White on White

Kazmir Malevich, Suprematist Composition, White on White, 1918

I know I sound like a whiner but it is 38 degrees outside as I write this at 7:00 AM. It is 74 degrees in my studio. My hands are cold. My feet are cold. As are most points in between these four extremities. I don’t like cold weather.

“Suck it up. Think warm thoughts,” my husband says. That is hard to do when you’re shivering huddled under the down comforter Cold weather puts me in a funk.

I’ve been reading about the Russian painter, Kazmir Malevich. His White on White series of paintings is amazing. Malevich painted his “feelings.” He considered ideas of the conscious mind to be worthless and objects to be meaningless. His paintings show “the supremacy of pure feeling.”

Now, I don’t know that I consider the conscious mind worthless or objects meaningless, but I do understand painting one’s “feelings” or “moods.”

Looking at Malevich’s White on White Compositions, I can feel the cold of Russia: the snow of the Russian steppes. They make me shiver.

I’m influenced by the quality of the sunlight in my garden. Rainy days influence the palette I use. Warm days heat my spirits. I try to capture these feelings in my paintings. My paintings are moods on canvas.

Reading about Kazmir Malevich’s manifesto From Cubism to Suprematism, and perusing his body of paintings, has given me much to think about in examining my own work. I thank you, Danielle, for introducing me to Kazmir.

And now, I’m going to slip into the hot tub and warm up! Brrrrr…… the weather outside if frightful…..

Please take time to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com. Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind.

Thank you for listening

Jerry L. Hanson

Repetitive Movement

Series of Nine.

I love repetitive movement. My artwork reflects that. Well, some of it does. I enjoy taking one item and then add another of the same item. Then another. And another. What does it do?

I save stupid stuff like tin can lids and the tin can itself. One or two alone looks like junk but 100 of them? Critical mass! Now there’s something to work with!

Last week, I was in a one-day show/sale in Sherman Oaks, CA: a suburb of Los Angeles. (Do NOT tell anyone from Sherman Oaks I said that!) I’d been asked to bring artwork that was not overly expensive. OK, I believe my work is reasonably priced so I assumed they meant “low cost” or “less expensive”… certainly not cheap!

For this show I created 42 new pieces. They are woven newspaper assemblages. Each piece is 12 inches by 12 inches. Each assemblage is made from three different woven newspaper pieces which are layered and cut into more pieces. The pieces from the three are reassembled into the finished product(s).

I should call them puzzles. But that may be too obscure if one has only one of them. Oh well…

I have been making these assemblages for about 8 years. I’ve experimented with the design and number of pieces in the puzzle. I realized that simple is better and I found a design that I never tire of making. Repetitive. The design is simple and it works for me. Repetitive. I hope you like it too!

I have puzzles hanging in my house singly, in pairs and in threes. I would love to have a wall where I can hang them in a 9-piece grid! I did sell nine of them for an office space where they hung them in a 3 X 3 grid and it looks fantastic! (It’s the photo for this blog.)

These assemblages are one of a kind… and intriguing. I love making them and have a number of them available. They are mounted on Bristol board and are small enough to easily mail. Each is ready for framing.

‘Tis the Season. I’m offering one woven assemblage each day for $50 with free shipping - ground shipping within the continental US…. My usual price is $100.00 + shipping & handling.

If you like my work, please follow the link on Twitter & check out more of my Woven Assemblages or Puzzles.

These Woven Assemblages are NOT on my website but that doesn’t mean you can’t check it out anyway!

Please take time to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com. Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind; I’m hanging out at the gallery with nothing to do. That’s totally untrue. I’m weaving while minding the store.

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

Sunlight Come Softly

A view from my studio on 2010.11.11 @ 0754

I retired 18 months ago. I now work seriously nearly every day in my studio. I work in two mediums: woven newspaper and acrylic paints..

What I’ve noticed is that I tend to prefer painting during the winter months when the light in the desert is somewhat subdued. I prefer working with newspaper in the summer when the sun is directly overhead and at it’s strongest.

It’s now November. Day Light Saving Time has ended. (I often wonder what’s being done with all that light being saved and what is it used for.) These days, the sun is low on the horizon and rises earlier and sets earlier. The quality of the winter light in the Palm Springs desert is amazing. Colors are richer and more intense in the winter sun.

The summer sun bleaches color from the landscape, both the natural and man made landscape. I love the heat of summer but the sunlight is harsh.

