2015 Favorites

Happy New Year, and since today is Ukranian/Russyn Christmas Eve, Kristos Razdayetsya.

Every January I post my favorite art from my year's portfolio.  This year I have spent so much time doing scannography that I had to include a few of them. I would love to have you respond to these pictures and tell me which are your favorites, and why.  Critiques are always helpful.

I love the burnished colors of my oak leaves and acorns scan.

One of my earliest scans is still one of my favorites.  I love the texture in this photo of a sea fan and shells.

Gifts from the Sea

I have to include two of my photos from my genealogy series. I find this scan of my Grandmother Buchta's entry into the United States from Bratislava (and her original portrait) so beautiful.

Kristina Vanek

My grandfather Buchta's scan is simple and masculine.  He arrived from Skalica in 1910 at the age of 20.

The next two photographs are my favorites, not for the images, but for the technical skills I learned in producing them.  I guess you should not believe what you see in photography today as fact. Then again, could you ever?  Photographers since the beginning of the art have chosen what they photographed and left out much of the reality of the scene.   Think of  Edward Curtis's posing of Native Americans and the narrow focus of fashion or food photography.

The color in this photo was "painted in" using Photoshop.  I had changed the original color photo to black and white and then painted in a few of the tulips.

I learned to alter the color of the mountains in this scene, again, using Photoshop. 

My series of 4x4x4x4 was a delight to produce--4x4 prints taken at 4 pm in the 4th month of the year by the 4 artists in my Art group.  This series has been accepted for exhibition in 2016 at the Studio Place Arts Gallery.  The photo below was produced through silhouette art after I visited an exhibit of the work of Walter Wicks and decided to emulate him for one of the 4x4s.  If you are interested in learning more about silhouette art, visit my website: patricialyonsurrey.com

In honor of Walter Wicks

I did not produce many abstract photographs this year.  Here is one of the few.

A macro photograph of a peace lily.

And finally, when being in the right place at the right time pays off.

Holiday Events

I have been matting and framing photos for two upcoming events. The Studio Place Arts members show contains the work of more than 80 Vermont artists.  I will have three framed pieces there, plus many matted prints.  Here are two of my scannography prints that will be on display.  They are matted and framed with simple black wooden frames (11x14).

Magnolia 1   $250

Willow 1   $250

Celebrate 15 years of support for art and artists

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STUDIO PLACE ARTS

Location: Studio Place Arts, 201 North Main Street, Barre, VT (802 479-7069)

SPA's 15th Birthday Bash & Members Show Reception:
Saturday, November 14 4-6 pm 

Gallery Hours will be expanded in November and December:

Nov. 11 – Nov. 28
Tues – Fri:  11AM-5PM
Sat:  Noon-4PM
Closed Nov. 26

Dec. 1 – Dec. 26
Tues – Fri:  11AM-5PM
Sat:  11AM-4PM
Sun: Noon-4PM
Closed Dec. 24 & 25


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The Helen Day Members Art Show and Festival of Trees and Lights has been selected as one of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce top ten winter events.  I love this show--it has art, music and great food at the reception each year.  Be sure to add this event to your calendar.

My entries are two of my latest scans from my independent study.

Fall Berries 1  (19x27 frame size) $350

Oak Leaves 1 (19x27 frame size)  $350

Gallery Location: 90 Pond Street, Stowe, Vermont (802 253-8358)

Opening Reception: Friday, December 4th at 5:00

Exhibit: December 4th to January 3rd 

Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 12pm-5pm

Hope to see you;  I will be at both receptions.

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I also will have a large variety of matted prints and cards for sale in Brandon, Vermont just in time for the town's December Art Walk.  The price for these archival prints depends on their size. The cards are all priced at $3.50.  The Art Walk is on December 4 and my art will be for sale until the New Year.

8 Conant Square, Brandon, Vermont

Genealogy Naivete

 Boy, was I naive about doing an art project that focuses on genealogy! The actual work of scanning is the easy part.  Sure, it does take time to decide what I want to include in each individual scan, it takes thought to place found objects in an artistic and, hopefully, truthful manner, and it takes skill to "clean" up the scans when they come from the scanner. However, getting together the information on relatives who came to the United States over 100 years ago, is much more difficult than I ever dreamed it would be.
Both sets of my grandparents are dead, as well as all of their children except for my mother; she is 95 and in a nursing home with dementia. There is no way to obtain first hand knowledge.  Add to that the fact that both sets of grandparents never spoke English and any conversation that I had with them was simplistic using words such as "storeski"-- a combination of two languages.
I am relying on my memories, the memories of others, old photographs and documents that are scattered among relatives, and the very few possessions that are available. I am also recognizing that it is easier to find out about my grandmothers' lives than my grandfathers.  The old country was a silent, strong male one and it carried over to the new country.
That  said, I am excited by this project--I am learning a lot about scannography and about personal history at the same time.  I am working piecemeal and may regret it.  I have started with depictions of my mother's life and of my Grandmother Buchta's life--- the easiest to do.   My mother has lived a long life and I know a lot from her and about her.  My Grandmother Buchta has always had a special place in my heart.  She watched me as a baby when my father was drafted during WWII and she was at our  house frequently to help my mother.

