Dialogues With Our Muses
2021 PSC MEMBER ON-LINE EXHIBIT
SEPTEMBER 13 – NOVEMBER 30, 2021
We dedicate Dialogues with our Muses to Christine Colasurdo and Clifford Mansley, Sr. Their lifetime passion for their craft and the beautiful work they created continues to inspire us all.
Thank you for visiting PSC’s 2021 annual member exhibit. The art is shown alphabetically by the last name of the artist. To see a larger image of the art and information about the piece, please click on the image. You can move through the show by selecting any tile you want to open, or, once you’re viewing a piece, you can easily navigate through the show using the forward and backward arrows.
Some of the work shown here is for sale. Viewers who are interested in purchasing a piece can contact Larry Whitson at whitalex@comcast.net using PSC Art Purchase as the subject line. Larry will put potential purchasers in contact with the artist.
If you see a series of asterisks (***) where the price of the work is typically written, it is an indication that prints or stickers of the work may be available. Please contact Larry Whitson at the above email address for more information.
We hope you enjoy the exhibit and we extend our gratitude to the PSC members who are sharing their talent and work in this exhibit.
The PSC Exhibits Committee,
Peg Falconer
Cynthia Schubert
Larry Whitson
Arzt, Barbara. “Kufic Shapes”
This piece was inspired by a class with Brody Neuenschwander in which we worked with Arabic Kufic letters, adapting their form to the latin alphabet. The text is, We are sharing a pandemic. I took some Arabic in college and knew how to write my name which I included in the upper right corner to fill out the block.
17 x 11 inches
Sumi ink, cola pen, Saunders Waterford paper
NFS
Arzt, Barbara. “Letting Go”
This piece was an attempt to take the Latin script to the edge of legibility and to infuse the letters with the energy of the text: Would I fly into a million tiny pieces. Using the cola pen allowed for experimentation with a variety of thicks, thins and splatters in the marks.
11 x 15 inches
Sumi ink, cola pen, Saunders Waterford paper
NFS
Bennet, Amy; Pandemic Mantra
Inspired by the theme of obsession, this sculptural piece is created from ten strips of a repeated phrase. The strips of text were each spontaneously hand-cut from black paper and then layered onto the white background paper allowing some areas to elevate off the page, creating shadows and ambiguity.
Bennett_Amy; Pandemic Mantra_1B
Inspired by the theme of obsession, this sculptural piece is created from ten strips of a repeated phrase. The strips of text were each spontaneously hand-cut from black paper and then layered onto the white background paper allowing some areas to elevate off the page, creating shadows and ambiguity.
Bigelow, Anita. “Gamboge”
For a book project I stained some Tyvek with acrylic paint in two of my favorite colors: gamboge and a bit of opera pink. The extra Tyvek couldn’t go to waste, and so it inspired this piece, day 55 of my Hundred Days Scotland project, started this June.
Bigelow, Anita. “Not A Day Without A Line”
The Latin motto “Nulla dies sine linea” is the guide for my Hundred Days Scotland project, where it gives me permission to just do something each day. This piece was for day.
Byrd, Stephanie. “Worlds of Wanwood”
Sometimes poems seem to talk to each other, and I enjoy setting them side by side. Each poem here also contains dialogues within itself: spring and fall, bright and dull, warm and cool, health and decay. Furthermore, the larger calligraphic hand is a conversation between Insular Majuscule and other hands.
Broad-edged nibs; Bister inks
15 x 22 inches
6 x 9” print $50; larger sizes available
Cox, Angelina. “Invocation”
While researching the nine Muses, I was struck by the Ancient Greeks’ practice of invocation: the intentional invitation to the Muses. It is an acknowledgement that creativity and artistry are born of the mysterious. Or perhaps, not solely the mysterious, but it can begin with an invitation to curiosity, a conscious decision to look and see the small details.
Cox, Angelina. “Exploration”
My two pieces are related; this first one holds the nine Muses names in the center, with color flaring up like flame throughout. The remaining space is filled with the letters of the alphabet, jumbled together; the space between is filled with color, like a stained-glass window. I am inspired by color and the dance of the letters across the pages.
DuBosch, Carol. “The Best Things”
The Coronavirus Pandemic (and Zoom) brought wonderful opportunities to learn amazing new things from teachers around the globe. I dove into several classes during the Summer of 2020, and this piece represents some of the new learning from an intensive study of Italic with John Stevens.
