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For your holiday season shopping this year, please consider supporting your local artists. Here are some great events where I'll be vending along with several amazing, local Artisans and Makers, with all social distancing and safety protocols in place. We all really appreciate your support!
You are also welcome to make an appointment to visit the studio by contacting me.
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This series began with photographs of abandoned farms in both rural, western Pennsylvania and rural Vermont. In an age of quarantine, I was able to visit my "quaranteam" - my sister and my closest friend from college. In an attempt to stay away from people, I found myself on winding country roads, trying to find solace as well as the spirit of my coutnry which, over the past several months seemed as lost and desolate as some of the farms I passed in my car. How did we get here? Why are these structures left here? Atop mountains in Pennsylvania, farms emerge among field sof gravel from the fracking industry. And in Vermont, weather-beaten wooden structures lean wearily with age. They exist in both the past and the present, and raise questions about the future. This isn't the first time I've seen some of these structures. Indeed, as I've traveled these roads before, I've witnessed nature slowly and gradually reclaim them. I return to them like old friends, searching for evidence of the past year, finding meaning in their resilience.  The next stage of the process happens in my studio. Of the hundreds of photographs I take, I whittle them down until I find the photographs that are emblamatic of and best allude to an experiential and emotive sense of the places I experience when I'm there. I search for elements that tell the story of their place of origin. I then develop the images in black and white for screen printing and I burn the images as silkscreens. While out and about I noticed weeds and wildflowers, and I collected them as I made my way along the roads. It never ceases to amaze me how much biodiversity exists in fields and meadows. I wanted to capture a sense of time and the best way was to cyanotype the collection of wildflowers I collected. Cyanotype, one of the earliest forms of photography, relies on the light of the sun to create a chemical reaction, leaving behind a brilliant and distinctive blue dye. Because the cyanotype emulsion is liquid, I painted with light around the screen printed photographic imagery.
In a way I saw this series as documentation and meditation. I was here, now. Before the backdrop of a challenging collective experience, there was beauty to be found. This was a collaboration with nature, extended further by the use of encaustic, which is painting with pigmented, molten wax. With roots that can be traced to ancient Egypt, encaustic paintings have existed for centuries. As i reflect on these times I draw strength from the history of artists who came before, using this medium, and all the human story that connects our current experience to the past. Check out the series in person at Chester County Studio Tour and purchase pieces from this series from my shop We could never predict that this whole world would get turned upside down because of a virus, but it has. And so I'm sending out health and hope to everyone in internetlandia. I've started to post some educational videos to my Instagram page so you can see my process as well as some of the photos that are inspiring the newest work. Follow the link to my IG page and thanks for connecting across multiple platforms with me! This spring season is going to be a bit of a challenge for many of us, and especially us small business Makers. Many of the art markets and vending opportunities that we rely on for income have been cancelled. If you're able, now is the time to support your Maker community. Please share our work, like and comment on our social media pages and, if you're able, please consider purchasing from us. As you may have figured out, all aspects of my art business are handled by a real person - me, and I literally do a happy dance when I know that one of my artworks has made it out of the studio and into the hands of someone who will love it as much as I have. I've got some time on my hands, folks, so please visit my updated Etsy shop for my original works and please visit my Society 6 shop for licensed merchandise. Every bit helps and helps me to, in turn, help those around me. Thank you as always for your support.   There is still time to sign up to take one of my workshops this winter session!
Printmaking Without A Press Community Arts Phoenixville Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30pm Jan 14-Feb 25 (5 sessions plus an open studio) In this class we'll cover a lot of printmaking techniques: screen printing, intaglio, block printing, monoprinting, and more! No class Feb 4. https://www.communityartsphoenixville.org/adult-classes Discovering Screen Printing Main Line Art Center Thursdays, 6:30-8:30pm Jan 9-Jan 30 (4 sessions) If you've ever wanted to screen print, this is your class! I'll show you how to go from your photographs to burning a silkscreen, to working with your images on virtually any (flat) surface! https://public.mainlineart.org/public/ClassDisplay.faces Screen Printing on Clay (co-taught with Sharon Bartmann) Black Hound Clay Studio Sat Jan 11-Sun Jan 12 Pretty much what it sounds like: a blast. https://www.blackhoundclay.com/classes-workshops/screenprinting-on-clay Block Printing Demo at Artists and Craftsmen, Chestnut Hill Sat Jan 25, 11am - 1pm Learn how to use Speedball products to create your own block prints! https://www.facebook.com/events/486314172001013/  Here's the spring show lineup thus far, and now with an exciting twist! I'M A HOST STUDIO FOR CHESTER COUNTY STUDIO TOURS!
