The Ledbetter Gallery at The Cole Art Center@The Old Opera House in Nacogdoches, TX will be the venue. This is a group exhibit representing artists from around the USA. It has been organized in conjunction with School of Art in the College of Fine Arts at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA), Charlene Rathburn, Director.

Cyanotypes are a magical form of photography. As a child you may have made “sunprints” or “nature prints” by placing objects on photosensitive paper and exposing it to light to produce imagery of white with a cyan blue background. Think blueprint.

In reading The New York Review of Books, I came upon a reference to an 1843 book, British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, by Anna Atkins, an English botanist who published the first book of botany illustrations with her cyanotypes.

When I embarked on an Artist Residency to the Portuguese Azores Island of Flores (flowers) in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, I decided to follow Atkins’ tradition and record my impressions of the wide variety of flowers on Flores making cyanotype photographs.

Poems flow from my artwork. Text plates of poetry accompanied my Marietta Robusti Tintoretto series, Blue has appeared with my exhibits of Blue paintings and presently 5 text plates are showing with my GREEN exhibition. Which comes first I don’t know. But come they do! I hope you have a chance to experience my poems.

Pixels 4 x 4 Squared,

PIXELS: Black and Blue

by Marietta Patricia Leis

These paintings because of their size and simplicity looked to me as computer imaged pixels and thus their name. I’ve always wanted to call a group of work ‘black and blue’ because of the ambiguity of the title and the possible riskiness it might imply.

As I look out into seas and skies I experience the implied storms, or rough waters or the calm beneath a starry night, or a sunrise after a night of bad dreams. All that and more is hinted at in the tenor that I pick up as I experience the earth’s floor and ceiling.

Then I simplify the image that fills my mind in a quick editing process as I put brush to panel. That process is so automatic to me that I’m often not aware of the translation happening.

The work is a series of comments on delicate notepaper elegantly encouraging the viewer to stop and read further.

Quietness/oil/canvas/48” sq.

Such gratifying news to share! An anthology of poetry, Fixed and Free (available at Amazon), has included my poem Blue written for my paintings the Blue Series. The color blue has been a large part of my work since 2001 after an Artist-in-Residence at Crater Lake, OR. Being in such close proximity to the deep blueness of that Lake every day set in motion a dialogue with the color blue for a long time and is still part of my studio and life experience. My work very much focus’ on color contemplating how it impacts our culture. It is a ‘blue and green’ planet that we inhabit.

Poems flow from my artwork. Text plates of poetry accompanied my Marietta Robusti Tintoretto series, Blue has appeared with my exhibits of blue work and presently 5 text plates are showing with my GREEN exhibit. Which comes first I don’t know. But come they do! I hope you have a chance to experience my poems.

My multimedia exhibition of Green: a paradox of abundance and scarcity will be exhibiting until February 25 at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, TX. It is so gratifying to see this work exhibited in their beautiful space and to have it seen by their large and enthusiastic audience.

Green is an exhibit inspired by my Artist residency in Thailand. It is made up of several components: five written text plates of poems, 16 Vapors which are beeswax sculptures made as Thai wrapped food but hollow, Seeds which are 27 paintings on paper on wood, and 18 photos. There are also four videos.

While embraced by the abundance of vegetation and food in Thailand I became acutely aware of the paradox—the deprivation in the surrounding countries of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. The inequality of sharing the earth’s bounty seems senseless and immoral to me. Also the abuse of our planet by its human inhabitants endangers all the living things I was witness to.

This paradox produced poignant reflections that are expressed in this work… the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ so to speak. The beauty draws you to contemplate the fragility of the earth’s bounty, and thus it’s people’s, condition.

]]> http://www.mariettaleis.com/2012/02/2090/feed/ 0 http://www.mariettaleis.com/2012/01/green-exhibits-in-fort-worth-now/ http://www.mariettaleis.com/2012/01/green-exhibits-in-fort-worth-now/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:17:46 +0000 admin http://www.mariettaleis.com/?p=1737 [...]]]> I’m excited to share these photos with you of the inaugural exhibit of GREEN: a paradox of abundance and scarcity. Our experience at the Fort Worth Community Art Center was terrific. The building and grounds were the former Modern Museum and a wonderful setting. It took my husband David and I, with some great help, 3 days to install the art. It’s complex because there are 67 pieces to install mostly in groupings that can’t be choreographed until you’re actually in the space. The result was worth the work, as you will see from the photos.

There are 9 gallery spaces in the Center all having openings the same night as ours so you can imagine we had quite a crowd. The audience was very responsive, studying the work carefully, reading the poetry, looking at the videos and taking in the entire installation while asking questions and reflecting. I believe a lot of the viewers left thinking about the complexity and inequities of ‘abundance and scarcity’.

