Artist Profile: Dennis Herschbach

Dennis Herschbach is a retired education professor from University of Maryland.  As he approached retirement he wanted to explore an activity that could help his transition into retirement. Dennis always loved art and even got a minor in sculpture when he went to college. Both his father and father in law were artists.  So it was natural for him to investigate the art studios at the University of Maryland across the plaza from his office. It was there that he began to do independent study in painting with oils.  

Dennis believes art can transcend boundaries of belief and ideologies and he finds most of his inspiration from his garden and his travels. Of his work, Dennis says, 'I work a lot from nature, but I don't try to duplicate it; the camera can do a better job at this. Rather, I let nature guide me in the use of color, shape, line and space to create images that evoke a pleasant emotional response. Above all, I feel that a painting should be beautiful and speak to the inner self. I  strongly believe that it is through art that we can find the finest expression of what it is to be human.'

Some of my personal favorites are from his travels.  This yellow landscape is of farmer's fields in Kosovo.

"Caressed by The Summer Sun, Kosavo"  oil on canvas, 28.5" x 34" in

"The Green Tree", oil on canvas, 36" x 30" in

 This painting is the moonrise in Greece.  In life, this work almost glows from the layers of glazing applied to the canvas.

"Summer Moonscape, Alexandros, Greece" oil on canvas 36" x 30" in

Much of Dennis's work is also inspired by his garden.

"Spring Gold", oil on canvas, 36" x 29.5" in

Dennis's work is hanging at Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church at Powder Mill Road in Adephi, Maryland.  His opening reception is January 7th immediately following the church service, around 11:30. If you are interested in purchasing artwork, please contact Dennis Herschbach at drhersch@umd.edu. 

Artist Spotlight: Maryse Lörtscher

Mosaic Series, March 2014, watercolor, collage, ink, pencils by Maryse Lörtscher 

January 2015

Recently I was able to connect with Maryse Lörtscher, someone who lived in Senegal when I first arrived.  I did not get to know her there but friends connected us in Ghana.   Like me, Maryse is a world traveler.  She has lived in Mali, Haiti, Oman, Senegal, Indonesia, Egypt as well the United States where she will be moving shortly.
Marsyse studied biochemistry in her early years and later studied art, first obtaining a BFA in printmaking/drawing then an MFA in painting.  Her printmaking background predisposes her to create a lot of series on a theme.


detail

I discussed with her some of her thoughts behind her artwork.  She reflected that her interests studying biology and chemistry early on perhaps explain how her work evolves to sometimes microcosmic renditions.  She also mentioned that her mixed media- collages and painting- derive from the interest in "shadowing the information", something is erased and to writing that she refers to as asemic writing or pseudo writing.  She explained 'My work refers to altered communication.  You can see ghost images through and then make connections between the marks, symbols, images and text.  Trace of memories and events in my life.'
 

detail

Collaged images layer in combination with paint and the psydocalligraphy to peek through.  Those collaged elements come from museum pamphlets acquired from all over the world, her late father's stamp collection and magazines collected during her travels.  Many of her works have a strong fiber or fabric element as well.  She mentioned that quilters frequently pin her work on Pinterest as inspiration.  Color play is also a strong mark of her work.

The painting below, Writing on the Wall, symbolizes the signs of events to come, good and bad.  Many of her works are stories and expressions of her internal musings.  Maryse, however, prefers viewers to tell their own stories when looking at her work.  She says 'I don't consider my interpretation of my work to be the best.  My work is not there to pass on a message.'


Writing on the Wall 2011

More of her work can be found on her Facebook page or her website.

You can also view many more works and follow her work on Pinterest. 

*note Maryse spells her surname alternate ways, Lortscher and Loertscher.

Writing on the Wall detail 2011

Writing on the Wall detail 2011

recent works on paper

watercolor, ink and collage

International Women's Art Show

La Gallerie Manager Idrissa Diallo hanging my art quilt

La Gallerie at Village des Arts is holding an international women's art show currently until 21 March.  I am proud to be included in the company of many artists exhibiting.  My work in the show is an art quilt, My Street that I wrote about in a previous post and mine was not the only fiber art in the show, Asta Niang had two quilts, Genie and Tentation.  There was a also a woven tapestry by Madeline Deves Senhgor and three dimensional fiber sculpture by Alicia Pradoline.

Asta Niang, Tentation

Many other art mediums were present in the show.  A couple of artists displayed paper collages, such as the two pieces by Aicha Aidara shown below. There were sculptures and photography and as one would expect paintings were well represented.
The artwork included all ranges of styles from the realistic textural work of Ndeye Codou Ndiaye to the soft abstracts of Dounia Kabbaj.

