Mira M. White

Ursula Scheider @ Braunstein-Quay Gallery

2009-07-04T07:53:00.000-07:00

Greetings. Yesterday I visited the new exhibit of Ursula Schneider, a painter whose work I have admired for many years. Her new works are luminous and innovative! She laminates sheer nylon with a water-based urethane and paints with pigments bound with the same material. Her imagery is based on the Hudson River and the shimmery quality of the nylon comes through subtly in the images of the water. She has dismissed the stretcher bar and hangs her work on the wall with velcro. A great solution for all of us who are faced with storage issues. Her show opened last week and remains up through July. The gallery is on Clementina between Folsom & Howard off of 4th St.

A Bit of News

2009-06-09T12:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't know about you, but I have found the last 2 1/2 weeks to be a roller coaster of uppy and downy moments with the whirling currents of universal chaos seemingly accelerating to a ridiculous proportion. I think that the only way to stay balanced is to walk around with my paintbrush in hand!- maybe not even walk around, just stay glued to the work table!

However, I did just get accepted into a rather big water media exhibit in Golden, Colorado, one of the few competitions that offer significant $$ awards- the Rocky Mountain National- Aquamedia - In 2001 I entered and walked away with $ 4000 and sold the piece for $ 4000--- Of course, this happens rarely to me, in fact that has been the only time on record- my record. But I am inundating universal mind with positive, money- oriented thoughts!

Checking in- Finally!

2009-05-31T07:13:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a zoo of a month and I have been meaning to get here- it has just taken a while. I want to mention the Jeremy Morgan exhibit at Himmelberger Gallery on 451 Sutter St. in San Francisco. I dearly hope that his work remains up for a bit, or I am just sending this out on the airwaves uselessly. He is a remarkable artist, a visionary, working in acrylic on canvases both large and small . His paintings appear influenced by his photo collages and his paintings generate a sense of profound depth and height. He has traveled and trekked and I felt, looking at his work, that I was with him in this luscious, timeless space; not exactly sky and not exactly earth, multiple perspectives, very rich and luminous color. If you have a chance, please see his work.

Also, I have just put together a mini-website of my New Work. The link is at the bottom of the favorite artist sites to the left of this post. It includes all the pieces that have not yet been published on my large site and also includes a Work in Progress, in which I will be posting states and stages of a large oil diptych upon which I am currently working. I am very excited about recording this process on my site, as I feel it is very critical to see the evolution of a work. .Sometimes my works go through huge transformations. They are like visual diaries and I am often revealed to myself through this work.

More on Squeak...

2009-04-26T16:52:00.000-07:00

I neglected to mention in my previous note that Ms. Carnwath is a philosopher. She asks and answer big questions for herself in her paintings and invites others to do the same. Transformation is the key word here and,basically, all processes lead to internal change. Painting creates a language, an archetypal language that transforms, and her work bears witness to the process. This work is a case of inner becoming outer and outer being transformed by inner. I cannot say more.

On Squeak Carnwath

2009-04-25T16:53:00.000-07:00

Every artist knows that there are some you resonate with and some you don't. I resonate with Squeak Carnwath's work and I encourage any interested persons to link to her web site- or better yet, go see her exhibit( if you live in the Bay Area of Calif. Her exhibit of 40 pieces opened today and I was there shortly after it opened. Large canvases mostly, full of words and color squares and symbols. But it is how she puts it all together. The pieces are multi-layered, done with oil and alkyd resins, mostly large. But what I love most is that I see her mind on canvas- not through a specific image, but through the collaboration of text, pattern, and potent symbols . She is a process painter and allows the viewer to not only see her process, but to respond with his/ her own set of experiences. The complexity of her pieces confuses some. I, however, love the ins and outs and texture and edge and disappearing forms. Well, you guessed it- this is how I paint and I felt inspired to rush back to my studio and work. I did and now I am on a food break. Happy painting to you- and don't forget to say hello!

