The Sanctuary Show

Sisters, oil and gold leaf, five 7x5 inch canvas panels, by Bridget Bossart van Otterloo

Remember the beginning of this piece from last winter? Inspired by the Women's March back in January of 2017, I wrote about her start in a post called "Postcards from the Past". My finished artwork, Sisters, was accepted into the juried Sanctuary Show along with work by 35 artists. 

The Sanctuary Show is on exhibit now through April 6, 2018 at the Evelyn Peeler Peacock Gallery, ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes, 79 West Market Street, in Corning, NY.

I hope you'll join us for an Opening Reception during Corning's Urban Arts Crawl - Friday, February 23, 5- 8pm.

Sisters was inspired by a visit to Seneca Falls last January for the Women's March. The portraits of these five women were painted from postcards that I picked up at the Women's Hall of Fame. From left to right they are: Lucretia Coffin Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Caroline Parker (Seneca), Jane Clothier Master Hunt, and Mary Ann M'Clintock. These women helped to plan the First Women's Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls in 1848. They drafted the Declaration of Sentiments stating “all men and women are created equal”. The Women's movement was inspired by the Haudenosaunee women living in Western New York and their systems of gender equality.
The design in gold leaf connecting all these women is the Wampum Belt of the Iroquois Confederacy.

Iroquois Confederacy Wampum Belt

This belt symbolizes the five nations of the Iroquois Confederacy: Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk.
The third layer of symbolism incorporates the White Pine at a different life cycles on each panel. For the Haudenosaunee, the white pine is the tree of peace. The Central Onogaga Nation is represented by the Great White Pine tree in the Wampum Belt design.
Native Americans inspired the women of Western New York towards change, and forming the nation of the United States into what it is today. Our values of peace, equality and acceptance can be traced back to their influence. 


The Sanctuary Show seeks to capture the grace and humanity that sanctuaries highlight, revealing the very best of our communities - the unwillingness to live in fear of the other, the unwillingness to give in to hate-fueled political or ideological bigotry, and the unwillingness to close our doors to those who most need safety and protection.

Thirty-five regional artists explore this notion through a variety of responses across a diversity of mediums and techniques including painting, photography, pate de verre, ceramics, fiber art, and more.

The Sanctuary Show Programming

Sanctuary Speakers Panel

How are the themes expressed in the artistic works of The Sanctuary Show experienced in life by people in our community? Join us Tuesday, March 13 at 6pm for the Sanctuary Speakers panel in the Evelyn Peeler Peacock Gallery at The ARTS Council. We will hear from the life experiences of people who have sought political sanctuary, who have built religious sanctuaries, and who maintain the resources and community connections that make our region a sanctuary for immigrants and refugees today.

pARTner Up: Using the Creative Process to Explore Sanctuary

What would it be like to move to a new country and not speak the language? How about leaving your friends behind or not being able to eat the food you're used to eating? These are some of the questions we will explore during pARTner Up: Using the Creative Process to Explore Immigration, Refugees, and Sanctuary. Visual artist Filomena Jack and poet Michael Czarnecki will lead participants through the concept of seeking sanctuary in a new place. Join us Saturday, March 24 from 1-2:30pm at the Chemung County Historical Society for this unique family program, free and open to the public.

Evelyn Peeler Peacock Gallery at The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes

 

"Nature's Light" - new paintings at West End Gallery

"Nature's Light" at West End Gallery through October 14, 2016.

My studio is empty, and the West End Gallery is full of paintings! There are 29 new paintings and 1 sketchbook (from my California trip) on view at the West End Gallery from now through October 14, 2016. If you're in Corning tonight— Friday September 9, stop in the West End Gallery to say hi. My favorite part of an opening reception is chatting with all of you face-to-face. I love to hear your feedback and reactions to my paintings. Feel free to ask me lots of questions. There's a little story behind each painting. If you can't make it to the gallery, you can always view all my paintings on my website: www.bridgetbossartvanotterloo.com

"Goldfinch on Thistle" by B. Bossart van Otterloo

 

Please join me for an

Opening Reception

Friday, September 9th 

5:00–7:30 pm

Music by Harpist, 
Meredith Kohn Bocek

West End Gallery
12 West Market Street
Corning, NY 14830

Preview my new work on my website: 

 www.bridgetbossartvanotterloo.com

Save the Date!
I will be doing a watercolor demo at West End Gallery during Urban Arts Crawl in Corning on September 30, 5:00 – 8:00pm.

How do you know when a painting is finished?

My studio full of mostly finished paintings, awaiting the fall show at West End Gallery.

How do you know when a painting is finished? This question runs through my head a lot, especially this time of year when I am finishing up my paintings for the West End Gallery show. An exhibit takes a lot of planning. I need to finish applying paint about a month before the show so that the paintings have time to dry before the final layer of Retouch Varnish. Then they need another week or so before the varnish is dry enough for the painting to be framed. My calendar is all marked up with self-imposed deadlines.
One way to know when to stop working on a painting is a firm deadline like an exhibit. I could keep fussing away at small details in my paintings, but time will not allow it. Instead, I stand back, look at them from a distance, or reverse in a mirror, and say to myself "It's finished." This requires turning off the critical perfectionist part of me and focusing on the big picture.
Here are some questions I ask myself to help decide if a painting is finished:

• "What is the main idea I want to communicate in this painting, and have I achieved that?" 
• "Is there anything about the painting that is catching my eye in a distracting way?" 
• "Do I like it?" 
• "Will continuing to work on this painting help or hurt?

When I teach and give Artist Talks I get the question of "how do you know when to stop?" a lot. I wish the answer could be simple. Deadlines do help. Otherwise, you just need to ask yourself if you are achieving what you set out to do, and if continuing to work on the painting/artwork will help or hurt. Sometimes a partially finished painting has a fresh vibrant quality that more time and layers of paint will destroy. This painting of Peonies below is a good example of that.

Painting Peonies from life in June.

This painting was painted on multimedia board. You can see the board and the first layers of paint showing through in the brightest spots on the right side. The multi media board gives a watercolor-like effect in the first few layers of paint. I love the freshness of the beginning and middle stages of a painting. Sometimes, by the time I finish, I wish I could rewind to this stage.

Cloud Study plein air painting.

This Cloud study painting was done en plein air, meaning in the open air. It took me about two hours painting on location at a friend's home on Keuka Lake, NY. There's a spontaneity to plein air paintings that I love. If I were to work on it more at home in the studio, I would lose some of that fresh feeling. So I declared this painting finished when it was time to pack up and go home.

Work in progress during the Marty Poole workshop at 171 Cedar Arts Center

I started the above painting in a workshop with Marty Poole at 171 Cedar Arts Center this past June. This photo was taken at the end of the two-day workshop. I'm happy with the progress I made during the workshop and plan to leave this painting in its semi-finished state. I might work a little more on the apple in the girl's hand, making that the focus of the painting. Other than that, I think I will leave the sketch lines of the under-painting in the bottom half. During the workshop, Marty talked about pushing through the hard stages of a painting and not just giving up. It's at this point in the painting process that you really learn and grow.


The question of when to stop working on a painting, or any project, is an age old question. You can apply it to many areas of your life. How do you know when to make a change? How do you truly know when you're ready? Sometimes you just have to dive in and go for it. Only you can know when time is right.

Happy painting,
Bridget

P.S. See all of my finished paintings at West End Gallery this fall. "Nature's Light" Opens September 9th with a reception from 5:00 - 7:30 pm. This is a two person show with the fabulous work of Brian Keeler. The show will be on view through October 14, 2016.