Dec 5, 2015

Glove Birds and Wings of Desire

These un-manipulated photographic images are encaustic on 8x8" panels which can be seen at Northwind Arts Center in Port Townsend, Washington through Dec. 28

'Moving on' from Wings of Desire series
'Landing' from Wings of Desire series









































I began working with white cotton gloves as a way to enter into a dialogue with nature, in particular places. This type of glove is traditionally used in handling valuable items with special care. I like the idea of applying that intention to the ground and nature surrounding me. In working with the gloves my thoughts move to multiple meanings of phrases such as “touching ground” and “a show of hands”.  I found myself imagining the fingers as feathers and so began creating bird forms on the ground.  Wanting to see these birds take flight, connecting sky to ground, I created a “glove bird” that I could travel with me to engage various environments.
The birds in these 8x8" photo encaustic panels are part of the series “Wings of Desire”.  With this series, I envision the "many hands" and or the many small actions that bring our intentions to realization.

A few other photo encaustics from this series can be seen below.
'Emerging' from Wings of Desire series

'Taking Flight' from Wings of Desire series

'Flight for freedom' from Wings of Desire series (16x12")

Sep 16, 2015

Life Stream - solo exhibition


Installation at PUB Gallery, Peninsula College, Port Angeles, WA


Life Stream 


I imagine
our lives
like threads
moving through time.

Emerging at birth
from an ocean
of consciousness,
and returning again
at death.

In between
a mystery,
we call life.

In between
we dip in and out
of a larger stream,
at times
immersed, submerged,
renewed or humbled
as the current carries us along.

In between
we play with possibility
of who we are
and who we might be,
with what we’ve been given
and what we choose.

Alone and together
we weave the fabric of our lives.

Anchors serve as symbols of what helps us feel connected, grounded and centered. They link us to what we care about, and to what and where we want to return.  When life challenges us, they give us stability and sensibility.  By consciously identifying our ‘anchors’ in times of calm, it’s easier to connect with them when we’re challenged. 

Beacons serve as symbols of illumination. Their light guides us through darkness, helping us move through challenges to find our next step.

What are some of your Anchors and Beacons?

What are the anchors that ground and calm you?
What helps keep you steady? 
What are the beacons that illuminate and help clarify your direction?
What serves to move you towards your dreams, goals and intentions?

What are the relationships, activities, people, places and things that illuminate, guide and help sustain your life?  This might include family, friends, meditation, exercise, dancing, school, job, home, a certain kind of music or place in the world and more. 

 I invite people to share their responses by writing or drawing on the tags provided in the gallery then hang their tags on the nets around the frames.  

I would love to know how you relate to the idea of anchors and beacons in your life. You are welcome to leave your responses through post a comment at bottom of this page.  


EXHIBITION DETAILS:
8:00am - 8:00pm Monday - Friday

Aug 16, 2015

Welcome to the Plastisphere

Welcome to the Plastisphere is a collaborative project by artists Karen HackenbergMargie McDonald, and I.  It began with debris collected from Anacortes beaches and the Anacortes Arts Festival public art project called TideCraft, "turning salvaged marine debris into art".
The three of us began meeting in April to brainstorm, imagine, play, decide on a direction and begin to clean up the beach debris.  We decided early on to work with plastic bottles. For the next four months we worked alone, together and with others, cleaning, cutting, folding, drilling, stringing, imagining and reimagining.
After some of our work parties we set up little mini 'still lifes' to problem solve and envision how it might look with the 20' rebar we planned to use.
We installed at the festival on August 6th and continued cutting plastic bottles to add to the Plastisphere throughout the weekend.  
The beginning of set up and on site construction

Welcome to the Plastisphere, Anacortes Arts Festival, 2015

More images, videos (stunning in the wind!) and information about Welcome to the Plastisphere on its Facebook Page

September 26-27, 2015    
Karen, Margie and I were joined by Gary Pascoe, the environmental toxicologist to install the next incarnation of Welcome to the Plastisphere at the Surge Festival at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, Washington. The Festival focused on artists and scientists working together to draw attention to climate change and its impact on the Northwest’s coastal communities.   





