painting

new paintings at spalding nix fine art

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At the half-way point of a 16 month study of Hawaii which began with a trip to Maui in January, Katherine Sandoz offers 24 postcard size paintings that feature the landscape and flora of Hawaii. The series name is (pono).

(pono) red ti no. 1, 2022, water-based media on recycled felt paper, 6” x 4”

As with the Hawaiian language - delicate, layered and complex - pono communicates several meanings and, in one word, describes the cosmology and philosophy of the Hawaii oiwi (native Hawaiian of Polynesian descent) ethos. Pono means goodness, righteousness, correctness, excellence, well-being. The word is synonymous with prosperity, benefit, duty, morality and speaks to resources, assets, needs, purposes and plans. When something is pono, it is considered to have the qualities of what is correct and just.

In Mary Kawena Puku and Samuel Hoyt Elbert’s Hawaiian dictionary, it is written, “It is something to authentically aspire to rather than to fully attain, mostly because pono means more than doing the right thing in a given situation, but rather living life with balance, harmony and integrity, seeking to improve the surrounding world.” When something is pono, it is considered to have the qualities of what is correct and just. It partners with nature, its resources, its plants, its people. Without pono, nature, its resources, and the people are endangered physically, intellectually and existentially.

Pono mirrors another essential phrase in the Hawaiian language, thought and culture: aloha ʻāina or ‘love of the land’. One does not simply love the land, humans are borne of, spring up and grow from the land. The land is the first genealogical ancestor of its people. Aloha ʻāina integrates science, society and spirituality in a type of nationalism or patriotism.

The (pono) series celebrates and honors the botanical diversity and complexity of the nation of Hawaii. Each substrate has served as a paint palette and then is interpreted, read and painted upon again. There is a history and a density to the object that is the painting.

In the spirit of pono and aloha ʻāina, each work in the (pono) series is priced at $414 (as a nod to the 14th Amendment). Today we are called to guarantee the 14th; that citizens’ rights and privileges not be abridged by law. To engender both pono and Aloha ʻāina, we must also protect each person’s fundamental rights and liberties.

Spalding Nix Fine Art and Katherine Sandoz will donate 33% of all proceeds of these paintings to the ACLU-GA in support of reproductive health care.

now exhibiting at macon museum of arts and sciences

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I am pleased to announce that new works from the (sequoia) series have been included in those invited to this year’s Emerging National Exhibit at the Macon Museum of Arts and Sciences.

“The Museum of Arts and Sciences presents its 9th annual Emerging National exhibition, showcasing rising stars from across the United States. Four contemporary professional artists, representing some of the nation’s finest undergraduate and graduate art programs, will display works ranging from large-scale abstract paintings and mixed media installations to ceramic sculpture.”

In addition to my works, there are new works installed from Will Penny, Kristina Larson and Whitney Wood Bailey. The museum is currently open to the public and additional programming will be announced. This exhibit runs through May 29, 2021.

katherine sandoz (sequoia) back river haboob, 2020, water-based media on canvas, 30” x 30”

katherine sandoz (sequoia) back river haboob, 2020, water-based media on canvas, 30” x 30”

AURORA: new series

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(AURORA)

february - may 2020

in january 2020, i made an outline for the development of three new series of paintings.  they would examine the idea of locus amoenus, a literary tool which describes a idealized, safe place,  a place containing trees, grass, water. 

locus amoenus is at once a green world, a feminine place, an expression of a universal spirituality that is nature.  similarly, a hortus conclucus, or enclosed garden, is also a paradox in that nature is not, can not be, enclosed or walled.  the paintings work to create a locus amoenus and they also notify and remind us of the artifice of the picture plane, of the contained garden, of the idea of safety.  they highlight our attempts to contain both nature, our fears, and passions as well as our desire to contain life, beauty, whatever perceptions of demesne or dominion we might hold.

at the time, i wrote aurora, sequoia and tryst as the titles of the series.  i would overlay a structure of trees, grass and sky as well as work with the chinese philosophy of the entirety of the world made up of the three stations:  heaven (spiritual), human (relationships), earth (the land).

aurora heaven sky

tryst human grass

sequoia earth tree

by the end of march 2020, i had made considerable headway in creating both the tryst and the aurora series. 