Last winter, I completed 15 color-field paintings inspired by the sun and weather, both of which influence my moods.

By April (and the change back to Day Light Saving Time) the sun is once again bleaching color from the landscape. I relish being out in the sun rather than painting it. And my attention turns to newspaper where the colors are more subdued.

In this medium, I’m more interested in the interactions of language in the newsprint. I choose the type print and colors using them as I find them. This summer, I completed over 60 woven newspaper works.

This morning I was up just before sunrise mesmerized by the quality of light as the sun rose illuminating the garden plants one by one.

It’s time to pack away the newspapers and pull out canvas and paint.

Please take time to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com. Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to buy one of my pieces or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind; I’m hanging out at the gallery with nothing to do. That’s totally untrue. I’m working in the studio.

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

Lights Out!

Lights out in the gallery

For the past two months I’ve been talking about having my artwork on display in the Fiesta Arts Gallery in Indio, California. The space was given to the Coachella Valley Arts Alliance as a gallery to be used as they wished. The space is an empty store with incredible lighting. It’s a 2,400 square foot rectangle painted white.

My work fills the gallery and looks wonderful! It’s all coming down tomorrow: five weeks early.

The gallery has been sold and the new owners are not supportive of the arts. I suspect “philanthropy” is not in their vocabulary. The new owners shut off the electricity to the four spaces a week ago without notice. The CVAA has been evicted The four spaces had been loaned by the prior owners.

I understand the new mall owners are businessmen and the space produces revenue for the owners by being leased. The CVAA has always understood the space was on temporary loan. But one does not expect hostility.

Tomorrow I take my artwork down and pack it up. In the dark. There are no lights.

And I had a great time with my exhibition during the month of October!

I’m most disappointed about this turn of events for the CVAA. The city of Indio is incredibly supportive of the arts and is doing great work in bringing artists, art and performance to the Coachella Valley. It's too bad businesses are not, or at least THIS businessman is not.

I’ll need to remember to bring a flashlight and camera flash tomorrow to pack up my artwork. ‘Tis sad.

Please take time to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com. Take a look at my artwork. It is all back home now. Contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind; I’m hanging out at the gallery with nothing to do. That’s totally untrue. I’m weaving while minding the store.

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

Boo!

Paul & Jerry Halloween 2010

It has been a busy week. I’ve been to the Fiesta Arts Gallery three times this past week. I’ve been preparing for a show/sales event in Los Angeles and it was Halloween weekend. Lots to do and see and be.

I completed two weavings while gallery sitting the Fiesta Arts Gallery and am one day away from completing a third. I have enjoyed the peace and quiet of the gallery. I enjoy chatting with the occasional visitor to the gallery. It is not a busy gallery and I do enjoy those interruptions.

I am also preparing for a one-day show/sale in Los Angeles for the weekend of Nov 14^th. To this end, I’ve created 41 new artworks. Actually, 42; I sold one of them in the process, for which I am not complaining! Now, I need to select 12 of the works for framing. The remaining 29 will be on offer unframed.

In addition to framing the 12 selected, I need to make decisions regarding what other pieces of artwork should be taken for the one-day show/sale. So much to do!

And this was Halloween weekend. With the 31^st being a Sunday, that means that Halloween celebrations began on Friday, continued through Saturday and into Sunday.

I had been to ONE Halloween party between 1980 and 2008. One. I lead a dull life. Last year, I went to a Halloween party at one of the local Palm Springs resorts and had an absolutely great time.

I went again this year (on Saturday) and had an even better time. I went as one of the Village People. I had the hardhat. I had the boots. I had the ragged tank top. The rest of my team didn’t show.

Sunday, one of the Palm Springs downtown streets was closed for Halloween. There was entertainment. There were costumes. There were hundreds of men & women in costumes of incredible imagination and ingenuity. I wore my leather Levis, paratrooper jump boots and Stetson. Not particularly imaginative, but warm. I watched the costume contest and marveled at their creativity.

Today, it’s back to reality. I’ll wash the glitter off my body, turn a critical eye to selecting artwork for the Los Angeles show and think about next year’s Halloween costume.

Please take a minute to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to purchase one or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. Monday, Wednesday and Friday I’ll be in the gallery between the hours of 11 AM 1 PM Pacific time.

Thank you for listening.

Jerry L. Hanson

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