Brian Fisher Print, Paint and Sculpture Blog

  The Nature of Angels, monoprint, 6 3/8 x 25 3/4 in. I've been working prints and paintings about angel myth and story for an August 5-28 exhibit at Roby King Gallery on Bainbridge Island. This image is a collograph monoprint, with metal leaf, inspired by remarks made by Joseph Campbell on how religions and mythologies need to change with time in order to maintain their relevance in peoples’ lives. Addressing change, Campbell once said about the digital world and computers, "Have you ever looked inside one of those things? It's a whole hierarchy of angels on slats. And those little tubes-those are miracles."

My cut steel sculpture "Asterion, The Starry One" exhibits Feb 7- March 1, 2020 at Roby King Gallery on Bainbridge Island in "A Trio of Print-makers".  Opening reception is  Feb. 7 6-8 pm.   Crete’s mythic civilization began when Zeus (as bull) abducted Europa from a Phoenician beach and swam into the setting sun until arriving on the Aegean island of Crete.  To their union three children were born, Minos, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon.  Europa became queen of Crete upon marrying Crete's reigning King Asterion and he stepfather to her children.  Upon his death the children warred as successors and when Minos defeated his brothers to become King he prayed that Poseidon, God of the Seas, send him a bull to sacrifice in recognition that his Kingship was divinely sanctioned.  Poseidon’s gift, a beautiful pure white bull, The Cretan Bull, The Bull From The Sea, appeared as petitioned but Minos instead elected to substitute another bull and kept t...

Brian Fisher, "Kodama"  Monotype print with gold leaf, 12 x 12 in. Indigenous cultures around the world revered special trees or rocks or unique aspects of their homelands.  Japanese myth speaks of Kodama, deities who dwell within or among the trees and groves they protect.  One of the oldest references to the Kodama is the book Wamuryorui Jyusho or Japanese Names for Things; written 931 – 938 CE.  In this dictionary Kodama are defined as spirits of the trees . Early Japanese lore described the Kodama as either invisible or indistinguishable from trees but over time Kodama took on human aspect.  There are stories of Kodama falling in love with humans and assuming human shape to be with their beloved much like the Greek myths of Dryads, humans and gods. My monotype "Kodama" was made for exhibition at Roby King Galleries November 3-27, 2017 where Denise Kester and I will display our individual interpretations of myth in print and paint.

Roby King Galleries on Bainbridge Island asked their artists, "What or who inspires you to be an artist?"  My reply, "Story and Myth, all that stuff we come back to when looking for answers, and the master of Myth, Joseph Campbell".  Those are my inspirations.  I also would say Michael Meade and his insights keep my top spinning! I am inspired by these words by Campbell and have them on the wall in my studio:  "We have not even to risk the adventure alone; for the heroes of all time have gone before us, the labyrinth is fully known; we have only to follow the thread of the hero-path and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; 
where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; 
where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence; 
where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.” ― Joseph Campbell.   Posted above is my Monop...

  "Jason"  "The Boxing Match"  "Resurrecting the Ram" and "Claiming the Fleece"  Rust Monoprints by Brian Fisher I am very excited to have work from my Argonautica series selected to hang in the Washington State Governor's Mansion.  This is the third exhibit Roby King Galleries of Bainbridge has curated for the private/public spaces of the Governor's residence.

Kouros, 30x30 in., Rust Monotype on panel with gold leaf Roby King Galleries In Winslow on Bainbridge Island, Washington, hosts a Printmaking Exhibition this month.  The opening reception is October 3 at 6 PM.  My rust Monotype Kouros (youth), above, and companion print Kore (maiden) will be exhibited. Kouros and Kore were inspired by sculpture of archaic Greece (800 BC – 480 BC).  The Kouroi and Korai sculptures of Greece did not represent an individual but the idea and ideal of youth, a combination of moral and physical beauty and nobility.

Roby King Galleries hosts its first annual exhibition of Puget Sound artists benefiting the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.  It's a big show.  I hope it goes well!  Here is the invitation and artists who are participating.

It's a blue sky day!   Great weather for a drive and some island hopping.  That's what I am about to do because tonight is my opening at Roby King Galleries on Bainbridge Island.   Here is a link to the images I will be exhibiting.   Brian Fisher at Roby King Galleries I am very excited to be showing my Rust Monoprints and several new wall sculptures.  The sculptures are a bit of a twist to what I have been doing with steel,(rusting.)  Two of the sculptures are made from stainless and one of those combines stainless with carved and painted wood. It has been my intention to combine carved wood with cut steel and since the beginning of the year, sculpture, Elaine Hanowell has been teaching me to carve in wood.  She is a wonderful artist and teacher and I am grateful for her instruction.  "Okeanos," is the Titan who personified the world ocean encircling the "known world" in Greek Myth.  My wall sculpture "Okeanos," at right, is 47.5 x 2...

May 3 to June 1,  2013, Roby King Galleries of Bainbridge Island will exhibit the Paintings of Martha Brouwer and Rust Monoprints by Brian Fisher. Gull Descending, 18x11 in. I am honored to exhibit with Martha Brouwer and thank Andrea and Wes, the owners of Roby King Galleries, for the opportunity to exhibit my new rust work. Martha describes her work:  "My design skills and my interest in patterns and textures are reflected in my approach. I enjoy layering different media to accomplish depth of tone and meaning."  When thinking of her subject she says: "My paintings celebrate the interconnected of all life -  the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, humans. These connections imply a responsibility for caring for each other and sharing the planet.”  www.marthabrouwer.com Sowing the Dragon's Teeth, 14x14 ln. I also embrace the importance of caring connection to the world around us and revere the human past that defines us.  Much of my ...

Monotype Print 36 x 15 in. Pallas Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom, warfare, arts, crafts, agriculture and namesake patron of the city of Athens is sometimes said to be the child of Zeus alone.  Zeus did give birth to her, but only after swallowing the Oceanid Metis, already pregnant by him, in an attempt to thwart the prophecy that a child of their union would be greater than mighty Zeus. This was of course the unhappy end of Metis but the unborn child continued to grow, gestating in Zeus's head and troubling him with terrible headaches.  Eventually, so great was his pain, he begged Hephaestus to strike him with his great axe whereupon Pallas Athena sprang from her father’s head fully armed. My Monotype The Birth of Pallas Athena , along with another four of my Monotype prints will be displayed at the Roby King Galleries on Bainbridge Island during their 2011 Print Exhibition, October 7-27 with an Artist’s Reception October 7 from 6-8 PM.