Josef Albers | Growing, Oil on Masonite 1940
This summer it's Josef Albers. Last summer it was mussel shells and fisherman's knots, the summer before that it was Alex Katz. In the summer, I try to find a couple of weeks where my pace of life slows down. In fact, I force it. And, this usually happens when I head to Maine to visit friends. Swan's Island is small and perfect. No shopping excursions, no fancy restaurants or bustling beaches. It's all about woodland walks to soft sandy coves, combing the rocks, picking blueberries and wildflowers, bike rides, cooking, and the major thing—aside from Scrabble or Bananagrams—is creating. Whether it's painting, sculpture, collecting, sketching, or photography, everyone has their thing.
Josef Albers | Homage to the Square {left to right} 1950, 1951 and 1955
In a completely organic way, I decide what might be my inspiration each year. Albers is it this year. And, the reason is simply color + shape. Swan's Island itself and all that I adventure to see on it, holds more of an organic shape—perhaps not as architectural as Alber's Homage to The Square series—but I will see islands of color, indeed.
Josef Albers | Related A. Oil on Canvas 1937 and Josef Albers | In Open Air. Oil on Masonite 1936
Last summer, we collected large bins of knots on the rocky shore and sorted them by color. We also participated in creating art from the burned pages of books salvaged from the Swan's Island Library fire that became part of a rebuilding, benefit exhibition called New Pages.
We were inspired by the large, sun-washed mussel shells that cover the rocky beach. Shown here glued to an interesting piece of driftwood... and below that, blocks of wood being assembled by my friend Jane in a Louise Nevelson sort of way.
The summer before that, I was inspired by an Alex Katz show at The Farnsworth and the loss of my oldest friend's mother. I made this little Katz-inspired collage titled, Nan.
The beach we comb is covered with perfectly smooth rocks from the pounding surf, and we paint a lot of them. It's a simple meditation to mix paint and cover a rock, and a summer tradition from as far back as I can remember. I will celebrate these days with my best friends and perhaps pay homage to Albers... a rock, a collage—we'll see!
All Josef Albers work is from the catalogue of an exhibition held at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1988.
In a completely organic way, I decide what might be my inspiration each year. Albers is it this year. And, the reason is simply color + shape. Swan's Island itself and all that I adventure to see on it, holds more of an organic shape—perhaps not as architectural as Alber's Homage to The Square series—but I will see islands of color, indeed.
Josef Albers | Related A. Oil on Canvas 1937 and Josef Albers | In Open Air. Oil on Masonite 1936
Last summer, we collected large bins of knots on the rocky shore and sorted them by color. We also participated in creating art from the burned pages of books salvaged from the Swan's Island Library fire that became part of a rebuilding, benefit exhibition called New Pages.
We were inspired by the large, sun-washed mussel shells that cover the rocky beach. Shown here glued to an interesting piece of driftwood... and below that, blocks of wood being assembled by my friend Jane in a Louise Nevelson sort of way.
The summer before that, I was inspired by an Alex Katz show at The Farnsworth and the loss of my oldest friend's mother. I made this little Katz-inspired collage titled, Nan.
The beach we comb is covered with perfectly smooth rocks from the pounding surf, and we paint a lot of them. It's a simple meditation to mix paint and cover a rock, and a summer tradition from as far back as I can remember. I will celebrate these days with my best friends and perhaps pay homage to Albers... a rock, a collage—we'll see!
All Josef Albers work is from the catalogue of an exhibition held at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1988.