Morning meditations - On retreat in Spokane


This place of now
Puzzling (Ponderosa pine)
Coming out from under
Between many and one
This 'work' was done during a 9 day silent meditation retreat with Jason Siff in Spokane. The outside temperature varied between 70 degrees in 'cool' nights and 104 degrees. Being a Washington coastal type (our weather is often cool, grey and rainy), the heat provided another dimension to alter my perception. Camping at night, in a tent in the meadow, helped me wake with the birds and develop my own form of morning meditation. In the cool of the morning, I walked the land, engaging what was within and around me with natural materials and the cotton gloves and jigsaw puzzle pieces I brought with me. 

During the retreat, as we wove between sitting meditation and dharma talks, between being indoors and being outdoors in nature, I had many thoughts about art-working as a spiritual practice. For years this has been a recurring thread in my work and thoughts. Soon I look forward to focusing more attention in this direction. If you're interested and want me to keep you posted on developments involving my work with art and spiritual practice and/or art as a healing force. Let me know via email at  glolamson @ gmail dot com (no spaces) . (will send only rare emails.)

Tertium quid








Jun 14, 2015

Playa Residency


Recently returned from an incredible month "creative residency" in southern Oregon at the the amazing Playa. What an wonderful gift of time, studio, living space/cabin, super supportive community and stunning Big nature enabling me focused time for art-working! My idea of an ideal world.  Thank you - Thank you Playa!!
My Playa home and studio which I shared with Sash Bischoff, a director from New York city.
My primary focus was working towards my 2015 Fall exhibition/installation at PeninsulaCollege PUG in Port Angeles. For this exhibition I'm considering Lifelines as the unique pathways we travel from birth to death. The study below shows a model for the 70’ wall I will be working with at the College. 

Another part of the exhibition will consider anchors and beacons as metaphors for that which gives our lives stability and questioning what illuminates our way.  There will be an area in the Port Angeles installation to invite viewers to share what act as anchors and beacons in their lives.

My studio

I was pleased to be able to share my work with the public and see the work of the other residents during “Playa Presents”; the monthly open studios, readings and reception welcoming the public for an insiders view of Playa
~ ~ ~
Also during Playa time, I continued my work of engaging the natural world with human materials, I took my "glovebird" for a walk in the surrounding country. I created this white bird from white cotton gloves, which are traditionally used for handling art and other precious objects.  These images will give you a sense of the incredible landscape surrounding Playa as well as impressive skyscapes which were so much a part of my time there.



Another incredible gift of the Playa residency was to be able to share that time with my good friend and the wonderful artist Rebecca Welti who had a residency at the same time.   We have worked collaboratively on several installations in AK, OR and WA as well as she is the one who made my art work in Alaska possible.  In image below from "Playa Presents", Rebecca shares with some of the visitors from Paisley, a near-by town with population of 250.
and below, a couple of her great photographs of her carvings out on the playa.

~ ~ ~
My time at Playa continues to inspire me. I would love to return to participate again in that incredibly supportive community and magnificent natural environment.

Jan 22, 2015

'Steps and Threads' - Installation at 632 Tyler St., Port Townsend, WA.




Steps and Threads
Small white boxes from discarded slide-film containers hold the idea of the many steps and stages between our birth and our death. I imagine our lives like fabric, are woven over time from our network of connections with people, experiences, places and things. The curtain represents and conceals what we don’t know and can’t see which I envision as the time/space between death and birth. The twine on the ground from past installations represent past involvements that no longer hold us. The image below comes from of one of these earlier installations which hangs on the west wall.
Being Here, Old Fort Townsend
For the window installation, while weaving the string from one box into the next, William Staffords' poem kept wandering through my brain.  He wrote this poem 26 days before he died.

The Way It Is
There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
   
by William Stafford 1998