It might be said that January represents change more than any other month.
For many, each new year opens the door to a fresh start – whether through newly forged resolutions or the hope of leaving the old year’s troubles behind. Either way, what better metaphor for the idea of transformation than the amaryllis?*
Signs of January’s hope & renewal: a new flower bud and baby bulbs growing from the sides of the mother plant.
I have accumulated more than a dozen of these plants and they remind me of the power of change every January. After a full year of watering and feeding, transporting them outside for the summer and then back inside to a cool, dark basement pantry for a 10-week autumn rest, my amaryllises have returned to our living room window sills.
The transformations that take place as a piece develops is like magic; it becomes addicting as one pushes forward. I try to take photos at various stages of each piece to track my progress. As you can see, not always in the best light at the end of a day.
With additional layers, the image begins to materialize.
Assisted by the lowered arc of December’s sun and our cozy evening fires, they’ve re-acclimated and are a glorious foil to January’s short, dark days, adding light and color where there might otherwise be gloom.
This piece began with the thought of incorporating a house shape (see previous pic) But as things moved along, I realized I had already gone too far for what I had in mind for this particular work, so the idea was nixed.
The outside garden may be snoozing soundly under a blanket of snow, but the transformation of these bulbs from papery and leafless lumps to vibrantly green and blooming is something of a winter miracle. Even though their flowers are short-lived, they are certainly worth all the tending and waiting.
Considering this painting’s overall tones are relatively muted, the accompanying stitch colors needed to be hushed as well. Pulling out hues from the portrait subtlety marries it with the background without overpowering either the image or the textural quality of the stitching.
With that thought in mind, I invite you to also think about the alchemy that is produced within an artist’s studio. By this, I’m not only referring to how raw materials are transformed into something new, but also, perhaps more importantly, to how those creations can fundamentally alter a viewer’s perceptions and foster communication. Yvahn Martin’s brief article “The Transformative Power of Art” discusses art’s communicative potential to enable and generate change in various positive ways – politically, socially and personally.
Still Waters ©2023 Elizabeth Fram, Watercolor, graphite and stitching on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches I am settling into these portraits of older women with acknowledgment of and reverence for the paths they have laid out before us. This piece, in its relative subtlety, is a reminder that we all have stories that we may choose not to share. But those deep-seated histories still lie beneath the surface.
This week marks the opening of Transformation: Material, Environment, Us, a selection of artwork by the Vermont Members of the Surface Design Association, currently on view at Studio Place Arts in Barre, from January 25 – March 4, 2023. The exhibit meditates on the fundamental idea of change. I hope you’ll find time to visit and to consider not just how change is represented by each artist, but how their works may affect change in you.
If you go, it’s a ‘three-fer’: 3 exhibits on 3 levels. See the info below for details.
*By typing “amaryllis” in the search bar to your right, you’ll see how these beautiful plants have made their way into my sketchbooks and this blog, year after year.