Gayle Gerson : Artist

Bayou

ggerson — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:14:09 +0000

I have been collaging up a storm these past two weeks and having a great time creating two vertical forest scenes. They both have taken on a tropical flavor. I do not know if this is a function of the verticality or just my mind set at the moment. I did not set out to create tropical scenes. Maybe I am anticipating our upcoming trip to Costa Rica.
This piece is on wrapped canvas which has its advantages. I love the way the texture of the canvas shows through in places where I have sanded down.
I used plenty of glazing and paint rubs on this one. In person it looks subdued and misty–but there is a lot going on. I think it is my homage to the threatened lifestyle of the southern coast line.
This collage is 40 inches high by 30 inches wide and is for sale for $2000.00.

Om Mountain

ggerson — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:35:05 +0000

I started this layered landscape collage in a workshop some time ago. It languished under one of my panes of glass on my work table (to keep it flat). I needed a few new pieces to hang at Grand Junction’s City Hall this summer and this fit into a frame I had, so I completed it this week. It was one of my series of soft colored fantasy landscapes based on my surroundings in Western Colorado.
This piece is 21 inches high by 14 inches wide. It is $600.00 framed.

Greetings From The Web

ggerson — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:25:24 +0000

This is the postcard (4×6 inches) that I entered in the National Collage Society postcard show in 2009. I was scrolling through my art folder today and really liked the way it looked. Hence, I am posting it. I did it as an assignment I gave one of my classes at the Art Center to do a postcard only in black and white, concentrating on values and shapes.

Magic Forest

ggerson — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:22:20 +0000

I have just completed this collage on cradled board. It was my first attempt at a vertical forest. I am pleased with how it turned out…pleased enough to enter it in a show in Denver that coincides with the Biennial of the Americas.
When my daughter, Liza, saw it, she said it reminded her of the Dr. Seuss’s Lorax and the Truffula trees. I certainly like that idea.
This piece is 30 inches high by 22 inches wide and is priced at $1700.00

Update: This collage was juried into the Denver Show. It is hanging at Core New Art Space Gallery on Santa Fe Street until July 25th.

Self-Portrait

ggerson — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 19:03:27 +0000

I assigned a self-portrait in my last class at the Art Center during the Spring session. This was my attempt to fulfill the assignment. I photo-shopped an image of my face, printed it out and added it to a print out of the Mona Lisa. I like to print out images that I plan to use in collages on acid free sketch paper. It has some good absorbency and heft. From there it just developed as I added photos and other ephemera. It has an Italian look to it that I like.

Come Into Our Cave

ggerson — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 18:43:00 +0000

I have re-worked this watermedia on Yupo piece. It seems to be in its final form as I have added some new quirks and removed a little murkiness.
I listen to the English alternative group, Muse, a lot in my studio, so the title is a tribute to one of their songs.
This piece is 20 H x 28 W inches and is priced at $1200.00 framed.

Palisade Patchwork

ggerson — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:31:17 +0000

I finished this piece for the Art Center’s Annual Art Auction. Each year this fund-raiser is held in Grand Junction at our Art Center to raise much needed funds for the organization’s art and education programming.
It is a collage on cradled wood board, 22 inches wide by 36 inches long. The retail price is $1800.00. My reserve at the auction is $900.00
This piece of art depicts Mt. Garfield, the shale mountain that overlooks Palisade, Colorado and the entire Grand Valley. I used grocery store newspaper inserts with photos of fruit and other promotional material about the Grand Valley as a base. That bottom layer is covered with painted tissue paper, paint and other random materials. I give the whole piece two or three coats of UV varnish as a final protective layer.
Update: This piece sold at the auction for $1300.00

Mother Bee

ggerson — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 01:36:44 +0000

My favorite bee encaustic.

Encaustics for the Bees

ggerson — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 01:27:00 +0000

I just finished 3 12×12 box frame encaustic collage pieces for the Palisade International Bee Festival which happens on April 16th and April 17, 2010. The event is a response to the continuing crisis of hive decline among our most precious agricultural resource, bees. This art is part of an exhibition in conjunction with the Bee Festival at the Blue Pig Gallery in Palisade, Colorado.
Encaustic is an ancient art medium made from bees wax. The modern version also contains damar varnish and ready-made colors. I like to use collage elements such as papers, copper fragments, jewelry findings and beads which I either embed in the encaustic or coat with the encaustic to create a soft surface.
In “Bee Grid”, I included a part of a wasp’s hive, original drawings, and painted and found papers.
In “Buzz”, I used magazine advertisements from medical marijuana stores to build up the spiral plant forms, hence the title.
These pieces are meant to hang together, although they can be sold separately: $500 a piece, $750 for two and $1100 for all three.

Finally I Can Spill the Beans

ggerson — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:16:55 +0000

In late November, the Colorado Council on the Arts and Colorado Friends of Culture commissioned me to do three paintings to present to the winners of the Governor’s Art Award. I was to do one for Telluride, Colorado, one for Creede, Colorado and one to hang in the Governor’s office in Denver. This was great and scary news for me. However, there was one catch: I couldn’t tell anyone.
The Council wanted to keep the winners a secret until February 26th, 2010 which happens to be Art Advocacy Day when they would be presented to the mayors of the winning towns.
I enjoyed doing these pieces using promotional materials for Telluride, Creede and Colorado in general as my base collage and embellishing with paint and painted papers. For Telluride, because we are frequent visitors, I was able to use my own photos which is my favorite collage method.
The ceremony was great fun although pulling black drapes off my paintings as they were presented was anxiety-producing in the extreme. My nerves were quelled by the many nice people I met there and the positive comments.
I have included photos taken by my husband, George, of the ceremony.