Aicha Aidara, both pieces Sans Titre

I was glad to see the work of Kine Aw included.  She uses interesting reticulation effects to add texture to her abstracted paintings of everyday life.  She will be having an upcoming exhibit in the United States at the James E Lewis gallery at Morgan State University.
While visiting the gallery, I spoke with Betty Weber, who had two photographs included in the exhibition, and visited her studio in the Village des Arts.  Her studio is filled photography and painting and she said she has been experimenting with combining the two methods in her recent work. Betty divides her time between Senegal and Switzerland, working and exhibiting in each country. She holds workshops in Dakar on one of her photographic techniques, photograms.  Contact her for further information (221) 76 121 89 89.

Ndeye Codou Ndiaye, Sans Titre

Dounia Kabbaj, Abstrait I and Femme Abstrait

Kine Aw, Valentine

Betty Weber in her studio talking about her photograms

Senegalese Artist Spotlight: Manel Ndoye

Manel Ndoye allowed the DWG Art Committee a visit days before moving his tiny studio from Ouest Fiore, Dakar Senegal to his family home in Thies, Senegal.

large painting with the postcard grid

He shared with us that when he attended the university Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Dakar, he was required to select a primary theme for his work and he quickly chose the women from his ethnic group, the Lebou, and their traditional dance.  His painting continues to explore those themes. Manel told us a little about the background of the dances.  Fishing and farming are traditional occupations of this coastal tribe and the dances of the women are based on exaggerated motions of casting and bringing in nets, movements of the pirogues and farming.  The women wear matching boubou (dresses) with a section pinned up.  The custom of wearing matching boubous arose with the custom of polygamy.  The idea is that each wife should have the same dress so they are not jealous of one another.  The women wear 3-4 pagnes (skirts) to preserve modesty while they are dancing.  Because they are imitating men’s work they wear the men's style of shoe. Manel takes artistic license with the dresses, changing the colors to suit his paintings.  The dances are done in lines of four to ten women, often more than one line dancing together.
Some of his paintings are made with postcards adhered to the canvas in a grid and then painted over.  His use of the postcard is symbolic; as postcards are used send messages the dance also conveys tradition and culture.  The postcards also break up the space of the painting, imitating the way looking through a fishing net changes how one sees what lies beyond.
Some of his paintings are based on photos but most are drawn and painted from memory and observation.
Recently, Manel has been working on collaborative efforts, such as his work with Barkinado Bocoum for the Collaboractions show and his painting with another artist as in this Figuro Abstro performance on Youtube.  This is new development as he generally tries not to be influenced by the work of other artists.

Manel will be exhibiting in France in February and March outside of Lyon with Alioune Diagne.

And What Better Time For Fairies?

The Fairy Market: Bartering with the Apple of Time by Penney Hughes, 2013, all rights reserved

With the lunar eclipse tomorrow and Halloween just around the corner, this painting seems to fit the season.  I painted this in September at the same time at the Tree ATC series.  As in the tree series the background has a metallic sheen. The imagery in this painting is a mixture of my middle child's description of his dreams and my own imagination.  In his dream he visits a fairy market.  The white suit is his disguise to allow him to walk freely.  While he is in the fairy market he trades for luck which he says is the same as gambling.    It is strongly inspired by one of my one my favorite artists, Remedios Varo.  You can get a sense of her work at this site.
This is only the second painting I have done for at least ten years. 

Inspired by Remedios Varo

The Lantern by Penney Hughes 2013

This small painting (22.8 x 15.1cm, 9 x 6in), painted for a swap on Swap-bot is directly inspired by the work of Remedios Varo. In this painting figures break through the layers of a living wall.  What you can not see is the slight metallic sheen peeking through the paint.  Many of Remedios paintings feature persons breeching a many layered openings.  Her style is considered mystical surreal.  I love the delicacy of the textures in her work and the mysterious, dream-like quality. 

Portrait of Dr. Ignacio Chávez by Remedios Varo 1957

Two Little Birds

I just got a new art supply; Pébéo's Fantasy Moon paints discovery set.  Both birds are painted with the new paints over stamping on card stock. The paint is highly glossy, textured and has a pearly sheen. Sadly, those effects are not visible with the scan. My only problem with the paint is that I need some kind of solvent to clean the brushes that I don't have and so I have ruined two of my favorite brushes. The paint also has a chemical odor and should be used in a well ventilated area.