in the area, the show runs until August 1.



copper, glass beads, ammonite



sketches: Day 7

God Blessed the Seventh Day and Made it Holy

By the seventh day God finished the work

 He had been doing, so on the seventh day He rested from all His work.

Genesis 2:2

The center square represents the heavens and the earth and the circle of pearls is the symbol of completion.

sketches: Days 5 and 6

Living Creatures/Man

Genesis 1:20-31

God created the creatures of the sea and every winged bird. (day 5)

God created living creatures according to their kinds. Then God said "Let us make man in our image". (day 6)

God saw all He had made and it was very good.

sketches: Evening and Morning

Evening and Morning

In some translations the Bible concludes every day of creation with "and there was evening and there was morning.....the first day, the second day, the third day, and so forth up to the 6th day.

Our annual drive to Florida starts with a very early morning drive through eastern Colorado before the sun comes up. The upper left hand sketch was inspired by this year's sunrise with the morning star in the sky.

sketches: Day 4

Lights in the Sky

"God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars"
Genesis 1:14-19

(It always seemed strange to me that vegetation came before the sun was created)

sketches: Day 3

Lands, Seas, Vegetation

Genesis 1:9-13

God said "Let the waters under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear." God called the dry ground "land" and the gathered waters He called "seas". Then God said "Let the land produce vegetation........"

sketches:Second Day

Separation of the Waters

And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water". God called the expanse "sky".

Genesis 1: 6-8

This was difficult for me to visualize as I am familiar with the images of water on this earth and not "waters" of the heavens. Perhaps the image top/right is the most successful?

sketches: Let There Be Light

Four more sketches on the creation.

Genesis 1:3

"God saw that the light was good and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day" and the darkness He called "night" the first day.

sketches: In the Beginning

A year ago my friend, Sherry Stiles, and I challanged one another to do a sketch a day for a period of time. I decided I was not happy doing drawings on paper and I wanted to do mine with beads. (Needless to say I am not able to do a sketch a day.) Doing these small beaded pieces is giving me a chance to experiment with different ideas, textures and bead stitches. The result of this challange is this first series, "Sketches: Creation" based on the biblical story of the creation of the world. Each "day" consists of 4 2"x2" sketches using glass seed beads stitched on pelon then glued to a 4 3/4" square canvas. I will post a new sketch every day.



"In the Beginning"

Genesis 1: 1&2 - "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."

bracelet and earrings

copper, brass and found metal - textured - heat patinas



copper, paper. aluminum, rubber (?) washers



taking a break

I am on track for having 30 pieces for my show in Sept. with only one more nativity icon to go. So...I thought I would take a break and make some jewelry using the riveting techniques I learned last winter. To prepare for our class Pilar had asked us to bring scraps of material we could use in the bracelet. All I had were some art show invitations and I found their graphics very appealing for the project.  For the jewelry below I used an invitation from Patty Alander's show in Evergreen (with her approval). ( see http://www.alanderart.wordpress.com/) I love Patty's prints and this is one of my favorites. For the bracelet and earrings I used snippets from the invitation. For the necklace I made a small beaded piece framed in copper based on her design. I am going for a "rustic" textured look.  I still need a lot of practice.



necklace, earring and bracelet set of copper, beads and paper

necklace of beads and copper

new icons

I finished mounting 3 new icons yesterday     

untitled Madonna

untitled Madonna 2

Mary's Heart

stones

         Two more pieces in the stones, bones, fossils and shells series.



amber necklace with small amber and glass beads



chalcedony rose bracelet with crystal and glass beads



shells

Continuing the series of natural elements in my jewelry



scallop shell with cut shells, pearls and glass beads



bracelets with assorted shells, glass beads and bone carved face



turban shell with piece of spiney oyster shell, keshi pearls, amber, carnelian and agate beads



bone

pendant with bone, shells and glass beads

Continuing on my series of stone,bone,fossil and shells are these pendants with a face carved of bone.

pendant with carved bone face and fish

one more ammonite pendant

Ammonite, fossil, garnets and glass beads

                           

ammonite necklace

ammonite with crystal and beads

This is my favorite necklace

bones, stones, fossils and shells

ammonite bracelet and leapard jasper bracelet with glass beads

stones, bones, fossils and shells

I wanted to post a lot of photos of my jewelry incorporating natural materials, but this blog is giving me a difficult time today so I am going to try to post one or 2 pieces of jewelry in several separate blogs  over the next few days.

ammonite necklace with glass beads

Ammonites are my favorite fossil and I have incorprated them into several pieces of jewelry - to be continued................................................

Show and Tell

Tree of Life

I started this blog to show my art work, as my own online gallery, easier to "hang" than a website. Talking about my work is another thing altogether......I don't like to. In many ways I think it is self-explanatory. I consider myself an artist/craftsman. I work with materials which are considered "craft" as opposed to "fine art". I like to make things. I like to make beautiful things for people to enjoy. Celebration and contemplation are the themes that run through my work - celebration of the joys of life in God's created universe and contemplation of the mystery of His revelation in Christ. I fell in love with the icons and symbols of the Church and scripture years ago. With that inspiration I create works meant for personal, quiet contemplation. I love it when someone gets pleasure wearing a piece of jewelry that I have created.

Exploring the techniques of bead work and metal work is what I am interested in now. As I go along with this blog I will be posting some of the older work that I have created and then I will post new pieces as I finish them.

I hope you enjoy the show.

What I did last winter

When we are in Sanibel, Florida one of my very favorite places to be is BigArts (Barrier Island Group) Art Center. For several years I have taken metalsmithing classes with a wonderful jeweler, Pilar Baker. Here are a few pieces I have made in her workshops. I especially love creating jewelry with cold connections (riveting as opposed to soldering) and fold forming. (see bracelet and necklace above). 

Mermaids



Much of my work is inspired by scripture and the symbols of the church, but now and then a new subject will intrigue me. I love the sea, the beach, the shells and the lore of the sea and when I am in Florida in the winter these themes inspire me. I love to shell and include seashells in some of my work. My mermaids have won blue ribbons at the Sanibel Shell Show which I enter every year.



Under the Sea

White Mermaid

Mermaid Mirror

Mermaid Neckpiece

Mermaid's Wedding Necklace




 





 






More Icons

Here a few more beaded icons from the Madonna and Child Series

Virgin and Christ Adoring

Mother of God Petrovskaya

Virgin of Tenderness

Nativity in Black and White