Why Dragonflies?

The dragonfly is the symbolism of change and light.

Adaptability and joy.

I have been enamored with them since hanging out in the frog ponds with my grandfather.  They bring so many wonderful memories of those childhood moments as well as paddling around Maine lakes in the canoe with my dog, fly fishing in the Allagash with my father or just hanging out in the gardens at home.

Watching this video I learned more than I ever imagined.  I thought I knew it all.  Ha!  Thank you National Geograhic!

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/short-film-showcase/the-secret-world-of-dragonflies

La Napoule, France

This past April I went on an amazing journey with 16 like-minded book art enthusiasts.  We were there under the tutelage of Rebecca Goodale's University of Southern Maine Travel Books Arts Class.  We were there to make books inspired by the surroundings at the La Napoule Art Foundation.   Mary Clews turned the ancient structures into a living studio and art center in the early 1951 in honor of her husband and sculptor, Henry.  His sculpture is everywhere in the gardens, on the outside and inside of the buildings.  It is a fascinating history.

What can be better than to live in a castle not 20 feet from the azure blue Mediterranean Sea for a week, and make art?!!!  It was heaven.


We made art in the gardens, by the sea, in the small village at the Boulangerie, or in a bar!

State of Nature

Celebrating a wonderful opportunity with some new fused glass work for this upcoming show in Arundel, Maine.  It's been a hot summer in the glass studio!

Making fusible glass elements for one of the sculptures.  Cut glass and mica will be layered with glass frit and sheet glass.  Hint: it's got something to do with dragonflies!

Glass mandala taking shape and ready for colored glass and frit layers.

Join us if you can.
Nine artists - Nine mediums
Kat Buchanan, Victoria Elbroch, Bonnie Faulkner, Deweitt Hardy, Norma Johnsen, Berri Kramer, Erica Radich, Susan Wilder and John Wiley.
 
August 6-27, 2016

At Arundel Farm Gallery
76 Arundel Road, Arundel, ME

Opening Reception August 6th from 5-7pm
561-702-6396

Color

and similarities...both are endless.

What I Like About Tides

Always moving, always changing, always present.

I've tried living away from them, but it usually results in cranky Bonnie.

River in winter, tide coming in to meet the ice.

Fusing glass is moving glass.  Not like the tides, but it's moving and changing in ways that, hopefully, I can make happen on purpose!

Detail of fused glass mandala.  Movement in the stringers and frit makes me happy.

6" glass bowl, slumped into a ceramic mold.  Texture and text come together for a happy marriage.

Treasures

How many treasures did your mind collect today?  

Living on a tidal river on the coast of Maine I am blessed with so many treats for the senses.  In or out of the water, it's a dream come true.

Cousin's River, Sunday Morning Quiet

 It is sometimes a little overwhelming to think of the many inspirations that grab my attention throughout the day.  Whatever it is, you can be sure there is some 'light' involved.  Light that makes me want to dive into the glass studio and use glass as a way to capture and transmit the light.  It doesn't always happen the way I 'see' it, but it always is a captivating process for me to try!

Dragonfly Mandala, detail.

In this detail of my fused glass dragonfly mandala, the glass becomes the water's surface as I look out my studio window to the little pond in our yard.  Dragonflies were dancing around the lily pads skimming the surface of the water.  Late August is particularly active in the gardens with dragonflies galore! 

This time of year the shadows get longer and the light at the end of the day becomes magical.  If you look closely, you can see the reflections of light from the surface of the water on the branches.  I love finding these unexpected hidden gems.  I like to think that when people look at my fused glass they see something unexpected every now and again!

Along the Cousin's River

Light, reflected or transmitted, enjoy it!

Monhegan Island artist Elena Jahn, 1938-2014

On Friday night, August 7th, we celebrated the life and art of Elena Jahn at Heron Point Gallery, Portland, Maine.  It was a well attended event with old and new friends alike admiring her vast array work from her large, colorful Monhegan Island panels to her tiny black and white etchings.  Throughout her life, she travel the world and much of her art in this show takes you from Monhegan Island her summer studio, Norway, France, San Juan, New Mexico, Arizona, and her winter studio in Culebra, Puerto Rico.

Self Portrait on Monhegan Island,  51 x 41", oil.  Collection of Artist, NFS

"Sunrise, Sunset", Monhegan Island, 72 x 120" Oil, (Inquire for pricing)

There are some wonderful paintings still available.  Here are just a few...

'Untitled', 1959, 25 x 29", oil on canvas, $3200

'White Cloud Reflected, Monhegan', 20 x 23 Framed, Oil Pastel, $1250

Puerto Rico Flag, 25 x 20 unframed, Oil & graphite, $2900

Elena Jahn, 1938-2014.

