WORK ART WORK: Paintings, Photographs and Drawings by JEFF WORK (my brother)

For months now (my husband begs to differ and says for the past two years) my focus and attention has been on creating an exhibit of my brother Jeff's artwork.  Well... its finally here!  We had the Opening Reception Saturday night and another reception honoring what would have been Jeff's 66th birthday will take place this Thursday night. 

Jeff passed away in Berlin Germany October 2 two years ago.  I was there for his passing and invited his friends to his flat where I spread out his many stretched canvases which he stored facing the wall throughout his flat.  It was if his spirit was there amongst all of us who loved him.  It was a very special night!

  diptych based on screen shots Jeff made from the movie the Artist

After that I spent many hours prying the staples out of the canvases.  I had vowed to take them home with me to Savannah, Georgia where I promised myself that I would have an exhibit of his work.  Jeff had been working so hard to amass a body of work that he wanted to exhibit in Berlin.  But that never happened because his health was failing and he ran out of time.  

 

 diptych based on screen shots Jeff made from the movie Drive

 

So... here we are.  I have finally unleashed his spirit again and it is soaring in its space in a funky gallery on Waters Street here in Savannah.  Over 70 people, many who had never heard of Jeff visited the gallery Saturday night to learn more about him.  Anne Bessac, my talented intelligent artistic friend became my curator.  Sure I could have done it.. but her vision created a cohesive exhibit that led the viewers from piece to piece... each time discovering something special.

 painting based from an old photograph of Jeff as a child - Tantrum/Weltscheltz

One of the visitors who I had never met is a collector here in Savannah with over 250 works of art.  He said Jeff's artwork was "the best he had seen in 15 years."  Others remarked "the lines of complimentary colors in the out edges of the figures is a fascinating style that captures the eye and draws us (the viewer) in and keeps us entranced."  Others said:
" His expressionist style, his ability to capture not only form and line but the feelings and expressions of the people he used for subject matter.  His self portraits, Greta and Walking are among my favorites."
" Wonderful sharing of Jeff's talent and gifts.  We enjoyed experiencing his life."
"Capturing feelings, a sense of place and wonderful glimpse of movement, these works bring a view of life that is so engaging."
"These paintings pull you in and color is amazing."
 "Love the colors and the feeling of intimacy of the subjects.  I appreciate your doing this for his memory  A fitting tribute."
"A true and sensitive artist."

Being his sister... of course, I love Jeff's artwork!  I always said "Jeff was the artist and I am the craftsperson."  To have so many people validate what I knew in my heart... that Jeff was a truly remarkable artist... his colors are rich and perfectly suited to create a dynamic energy in his work.  to unleash his spirit and let these amazing paintings, photographs and drawings stand in their much deserved spotlight, warmed my heart!

Anne and I shared our thought of Jeff's work... Anne placing it in an historical context referring to the ways Jeff studies other artists work and then digested it and came up with his own new vision.  Anne referenced artists like Manet and Diebenkorn and Bonnard when looking at Jeff's paintings.  My friend Wilma video taped the presentation, so I hope to put it up on YouTube sometime (once I have time to figure out how to do it!)

Autumn Splendor

Its interesting how the colors of the season affect me! Here it is Fall and I've woven my latest piece using the colors that surrounded me in the NorthEast.  Sure there are some of these colors here in Savannah, GA... but not like the Adirondacks of upstate New York and throughout the NE states where I spent most of my life.  It must be in my genes! I've carried it with me to the South! I always seems to gravitate to these colors when Fall is in the air. 

My newest Saori-way fabric is now washed and fulled and waiting for me to have time to make it into something.  I wonder what it will be???

WORK ART WORK: paintings, photographs, drawings by JEFF WORK

I've been quiet for a bit, but working hard on getting an exhibition of my brother Jeff's artwork together for Savannah opening Saturday, November 14.  Jeff was an incredibly talented artist... and that's not just his loving sister talking.  Everyone who sees his work is blown away. Two retired professors from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Anne Bessac who is curating the exhibition for me and Margy Betz who is reviewing the work and serving on a panel discussion, have been very helpful in making this exhibit come to light as have photograper Michael Turner and graphics designer Sylvia Severance, and gallery owner/arts activist Jerome Meadows.  It certainly takes a village!

When Jeff passed away October 2, 2013, he was in the midst of creating pieces for an exhibit of his artwork in Berlin.  The work is mainly figurative and autobiographical based on photos he carried (or as he said, "schlepped around") as he traveled all over the world for business and pleasure.  The past few years as his health failed Jeff spent hours and hours in his Berlin flat watching movies and tv programs streamed through his computer.  Always a clever guy... he took screen shots from several the films and shows and these were the basis of four diptychs and some individual paintings.

I made a screen saver for my computer of one of the pieces from the film "the Artist."  You may recognize the mail character, Jean Dujardin and if not Jean... the dog is most memorable!  My daughter Kristin also made a screen saver of her favorite Jeff Work painting... based on his Helmstrasse St. Berlin balcony flower garden: Blumen - four paintings that work together to form a whole.

