Brian Fisher Print, Paint and Sculpture Blog

Much of history is astronomically oriented.  The Greek Historian Herodotus described precisely the phase of the moon in his account of the battle of Marathon.  A battle that is considered a defining moment in the development of European culture. In  490 BCE 10,000 Greeks met the assembled forces of the Persian empire, a seemingly invincible army of approximately 20,000 infantry and cavalry, twenty six miles north of Athens on the Plain of Marathon.   The runner Pheidippides was sent to Sparta requesting aid and he returned with the message that Sparta would send reinforcements but only after the conclusion of its religious festival of Karneia which forbade battle until the full moon (another six days). When Greek generals concluded that battle could not wait, a line of infantry equal in length to that of the Persians was formed and the Greek warriors attacked the Persian line at a dead run.  In the ensuing battle an estimated 6,400 Persians were k...

Lost, Monotype 6 x 6 in. I have five Monotypes at the Roby King Gallery on Bainbridge Island during the month of December.   Roby King mounts an annual small works show each year and I was invited to exhibit in the 2010 Small Works Exhibition.   Above and Below are two of the Monotypes for sale and currently on display. Halcyone, Monotype, 6 x 6 in.

 Parthenope, Monotype, 6x 6 in. The last weekend, Dec. 12-13,  of the 2010 Vashon Island Holiday Studio Tour is coming up.  There is lots of wonderful art by Vashon Island artists to see and buy.  My studio is #12 on the map .  Please stop in to take a look at my print, paint and assemblage work and all the glass, dyed fabric and toys that Laughing Magpies and Tiffany Huslig have created to show and sell. A great place to start your tour  this weekend is the Blue Heron Gallery’s year end finale Masters in Miniature . The exhibition showcases art by 43 Vashon artists in mediums that include: painting, pottery, wood, glass, tile, sculpture, printmaking, fiber, photography and mixed media.  No work is larger than 7 x 7 in.  This annual exhibition, curated by Gallery Curator Janice Mallman and artist Carol Schwennesen,  is exceptional and should not be missed. Posted here are two of the Monotypes I made for The ...

Siren's Song, Monotype, 12 5/8 x 10 1/2 in. Art at Studio Bookcase  Walls of art bookend my studio bookcase during the 2010 Vashon Island Holiday Open Studio Tour .  Three more images of my monotype print work featured there are posted here for closer inspection. Athena Nike, Monotype, 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. Island Orchard, Monotype, 20 1/2 x 27 1/2 in.

Art at Staircase Here is another shot of my artwork as displayed for the 2010 Vashon Island Holiday Open Studio Tour with details of a print and painting featured at the staircase. Theseus and the Minotaur, Monotype, 14 1/4 x 22 3/4 in. Taming Bucephalus, Oil on canvas, 20 x 20 in.

Art and Hearth In the next couple days I will be posting several images of my work as it is displayed for the 2010 Vashon Island Art Studio Tour .  Above is a shot of the hearth and posted below are images of two Monotype prints featured there. Battle of the Centaurs, Monotype (1/1), 14 1/8 x 35 1/2 in A Thousand Ships, Monotype, 14 3/4 x 11 in.

Invictus, Monotype, 15 1/4 x 22 in. Although my surname might conjure a heritage comfortable at sea, I have had little experience with boats or for that matter large bodies of water until moving to an island in the Pacific Northwest.  My friendship with families who fish professionally and the stories I have heard them tell have however engaged my imagination and sincere appreciation of what ingenuity, fortitude and mind over matter it must surely take to make a living from a boat afloat at sea.  I find the concept frightening.  Much of my fear though is not about the hard work or uncertainty of nature but the dependency upon ones shipmates, their strengths, weaknesses and the emotional baggage all of us are born to and carry in our personal odysseys.  Several Monotypes I have made for the 2010 Vashon Island Art Studio Tour illustrate my reflections upon all of the above and are presented within the context of Odysseus’s misadventures and ...