Here are the genealogy scans straight from the scanner bed without edits.

Kristina Vanek

Pauline Perchinsky

When I want a rest from the intensity of this work, I walk the roads and fields of Vermont to find seeds, leaves and flowers to scan. Again, these scans are straight from the scanner and will need cleaning up of residue and processing.
In my next post I will show some before and after scans.

Miss Fran's Trees

Scannography Independent Study

This week I started an advanced independent study of scannography with Bethany Bond through Johnson State College.  My main concentration will be producing a body of work with the working name, Immigration and Integration.
I will be doing a pictorial representation of my genealogy starting from my two sets of grandparents who emigrated as individuals from the Austrian Hungarian empire in the early 1900's.  My grandparents on my mother's side are Russins from what is now the Ukraine.  My grandparents from my father's side are Slovak from what is now the Slovak Republic.
 I'll finish with my own adult children who are 3rd generation American and fully integrated, and sadly, have little connection to their Slovak and Russin heritage.
I will also continue doing work with natural objects that appear in all their essence through the scanning process.  Here are some of my most recent scans of natural objects.  Note:  They have not been fully edited as yet.

A Fleeting Animal Opera and Art Show

There are two art shows in conjunction with this opera.  My photo, Chris's Sugarhouse, is in the Chandler Center for the Arts gallery and will be on display until September 27th.

A Fleeting Animal

An Opera from Judevine is a collaborative work by two Vermont artists, composer Erik Nielsen and poet David Budbill.  Budbill’s libretto tells a tragic love story that touches on rural poverty, racism, and PTSD.

A Fleeting Animal is uniquely of Vermont, yet its passion, humor, and tragedy are both timeless and universal. Join us in meeting Tommy, a Vietnam vet struggling with PTSD, and Grace, a single mother living in poverty in a fictional Vermont village (Judevine).

Nielsen’s score draws from diverse contemporary styles, including jazz, blues, and French-Canadian fiddle tunes.   Opera Dates

A Busy Exhibit Season Coming Up..

With the lazy dog days of summer come plenty of art shows and exhibits for you to slowly meander.  At the new home of the T.W.Wood Gallery at 46 Barre Street in Montpelier the Art Resource Association will be holding a 40 artist show that includes painting, photography and sculpture.
The reception for this show is July 30, from 5-7pm.  If you can't make it to the reception, the show continues into September and is part of the First Friday Art Walk in Montpelier on September 4.
I've decided to include my " Winter Meditation" in the show as I don't think it has had enough of an audience and is one of my favorite pieces.

Winter Meditation

Directly following this, on August 1 and 2  from 10-5 each day, is my art group's second annual On the Way Art exhibit and sale in Moretown, Vermont.  This show is part of the Vermont Festival of the Arts which celebrates music, arts and dance from August 1 until Labor Day Week-end.

Whimsical, traditional, intelligent, ethereal—the exhibit and sale brings together art created from the unique perspective of four Vermont artists. Cards, matted art, framed photography, photo books, and more will be on exhibit.  

Artists: Michelle Saffran, Jackie Smith, Holly King, Patricia Lyon-Surrey.

As part of the Vermont Festival of the Arts, the Round Barn in Waitsfield has it's annual Photo Show from August 3 until September 7. The reception is on Tuesday, August 4, 5:30-7:30 with great food and a presentation by a local artist.



I am planning on exhibiting two of my scannography photos at the Round Barn.  Here is one.  As of this date, I have not decided on the second.

Sensual Spring

Eileen's pairing for the show---any other suggestions?

Then I am off to my own lazy dog days for two weeks in August with a trip to Anacortes, Washington and a drive along the coast to San Francisco.  Some of the art highlights of the trip are a visit to Anthony Howe's sculptures on Orcas Island and a stop at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Marin, California.

A Teaser!

My art group of 4 is preparing to exhibit our 4x4x4x4 results from April.  We each took a photo from our life at 4:00 everyday this past April (month 4) and we will be printing them 4x4 for the exhibit. We are hoping to place each artist's photos above each other so that the viewer can see 4 pictures of each day. Stay tuned for an update on where the exhibit will take place.
Here are a few of my teaser photos to encourage you to come to the exhibit.

April 13

April 6

April 14

April 3

April 26

April 21