Brian Fisher Print, Paint and Sculpture Blog

The 10th annual Unclad Art show opens March 12 at Gallery by the Bay in Stanwood Washington  I am excited to participate again this year.  The show celebrates the nude in art by more than 90 artists from across North America.  The scope and scale of the art represented is a rare treat to see. A digital gallery of the work on exhibit may be found at Unclad 2011 as well as directions and a schedule of the many special events planed around the show. My Monotypes Gentle Bower, (above) and Centauromachy or Battle of the Centaurs, (below) are my contribution to Unclad 2011.  In the gallery gift shop I will also have 24 different card images and two smaller monotypes for sale.

O ne evening while the lovely Leda, Queen of Sparta, went about her bath, Zeus spied her from his perch on Mt. Olympus and was smitten, enamored, or at the very least, fell deeply in lust.  Libidinous Zeus then changed himself into a swan, a bird sacred to Aphrodite, and swept down from the heavens to join Leda in her watery ritual.   Artists through the ages have depicted this union in many, many ways, perhaps because this particular miracle is a challenge, but fun, to imagine.  My Monotype collage version of this amorous encounter depicts Leda as self aware but unaware and slippery Zeus as diminutive, not unlike a bath toy.  I guess I was thinking of soap on a rope.  Really, who could be afraid of that? This mythic union is very important because one of Leda’s children by The Swan is beautiful Helen. Helen’s abduction by Paris, a prince of Troy, will lead to the Trojan War and destruction of Troy, the death and memorialization of many heroes, set the stage for the future

The Kevin D’Amelio Art Gallery will open this Thursday, March 3, 5-8 PM, at the historic 619 Western Building in Pioneer Square with a group show highlighting Vashon Island Artists.  At last count more than 60 artists, representing the remarkable wealth of art being created on Vashon will be participating.  This show runs through March 13. My Monotype King Maker (above) is one of two images I will be exhibiting in the Kevin D’Amelio Vashon Island Artists inaugural show.