Elena Jahn was born in 1938 in Moscow, Idaho and raised in Syracuse, New York. In 1949 her family began spending summers on Monhegan Island, Maine where her career as an artist began. She lived in Rhode Island from 1966 - 1976 and was a co-founder of HERA Cooperative Gallery in Wakefield. She then became a resident of Brunswick, Maine until 1988, when she began dividing her time between her Monhegan studio and Culebra, Puerto Rico.

She received a B.F.A from Syracuse University’s College of Art and an M.F.A in Painting from the University of Wisconsin. She continued her studies in Paris on a Fulbright Grant. She has taught in college and university art departments in Wisconsin, Nova Scotia, Rhode Island, Norway, and Maine. In 1991, she was invited to have a solo exhibit in the ‘Maine Perspectives’ series at the Portland Museum of Art, showing work from Maine and Puerto Rico. Her work has been exhibited in solo and groups shows and is in private, corporate and public collections in the United States, Canada, Norway, and France.  She was an active member of WAMI: Woman Artists of Monhegan Island.

Elena’s artistic preoccupation has always been with the landscape and a sense of place. She traveled the fine line between personal, lyrical abstraction, and figuration, moving back and forth between them. Primarily, she worked with two-dimensional media, including drawing, painting, and collage, often incorporating more than one medium into a piece. Her subject matter spans from realistic rocks, cliffs, sea, and vegetation of her island homes to more abstract renditions of light and sky. In addition, Elena has always drawn the live model and kept plentiful notebooks of sketches from the many places she lived and traveled: upstate NY,, Sweden, Norway, Paris, Rhode Island, Nova Scotia,, Iceland, the southwestern US, Maine and Puerto Rico. She painted up until her death in 2014, leaving behind a legacy of spirited and energetic art.

In her 1999 artist’s statement, Elena wrote:
“As I review the many facets of my own work, I see that they are all threads connected to my inner core. Each change reflects an urge to move into unknown territory, leading to the place where I find myself now.”

To make a purchase of Elena's artwork or to see more, please contact Bonnie Faulkner
email

And here's a video of Elena in her studio on Monhegan Island.

Inspired by Narcissus Quagliata

Bonnie Faulkner Kiln formed glass

I recently attended a kiln glass class at Bullseye Glass Center in Mamaroneck, NY that was taught by someone that I've always wanted to meet, glass artist Narcissus Quagliata.  The fact that I got to study with him was phenomenal, and I feel so fortunate that I had the opportunity.  I am a good student and tend to ask a zillion questions and push the envelope of instruction a little.  The 5 days flew by, I wanted 50 more!

Someone gave me an old soft cover book that Narcissus wrote in the 70's relating to his stained glass.  There was something about his sense of design and subject matter that interested me.  Was it the simplicity? Or was it that he this painterly quality to the pieces he made.  He began his art career as a watercolor artist, and has transformed glass in ways that are breathtaking, all due to his watercolor background.

He had us 'moving' glass using gravity and the heat from the kiln.  We learned not to be afraid of trial and error, do it again if it doesn't work. 

Narcissus calls these "sliders" and this is my first one.

We layered colorful glass in a way that would melt down into other colors and shapes of glass.  One they were fired, we admired, oohed and ahhed about each one and learned what different shapes and positions glass took after firing.

We then used Ferro Enamels to paint on the slider to get even more interesting effects.

The process was right up my alley as I love to discover new ways to make layers of glass work.  These "sliders" are beautiful all by themselves, but can be cut up and refired in a plethora of ways.

Narcissus critiquing our work after firing.  His suggestions were always helpful and insightful.

Boiano Baker was a frequent stop for me!  It was a treat to walk over and get some delicious Italian pastries.

It's Not All About Glass...

Inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere, even text.  Letter forms have been an integral part of my life since I wrote my first name in lower case letters on all our wooden furniture.  Much to the dismay of my father, the detailed woodworker, his antiques apparently all belonged to me!  

Little did my father know that those scribblings would captivate me for a lifetime!  Calligraphy became an important part of my artistic voice and soon pen marks were reserved for paper, not grandmother's jam cupboard door.

As part of this month's Portland, Maine First Friday Art Walk, 2 friends and I put our crazy art heads together and came up with a show that incorporates layers of text.  Texting is a new modern voice that has one specific meaning.  Our #textmessage show incorporates my love of calligraphic letterforms transformed into mandalas; Berri Kramer's layered encaustic wax paintings, and Susan Wilder's acrylic paintings of Kanji. (An Asian form of calligraphy).