tryst is a series of 20 paintings that reveal wild, fauvist gardens created from the chaos of a painter’s previously used palette.  references were pulled from photographs sent by friends in 2020.

the aurora series offers seemingly idyllic land and waterscapes, a place where the spirit may partner with the earth.  when we search for the human element in the painting, we find these absent bodies are hiding under the foliage.  they swim behind waves that have reversed their tides and patterns. they are dwarfed by plants from distant lands that have washed ashore. night swimmers approach a fragmented, lit island that reveals itself to be more aquatic plant than terra firma.  

this terra infirma, full of contradiction and the unknown, is where we find ourselves in light of 2020’s pandemic and the rising protests against social injustice - the great paradox of so much beauty and so much despair.  

as artists all, may we re-weave, re-tell, re-paint and re-sing, re-present the models for building contemporary civilization. the art is quietly, sometimes loudly, commenting, asking and telling about our past, present and future - hopefully, in helpful ways.  the art we make, display, hold dear is both contained and wild, coarse and delicate, bold and timid - thousands of mirrors in which to peer, innumerable reflections of which we may be a part.

_______

NOTES:

  1. the pandemic and the rising protests against the social injustice woven into the fabric of our civilization especially here in the united states. 

  2. never have artists not written, painted, sung, shared their work during the world’s greatest crises, wars, the many pandemics that have come before.

  3. it is my hope that these instruments might be be used to offer beauty and to offer models that could lead to small changes in our understanding of how to better our relationship with one another and with mother nature.  

  4. as with the literary use locus amoenus, the space created by paintings, art might be not so much an idyll, but a model to assist in achieving balance, seeking refuge, and finding a sense of rejuvenation.

  5. the word aurora (dawn) and corona (crown), in science, have been closely associated as the spectrum of aurora and those of the corona show some physical correspondence.

  6. sequoia:  may we be neither hunter, nor hunted, but conservator of the forest (as metaphor for world)

(aurora) nightswim, 2020, water-based media on canvas, 30” x 30”

(aurora) nightswim, 2020, water-based media on canvas, 30” x 30”

2020 art in a “leap” year

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Happy New Year!

As a leap year and the year of the metal rat, we’re geared up for a strong, prosperous, and lucky year full of good fortune and personality! Sounds exciting!

While you are planning for the next months, I hope you’ll consider adding strength and personality in the form of one of my paintings or an interior or exterior treatment. Additionally, I look forward to sharing inspiration from southeast Georgia and beyond, as well as studio news throughout the year.

Wishing you all best for your homes, work, families and chosen activities throughout 2020.

(sufa19) banana palms, 2019, water0based media on canvas, 36” x 48”

(sufa19) banana palms, 2019, water0based media on canvas, 36” x 48”

This painting, photographed at the site of its inspiration in Vernonburg, Georgia, is currently available through Laney Contemporary in Savannah, Georgia.

mashama bailey wins james beard award for top chef: southeast

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The most wonderful news this week came out of Chicago Monday evening: Mashama Bailey of The Grey restaurant in Savannah won the James Beard Award: Top Chef: Southeast.

For those of us living and eating out in Savannah; we have been well aware and have been waiting (kind of) patiently! It brings a gush of fresh air into the lungs to see this woman recognized for all she is, thinks and does.

“We should all be very proud of ourselves,” she said. “We are moving this country forward in the right direction. I am a black girl from Queens, New York, and my most influential cuisine is Peter’s Kitchen Chinese take-out, ” the AJC recently quoted Bailey.

Bailey is the first black American to win this award. She is the second woman of color as Nina Compton (born and raised in the Caribbean) of Compère Lapin, in New Orleans won for best chef in the South. But only LAST year - 2018. Good grief. May more women rise to be recognized!

Congratulations to Mashama Bailey, John Morisano and The Grey team. Thank you for your two fabulous locations and thank you for bringing a bright shiny comet of GREAT and redemptive news into our week.

mashama bailey of THE GREY restaurant, top chef in the southeast + in this writer’s heart

mashama bailey of THE GREY restaurant, top chef in the southeast + in this writer’s heart

harrison scott key for the bitter southerner: the swiss army painter

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I’m Swiss, was in the Army and I’m a painter!

