Brian Fisher Print, Paint and Sculpture Blog

"Kentro (center)" Monotype with Gold Leaf, (1/1), 6 x6 x 1.5 in. on panel Above and below are two of the Monotype images I will be exhibiting in the Masters in Miniature show at the Vashon Allied Arts Gallery, December 6-23.  The opening is December 6, 6-9pm. I have been exploring "Journey" and "Center" as subject for the past couple years and these small works were compositional studies for much larger Rust Prints and future oil on canvas paintings. "Transit of Venus" Monotype Print with Gold Leaf (1/1), 6x6 x1.5 in. on Panel

Earlier this year I completed an interesting commission for a good friend and patron. The final print images were to be digitally reproduced and used as skins for pantry doors in his kitchen.  We discussed imagery and finally decided that two Monotypes describing four phases of his life would be fun and personally relevant. Above are the door skins in place.  Below are the initial drawings and  the final Monotypes that were reproduced as door skins. 

The Shield of Achilles ,  Monoprint, (29 3/4" x 19 1/2") The Shield Of Achilles by W. H. Auden She looked over his shoulder 
for ritual pieties, 
white flower-garlanded heifers, 
libation and sacrifice, 
but there on the shining metal 
where the altar should have been, 
she saw by his flickering forge-light 
quite another scene. Barbed wire enclosed an arbitrary spot 
where bored officials lounged (one cracked a joke) 
and sentries sweated for the day was hot:  a crowd of ordinary decent folk 
watched from without and neither moved nor spoke 
as three pale figures were led forth and bound 
to three posts driven upright in the ground. 

 The mass and majesty of this world, all 
that carries weight and always weighs the same 
lay in the hands of others; they were small 
and could not hope for help and no help came: 
what their foes like to do was done, their shame 
was all the worst could wish; they lost their pride 
and died as men before their bodies died. She l

"Taming Bucephalus"   Oil on Canvas (22 x 22 in.) I hung 15 prints and paintings at La Medusa early this week.  I love the name La Medusa!  What poetry and illusion to Gorgon mysteries.  I can only hope that my work is also received as poetry in this wonderful eatery! La Medusa is located at 4857 Rainier Avenue South in Seattle Washington and serves incredible tastes of Sicilian, Italian food.  The restaurant is beautiful, the staff friendly and ones entire experience is just what "dining out" should be about. Columbia City, La Medusa's home, is a magical mix of cultures, of the now and yesterday and well worth a visit at any time of day. My show at La Medusa hangs until July 30. View my work and enjoy this wonderful restaurant.

Theseus and the Minotaur   Monotype Print with copper leaf Mothers Day and the second weekend of the Vashon Island Spring Studio Tour is coming up.  I hope to see many more friends and patrons visiting my studio and participating in the final weekend of the art tour May 12-13. I thought I would post a couple images of artwork that sold last weekend.  Theseus and the Minotaur (above) and Hector from the previous blog are now hanging on new walls!

All Day Permanent Red  (To welcome Hector to his death)   by Christopher Logue To welcome Hector to his death God sent a rolling thunderclap across the sky The city and the sea       And momentarily— The breezes playing with the sunlit dust— On either slope a silence fell.    Think of a raked sky-wide Venetian blind.    Add the receding traction of its slats    Of its slats of its slats as a hand draws it up.    Hear the Greek army getting to its feet.       Then of a stadium when many boards are raised    And many faces change to one vast face.    So, where there were so many masks,    Now one Greek mask glittered from strip to ridge.    Already swift Boy Lutie took Prince Hector's nod And fired his whip that right and left Signalled to Ilium's wheels to fire their own, And to the Wall-wide nodding plumes of Trojan infantry—    Flutes!    Flutes! Screeching above the grave percussion of their feet Shouting how they

Achilles by Carol Ann Duffy Myth’s river – where his mother dipped him, fished him, a slippery golden boy flowed on, his name on its lips. Without him, it was prophesied, they would not take Troy. Women hid him, concealed him in girls’ sarongs; days of sweetmeats, spices, silver songs … But when Odysseus came, with an athlete’s build, a sword and a shield, he followed him to the battlefield, the crowd’s roar, And it was sport, not war, his charmed foot on the ball … But then his heel, his heel, his heel … Carol Ann Duffy, Britain’s Poet Laureate 2009, composed this poem on the occasion of  footballer David Beckham’s injury to his Achilles tendon. Achilles Heel is my Monotype Print (30 x 15 1/4 in.) created for exhibition in my studio during the 2012 Vashon Island Art Studio tour.

