Page 18 - the NOISE January 2013

CONTINUED FROM 17
CW FROM TOP LEFT: Shake, Rattle, and Roll by Maris Cummings, who is at Mountain Oasis this month; the shadow boxes of Clair Anna Rose at Gallery One 13; South Rim by Sam Jones, one of many new watercolors at West of the Moon.
at 18 N. Leroux, will be displaying the art of Ms. Kubicek for the month of January with an opening reception during the First Friday ArtWalk on January 4, from 6 to 9PM.
SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL
Maris Cummings brings her paintings to the walls of Mountain Oasis International Restaurant this month. The artist has been working on paintings in between her free- lance graphic design work.
She tells me about the pieces in her up- coming show, “Most the pieces you have seen before, however I will have my new one, Shake, Rattle and Roll, of a rattlesnake and a few of my mini paintings. I feel the timing has to be right for my pieces,” Ms. Cummings tells me. “Some ideas will develop years later, sometimes not all. Sometimes I grow out of the ideas, however the ones that I don’t usu- ally develop into a painting.”
“Currently,Iamworkingonamermaid,”she tells me. “This is the first time I am explor- ing the human form and subject. I will have more than one subject in my painting. My typical style has been a graphic element with animal subject. The mermaid has been a challenge and also awesome. I feel I am entering the next phase of growth in my painting.”
“One of my favorites is of a Raven called, Mesmerized. It seems to be the most popular out of all my paintings. The painting devel- oped when I was watching a group ravens that live in my neighborhood. Watching their behavior with each other and me was fascinating. Then I had a dream, it was so clear in my mind. Putting the idea to canvas seemed to be effortless. It’s very rare that it happens like that when I get an idea that way. For the most part it is a struggle with either
technique or the background not working or something that I have to adjust because the feel isn’t quite right.”
The paintings of Ms. Cummings will be on display throughout the month of January
2013 at Mountain Oasis, 11 E. Aspen.
MUSE IN MINIATURE by Katie E. Lanting
Under the soft lighting of her garage stu- dio, Clair Anna Rose has laid out in rows square wooden shadowboxes of brown, red, and white. Next to these is a pile of odds and ends and upon closer inspection, I find that inside each box is a tiny scene, filled with a careful arrangement of these items to fit a theme, tell a piece of a story, or provoke a thought. Each box fits in the palm of my hand.
Ms. Rose has always expressed herself through art, whether that was poetry and song writing, painting, or “gluing things to things” as she puts it. This shadowbox proj- ect has been a special release for her. “When I started the miniature series, I think I had too much going on in my head to express myself with song, words, or any other vehicle of cre- ative expression,” she elaborates. “Each little shadowbox could be a snatch of thought, a moment, a memory, a feeling. I was able to express many different things at once.”
The shadowboxes prove there is some- thing appealing about clutter, about disor- ganization. The fact that they are enclosed boxes with a smattering of items seems to play with that tension between having ev- erything in order for sanity’s sake and the chaos that can make life interesting and mu- table. “I think that shadowboxes reflect the state of the artist at the moment.” Her recent
travels to Europe and misadventures there reveal this. “I made a big (by my standards) shadowbox out of an old crate about my trip. It’s a complete muddle of objects and wire and it’s in disarray, but so was everything about that journey. It was awful and I hated being there, and at other moments I loved it and didn’t want to leave.”
Despite their surface simplicity and con- tainment, a longer look at Ms. Rose’s shad- owboxes reveals meaning and symbolism that might not be immediately apparent.
“Some are really messy and overly-full of things and you can’t take them all in at once. Some of the themes are bit gaudy, or comi- cal—tongue-in-cheek.”
Ms. Rose asserts that some are just for fun, like the angel and cherub themes. “Those have almost no meaning at all, except that I love angels and I love looking at them,” Ms. Rose laughs. Her more serious boxes include objects and images having to do with tarot, Eastern religious faiths, and Biblical themes.
“Some are devotional, some are ideals of love. I’ve always been a romantic.”
Ms. Rose describes one of her creations which she has titled, Indecision. “The frame is the same size as all the rest, but it’s deeper set. On a background of red velvet is the wis- dom tooth I had removed a few years back. After the bizarre and unsettling experience of having my tooth yanked out while I was very awake with the anesthesia wearing off, I stuck the tooth away somewhere where I wouldn’t see it.”
Ms. Rose frequently uses teeth as a motif in her artwork and poetry. “I have a thing about teeth—just mine, really. I have always had dreams about them.” One night, she de- cided to find the tooth she had shoved out of sight and immortalize it in a shadowbox.
She discusses the title: “It’s called ‘Indecision’ because teeth represent decisions. And the teeth problem represents long-standing in- decisiveness.” This particular piece has not yet made a public appearance, though. “It’s pretty gross, I’m not even sure I should show it!” Ms. Rose jokes. “Maybe I’ll carry it around and show it to those who ask.”
She hopes people can relate to the scenes featured in the shadowboxes and recall mo- ments and emotions they have experienced in their own lives. Clair Anna Rose’s shadow- boxes are featured at Gallery One13 for the month of January, with an opening recep- tion on January 4, First Friday ArtWalk from 6 to 9PM.
Thebeesjar.etsy.com, GalleryOne13.com
MISS ROSE’S ART BRIEFS
“I often tell people that, when I make a piece of jewelry, that I am making it for someone out there, it is up to fate to make the owner and the piece cross paths,” jewelry artist Tom Yazzie says about his art. Mr. Yazzie, along with Greg Hill and Bob Delogowski are fea- tured in the window of the Artists’ Gallery this January. FlagstaffArtistsGallery.com
West of the Moon is featuring the water col- or of Sam Jones. If you didn’t get to see them last month, stop by 14 N. San Francisco.
| Clair Anna Rose turns a respectable age this month. She prefers yellow roses and emeralds. clairannarose@gmail.com
18 • JANUARY 2013 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us