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#43 Should an artist have a collection of their own work? NFS

10/31/2013

It is of my opinion that every artist should have a small collection of their own artwork that is... NFS (not for sale) and solely for themselves. I remember in Art school as an undergraduate student, I had a Professor who said that only a mature artist can part with their work. His point was that if you find it terribly hard to say goodbye to your artwork whether it's through sales or give aways you are not mature enough as an artist- the work should simply pass through you. I believed it then but do I believe it now?...

So time moved on and 18 years later I am currently enjoying a successful art career where I feel at peace with parting with my artwork. I see it as sharing my talents with others. However there are certain paintings that are tremendously personal to me and I could never imagine selling or parting with them.

I have come to the conclusion that mature artists can and should have a few pieces that are just for themselves and it should have nothing to do with maturity as an artist, in the least. So with that said - here are two examples of a couple of my favorite paintings from my Totems series. And to take it further I actually did something I never do - I took these two pieces to get custom framing - the first in my Alison Wells Collection to get custom frames - Wow!!

Framing coutesy Gatlin's Framing and Photography. Professional and affordable
https://www.facebook.com/GatlinsFramingAndPhotography

Just a thought for the day - what do you think about Artists NFS collection?

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#42 My New Painting for the BCC Faculty Show

10/26/2013

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"Enchanted Moon" 24"x48" Acrylic and mixed media on canvas

After one month and 5 days of working on my new masterpiece, my finished painting is dropped off, signed off and in the process of being hung at the BCC Faculty Art exhibition in The Grimshaw-Gudewicz Art Gallery.

With a busy teaching, schedule planning and scheduling solo and group exhibitions ensure that I carve out valuable studio time for painting and the creation of new work which keeps my work current and fresh. This show allowed me to set the standards high and work toward brand new work instead of only showing work I have already made and exhibited.

Visit the BCC Faculty show at The Grimshaw-Gudewicz Art Gallery at Bristol Community College, 777 Elsbree St., Fall River MA 02720. See you then.

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#41 The Grimshaw-Gudewicz Art Gallery preparing for Faculty Show

10/24/2013

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Down with the old and up with the new as The Grimshaw-Gudewicz Art Gallery prepares for the installation of its new Exhibition...The BCC Faculty Art Show.

This art show celebrates and showcases the art of Adjunct and Full-Time faculty members and it's a great opportunity for the public to view new, original, and innovative works from BCC's talented Art and Design Faculty. It is also a chance for all students to view the work of their professors, which is important because in the Spring their own artwork will be on display at the Student Art Show - so it is good that they could first get to see what the faculty have produced.

The works have all been delivered to the gallery and the signage is completed. Be sure to catch the BCC Faculty Show Nov 7 - Dec 12

Stages of the handpainted wall graphic for the show

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#40 Sneak Peak of New Painting for BCC Faculty Show

10/23/2013

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My New Painting is well on its way and so close to the finish line. However it is at that awkward point in its development, where one small change could make it... or break it.

This piece flowed very smoothly and its strong abstract nature pushed the formal elements of the work - which is an aspect of my paintings that I thoroughly enjoy developing...the constructing and the deconstructing. It is also the first large painting in years that I have done that did not have the abstracted female figures that usually dominate my paintings - as seen in my totems series. http://www.alisonwells.com/totems.html
The color palette is also one of my favorites which I so loving revisit time and time again in between my bursts of vibrant color. However I believe that these neutral earthy hues are embedded deep in my psyche and Caribbean background...'La Mancha de Platano' which means the stain of the plantain. But thats a whole other blog - soon to come :-)

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#39 BCC Faculty Art Show

10/22/2013

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I am happy to be showcasing my artwork at the Bristol Community College Faculty Art Exhibition. After 4 years of being a Fine Arts Professor at BCC this will be my first faculty show and I am quite excited. It is a show hosted every 3-4 years and it is always a great way to emphasize the fact that the Art Faculty are not only Art instructors but practicing Artists as well- and both students and other faculty and staff members can get a glimpse of the work we do privately in our studios.

Please save the date for this show: November 7 - December 12, 2013

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#38 PIC OF THE WEEK, MONDAY: " Spirit Guides"

10/21/2013

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Spirit Guides" Acrylic on canvas from my 2009 'Flesh or Fantasy' series.

Artist Statement from this series:

The concept of home shifts when we migrate and cross borders into another country.
This intensifies as we travel back and forth between the two culturally diverse worlds creating a constant search for identity.

This series of work explores my multiple modes of existence, my search for identity between my two homes - Trinidad and the United States, viewing ‘home’ not as a set space but as fragmented memories and dreams that encroach on reality. In this conflict, my paintings become a conduit for this push and pull where one space or ideal takes over another moving between cultural plains that are both familiar and foreign re-locating and re-defining the concept of “Home”

I translate these aspects in my abstracted mixed media paintings on canvas and paper through juxtapositions of color, texture, figurative abstractions and visual movement. The iconographic images of the Caribbean such as the classic palm tree associated with the tropics, and the carnival characters specific to Trinidadian Carnival, are highlighted to emphasize the real and the unreal. Carni-Val meaning farewell to flesh is steeped in masquerade, disguise, pretense and role play which, is sometimes needed, to protect the real flesh, the real me, Alison Wells. Who is she when at home or in the US? What role does she have to assume? What images assault her psyche, her sexuality, her creativity? Images of color, race, and its effect on her existence, images of change and how it affects her world. The international perspective, the US perspective, colored with seasonal changes images of grays and dullness, leafless trees and icicles that gleam in the sunlight and yet the breath of life sprouting and the fullness of color once more reviving the spirit until color gives one last breath before giving way to change again. There is both chaos and order as images morph and transform into something new be it flesh or fantasy – it is a hybrid of my two worlds.

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#37 Back in the Studio - New Work in progress

10/20/2013

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I Spent a full day in my studio on Friday. What a great feeling to have a whole full day of work especially when the creativity and ideas are flowing. Some times I would waste half a day just puttering around not getting anything of worth down.

I started this painting about a month ago and on Friday much of the vital workings of the painting started to finally come together and boy was I pleased :-)
I am Also working large again which really allows me to express myself fully and explore and challenge myself compositionally.

Stay tuned for the finished product that should be ready this week and will be showcased in my next group exhibit. Details to come.

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#43 Should an artist have a collection of their own work? NFS

#42 My New Painting for the BCC Faculty Show

#41 The Grimshaw-Gudewicz Art Gallery preparing for Faculty Show

#40 Sneak Peak of New Painting for BCC Faculty Show

#39 BCC Faculty Art Show

#38 PIC OF THE WEEK, MONDAY: " Spirit Guides"

#37 Back in the Studio - New Work in progress

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