The show is up through the month of July.  Come check it out, it's pretty interesting.  Heron Point Gallery is open Thursday-Saturday from 11am-5pm or by appointment.  The next art walk is Friday, July 3rd from 5-8pm.  Maybe we'll see you there?

Gallery Exhibitions 2015 

Spring, new website & gallery shows!

Spring.  It is here?  It certainly has been dragging it's feet in this part of the world.  No complaints because it'll be an ocean full of mosquitos or black flies soon enough.  Maine is always generous with season changes.

Amidst the changing of seasons, it seemed like a good time to revamp my website.  It's just the beginning.  As a self employed artist, you end up doing everything to run a business and I finally found a web design company that had an easy interface for me to keep my site updated.  It's not perfect, and there's much more to do, but for now I'm happy.  Please check it out!  I welcome constructive criticism and feedback, so thanks.

Faulkner Glass

Heron Point Gallery has a fresh coat of paint on the upstairs gallery walls and a new oriental carpet on the floor in preparation for the upcoming shows.  I'm really excited about what we're offering this summer and fall.

June 5th kicks off the season with #textmessage, paintings by Bonnie Faulkner, Berri Kramer and Susan Wilder: Embedded Text in Layers and Patterns.  August 6th I'm honored to be showing a retrospective show of Elena Jahn's work.  As some of you know, Elena passed away last fall and I'm working with her children, Lisa and Erik, to put this show together.
October 2nd starts the show of my new mandala pieces called Emerging.  It's a show of new glass techniques and ideas that are just breaking ground.  December finds us sharing arts and crafts by various local artists for the holidays. 

Memorial Day Weekend is just around the corner.  The official beginning of summer in Maine.
Let's hope it's a good one!

Life After The Masters!

Fused Glass Star, B.Faulkner 2014

I'm giving myself a glass star for successfully completing my Masters Degree in Fine Arts.  It was five years in the making, and wow, does it feel ever so good to have completion.

So, what's next?  More glass of course!  It never ends, this learning process, and really I wouldn't have it any other way.  The glass work I did for my masters focused on the mandala and the heroine's journey.  I see myself continuing on with those two elements and expanding the technique and process.  There is so much I want to create and so many ideas spinning around in my head.  The ideas come faster than my hands can work though, so, much sketching in the journal and sketchbooks to keep them near.  I am working on some painting with glass and experimenting with that technique and firing processes.  It's unending the directions I could go.

I have reopened my Portland, Maine gallery, Heron Point Gallery, where I am exhibiting my fused glass work.  Fused glass Mandalas are on display and for sale, as well as my jewelry and glass bowls.  Heron Point Gallery is open Thursday through Saturday to give me time in the studio for design and creation the rest of the week.  There is a special element to the gallery this year where I'll be featuring the work an artist friend of mine who recently passed away.  More information on this to follow.

I'll share some of the photos that speak to what I've been doing since graduation in December.  To celebrate, my husband took me on a trip through the Panama Canal on a cruise ship.  Yes, I'm a lucky girl :)

This is a collection of some of the calligraphed mandalas I created during our winter vacation to the Panama Canal.  Pencil, colored pencil and watercolours.  These incorporate words or letters that are first drawn and then enhanced with color and design.  I still draw a mandala every day.

Going through the locks of the Panama Canal.  Wow.  I can't say enough about how fascinating this was for me.  Our ship took about 2 hours to get through the locks.  There was no room to spare on the port or starboard side!

Back home after the warmth of Panama to find more snow, and more snow.  I took this shot one day as I was driving around the coast enjoying the scenery.  This is in Freeport, Maine at Winslow Park.  The color of the water reminded me of the islands we visited en route to Panama, but that's about all the connection.

A glorious day spent at the Boston Design Center on a tour with my niece, Amy, to the various inspirational design shops.  This is a display board in a rug shop that I was drawn to.  My friends Berri and Susan came with me and our brains were on inspiration overload so we had to go to the North End and eat some delicious Italian food to get our strength back.

One of my latest dichroic glass pendants.  In this piece I have created some of my own dichroic design right in the glass and then layered more on top.  This piece has been fired 3 times in the kiln.  I don't know if I can bear to part with it.  I've been in production mode with jewelry pieces getting ready for the summer tourists.  Let's hope they all need some dichroic bling!

As I type this, James Taylor's "The secret of life" is playing on Pandora...it's all about enjoying the passing of time, and that's what this photo speaks to.  A delightful afternoon coffee in our sunny window with my husband.  I think there were some Italian anise cookies on the plate at one point.

That's enough for now.  Time to catch up on some gallery dusting!

MFA Graduation!!!!

It's hard to believe that 5 years have passed since I started the Master of Fine Arts degree program at Heartwood College of Art in Biddeford, Maine. 