2009-04-17T15:40:00.001-07:00

Favorites 2008-9

This alburm of paintings represennts some of my work of the last year....

Just Finished! And what a process!

2009-04-16T11:37:00.000-07:00

I started this piece, titled What's In A Dress? as a black & white pastel drawing about 3 to 4 years back, stashed it as a possible for a time when I could dig into the issues of working with representation in a symbolic way with pastel, which I find quite difficult these days.
This piece went through many transitions when I started working with it in color last year. It is done on rag drawing paper and had no tooth. I was able to work it for awhile, but found the color sentimental and too rainbow sherbet for my current aesthetic taste ( in other words, too pretty!). I surrounded the dress with black gesso that had aluminum oxide added into it . This gave the paper tooth and I launched into incorporating text into the piece. ( Titles have always been an important part of my work process and I have recently decided it was appropriate to incorporate text into my pieces. Well, this isn't an easy process, because text needs to be integrated into the piece as well as have some suggested meaning. After several more shifts, which included spraying acrylic paint onto the piece, adjusting elements of the dress, incorporating another layer that included a sense of night sky with constellations- well, I think it is done.

More workshops? I dunno

2009-04-09T16:06:00.000-07:00

I love doing workshops; I have, however done 3 already this year and they do take alot of energy. I have one scheduled in Mendocino next month- another pastel intensive and I do hope that workshop has enough enrollment. What a fabulous village is Mendo- never seems to change- except last year the wonderful Zimmer Gallery shut its doors- after 30 years I am told- t'was the best gallery for pastels that I have seen. The director really loved the vibrancy and versatility. Just when I finally got him interested in my work, he said he couldn't take me on 'cause he was closing the gallery down. Well, on to better sites I think!

My DVC Gallery Reception

2009-04-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

Here it is April 9 and I have been trying to upload a slideshow of my opening reception- couldn't do it so here is the link to the show. Images can fill the screen so I hope this process works 'cause I is real tired.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/miramwhite/sets/72157616560196820/show/

The Day After....

2009-03-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

It feels good to be connecting with my blog again. The last 3 weeks have been filled with framing, promoting et al for the exhibition and my spring classes. All that build up for an exhibition... Yesterday, when I mentioned that it cost at least $ 1000 to get ready for this exhibit ( at Diablo Valley College), someone registered complete surprise! Some folks just aren't aware of what goes into a presentation. . The reception, however, was great! Quite a good turnout and several artist friends whom I haven't seen in some time came to see my recent work. Exhibitions are important for lots of reasons; and for those who think it is all about sales- well, it isn't. It is about validation; it is about bearing witness to internal growth. And for viewers, it gives an opportunity to see evolution and sequence in addition to all the other individual responses one has to artwork.
I am grateful for this opportunity to exhibit in such a wonderful space. I think the art department at DVC might benefit ( their gallery is tiny) from some collaboration with the library.
I am about to jump into my studio, so I will continue this later

Image from Boosting Your Creative Edge Workshop

2009-03-07T23:15:00.000-08:00

I do a lot of energetic pouring and manipulating when I first begin my painting process. Here are a couple of images from my recent watermedia workshop.

Imperfect Symmetry

2009-03-04T07:54:00.001-08:00

I finished this painting last week and have been having a terribly difficult time photographing it.( Quinacridone pigments tend to dominate) It is an oil on canvas, 18"x24" and is another piece on the theme of "House". I think of our world as One House and the imagery revolves around this theme. Global consciousness one way or the other. I hope you like it.

On My Mind

2009-03-03T17:53:00.000-08:00

You have to wonder how art figures into all this global chaos... It's like we are the central pole around which a kind of economic madness swirls. Why do we do this stuff anyway? I would love to hear some feelings on this issue. Creative work seems to me to be a combination of a kind of cancerous obsession and orgasmic joy. What do you think?

Bearing Witness: The Turning of An Age

2009-03-02T08:06:00.000-08:00

Mixed Media painting 24"x36" : oil media with collage.