I want to thank again all the backers that pledged so generously to the Kickstarter.com funding campaign to ‘kick’ off the tour of this exhibit. Remember this exhibit will be showing until February 25^th in case you’re in the neighborhood.

]]> http://www.mariettaleis.com/2012/01/green-exhibits-in-fort-worth-now/feed/ 0 http://www.mariettaleis.com/2012/01/green-opens-in-ft-worth/ http://www.mariettaleis.com/2012/01/green-opens-in-ft-worth/#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:00:40 +0000 admin http://www.mariettaleis.com/?p=1628 [...]]]> My multimedia exhibition of Green: a paradox of abundance and scarcity will be exhibiting Friday January 6 – February 25 at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center. There will be an opening reception Friday January 6, 6–9 PM. It will be so gratifying to see this work exhibited in their great space and to have it seen by their large and enthusiastic audience.

Green is an exhibit inspired by my Artist residency in Thailand. It is made up of several components: five written text plates of poems (example below), 16 Vapors which are beeswax sculptures made as Thai wrapped food but hollow, Seeds which are 27 paintings on paper on wood, and 18 photos. There are also four videos.

While embraced by the abundance of vegetation and food in Thailand I became acutely aware of the paradox—the deprivation in the surrounding countries of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. The inequality of sharing the earth’s bounty seems senseless and immoral to me. Also the abuse of our planet by its human inhabitants endangers all the living things I was witness to.

This paradox produced poignant reflections that are expressed in this work… the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ so to speak. The beauty draws you to contemplate the fragility of the earth’s bounty, and thus it’s people’s, condition.

http://www.fwcac.com/?exhibitions/future_exhibition

It is with gratitude that I tell you that people from 6 countries, 12 states, and 33 cities responded to this Kickstarter.com project and made it possible for this exhibit to be shipped to FWCAC. I thank one and all for their generous and much appreciated support, and am happy to announce their names as follows:

Tracee & Michael Alexander

Ron & Charlene Baca

David Baccadutre

R. Bailie, Untitled Fine Arts Serv.

Steve Beimel

Mary Black

Kevin & Leslie Blank

Paul Bouchier & Holly Dioguardi

Fran Bull

Ginny Butera

Judy Burgio & Dale Biron

Patricia Campbell Carlson

Regina Chavez

Don Cauthen

Brenda Craven

Debi Dodge

Gloria Drayer

Julie Dunleavy

Dick Goldberg & Lisa Munro

Debbie Goldgar, Art+Artisans

Pirkko Grootila

Susan L. Harris

Jenifer Hedrick

Libby Hocker

Phil & Lori Hodgin

Sue Houser

Ashley & Marion Kruse

Barry Lavender

Bob & Phyllis Leis

Stephen T. Macintyre

Jane Mahon

Kristine Maltrud, Art Spark

Luanne McKinnon

Julie Mevi-Shiflett

Brent Morris

Makie Honda Mosley

Pat Musick & Jerry Carr

Liza Myers

RJ Nicholas

Joanne O’brien-Levin

Jerry Ortiz y Pino

Roland Penttila

Kit Ratcliff

Sandi Reeder

Charlotte Rode

Heather Rothnie

Robin Ross

Martin Terry

Maggie Theed

David E. Vogel

Margaret Wakeley

Judy E. Walters

Barry & Diane Wax

I have initiated what I hope will be a 3-year traveling exhibit called Green, a paradox of abundance and scarcity which will be opening January at the Fort Worth Arts Center, TX. Rather than the typical art exhibit that is intended to sell work, my intention for Green is to tour non-profit community art centers, universities & colleges for the purpose of educating and exposing folks from around the country to the issues surrounding scarcity amidst abundance. Unfortunately all of these exhibit venues are experiencing severe budget cuts due to current economic conditions. As a result they are no longer able to pay for crating and shipping of my work despite the fact they are VERY interested in participating with me on this project.

 As a result I have launched a Kickstarter project that I think you might find fun, interesting and hopefully worth collaborating in with me. If you are not familiar with Kickstarter you might get a “kick” out of checking out their website which is dedicated to helping artists, inventors, and other creative types get their projects funded. I am really excited about the reception this work has received from curators around the country and I am hoping that you might help me pay for the crating and shipping of this multi-media exhibit. All of the proceeds will be devoted to these out-of-pocket expenses. None of the funds raised will go to me personally.

 I need your help to get this exhibit seen, hopefully in as many venues as possible. I would love for you to become my partner in this exciting traveling exhibit and will send you a gift if you can see your way clear to participate with me. Check out the link below and please pass this along to everyone you think might be interested.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/439564676/green-a-paradox-of-abundance-and-scarcity

 Thanks a bunch for considering this partnership with me.

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