Our graduation ceremony is on January 30th where each of us five that are graduating will give a brief presentation of our thesis project.  The title of the show is, "Masters In The Studio", which is where we've all spent countless hours each week for the last five years working towards this final goal.  My final project is a series of glass mandala books, keeping with the theme of the Heroine's Journey.

...the important meetings at the seaside...

Here are some fond memories from this experience with some amazing artists!

...being surrounded by much talent...

...adventures at the museum...

...the seriousness of the work...

...the need for sustenance and cooperation...

...that old school charm...

...the endless round table meetings...

...the need to test menus...

....and our fearless leaders!  Thank you.

This experience and these pod mates and leaders have enriched my life in ways that I don't even realize yet.  It's been an experience of a lifetime on a journey with people whom I now call friends.  The president of Heartwood College, Berri Kramer, says it best...

"Heartwood College of Art is committed to the concept of art as a conversation. This conversation is a form of self-expression that blooms much more surely and joyfully with the support and feedback of fellow artists. Within a community of artists--both teachers and students--an exhilarating sustainable energy generates new ideas, new dialogues, new horizons". 

We have had amazing conversations throughout our five years as pod mates, some conversations were life-changing, others pushed us to places we hadn't been before.

So what's next?  Where do I go from here?  Make art.  Make art. Make art.  That's about it...oh, and run a gallery, teach, help operate a restaurant, travel, and keep my husband out of trouble!

Thanks, Heartwood!  :)

Wilder Nightingale Fine Art, Taos, New Mexico

It's been an exciting few weeks as realization sets in that I am going to Taos, New Mexico!  My fused glass mandalas have been juried in to the Taos Insitute of Glass Art Biennial Show in October.  As I've never been to Taos or Sante Fe, I'm looking forward to everything...including visits to anything Georgia O'Keefe.

This show comes at the end of my MFA journey as well.  We graduate in December...a mere 5 years after that first alphabet project was assigned.  In many ways it feels I have come full circle with the creation of the new thesis work.  No pun intended, but the circular mandalas are once again going to make an appearance, this time in book form. I don't want to give too much away but I'm pretty excited about what's happening in my studio.

Thanks for watching the video.  I'm honored to be in such good company and I look forward to meeting all the amazing glass artists there are in the show.

Help! I'm being held captive in a print studio and I can't get out!

So.  Where did those 5 hours go?  I was supposed to be outside weeding the garden.  But the weeds looked so pretty, and the gel was calling...these are all 

12 x 18".  

Oh the layers...it's good practice for glass.  

Layers.  I love them.

Thesis In The Works

Work on the MFA thesis continues.  In conjunction with the final 7-tiered mandala book, I have been designing and constructing a few more mandala book structures that will house some glass pages incorporating mandalas.  This is not part of the final book.  These additional book structures are helping me get to the final piece in a more complete way.  I was feeling that more work needed to be done before the final glass portion of the mandala book was started.  

I'm finding a real passion for combining glass and book arts.   I know each medium can stand on it's own as I've done dozens of each component.  Putting them together is both a huge challenge due to the limitations of attaching glass to glass and exhilarating to think I can actually make it happen in a way that will stand the test of time.

The outline for my thesis proposal is nearly complete and will be sending that out in a week or so.  I continue to read and review the history of mandalas, The Heroine's Journey, and much of Carl Jung's interpretations and discoveries regarding mandalas.

Some of the tools used to start construction of what will be a coptic bound glass mandala book of seven pages and front & back cover.

Cutting by hand a total of 14 six inch circles in 1/8th in book board took some doing.  Thankfully I had purchased a hand held circle cutter (you can see the yellow and black cutter through the right circle) at the RISD art store recently.  (The RISD art store is a dangerous place for the pocket book!)

Here are seven sheets of paper that I made using a gel-print method of adding surface design.  These papers are to cover the book board sleeves, or pages, that will house the glass mandala inserts.

Here you can see the paper is covering the book board.  A constructed 3D sleeve was made using 6 pieces of book board, PVA glue and the paper.  There was a lot of 'mock' construction needed to get the steps down in the right order for construction.

The individual pages or glass sleeves are taking shape. 

Here are all seven pages done and awaiting the glass inserts.  There will be a front and back cover that I think will be book board without glass.  Once the glass is inserted, the final piece of book board will be glued in and the tabs glued down to secure the glass.  The binding will be a coptic binding on the left side of the book.  When the book is closed and sitting on a table it will measure over 4" thick.

This is the end of April!  It seems we have extra time this semester before our presentations are due.  I hope to have 2 or 3 of these smaller glass books ready for that weekend as well as being pretty clear about the nature of the final glass mandala with drawings ready and maybe even a page or two of the glass itself.