Brian Fisher Print, Paint and Sculpture Blog

“Paper Moon”, from my Leo and Lang series, is a limited edition linocut print for sale in my studio ( #15 ) on the VIVA Spring Art Studio Tour, May 7-8 and 14-15, 2022.  Once upon a time, before cameras were common and digital imagery had replaced film, everyone’s local fair or carnival featured set photography booths where a photo portrait might be taken to document the day, a friendship, or love, paper moons were a standard set. The song Paper Moon was written in 1932 and had already been recorded by many artists when in 1973 Peter Bogdanovich gave it new life by using it as theme music and naming his movie, based on Joe David’s novel Addie Pray and starring Ryan O’Neal, Tatum O’Neal and Madeline Kahn, Paper Moon. The film has since become a classic and words to the song indelible. “It is only a paper moon, Sailing over a cardboard sea But it wouldn’t be make-believe if you believed in me.” Given the time and place I’ve imagined my characters Leo and Lang born into, they must have p

"Angel Over Atwood", relief monotype print. (1/1). 24" x 36", is named for a small town on the prairie located at the intersection of US Highway 36 and Kansas 25 in Northwest Kansas and nestled in the Beaver Valley on Beaver Creek. This was Cheyenne, Comanche, and Arapaho country before white European settlers replaced them. Under the Works Progress Administration Atwood built a lake and when I was born called itself- Atwood, City by the Lake.    After the American Civil War my Fathers’ family moved to this area and to other small towns and land around Atwood. They came at a time when life meant struggle and to simply endure could be thought of as success. They brought little with them other than the belief that they would persevere and an ability to laugh often. Above all they were practical, though some of them were quite religious and (according to my grandfather) superstitious. I am sure that some saw angels in the tall grass as the wind swept the plains or

Sphinx, oil on canvas 22"x22" “What has four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?” In Greek myth Sphinx is a monster with the body and tail of a lion, the face of a woman, and the wings of a bird. Her infamous siblings Hydra, Chimera and the Gorgons share an equally confusing biology. Hera sent Sphinx to punish the city of Thebes and in her role as threshold guardian she famously challenges the hero Oedipus to a game of riddles. That was her thing, to ask tricky questions to those who wished to pass and eat her unwilling opponent If they were unable to answer the riddle correctly. Oedipus solved the riddle, “Man, who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two legs, and finally needs a cane in old age.” Check out Sphinx on the 2022 Vashon Island Artist Studio Tour, May 7-8, 14-15. Map and info- Vivartists.com . and  @viva_vashon_artists

“Taming Bucephalus” Oil on Canvas  with 24k gold, 20 x 20 in.  I nspired by Alexander of Macedon, Alexander the Great, this painting "Taming Bucephalus" is about his famous war horse.  There is much real, documented, history about Alexander and of course the larger than life lore that grew up after his death.  All of it has kept his story active, alive, 2,345 years after his death. My mother gave me the Mary Renault books about Alexander when I was young.  I recently reread the first book in Renault's Alexander trilogy, Fire From Heaven, first published in 1969.  Historical fiction can be informative and entertaining.  This story, his story, is powerful, and still relevant!  Delighted that Taming Bucephalus and it's companion painting, Hephaestion,  just sold.

  This is my painting of Lailah, Angel of Conception, Angel of Night , oil on canvas over panel, 36 x 24 in. currently at Vashon Center for the Arts Gallery on Vashon Island WA. Angels are typically considered genderless, but Lailah is described as feminine in Midrash (commentary on Hebrew scriptures, attached to biblical text). In this tradition, she teaches the unborn spirt the Torah before birth and provides each a candle so that it can see its path in the world to come. In the moment that the spirt is born to this world, Lailah blows out the candle and strikes the child’s upper lip, causing the new babe to forget everything, but leaving the indention we all have above our upper lips. This is said to be the physical reminder of original knowledge and prompt to unlearn our way back to God. I was unfamiliar with this story until researching angel mythology, but it called to mind that experience we all have, at least while young, of knowing something rather than learning something. A g

  Haniel, Angel of Joy is said to hold the keys to the palaces of heaven and appears in Genesis and The Book of Enoch, part of the Jewish and Christian Apocrypha, where he transports Enoch from earth to heaven as a living man. My painting of Haniel and all the Angel paintings and prints I've made in 2021, are inspired by Italian Renaissance artist Fra Angelico’s Angel paintings. His "Technicolor” depictions of angel wings intrigue me. I am delighted that Haniel has already sold to a friend and patron but you can still see Haniel on exhibit at Vashon Center for the Arts Gallery Jan 7-30, 2022, where you will also view work by Notable Collection artists; Victoria Adams, Morgan Brig, Brian Fisher, Pam Ingalls, Kristen Reitz-Green, Cathy Sarkowsky, and Erin Shulz. You can also see work online at VCA's Notable Collection now thru April 2022.

The 2022 Notable Show at Vashon Center for the Arts Gallery opens Jan. 7. I've been working on angel myth as subject in paintings and monotype prints since early 2021. It's so satisfying to see work finally coming together. Michael, Angel of Strength, shown here, is the last of four oil paintings on canvas over panel for the exhibit.  My inspiration for these paintings and prints are Italian   Renaissance   artist   Fra Angelico’s “Technicolor” angel winged paintings of Gabriel, the Angel of the Annunciation and my sincere curiosity about the human need for answers and explanations .    Our love of the evolving narrative always intrigues me !