Check out the website for all the details below: www.chestercountystudiotour.com/Studios/4
And here's the backstory: In August, Nat and I returned to Iceland and drove up to the Westfjords, with the goal of reaching Isafjordur. The weather was so kind to us, and we were able to photograph some incredible vistas, with long, colorful sunsets that stretched across an endless sky. He returned home and I was able to stay on at 1x6 and work on the start to this series. I burned screens using the sun's light, taught a workshop at Bokasafn Reykjanesbaer, and painted a refrigerator and a headboard in the Guesthouse. Those paintings formed the foundation for these works. In them, I am reflecting on the places I photographed and the stories behind each of these abandoned farmhouses. I think of the conversations that inform these works and the emotive effect each place had on me. I think of the music that accompanied each piece and the kindness of the people surrounding and supporting the making of these pieces. And I'm humbled and grateful. While I'm at it, I might as well tell you about the other works, tooWhen my college roommate and very close friend suggested that the two of us should go to Europe during my spring break, neither of us really believed it could happen, until the right airfare, the right connections, and the right dates all lined up beautifully. And, blink, blink, there we were, landing in Paris. Our trip took us to Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, Genoa, then to France to experience Nice and St. Remy and Provence. In a glorious whirlwind, we experienced some of the most gorgeous cities Europe has to offer, and needless to say I came home with more photographs and inspiration than I can fit in a brief paragraph. It wasn't until summer that I was finally able to start to work through some of the ideas I had, as school in spring is a whirlwind itself. Here are some of the pieces I created, and as time goes on I'm sure I'll revisit this imagery again. Home Sweet HomePhotographic inspiration is everywhere. My morning commute to school, a trip to the grocery store, a quick errand downtown...every day I encounter the perfect compositions that lead to new work. Sometimes I'll drive past a building for weeks, plotting the moment when I could come back, when the light is right, and there's not too much traffic, to get the right shot. Sometimes, the moment is just right. Sometimes I'm a tourist in my own town, or I'll get word about a particular place that has a history that needs to be documented. In any way, there are moments that need to be part of my artwork and so they are. Southeastern PA, in all its seasonal forms, is a beautiful area in which to live and work. What you're actually looking at:My work starts with my photographs. I take photos of places that are abandoned and forgotten, because I'm fascinated by the stories those structures tell. Behind each of those photos are levels of stories. The ones I choose to I develop as silkscreens are those images that at once are distinctive of their place of origin, but can also be anonymous and at once be a symbolic shorthand for any place. I print those images over my paintings and then paint back into them, using acrylics or encaustic paints. Each piece I create is made as an original. It's not part of an edition, nor is it reproduced by mechanical means. I think of these pieces as the meeting place between printmaking, photography, and fine art.
All images (c) Gillian Pokalo, 2018 This autumn is a whirlwind of wonder and I'm looking forward to the foliage and the changing light in this most colorful of seasons. There are so many community events I'm grateful to be a part of, that help me savor these autumnal moments in all their glory and hopefully I'll see you at a few of them!  I'm absolutely thrilled to be showing with my colleague and inspiring artist sharon-bartmann.squarespace.com/ at ArtsQuest in Bethlehem - the show consists of imagery Sharon and I took of Steel Stacks and the area around Bethlehem, when we taught our Claytography class last year. Don't worry if you missed it last time - there are still spaces available for it in December! In that weekend, we go on a photographic expedition around Bethlehem, take our photos into photoshop, develop them as photo silkscreens, and print them onto clay! I was just sent this image of our work on the walls and I couldn't be happier! Go see it in person. There will be a First Friday reception in November.  I'm also thrilled that I'll be showing at Exhibit B Gallery in Souderton! My solo show opens on October 19 with a reception from 5-9pm, and is up through November 11! Please come out and enjoy this gem of a gallery in downtown Souderton!
Also, check out the markets that I'm a part of this season - each with its own flair, incredible artist vendors, and locations that will take you down some lovely tree lined roadways on your way there, so that you can enjoy all that the season has to offer! Phoenixville Green Earth Festival County Studio Tours - Chris Macan Studio, #3 on the Studio Tour map Clover Market in Bryn Mawr A Bit of the Arts at the Twentieth Century Club in Lansdowne PA Main Line Art Center Holiday Craft Market in Haverford PA |
NewsGoings on from the ink-splattered mind of Gillian Pokalo Archives
November 2020
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