Tag Archives: Hasso Ewing

Diving In

One of the things I’d like to work on this summer is getting to a point where I feel like I have at least some facility with landscape sketching. It’s kind of a logical thing to do in the warmer months when the temps are more amenable to being outside, but the truth is it’s a discipline I really struggle with and would like to improve.

Greens

View to the Greens ©2021 Elizabeth Fram, Ink, marker, colored pencil on paper, 5.5 x 5.5 inches

In general, I’m not that inspired to make landscapes in the traditional sense. I am much more drawn to work with an element of abstraction that flattens space, integrates geometric forms, and allows materials to take center stage.

Homer's Sleigh Ride

Winslow Homer, Sleigh Ride c. 1890-95, oil on canvas, The Clark Institute  This painting is a wonderful example of the attributes I’d like to emulate.

I want to be able to capture the sense of a location by translating a moment through the various color combinations and shapes that grabbed my attention in the first place. It’s the quick marking of a specific time and place I’m after, not a formal finished artwork.
Plus, I can’t help but think of the possibilities of incorporating stitch…

Lake Michigan

We recently visited our daughter in Chicago; her condo looks out to Lake Michigan. Having grown up on the coast of Maine, I’m very familiar with the fact that bodies of water change by the minute / hour, so it was a fun exercise to practice capturing a similar view at different times of day.

At the moment my results are hit or miss, but I trust the key for unlocking the code lies in practice. Time to take the plunge.

Field

Local Field   ©2022 Elizabeth Fram, Watercolor and graphite on paper, 6 x 7 inches

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“Tucked In: Resilience in Small Moments” made a bit of a splash itself this weekend.

Our artists’ reception was well-attended and it was lovely to be able to share and talk about the work in person. Thank you to Dianne Shullenberger, Leslie Roth and to everyone who came to see our work. And if you haven’t been yet, the show will be up through June 19th at the Emile A. Gruppe Gallery, Jericho, VT.  Gallery hours are 10-3 Thursday – Sunday, or call for an appointment: 802.499.3211

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And one final suggestion within this week’s watery theme:

I Have This Idea Hasso Ewing

I Have This Idea…!    ©2022 Hasso Ewing, Plaster, aluminum, paint, with shelf by Bob Hannon

If you’re anywhere near Montpelier before May 29th, make sure to stop in at the Front Gallery to see Hasso Ewing’s exhibit, “inside&out”. Her swimmer figures “explore concepts of inner and outer worlds and the relationship between self and other…”.  The show is thoughtful, humorous, and extremely uplifting.

Hasso Swing

©2022 Hasso Ewing  Shadows add an extra layer to these pieces as they turn while suspended.

For some context, Hasso was the creator/curator of “the Sheltering-in-Place project” at the Highland Center for the Arts in the summer of 2020. That exhibit was the impetus behind my very first Covid house, “Relative Distance”, and for the 17 houses that then followed as I continued making them to “personify” my observations and emotions during lockdown.

Hasso Ewing Cannon Ball

©2022 Hasso Ewing

Hasso proved then, as in this current exhibit at the Front, that she is a master at producing immersive, magical environments. In a section toward the back of the gallery, she invites us to enter “a watery inner world that brings the viewer inside to find peace and to escape from that which lies just above the surface”. It’s truly a balm in the midst of our chaotic, overly politicized world. Don’t miss it!

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Last note: If you’re a fan of Wordle — check out Artle!

 

How December’s Patterns are Different, Yet The Same

Now that December has arrived, do you have an end-of-year strategy to close out 2020?
Mine tends to evolve each year, but the general pattern is to devote time over the next weeks to looking back in order to take stock of what worked, what didn’t, and to figure out a game plan for 2021.

Studio Cleaned Up

I got a leg up on my December tasks due to some unexpected household maintenance last week that led to a deep clean and minor reorganization of my studio. While I do a decent job of keeping up with cleaning chores around our house, my studio is something of a different story. Ironically, it’s where I spend most of my waking hours, yet it’s the one area where I routinely ignore accumulating dust and clutter. However, I’m feeling pretty good about finally reaching the back corners with the vacuum this past weekend and clearing out a bunch of the unnecessary stuff that has been building up. For these few moments I can say: “clear space = clear mind”, but let’s be real — things will go back to normal in no time.

As I begin to revisit the past 11 months, 2020 has counterintuitively been a busy exhibition year in spite of COVID. Happily, that trend hasn’t let up; I will have work in two shows that will span the cusp of the old and new years. That means, in addition to my annual December close-out check list, I am attending to business as usual.

Caught Red-Handed

Caught Red-Handed, detail    ©2019 Elizabeth Fram, Stitched-resist dye and embroidery on silk, 18 x 24 inches. Photo credit: paulrogersphotography.com

The first of these shows is an online exhibit entitled Wild Things; it can be viewed now on the website of the Cultural Center of Cape Cod (MA). Online exhibitions aren’t new for the CCCC. They proudly claim their international calls for submissions and juried exhibitions as an integral part of their mission to support artists — complementing and extending their physical galleries on the Cape. It is an honor that my octopus piece, “Caught Red-Handed”, was selected to share company with such truly amazing work. If you are an animal lover, you will find this show particularly engaging in its range of media and styles.

Closer to home, I couldn’t be happier that five of my “selfie project” pieces were invited to be included in Unmasked: Artful Responses to the Pandemic. It will be an in-person exhibition, open from January 16 – March 28, 2021 at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, VT. It is very gratifying that these drawings are getting out into the wider world since they are such a strong marker of what this past year has been for me.

5 Selfies

©2020 Elizabeth Fram

All of that said, none of this would be possible without the galleries and venues across the country that have forged ahead during this crazy year, finding creative ways to continue bringing art to the public while coping with COVID and its uncertainties. Their constancy stresses the point that things are different, yet the same. In expressing my gratitude on Instagram, I was quite touched by the Cultural Center of Cape Cod’s response: “Without artists we are merely walls”. Those sentiments drill home the truth that we are all in this together… and it surely feels good to be part of the team.

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And now for a special treat.
As a coda to this past summer’s Sheltering in Place project at the Highland Center for the Arts, exhibit curator/creator Hasso Ewing, her husband Bob Hannan, and son Seamus Hannan have created and produced a truly wonderful video which conveys the atmospheric magic the exhibit brought to viewers during an uncharted and anxious time. It is quite lovely and unique — please enjoy.