50 Shades of Aubergine

Eggplants: Averaged. Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 inches, 2016 by Sarah Atlee. $2,595 For purchase inquiries, contact Cerulean Gallery at 214.564.1199.

This post first appeared on my Patreon page.

You guys, this one wasn't easy. I think it's been enough years since I was assigned to do 3- and 4-foot paintings (i.e. art school) that I'm unaccustomed to working on this scale. Especially in a representational mode.

It's good to stretch these rusty muscles! As with Sushi Leftovers, the grid was my friend. So was masking tape.

In Eggplants, I'm playing with the idea of color sampling - what if you selected a small area of an image and mixed all its constituent colors together. What shade would it be? An icy blue? A puky green? Or a lovely lavender? Again you can see the influence of modern quilting in my paintings.

So... I started this painting before they came out with the eggplant emoji, which took on a whole new meaning pretty much immediately. Not my fault. But at least one major manufacturer has run with the idea (potentially NSFW, click if you dare).

Eggplants: Averaged is available at Cerulean Gallery as part of the exhibition On Edge Part I, featuring work by Sarah Atlee, Fritz Danner, Nic Noblique, and Victoria Taylor-Gore, on display 16 September - 28 October 2016. Visit Cerulean Gallery to learn more.

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Thanks for Coming!

We had a wonderful time at Cerulean Gallery last Friday night for the opening of On Edge Part I. If you missed opening night, the exhibition will be on display through 28 October 2016.

We woke up to rain in Oklahoma that morning, but no worries - the Amarillo sky was perfectly clear for opening night.

Cerulean Gallery always draws a great crowd!

Gallery owner Caroline Kneese looking fabulous in front of Sushi Leftovers.

Visitors enjoying a sculpture by Nic Noblique.

I was so friggin happy to finally see this piece on the wall!

Enjoying the evening.

Sculptor Nic Noblique made sure people tried out his interactive works.

Discussing Heirloom Tomato with an enthusiastic patron.

One always wants to capture a few ...abstract views.

On Edge Part I, featuring work by Sarah Atlee, Fritz Danner, Nic Noblique, and Victoria Taylor-Gore, is on display 16 September – 28 October 2016. Visit Cerulean Gallery to learn more.

The Glitch Series debuts this Friday 9/16 at Cerulean Gallery

On Edge, Part I

A group exhibition featuring the work of Sarah Atlee, Fritz Danner, Nic Noblique, and Victoria Taylor-Gore

Cerulean Gallery, 2762 Duniven Cir, Amarillo TX 79109 (map link)

Opening Reception: Friday 16 September 2016, 6-9 pm. Free and open to the public, light refreshments.

Follow Cerulean Gallery on Facebook for more information.

Show runs through 28 October 2016.

Planning a trip to Amarillo? Here are some fun things to do.

Want to see the Glitch paintings before anyone else? Become a Patron!

About the Glitch Series

I am currently using vibrant acrylic paintings to reimagine traditional still lifes for the digital age. My recent compositions combine tempting, succulent foods with "glitches" painted directly onto the canvas. An avocado is interrupted by the irregular curves of a cracked screen. The natural beauty of an heirloom tomato is marred by low-resolution errors and broken pixels.

Historically, still life paintings are windows onto impossibly perfect worlds. This illusion of perfection continues into our daily lives on the Internet, as we live from one Insta-worthy moment to another. Why not use the flaws of online technology to break into that illusion?

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Martini: Head Clog I

Martini: Head Clog I. Glitch series. Acrylic on canvas, 18 x 18 inches, 2016 by Sarah Atlee. $910 For purchase inquiries, contact Cerulean Gallery at 214.564.1199

According to the AV Artifact Atlas, head clog banding is a glitch that occurs when dirt or debris clogs one of the video heads in a MiniDV or DVCam. "Typically, a head clog will appear as wide alternating lines of frozen video or an alternating pattern of color indicating a loss of read/write capability at the video head."

It's also what happens to me about three sips into one of these.

You guys, I'm addicted. To STRIPES. Just can't get enough of 'em lately. I stripe socially. I stripe alone. I stripe in the morning. I stripe before bed. Sometimes I stripe all day long. Best problem I've ever had.

Are you like me, and you want more stripes in your life? I suggest starting with my Stripes Are Cheap Therapy board on Pinterest.

About the Glitch Series

In the Glitch series, I use vibrant acrylic paintings to reimagine traditional still lifes for the digital age. My recent compositions combine tempting, succulent foods with "glitches" painted directly onto the canvas. An avocado is interrupted by the irregular curves of a cracked screen. The natural beauty of an heirloom tomato is marred by low-resolution errors and broken pixels.

Historically, still life paintings are windows onto impossibly perfect worlds. This illusion of perfection continues into our daily lives on the Internet, as we live from one Insta-worthy moment to another. Why not use the flaws of online technology to break into that illusion?

Martini: Head Clog I will be available at Cerulean Gallery as part of the exhibition On Edge Part I, featuring work by Sarah Atlee, Fritz Danner, Nic Noblique, and Victoria Taylor-Gore, on display 16 September - 28 October 2016. Visit Cerulean Gallery to learn more.

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All Things Fowl for A Hiding Place

All Things Fowl Scratchboard, 10 x 8 inches, 2016 by Sarah Atlee. $330 For purchase inquiries, contact [Artspace] at Untitled at info@1ne3.org or by calling 405.815.9995

This post first appeared on my Patreon page.

A Hiding Place: Artists Respond to Poetry

"As children we all played hide and seek. We learned through that game: the stillness of hiding and the necessity of being found. Both are essential to living the communal life. this collaborative project expolores these themes through poetry and art. We have generated a creative conversation of the senses, of image and movement and language, so that what is hidden can be known."

- From the statement by curator and poet Jane Vincent Taylor

All Things Fowl is based on Jane Vincent Taylor's poem, "Being Little Catholic Girls." A snippet:

We lit candles. It was dangerous. Incense smoked out all things foul.

About the Imagery

The composition is based on traditional Byzantine icon paintings. Guillem Ramon-Poqui's book The Technique of Icon Painting (Amazon) is a great resource on this topic.

Who's that hen? The nun's habit and background images are inspired by the early Christian mystic and polymath, Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). You can read about her remarkable life on Wikipedia.

Among her accomplishments, Hildegard invented an alphabet and language known as the Lingua Ignota. The little hula doll in the corner is using Hildegard's Litterae Ignotae to say "Aloha."

Scratchboard is a wonderful process of reductive drawing. It's all about what you take away. And the level of detail I can get with my x-acto knife is so pleasing.

A Hiding Place opens at [Artpsace] at Untitled on Thursday, July 28, and will be up through September 10. Visit the gallery website for more details.

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