Come See the World Premiere of Lian's Art!

Photo by Natalie Hagar

Featured at the 510 Gallery will be the world premiere of original paintings by Lian, the Wonder Puppy, a 1 ½ year old Chihuahua, who creates beautiful tempra paintings on canvas board. Lian creates all of her paintings in studio #300, which she shares with artist DoAn. Lian will be available to greet guests and a video will be displayed demonstrating her painting technique.

The exhibit will be open Friday, March 30th from 6pm to 10:30pm. For directions call the Pendleton Center Hotline at 513-559-3958 ext. 1257 or get directions from the website at www.pendletonartcenter.com. The event is free and open to the public. Valet parking is available.

Photo by Natalie Hagar

Painting by Lian Xin, the painting chihuahua

Neptune: Icy Depths

(18 x 18 acrylic on canvas, SOLD)
I see this piece relating more directly to my Planets series, in that it is an abstract expressionist representation of Neptune. Similar to my painting of Uranus, I created layers of blue colors to create a sense of depth, like the layers of gases that cover Neptune. Over that, I dripped a thin glaze of metallic interference paint representing the ice crystals on Neptune. Interference paint is a special kind of paint that has mica chips suspended in a medium that allows for light to be bent into its color complements. If the interference paint is not mixed with other pigments, you will notice that blue will reflect orange, violet will reflect yellow, and red reflect green. In this painting the drips contain different amounts of pigment so the light bounces off them in various ways, allowing some of the drips to appear fainter than others, but does not reflect orange back. I wanted to go for a subtler, more subdued effect.

I actually got inspired by to do this painting by attending two different performances of Petrushka, by Stravinksi. While listening to the music I experienced a sense of blue and great depths, which compelled me to do this painting. It may seem strange, that Petrushka music for a ballet about a Russian Pinocchio-like puppet named Petrushka. But, sometimes the muse speaks in unexpected ways.

DoAn

Some people have inquired about the "DoAn Art" logo that appears on my paintings. Please note that these are not on the original paintings.

World of Tomorrow: Exhibition Opening Reception Friday, March 2 6-10pm

You are cordially invited to the exhibition opening of World of Tomorrow at Fusion Gallery in Bellevue, KY. (Just minutes from downtown Cincinnati and Newport on the Levee.) Come see my work, as well as the work of some other very talented artists! I will have four pieces in the show. I hope to see you there!

Where:
Fusion Gallery
305 Fairfield Ave.,
Bellevue, KY 41073
www.fusiongallery.net

When:
Friday, March 2 from 6pm to 10pm

DoAn

Brigid (SOLD)

As one of the most popular goddesses worshipped by the Celts, she continues to be a favorite among Christians as many of her stories and myths survived in the persona of Saint Brigid. She was the goddess of all things perceived to be of relatively high dimensions such as high-rising flames, highlands, hill-forts and upland areas; and of activities and states conceived as psychologically lofty and elevated, such as wisdom, excellence, perfection, high intelligence, poetic eloquence, craftsmanship (especially blacksmithing), healing ability, druidic knowledge and skill in warfare. An object connected to the goddess called Brigid's Cross, made of rushes or straw, and woven into a kind of star or cross shape (see image).

Many rituals are associated with the making of the crosses. At one time, these were very common, but now have become rare. Occasionally, in the rural areas, Roman Catholic homes still feature Brigid's crosses. It was traditionally believed that a Brigid's Cross protects the house from fire and evil. Brigid's crosses are associated with Brigid of Kildare, who is venerated as one of the patron saints of Ireland. The crosses are traditionally made on 1 February, which in Gaelic is called Lá Fhéile Bhríde (Brigid's feast day), the day of her liturgical celebration.

I used the Whirlpool Galaxy as the reference for this painting. I found the spiraling arms of the galaxy an echo of the arms of Brigit's Cross, and all the fiery stars being creating within the arms, an adequate representation of the different qualities of this powerful goddess.

DoAn

EMERGING VISIONS

Emerging Visions, an e-zine for visionary art, edited by Laurie Corzett, has posted its February Issue on the theme of Electric Dreams, and I am happy to announce that my painting, The Dream of Oenghus Mac Og, was selected as one of the illustrations for the issue. Please take a moment to check out the poetry, essays, flash fiction and visual art by the other talented writers and artists.

DoAn

In the News

Banbha, 16 x16, acrylic on canvas, SOLD

Here is the latest painting for the From Beyond the Ninth Wave Series: Banbha. The third of the trio of sister goddessess/queens of Ireland. Banbha requested that her name be given to name Ireland after the Milesians took control of the land. Her sister's name, Ériu , became the popular choice, while Banbha and her other sister, Fódla, found their names used mainly in poetic reference to Ireland.

This painting is more similar to Fódla in that is it a combination of glazing and stroke work. I used a photograph of lichen growing on a Northern Irish rock as a reference for this painting. The colors here are more subtle than the other paintings too. It was a goal of mine to capture the different qualities that I personally relate to Ireland through the three paintings. Ériu, is the colorful, wild, and vibrant aspect of Ireland, Fódla, darker, wiser and more sombre, and Banbha the innocent and quieter side. These qualities associated with each painting is not necessarily representative of the goddesses, at least not from anything I read. It is just a feeling that I had while working on these paintings, that I wanted to express. I suppose they represent my own personal connection to Ireland, the land, its people, culture and spirit. It is my hope that you will find your own ideas and feelings to connect with these paintings.


Press!

This is a little late, but I wanted to share the news that I had a painting featured in a cover photo of Downtowner (The Dream of Oenghus Mac Og--do you see it there behind Natalie?) a local arts and entertainment newpaper. Thanks to Natalie Hager for organizing the 510 gallery and Nancy Hopkins for organizing the activities and publicity for January's Final Friday, the event came off very well. I was pleased to have had the opportunity to share my work, meet and talk with people in my studio. Lian had a great time entertaining guests as well. Special thanks to Johnny and Jamie for all your help in the studio...it wouldn't have been so smooth without you both there. I will post photos from January's open studio soon. There are some exciting things in the works for 510 Studios at The Pendleton Art Center. All of the artists here are contributing in different ways to help bring something new and exciting to Pendleton...so keep watch for things to come!

DoAn

Beag: Keeper of the Well of Wisdom (SOLD)

At last, the latest painting for the From Beyond the Ninth Wave series is completed. This one is entitled Beag: Keeper of the Well of Wisdom. The goddess Beag (pronounced: BEG), possessed a magic well, which was guarded by her three daughters. When the Irish hero Fionn Mac Cumhail came to the well to ask for a drink the daughters tried to keep him from getting the water. One of the daughters threw water over him to frighten him away, but some of the water trickled into his mouth, giving him wisdom.

This painting is comprised of A LOT of glaze work. Using only three colors (Yellow, Magenta, and Blue), I made fine washes of color over each other, sometimes adding up to 20 layers in places to create colors of depth and intensity. I washed over some of the colors with thin layers of white to create the cloudiness and veiled look to some of the colors. The reference to the painting was a part of the Orion Nebula. I used mainly the color and shapes of the nebula to inspire me, but as I worked on the painting it began to take its own shape. Perhaps Beag was imparting some wisdom upon me? Well, I will have to get back to you about that.

DoAn