Jason and Chiron    (22 x 29.5 in.) When Jason, the son of the dethroned King of Iolcus, was a little boy, he was sent away from his parents, and placed under the queerest schoolmaster that ever you heard of. This learned person was one of the people, or quadrupeds, called Centaurs. He lived in a cavern, and had the body and legs of a white horse, with the head and shoulders of a man. His name was Chiron; and, in spite of his odd appearance, he was a very excellent teacher, and had several scholars, who afterwards did him credit by making a great figure in the world. So Jason dwelt in the cave, with this four-footed Chiron, from the time that he was an infant, only a few months old, until he had grown to the full height of a man. He became a very good harper, I suppose, and skillful in the use of weapons, and tolerably acquainted with herbs and other doctor's stuff, and, above all, an admirable horseman; for, in teaching young people to ride, the good

I just finished this Monotype print called Coral Spring for the Vashon Island Spring Art Studio Tour .  As I was printing I kept looking out my studio window at the Coral Bark Maples that are still glowing though starting to loose their intense winter coral color.  I am thinking of making Ltd. edition digital reproductions from this image for sale in my studio during the tour.   Coral Spring is 12 x12 in.

In our image obsessed culture the old, old story of Narcissus and the body beautiful is as new as another gorgeous photo, thank you Bruce Weber, for Abercrombie & Fitch's latest pitch to purchase.  To purchase what?     A reflection of beauty of course.  Made self aware by comparison and confounded by perfection we are all in love with surface but desire depth of being.   So the story of Narcissus forever resonates in the individual’s search for self.   At left is my new Monotype Print, Narcissus Reflected ,  (22 x 29.5 in.)  See it in my studio during the Spring Vashon Island Studio Tour. Here is Mr. Eliot's take on Narcissus, a poem of self awareness and metamorphosis, Cantacal V, Or- The Death of Saint Narcissus by T. S. Eliot He walked once between the sea and the high cliffs When the wind made him aware of his limbs smoothly passing each other And of his arms crossed over his breast. When he walked over the meadows He was s

I am still framing work for the Art Tour and just finished this piece.  Tomorrow I will begin hanging artwork and the transformation of my studio into a gallery.  I am looking forward to the weekend! Above, is Rite of Passage (14.5 x 36 in.), my Monotype with silver leaf mounted to panel.

Monotype Print 36 x 15 in. Pallas Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom, warfare, arts, crafts, agriculture and namesake patron of the city of Athens is sometimes said to be the child of Zeus alone.  Zeus did give birth to her, but only after swallowing the Oceanid Metis, already pregnant by him, in an attempt to thwart the prophecy that a child of their union would be greater than mighty Zeus. This was of course the unhappy end of Metis but the unborn child continued to grow, gestating in Zeus's head and troubling him with terrible headaches.  Eventually, so great was his pain, he begged Hephaestus to strike him with his great axe whereupon Pallas Athena sprang from her father’s head fully armed. My Monotype The Birth of Pallas Athena , along with another four of my Monotype prints will be displayed at the Roby King Galleries on Bainbridge Island during their 2011 Print Exhibition, October 7-27 with an Artist’s Reception October 7 from 6-8 PM.

Vashon Allied Arts’ annual Art Auction celebrates the glamor of classic Hollywood at 5:30 pm, Friday & Saturday, Sept. 23 & 24. Artists have donated more than 140 pieces of original art. 2011 Commissioned Artists are: Gretchen Hancock , Art Hansen, Odin Lonning, Gus Schairer , Nancy Sipple and Elaine Summers. Orpheus and Eurydice , my contribution to this years Art Auction, is a mixed media work incorporating Monoprint process and drawing over and under vintage dress patterns. Mythic Orpheus was a gifted musician.  From his father and mother, Apollo and the Muse Calliope, he inherited a mastery of the lyre and a heavenly voice. No god or mortal could resist his music and even the rocks and trees would move themselves to be near him.  Eurydice felt no differently.  When she came to hear him play the lyre and sing, she, they, fell deeply in love and soon after were married.   They were as happy as only love can make two people until the day Eurydice wa

