OZ Totem - Not TOTO this time

In my first exhibit of OZ, I wanted to present this wonderland of OZ from a different perspective. The original artworks were from paintings from the knees down! I then realized, that this perspective was from Toto's point of view!!!

Presently revisiting this body of work, I've been experimenting with the different elements of this series, playing with them as if they were building blocks. The most successful of this experimentation is this new OZ totem, which combines a child's mannequin with the yellow brick road leading to OZ painted on it, sitting on a cube showing different parts of Dorothy's life. Tthis makes external our journey through life onto a body and on a building block.

Below is link to an article on the first OZ exhibit at Nash Gallery, Easthampton, MA

  http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=7772

OZ & The Ruby Slippers

As I journey down the yellow brick road, exploring the tales of Frank Baum's OZ, I discovered that in fact the "ruby slippers" were silver in his original tale. When MGM released their film version of this story in Technicolor, they changed Dorothy's slippers to ruby for greater visual impact. In the studio, I've been moving the various components of my OZ pieces around and coming up with some surprising pieces. To the right I've combined a small section of Dorothy at the crossroads,  which is the small painting with the X with the mannequin piece with the yellow brick road, which used to have the ruby slippers pictured above. Journey Down the Yellow Brick Road, the hands beckoned viewers to journey down the road with me.

Liberty & The Snake

For over 10 years the Statue of Liberty has been confronted by the Snake in my artwork. Liberty is my muse and the snake represents many things, evil or transformation.. This is a detail of a 3D painting I've been reworking this week in the studio. A friend commented after viewing this piece "She (the Statue of Liberty) looks protective and almost most hopeful, or pleading for hope." Hmm, I like that and also the fluidity in this piece. After focusing on printmaking for 3 years and running two Biennials, I'm enjoying the solitude of working in my own studio and doing what I love best... painting.

Pioneer Women & Biennial

Susan Montgomery, detail of Pope Johanna

There were two openings this week of two Pioneer Women artists who also were selected for the latest Amherst Biennial. First, Susan Montgomery's Pope Joanna enlightens APE Gallery in Northampton. A timely installation addresses the possibility of a woman pope in the 9th Century. Susan first presented this body of work at Pioneer Women & Wonderland in Holyoke at Paper City Studios in 2010.
One of the large watercolors in the exhibit evoked Richard Yarde's work, who passed last year and had once told me, Susan was his favorite student.
On the other side of the state, Rosalyn Driscoll continued her exploration of the fragility of skin/body with a large sculpture at Boston Sculptors Gallery which plays a large copper covered cubed with light and hide evoking water.
I highly recommend both exhibits of these extremely talented local artists.

Studio Installation

It's been wonderful to be "snowed in" for the last 3 days, making a lot of progress on several pieces from the Statue of Liberty and OZ series. These pieces seem to be talking to each other also. Mixing up several components of the OZ series and they areworking quite well in this new format. The center piece is an OZ totem combining Dorothy at different stages of her life and the mannequin from the piece offering the "ruby slippers" to join me on this journey. The Liberty series includes a piece on 9/11, Church & State- some timely contemporary topics.

Liberty Revisited

As I'm slowly getting back to a rhythm of working in the studio again, I'm amazed how taking a break for almost a year while producing the Amherst Biennial has cleared my eyes. Recently I pulled out some older paintings from the racks which had stymied me years ago. But now I'm looking at them with fresh eyes, They are speaking more clearly to me. Here's a detail of one of the series of the Statue of Liberty, which I started in 2004. The title for this painting is Newtown.

Cable TV Interview with Me & Tony Maroulis

Julie Lapping Rivera, In the Garden, mixed media collage

This interview took place in the Spring of 2011 with Tony Maroulis, Director of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce & Co-Curator of the first Amherst Biennial 2010, former Director of wunderarts.

After this program was recorded, Town Manager John Musante announced that he was giving the East Street School to Amherst Media, ACTV. So plans for the Amherst Arts Center have been put on hold. Terry has now just produced a second Amherst Biennial with all 3 colleges, 5 museums, 4 galleries, a nature preserve & storefronts. Presently, she is focusing on her own work & considering various projects for the future.

http://blip.tv/amherstmedia/amherst-neighbor-to-neighbor-terry-rooney-5121944