Brian Fisher Print, Paint and Sculpture Blog

Odysseus, Where Art Thou?  13 x 8.5 in. I will have new work at The Heron’s Nest on Vashon in October; Monoprints who’s themes celebrate Homer’s famous lovers.  Yes, Helen and Paris will be there of course but also Penelope and Odysseus. In this work I have continued to experiment printing with dry pigment.  As the imagery evolved I kept thinking of Wallace Stevens’s poignant poem about Penelope imagining, preparing for, the return of Odysseus (Ulysses) and want to include it here. The World As Meditation Is it Ulysses that approaches from the east,
 The interminable adventurer? The trees are mended.
 That winter is washed away. Someone is moving On the horizon and lifting himself up above it. A form of fire approaches the cretonnes of Penelope,
 Whose mere savage presence awakens the world in which she dwells. She has composed, so long, a self with which to welcome him,
 Companion to his self for her, which she imagined,
 Two in a deep-founded s

When print and water color artist Ilse Reimntiz invited me to co-instruct a monotype workshop I happily excepted.  Ilse is an incredible artist and mentor to many, myself included.  Her print imagery ignited my initial interest in monotype, for which I am truly grateful. September 10-12 we coached five enthusiastic, print curious, artists in basic monotype techniques and were witness to inspiring results.  Check out the photo below of one students dynamic work in progress.   What fun!  I am already looking forward to the next workshop Ilse and I will conduct early in the new year. Monotype  printwork from the workshop by Sarah Stuart

Long before cultivation of the grape, bees were sacred to the goddess Demeter, and Mead, or honey wine , was the drink of the Golden Age.  Made from honey, water and yeast, fermented Mead was central to the ecstatic Cretan celebration of the Minoan New Year (the summer solstice) and to the ritual sacrifice of the Cretan Bull.  Kerenyi, the word for drunk in classical Greek, even translates as “honey intoxicated!” When Bainbridge Arts and Crafts Gallery invited me to create an image for their exhibition about imaginary wine labels, the original libation of choice, bee begotten Mead, immediately came to mind. Link to the exhibit information for Vin Faux: Imaginary Wine Labels & Bottles at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts Gallery: www.bacart.org/exh-current.html My mixed media Monotype, MEAD is 21’”x 21”.

I have been experimenting with a new (for me) Monotype print process.  With this technique I am printing dry pigment onto paper saturated with ink.  The imagery is based on my collection of early to mid 20th century Tanzanian and Kenyan wooden busts originally carved for tourist trade and export.  Pangani is currently showing at Valise Gallery http://www.valisegallery.org/Current.html in a truly remarkable, all Vashon Island artist, show. Panagni is a 12 x 14 in. Monotype with found object (bone button).

I have a new instructor, a minder and reminder.   She is my pup, Aki!   She has come to tutor me in “The Moment”.   Her mantras are “Celebrate the Present” and “Be Here Now”  She teaches by example.  She is, as Pablo Neruda once wrote about his own dog- Joyful, joyful, joyful, as only dogs know how to be happy with all the autonomy of their shameless spirit. The image I have posted above named "Dog Walking Waltz" was made several years ago to celebrate the spirit of another wonderful pup who taught me how to dance every day.  "Dog Walkin Waltz" is a Monotype Print, with gold leaf.  26” x 20”.

The Spring Vashon Island Art Studio Tour begins this weekend!  On May 1-2 and 8-9,  from 10 AM till 5 PM, twenty nine participating Vashon studios will throw open their studio doors and welcome art patrons who may purchase art and learn from Vashon artists how they create the work they are exhibiting. When you visit Vashon artists in their studios you discover art of amazing variety and extraordinary quality.  Here is a link to find out about the wealth of art you will experience on Vashon Island during the Spring tour. http://vashonislandartstudiotour.com/S2010/ This year I will start my art exploration with a new studio on the tour.  The Reimnitz Studio, # 18 on the map, will be showing oil paintings by Hartmut Reimnitz, watercolor paintings and Monotypes by Ilse Reimnitz and sculpture by Gunter Reimnitz. The Vashon Island Art Studio Tour is free, (just follow the numbers designated on the Studio Tour map) but because a visit to Vashon  also entails adventure over water

For a few formative years, in childhood, a good friend and I were often described by his grandmother as “Joined at the Hip”.  We shared our hours, days and lives.   It was an apt description for two preadolescent boys, paired by circumstance who discovered, tested, teased and taught, each other, about being boys and life growing up in a small Kansas town.   The phrase, Joined at the Hip, generally refers to the condition of conjoined twins (commonly called Siamese twins), although in reality conjoined twins are rarely joined at the hip. My sculpture, Joined at the Hip, is an assemblage of antique Quebecer gut seat chairs, Wood, and Acrylic paint on Linen.  37 1/2 x 44 x 24 in. Photos by Charles Backus.