In May Valise Gallery on Vashon chose censorship as subject and invited the community to respond and participate in their exhibit titled “The Elephant in the Room.” It was an interesting and thought provoking show.  Here is the image I selected to exhibit and it’s written explanation as it appeared at Valise. Monotype/Collage 30 x 22.5 in. After 9-11 and the subsequent lead up to the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq we were bombarded by euphemisms to sell and provide cover for war.  Preemptive War, promoting a war to prevent war is a good example, as is Collateral Damage, people killed in military actions who were not the intended target. How about Enhanced Interrogation? I mean torture.  This kind of verbal misdirection as practiced by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice, besides being distortion of truth, lead to congressional censorship of individuals and of sovereign nations.  Hear Only, See Only, Speak Only Evil is a state

In addition to the upcoming (May) Spring Vashon Artist Studio Tour I will also be showing on Bainbridge Island with Roby King Gallery in their Streets, Roads, Paths, group exhibition.  The exhibit opens Friday May 6 and runs through the 28th.  New work I have created for this show expresses my pleasure in a daily routine; walking the dog.  At right is my Monotype, The Aki Walk.  Aki is my 15 month old Shiba Inu and with the advent of Spring the walk for her has become all about chasing Robins.  Bless whoever invented those spring loaded, self retracting dog leads! The format, technique and oblique perspective is intended to reference Japanese Art and Print.  Shiba Inu's are a Japanese dog breed. The Aki Walk is a Monotype Print with Gold Leaf and measures   24.25 x 7 in. 

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. 

Invictus, Monotype, 15 1/4 x 22 in. Although my surname might conjure a heritage comfortable at sea, I have had little experience with boats or for that matter large bodies of water until moving to an island in the Pacific Northwest.  My friendship with families who fish professionally and the stories I have heard them tell have however engaged my imagination and sincere appreciation of what ingenuity, fortitude and mind over matter it must surely take to make a living from a boat afloat at sea.  I find the concept frightening.  Much of my fear though is not about the hard work or uncertainty of nature but the dependency upon ones shipmates, their strengths, weaknesses and the emotional baggage all of us are born to and carry in our personal odysseys.  Several Monotypes I have made for the 2010 Vashon Island Art Studio Tour illustrate my reflections upon all of the above and are presented within the context of Odysseus’s misadventures and long voyage home to

Tickets are still available for the Equal Rights Washington Gala and Auction (March, 6, 2010).  This fundraiser and celebration promises to be another spectacular event  held to help finance this important political advocacy organization for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community of Washington State. Check out their website at:  http://www.equalrightswashington.org Emmy award winner, comedienne and actress Judy Gold is the guest star this year. I have donated my Monotype “Kita-Ku Wrestlers” (posted above) for auction.  Kita- Ku Wrestlers is one of an ongoing series of  paper-cut Monotype print collage whose subject is wrestling. “Kita-Ku Wrestlers” is  19.5” x 27”.

The Titans were deities of Greece’s mythic Golden Age.  Born of Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (Sky) the twelve Titans who ruled the universe were the brothers Kronos, Koios, Krios, Iapetos, Hyperion, Okeanos and their sisters and consorts Theia, Rhea, Themis, Memsoyte, Phoebe and Tethys. Kois, Krios, Iapetos and Hyperion were each associated with a cardinal point representing the four great pillars which in early myth separated the earth from sky and later supported the entire cosmos. Kronos (Time) represented the fixed point, around which the world/cosmos ticked, while Okenos was the river/ocean or fabric wherein the world/cosmos moved. In this Monotype, Kronos is depicted as a Sphinx, symbol of question and answer,  the cosmological constraint or constant that simultaneously embodies the past, present and future. Posted above is an image of my Monotype Titans mounted on wood panel, 14 1/8 x 35 1/2 in.    Look for Titans on the Vashon Holiday Studio Tour at my studio (#1

I have completed another Monotype whose imagery draws on the bull, the Goddess and Cretan ritual for inspiration.  It is called The Bull, the Bee and the Goddess .  It will be exhibited at the Heron’s Nest during Vashon Island’s Holiday Studio Tour (December 5, 6 & 12,13) and is one of several paintings and Monotypes I will be exhibiting at The Heron's Nest throughout the month of December. A few years ago two good friends walked the El Camino de Santiago in Spain. Later, while describing the experience of hiking through Galicia and encountering shrine after shrine to “Our Lady”, one commented that these alters were probably manifestations of the Goddess filtered through the Christian tradition.  Her observation struck a personal chord and inspired my own arm chair research and subsequent visual exploration. The Goddess or Mother Goddess is the oldest deity in the archaeological record. Her manifestations are legion. One of her earliest (neolithic) forms is that of the