So goes the recent feature story for the Bitter Southerner by my long-time collaborator and writer Harrison Scott Key goes.

While my paintings and some of my history is covered, the story centers on “seeing art” and how it might contribute to our greater understanding of and engagement in the world we find ourselves.

Studio and Vernonburg photos are by Kaylinn Gilstrap.

photo: Kaylinn Gilstrap for the Bitter Southerner

photo: Kaylinn Gilstrap for the Bitter Southerner

strategy: zoomorphism +

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Illustrators, among others, try to avoid it by using several "tools". Here's "explanation". Metaphor/Simile: You're as docile (or woolly?) as a lamb. Which one is it? Metaphor = Equate. Simile = Like or as.

Juxtapose: I hate this word, but, you know. Next to. As in I draw you next to, or place you atop of a lamb.

Visual pun: In the shape of a lamb?

Repetition: As in, many lambs accompany you.

Skew: It's odd (somehow) so you see that you're related (or differently) to a lamb.

Allusion: I lift (steal) from an image, story or idea that is known. I didn't do this to my knowledge (but have before).

Isolate: I separate colors, or shapes or textures (or other elements) so you know what I mean.

Scale change: One thing is smaller or bigger than the other. As in, I make your lamb ears so large, or your skin so hairy, you can't avoid noticing.

Compare/contrast: Things are the same, or different. As in, you're soft or woolly or, conversely, not looking like a lamb.

Paradox: A man is not a lamb, is he?

Personify: I give attributes of a human, or represent as a human, not an animal. And in that vein...

Anthropomorphism: Duh, but can extend to inanimate objects or phenomena.

Metamorphosis: As in, I turn you into a lamb.

***** But you are ONE. And are loved (extraordinarily). You, Mr. Albert Lamb.

ss_lamb_kdsart_art.jpg

strategy: personification + anthropomorphism

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An object, place, the weather - anything that is not a person - takes on the attributes of a human being.  To personify:  give abstract ideas like the weather and seasons human attributes.  To anthropomorph:  give human attributes to non-human entities.

In the illustration below, the tree takes on the behavior of a beau and nuzzles the lady surrounded by a grove of other, less realized tea olives.

sandoz_teaolive.jpg

"love in the time of tea olives,"  originally published for salted & styled, 2013.

"OCTOBER" at Location Gallery with Laney Contemporary

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I am pleased to present a new series of works titled "OCTOBER" that exhibits at Location Gallery in tandem with Laney Contemporary at 417 Whitaker Street at Austin Hill Realty in Savannah, Georgia through October 27th.

Conceived the week that Hurricane Matthew struck Savannah with gallery director Peter Roberts, and developed over the last year, the latest series, “October", includes paintings, textiles and a wall installation.

New works feature the landscapes and botanicals that thrive regionally in October. Within the layers of paint, I've folded concepts from traditions and religions that have been historically practiced at the time of the harvest moon and in the month of October.

Come celebrate the veil of nature’s small and large forces and explore its color, mystery and power.

(october) big leaf magnolia, 40" x 40", water-based media on canvas, 2016-2017. 

(october) big leaf magnolia, 40" x 40", water-based media on canvas, 2016-2017. 

Gallery profits from sales are donated to A-Town Get Down Festival which supports music and arts creative programming nationally throughout the year.

Complimentary seasonal beverages were artfully crafted on opening night by The 1970.

 

 

art scams: please don't send a check

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these "surprise gift of art to wife + moving to the philippines" art scams are so lame. you'd think the architects could be more convincing. also, they could be less repetitive and use punctuation properly! are they bots? their editorial statements are hilarious > #worthit #goodstuff #nodontsendacheck

(as delivered, after i provided a link for purchase)

So I'm trying to gather some good
stuff to make this event a surprise one. I am buying the art work of
$2,800 as a gifts to her.I'm okay with the price, I think it's worth
it
anyway, so I'll be sending a check.
(bermuda studies) banyans, 10" x 10", water-based media on panel, 2016-2017 

(bermuda studies) banyans, 10" x 10", water-based media on panel, 2016-2017