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Hello from Vermont!
Recently,
I've taken up abstractions... (again!)
These paintings reminded
me of neurons. Perhaps they are about
Dopamine and maybe Serotonin, and
Acetylcholine, swimming, exchanging and
trying like hell to balance each other
out, looking for peace. So, although I
let the painting make its own story, and
it did, I am still a story-maker at
heart, and this is my fantasy about
synaptic conversations. I'm sure the
story is left over from all the
discussions on neurotransmitters with
Allen's neurologist and his prescribing
psychiatrist.
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| These two are going in a
show soon. I have a few more that I'll
post, too. Stay tuned to this page. so
far all my abstractions are 30 x 24" |
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ABOUT THIS
WORK...
Over the years, my artwork has
moved through distinct phases shaped by
experience, necessity and interest.
After graduating from Montserrat College of Art
(Beverly, Massachusetts), I moved to Vermont and
painted landscapes and still life from
observation. Much later, during the years
I was care-giving for my husband while he was
sick and dying, my work shifted entirely into
black-and-white narratives - comics and graphic
novels. I could not access color, either
emotionally or visually.
After my husband died, I finished my graphic
novel about Caregiving. Then I traveled to Italy
to study painting with Christopher Bell. I had
been stuck in tiny ink drawings for years. Under
Chris's patient tutelage, I started working with
acrylics again, using vibrant color washes.
Returning to Vermont I threw caution to the wind
and decided to try out the application
techniques I’d learned in Italy.
When what appeared to be symbolic imagery showed
up, I allowed it. I wanted to find out
what happens when I just let the energy speak.
In the 1980s I had studied Abstract
Expressionism directly under five students of
Hans Hofmann (mid 20th century abstract
expressionist). I returned to this lineage
through a physical, spontaneous, and joyful
practice. This way of working was speaking to me
again.
IN SUM: This recent body of
abstract work is about energy: how it moves,
resists, and transforms. I adhere to the
adage: Painting is its own language.
This work develops through careful attention
to what the painting itself demands. Structure
and spontaneity coexist and inform one
another. Color functions as force and depth. I
begin each painting without knowing what it
will ask of me and I allow it to develop
organically. Painting is a joyful and
surprising adventure.
Marcie Vallette BFA, M.Ed, LPN
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ABOUT PAINTING IN ITALY; I
attended "Art Toscana" - a small art school in
Barga. I highly recommend it to anyone of any
ability at all! Chris Bell was the teacher and
he can speak to any level.
Accommodations were clean, pleasant,
comfortable, private rooms or couples rooms. It
has a pool and lots of studio time and plein air
time, and some shopping and restaurant and
sightseeing time is built in as well. We
had wine tasting, too! It was a week of
painting with 10 people. I was the only
American. Everyone was super kind (and concerned
about our country) and supportive of me and of
each other. It was absolutely wonderful and
great fun. The food was out of this world of
COURSE and we had wine and activities in the
evenings. I managed to behave myself.
I stand corrected. Wine and lots of
laughter started flowing at noon. It's a
real EVENT - all week! I mean coming from being
a tad isolated in rural Vermont to all of this
was fantastic for me!
Chris is a wonderful teacher and he and his
wife, Krysia really took excellent care of us,
driving us to various villas and making sure all
was ok at all times. I honestly don't know how
they do it. It was the perfect first
venture out on my own as a new widow. Just go if
you can, it was one of the best things I've ever
done for myself! https://art-toscana.com |
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| Here are some of the very small
pen and ink wash drawings, (usually like 5 or 6"
longest side) my comfort level at the time,
until I could really mentally process all the
lessons of Art Toscana. |
| This is where Chris showed us
some of the arch-shaped clay roofing tiles
(you can see them on the right lower part of
the drawing), which were made by Roman
soldiers who placed slabs of clay around their
forearms to get that shape. Chris walk with us
through a few medieval villas pointing out
many symbolic sculptures and mythological
significance and historical areas of interest.
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| This village was built around
1500, give or take, since the dates I ran across
on the internet varied. Some accounts put
it back a bit further. There are two TV dish
antennae in this drawing. |
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