Brian Fisher Print, Paint and Sculpture Blog

My cut steel sculpture "Aphrodite" exhibits Feb 7- March 1, 2020 at Roby King Gallery on Bainbridge Island in "A Trio of Print-makers".  Opening reception is Tonight, Feb. 7, 6-8 pm.  Aphrodite is the ancient Greek goddess associated with love, beauty, pleasure, passion and procreation.  
 I love the description of her in this version of “Give me that old time religion” made popular by folk musician Pete Seeger.
 Shall I worship Zarathustra 
just the way we use ta? 
 Be a Zarathustra Booster
 What a thing to be! Or maybe Aphrodite
 She’s beautiful but flighty
 and doesn’t wear a nighty, now there’s a sight to see. 
Or perhaps I’ll choose Apollo 
 a decent god to follow
 I’d grovel and I’d wallow
 Brought low on bended knee. 
Elohim or Yahweh?
 Allah or the highway? 
 I think I’ll just go my way.
 That’s good enough for me. 
Give me that old time religion 
Give me that old time religion
.... It's good enough for me!

My Monotype "The Minotaur" will exhibit in Roby King Gallery on Bainbridge Island, January Jan 3 - Feb 2 with work from two other Vashon Island Artists, Susan Lowery and Pam Ingalls. Check us out! Crete’s mythic history begins with the abduction by Zeus (as bull) of Europa, a princess of Phoenicia and a long swim to the shores of Greece's largest island.  With their union, Europa became the first queen of the island kingdom of Crete, powerhouse of the Aegean and subsequently the namesake of Europe.   When Minos, a descendant of Zeus and Europa, defeated his brothers to become King he prayed that Poseidon, God of the Aegean Sea who's waters surrounded Crete, send him a gift/sacrifice in recognition that his Kingship was divinely sanctioned, his prayers were answered (kind of). Poseidon’s gift, a beautiful pure white bull, The Bull From The Sea, appeared as petitioned but Minos decided instead of sacrificing the bull to substitute another as tribute and kept

Last weekend was the kick off for the Vashon Island Artist Studio tour and although my studio is not in the tour line-up this year I have work in several venues on Vashon and garden sculpture in the Small Works show at Roby King Galleries on Bainbridge Island.  All these openings were on the same night Friday December 6.  The work will show through the month. In the photo above I stand before some of my Monotype and sculptural work at The Heron's Nest, during the Vashon First Friday Artwalk. Sculpture and watercolor artist, Darsey Beck and I were the featured artists this month at the Heron's Nest on Vashon. Below is a shot taken at the opening of the Vashon Allied Arts Gallery's "Masters in Miniture" show.   My Monotype work (the three descending at center) along with print collage work by fellow artists and friends Janice Mallman (below) and Edith Sehulster (at right) were part of this 40+ artist invitational show.

Hylas, Lost to Love  14  x 14 in.  Rust Monoprint Apollonios Rhodios wrote his version of the Argonautika, the story of Jason and the Quest for the Golden Fleece, in the 3rd century BC but this Hero's story is probably the oldest extant Greek myth. When I began my investigation of “rust” as a medium for creative process a year and a half ago I decided to make the Argonautika the subject for my personal quest and chose Peter Green’s translation of the Argonautika as source for my imagery.  Below, Green describes the fate of Hercules companion, Hylas in a significant chapter of the Argonautika. 'Hylas, then, came to the spring that was known as The Fountains by local inhabitants. Just now, as it chanced, the dances of the nymphs were being held there; for it was their custom, that of all the nymphs who dwelt around that lovely mountain, ever to honor Artemis with nocturnal song. Now all whose haunts were hilltops or mountain torrents, the guardian wood nymphs, these were