2023©Alyce Grunt.  All rights reserved

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Cerulean Arts

Philadelphia

I was happy to be invited to participate in a group show this past spring, At Home, at Cerulean Arts gallery in Philadelphia. I exhibited along with Beverly Benson and David Berger. It was great to see our work together. David’s lush still lives and Bev’s gestural interior and still life scenes were inspiring. We got to all talk together in an interview hosted by Cerulean owners Michael Kowbuz and Tina Rocah. Images from the show and the artist talk are accessible here.

I’m also excited to share that I’ll be exhibiting work as a new member to Cerulean Arts this winter. The show will open on February 14th and run through March 10th. The artist reception will be on Saturday, February 17, 2024. For those who are out of town Cerulean does a great job of providing an on-line way to watch artist talks via Zoom and to purchase work via their website. Check there for more info and to see not only images of the work in my show but also the work of other Cerulean members.  

Honey and Blue Glass from the exhibit  

At Home at Cerulean Arts.

At the Cerulean reception for At Home

Yard Work, oil on linen, 36" x 48"

Wayne Art Center, Wayne PA

I was happy Yard Work was accepted into this past year’s Regional Spring Open Exhibition at the Wayne Art Center, juried by Peter Van Dyke. Then l remembered I had to figure out how to frame it!                                                   

Yard Work is actually two 24” x 36” canvases attached together. I like working large and attaching pieces as diptychs. This is one of the larger pieces I’ve made, along with Code Beige. I think Covid pushed me to expand my borders while isolating at home.

Progress of a Painting

Light Trails and Jars, oil on linen, 20" x 20"

Example of ‘negative space’ project by Rory Yates, who graduated over 15 years ago from Penn Wood High School. I was happy to hear from him this summer when he contacted me to tell me he and his partner opened a frame shop in Clifton Heights. He asked me to let those needing framing services know about their business (https://www.madammiter.com/index.html).

As my high school portfolio classes are getting underway, I wanted to spotlight a project that helps develop sensitivity to shape and object placement on the page. Students are asked to focus on the silhouette of plant forms by focusing on the negative space (anything that is not the object itself). In this example I had students use ink, which maximizes the contrast between light and dark. I think they are surprised by how much information they can convey with this approach, specifically by paying attention to how the space is broken up.

Negative shapes play a big role in the composition of a piece. I think about the importance of composition as a teacher but also in my own work. Shown below is the beginning of a piece I did this past year after viewing the Matisse exhibit in Philadelphia. You can see where I changed the placement of tabletop objects until the spacing felt ‘just right’.

Plant Surround, oil on linen, 24" x 24"

I managed to snap a photo at the start of this painting once I had blocked in the light/shadow pattern. While not always exactly how I work, more often than not I find this a helpful way to get started. Once I can get a sense of how all the forms fit together, I then go in directly with color.

Sometimes setting up the objects in a still life is tricky to figure out. I was attracted to the sunlight interacting with the leaves of the plant as I started to arrange objects, but I needed something in the lower right corner. While I was contemplating different possibilities (none that were terribly satisfying), there was a delivery at the door and we were gifted a jar of honey. Before my family had a chance to taste it I realized it was the perfect color, size and shape for the setup. I love the unexpected surprises that often help me figure somethign out.