We have had a wonderful response to the post card invitations and several people are traveling long distances to come to the exhibit.  On November 19 on what would have been Jeff's 66th birthday, we are having a Birthday Celebration - which has become a memorial.  Several people will talk about knowing the creative side of Jeff.  I'm especially looking forward to the stories that friends and family will share of knowing Jeff.  Pulling this all together has made me vividly aware of how much of Jeff I do not know.  I know his work which carries his essence, his soul, but the details of those years we hardly communicated will be interesting to hear.

I had some fabric printed through Spoonflower.com from a wallpaper pattern Jeff designed when he was living in London.  He had hoped to get a highend wallpaper design business started but unfortunately he kept hitting roadblocks.  In this day and age of computer businesses, he probably could have made it happen. Anyway I picked one of his designs and made a reflected pattern from it and sent it off to be printed.  I then found a dress pattern that would not only help make me look skinny (always the goal!) but also show off the wallpaper design.  SO here it is in progress:

The fabric:

 

 Kristin has also had some fabric made, so it will be fun to see what she comes up with!

More coming later... working on a catalog of Jeff's artwork.

"The Left Behind" by Stacey Piwinski

 

"Working with objects, memories and energies of what's left behind, 

this work is more about inclusion than exclusion."

When I decided to go to Worcester, Mass to see the Loom in Essence Saori exhibit I knew I had to make a side trip to Framingham to see the work of an old friend, Stacey Piwinski.  My day was complete.  I was full of all things Saori and glowing from the experience.  But before I could head home I needed to do one more thing; head in the opposite direction towards Boston to see "The Left Behind."  It was all I had hoped for and more! I was SO excited that I had made the effort to experience it. It was chock full of memories for me... memories that we shared.  Bits and pieces of things left behind.

The exhibit is rich and wild and wonderful and shows an exuberance that is the essence of its creator Stacey.  Whenever I think of Stacey, I remember her enthusiasm and the twinkle in her eye.  She is one of those people who make you feel warm and fuzzy when you meet her because she engages you with her vibrant being!

I met Stacey about 10 years ago when we were both part of an amazing experience: the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Scholarship Program.  Stacey and I and 198 other teachers from all across the US were selected to spend two weeks in Japan as the guests of the Japanese government.  The Foundation set up a group email account so that we could begin to connect. Before the trip in November of 2005 I created a spreadsheet to keep track of the many participants listing their hometown, the subject and age level they taught and any other information that they had divulged in the group emails.  (I had been overwhelmed by the variety of emails and wanted some way to categorize the wealth of information about these people with whom I would be sharing this amazing experience.  It started for me only... but then I thought others might be interested so I share it...)  That's how I first met Stacey.  We shared the common interest in both being art teachers and it turned out there was more:  we both had an interest in the Saori philosophy of weaving and wanted to go to Kyoto on our only "free" weekend.

Stacey's vibrant collages incorporate her woven Saori fabric, thick applications of colorful paint and kimono fabric remnants. Memories... Stacey's... and mine! I remember going to a Nishigin Textile Center/kimono factory/museum in Kyoto with Stacey and being in awe of the woman weaving golden threads into her intricately woven fabric.  I remember trying to find the Saori studio in Osaka with Stacey only to find we were there on a Sunday, when they were closed and only got to look through the window.  I remember wandering the streets in Gion, the Geisha District of Kyoto near Kiyomizu-dera Temple finding a shop that sold some Saori fabric and buying a scarf and Stacey treating herself to a handwoven Saori top.  I remember being given a furoshiki (traditional Japanese wrapping cloth) full of remnants of kimono fabric saved for many years by my host mother's mother (Obansan) who had used them to create dolls. I remember trying to say that this gift was took much that her daughter and granddaughter would want them.  Obansan who I had given a towel I had woven and  my photos of Nishigin in Kyoto. I felt I had been given a chest full of jewels and gems. (I use the pieces to create special details in my own Saori style weavings.) Did I give Stacey some of these treasures.  Were these some of the fabrics she incorporated in her wonderfully rich collages?

   

Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something Blue:

cyanotype, string and acrylic on canvas - 10x10 

Incorporating cyanotypes from the lace from her Grandmother's wedding dress, Stacey created unique memories.  She was also able to cut up and reuse fabric pieces from her grandmother's treasures. This reminded me of the indigo dye workshop Stacey and I visited during our stay in Kyoto where we dyed cotton fabric in a huge vat of indigo after creating an image using melted beeswax.

Palette Remnants (oil and resin on board) and 
Woven Remnants (handwoven fabric on board) -  6x6

Larger 10x10 Woven Remnants

Stacey incorporated clay pieces created by her art students in a unique open screen that divided the space. The yarn was painted by the students and the length of yarn represents the student's height.

Some interviews and articles about Stacey's exhibit "the Left Behind" and her website to see more of her work:
http://www.fsfaboston.com/growingagallery/2015/7/15/the-left-behind-stacey-piwiniski

http://m.patriotledger.com/article/20150717/ENTERTAINMENTLIFE/150718125
http://www.staceypiwinski.com/