DuBosch, Carol. “INK”
I responded to a challenge to do one creative act each day for 100 days and record it.(The One Hundred Days Project Scotland). I chose to paint my many ink bottles and was so happy to actually have 100 unique bottles. I used watercolor and a waterproof fine line gel pen.
Dutoit, Carol. “Baskett Slough”
I have recently moved to Polk County and travel through Baskett Slough daily. It is a beautiful, ever-changing landscape. Spring offers wonderful colors of green in the fields and trees. The autumn offers golden harvest and geese and ducks return to the ponds. Winter brings the cool mornings, and the mist covering the hillsides sparkles like diamonds.
Watercolor; gouache
24 x 24 inches
$300
Falconer, Peg. “For Aleks”
I have so many muses, far more than nine. My favorites include poets. In this piece I blatantly plagiarized the opening line of an abecedarian by an unknown author to make my own version. The abecedarian is a poetic form frequently used in ancient cultures for sacred compositions. In this tradition, my writing and the subsequent ink on paper become a prayer for the intended.
Walnut ink; metal broad-edged pen
24 x 14 inches
NFS
Gebert, Tatiana. “Dandelion moon”
Negative from digital photo; monoline lettering; cyanotype
Gebert, Tatiana. “Shakespeare”
My mother was a Shakespearean actor when I was small. She instilled in me a love for his work. These are a listing of all of his plays.
Greenseth, Sue. “Torched”
Not long ago, my husband found some poetry he'd written before we got married. This is one of his favorites, a beautiful love poem about us. Because it's personal, it was my intention to make it difficult to read.
Greenseth, Sue. “The 1980s”
If I tried, I could probably sum up the high points of each decade in my lifetime. In the 1980s we moved from Corvallis to Portland. We were surrounded with wonderful opportunities, and took on adult responsibilities. It was a time of growth, and life was good.
Grunewald, Louise. “Walking on Uneven Ground”
The words and imagery for this piece came about during a walk in the woods in the early part of the pandemic. I was moved by the presence of Nature even as we are facing such uncertainty and the uneven ground we must navigate.
Bister ink; graphite; Arches Text Wove; EZApPen; brush; pencil
8 x 18 inches
$300
Grunewald, Louise. “Annica/Impermanence”
The word anicca means impermanence in Buddhist terminology. The nature of our times has prompted me to explore this idea. This work is an abstract rendering of the word.
Bister Ink; graphite; EZA pen; pencil; brushes; Arches Text Wove
10 x 18 inches
$300
Hespen, Margaret. “Listen 1”
The News shouts: The world is falling apart! The Apostle Paul whispers: Light breaks through! Old Choir Music pleads: Rescue me from this dumpster! Originally composed to focus on the joys of teaching rather than its headaches, the phrase expanded its influence in the last two years to remind me to listen for the good. This is the more subtle of two iterations, and perhaps the more conceptually intriguing.
hespen-margaret-listen-2-1200×1600
Madill, Jan. “Can I Do a Quantum Dance Here?”
Finding myself in a strangely disorienting and different world, I muse upon what I can do here. More broadly, I meditate on impermanence, the interconnectedness of everything and to my initial surprise - quantum theory.
Oil; wood panel; folded pens; bamboo pens; brushes; PhotoShop; Wacom Tablet; photographs
Size variable
NFS
Madill, Jan. “Do you Dance Here?”
This series’ title appeared one day when I was noticing the phrase, in other words. Suddenly it morphed into In Other Worlds and became one of my muses. So many Other Worlds, including our transforming world, imagining other planets, and “seeing” our quantum world hiding within Newtonian physics.
Oil; wood panel; folded pens; bamboo pens; brushes; PhotoShop; Wacom Tablet; photographs
Size variable
NFS
Moholt, Lorinda. “Changing Things”
I remember fiery Angela Davis from my college years; she both scared and inspired me then. When I came across her words while musing about millions of young women who are continuing to change the world, I cheered once again. Calligraphic words from women authors (men too) have inspired me during 40 years of studying and practicing.
Micron pen .01; scroll pen; Higgins ink; watercolor; colored pencil
7 1/4 x 8 1/4 inches
Nelson, Marianne. “Tribute to Christine”
This piece is a tribute to Christine Colasurdo, who was my calligraphy teacher, mentor and friend. She believed in the importance of the written word, and would often say these words. The marbled paper reminded me of the universe, with her words in a circle at the center of it.
Nelson, Marianne. “We are all one”
These words come from a song sung in the Plum Village of Thich Nhat Hanh. They are words the world needs at this time of so many divisions and environmental degradation. We need to realize that we are one, not just as the human race, but one with nature.
Nissen, Laura. “Trying to Heal”
We are all navigating immense complexity in our current times. I found these words “deep enough” to hold the range of responses to challenges around us while still trying so hard to live our lives with generosity, hope and love. This piece is dedicated to those who have been lost.
Pilot Parallel pens; Prismacolor pencils ; Canson multimedia paper
16 x 20 inches
NFS
Nissen, Laura. “Radical Hope”
Part of my calligraphy practice is simply spending time with beautiful words (along with beautiful letters). These words (a short motto/prayer) just came to me while thinking about “what it will take” to get to the next chapter of our collective story. Let’s help each other.
Pilot Parallel pen; watercolor; Canson multimedia paper
10 x 12 inches
NFS***
Pari-Mueller, JoAnn. “Nests”
Each year I watch female robins build incredible nests in my yard using mud, grass, and twigs which provide protection for the eggs (incubated for 12-14 days) and the babies (who fledge after another two weeks). The process is usually repeated for each brood/clutch. In this piece, I even used twigs to letter the walnut ink.
Pari-Mueller, JoAnn. “Trees”
It is easy to think of trees as muses – they improve soil, water, and air quality. They provide shade, food, firewood for cooking and heat, building materials for shelters, pulp for paper products, and habitats for many species of flora and fauna. This last fact is what inspired this piece.
Payne, Christi. “For Christine”
Christine Colasurdo was my friend. For twenty years, she influenced me in so
many ways, inspiring me, challenging me, loving me. Her death leaves me
bereft; I needed to bring her words to this task, but written in my hand, as a
token of collaboration between the two of us, one last time.
Ink; Pergamenata paper; Rapidograph pen
8.5 x 11 inches
NFS
Pearl, Cora. “In Pieces”
This piece was created during my personal journey of menopause during a very difficult ongoing set of circumstances and symptoms. I felt alone and isolated going through this during the pandemic and channeled some of my distress and experience into making art. This piece is an expression of that experience.
Black ink; graphite; watercolor; paper
11 x 14 inches
NFS
Pearl, Cora. “With You”
During the pandemic I was not able to see two of my three children for over a year. I am still waiting to see one of them. This piece is a love note to my children, letting them know that they are always in my heart.
Marker; paper
8.5 x 11 inches
NFS
Schmidt, Peter. “My Music Muse”
Canson paper; pastels, Dr. Martin’s ink; gouache; C-2 & C-5 pens; Gelly Roll pen.
18 x 14.5 inches
NFS
Rippey, John. “Muse at Dawn, June 12th”
In the beginning, I started out on this project with a lighter gray paper, an automatic pen, and cerulean blue gouache. We can blame my younger and wiser sister for this venture into darker paper, dangerously sharp cutting tools, and the sky-blue clarity of purpose.
Price Upon Request
Canson Mi Tientes paper; X-Acto knife; photograph
18 x 27 inches & the infinity of the sky-blue sky
Schubert, Cynthia. “Self”
This year my muse has been the contents of the big suitcase where I store all of my collage materials. Digging down to the bottom, I rediscovered words and images about women created and collected over the years. Pasted down randomly and then cut up, the pieces were reassembled and then stenciled with a self-portrait silhouette.
Larry Whitson. “Some Diem”
The inspiration for this text came to me while reading about the phrase carpe diem in Michael Macrone’s book “It’s Greek to Me!” The inspiration for the layout and design came from the opportunity I had last year to explore the Akim script and using Brody Neuenschwander’s Handwritmic pen.
Sumi ink; gouache; walnut ink: cold pressed watercolor paper
14.5 x 10 inches
$65.00
Larry Whitson. “Anger”
The inspiration for this piece came from David Keig’s poem “Anger Feeds Upon Itself.”
Keig is a poet and activist involved in the Indigenous People’s rights movement in
Australia. It speaks about how anger feeds and grows inside a person, an eerie analogy
for how a virus currently affects our world.
Sumi ink; gouache: Arches Text Wove paper\
10 x 10 inches
NFS
Falconer, Peg. “Exhibit Logo”
Colored pencil; fineline marker
9 x10.5 inches
NFS