The impressively versatile Marsha Carlton has a rich and varied background in professional music, but has recently discovered a new outlet for her talent and enthusiasm: art. A retired music teacher, choir director, mother and grandma, Marsha has shown skill and finesse in mixed media, especially in collage and Citra Art. For her contagious excitement, talent and wonderful attitude, we are pleased to name Marsha our December Citra Solv Artist of the Month.
My name is Marsha Carlton. I am a widow with two children and 3 grandchildren. I live in North Carolina near Charlotte.
Creating has always been a passion for me. I just found that out. It's funny, I have always questioned myself, "what is your passion?" and I usually come up blank. But in trying to define myself here, I see that it's not painting, singing, performing... it's the process that is my passion. Yea! I guess I found it! (Took me long enough, I'm 60!)
I am a musician and a music teacher with a Master's degree and all that with 36 years in public school and 30 as a church choir director. I sing pretty well, I'm a mezzo-soprano. That's why I went into music for my degree in my early years. I was a fairly good child artist but I had to choose and music won out. But during that time I've written children's musicals, songs, and arranged hand-bell music, etc. Great fun.
A couple of years ago, I had some free time and I took a community college course on paper collage and learned about mediums and acrylics and dyeing tissue paper. I was hooked. I love working with paper and when I discovered citra-solv, it opened up another avenue to explore. Unlike a lot of artists represented on this site, I have not sold anything nor have I even shown any of my work except online on Gary Reef's "Loving Mixed Media" site and now here on Citra-Solv. I have stacks and stacks of art that have provided me great satisfaction to create. Maybe thru sheer necessity I'll have to stop being cowardly and push some of this out into the world.
Thank you, Citra-Solv gang, for your enthusiasm and encouragement.
Susan Cornelis
http://imaginewithart.com
Artists are known for having a keen sense of empathy and intuition, but as a former social worker, Susan Cornelis is able to use her art as "a vehicle for me to freely express emotions, connect with inner wisdom, and empower my life." Her breadth of knowledge and experience, combined with her passion and success in teaching, make her an ideal candidate for the Citra Solv November Artist of the Month.
Painting has become a way for me to look deeper into my daily experience and watch the inner life unfold. With brush in hand I can make imaginative leaps, see fantasy landscapes, underground seas, nature spirits and mythical creatures.
Being a contemplative person I have always sought ways to look behind the veil of "reality" by studying psychology and spiritual teachings. My practice of meditation, writing, music, and dancing are integral components of my approach to art making.
Following an earlier career in Social Work, I became a watercolor painter, illustrator and teacher. I sought art training from favorite master painters for years. Following an intensive course in children's book illustration my watercolor illustrations were published in a children's picture book, The Great Hiss, 2002.
Gradually my art making became less technique based and more of a vehicle for me to freely express emotions, connect with inner wisdom, and empower my life. Now there is a thrill of showing up to paint with the knowledge that the spirit communicates directly with me using the language of colorful imagery and words. It is an integrative approach to art that honors the creative process as a path to gain access to the restorative, healing energy of the spirit.
For the past 13 years I have taught classes and workshops in water media painting techniques, sketchbooking and creative expression and have published three demonstration videos. My paintings have been shown in one-person and group shows and annually at open studio tours. My recent book Conversations With the Muse: The Art Journal as Inner Guide (http://blurb.com), and Art and Sketchbook Blog are enjoyed by students around the world.
Catherine Anderson
www.catherineandersonstudio.com
Similar to her art, photographer Catherine Anderson is provocative, fascinating, and often surprising. Her intellectual background and professional career is as impressive as her magnificent body of work. For her inspirational words and stirring artwork, we are proud to recognize Catherine as the Citra Solv October Artist of the Month.
Catherine Anderson is a photographer and mixed media artist and the author of the book "The Creative Photographer" published by Lark Books in 2011. The book focuses on looking at how you can express yourself in the world using the camera as a tool to slow down and really engage with the beauty of the world around you.
Catherine loves to inspire others to find their creative potential as her journey to believing in her creativity taught her just how much joy there is in expressing yourself through a creative medium. As we grow older we forget to play and enjoy the process; rather we become more focused on the results. The learning really happens in the process and in the mistakes which can encourage us to find a different way of seeing things.
Catherine likes to use recycled materials in her creations, and these include old dry teabags, old magazines, books and papers. Catherine teaches photography classes and retreats, and will be teaching a photography retreat in South Africa in 2012 and another in Orvieto, Italy in 2013. She is also a SoulCollage® facilitator and has been trained as a "Marry Your Muse" Creativity facilitator by Jan Phillips. She teaches SoulCollage® classes, Visual Art Journaling classes and uses the labyrinth in her creativity workshops. Her website is www.catherineandersonstudio.com.
Catherine loves the wonderful designs made by using Citra-Solv with old National Geographic pages, and likes to scan these into her computer so they can be used again and again, and can also be color-manipulated and altered in image software to create unusual backgrounds that can be merged with her photographs.
Eva Macie
http://www.evamacie.com/
"Versatility" is the word that sums up September's Citra Solv Artist of the Month. Eva Macie is an art instructor, painter, photographer, and blogger. She has traveled the world studying art, and her ubiquitous works reflect all that she's learned. Whether it's abstract, watercolor or digital photography, Eva's award-winning art touches and inspires. Although she has officially retired from the art festival circuit, Eva continues to create and teach. Citra Solv is proud to be a part of her process, and to name her the September Citra Solv Artist of the Month.
I studied art at the Atlanta College of Art, also with
University of Georgia art professors and other prominent instructors throughout the United States, Japan and France. I toured Italy with the Georgia Festival of the Arts in Italy and traveled in several other countries, including the United States, to photograph, paint and exhibit my work. Versatile in both traditional and contemporary techniques, my skills also include photography, digital art and teaching. Along with receiving numerous awards, I have had three major solo shows. My work is in many private and corporate collections. New York Graphic Society and Classic Collections have published my art.
My career as a painter, photographer, and art instructor has been fulfilling. Retired from the art festival circuit, I continue to create and market my work locally and on the Internet.
Retirement has given me the opportunity to explore new
mediums and techniques. Among these are using Citra Solv® to manipulate inks in National Geographic® magazines and also to create transfers from photocopies.
I have enjoyed combing the results with other techniques for unique mixed media creations. Citra Solv ® is now a very important product in my studio, not only as an art medium, but also for cleaning my brushes and other tools and surfaces. I love the fresh citrus fragrance and most important, the fact that it is effective and non-toxic.
Stan Kurth
http://stankurth.com/
Citra Solv is a strong supporter and proud sponsor of the arts. Last year we were honored to become a sponsor of the International Society of Acrylic Painters (ISAP), a rapidly growing and prestigious organization. As part of our sponsorship, Citra Solv offered the organization the opportunity to name one of their artists the Citra Solv Artist of the Month.
That honor went to the multiple award-winning artist Stan Kurth at the 14th Annual ISAP International Open Exhibition, held last month in Santa Cruz, CA.
Stan's vast array of work includes vivid and alluring landscapes, many of which were inspired by his native Arizona scenery. In a recent interview, Stan remarked that he was "born for this purpose and I am driven by it and cannot deny it. I must make art." We are grateful for his artistry, his professionalism and captivating images, and are proud, along with ISAP, to name him the Citra Solv August Artist of the Month.
My work has evolved in a direction which best expresses my feelings toward the subjects I paint. In years past I was meticulous, making preliminary drawings and value studies as a presumed necessary part of the painting process. This works for some but more often than not I found by the time I actually started painting or somewhere during the process I had lost the intensity of emotion or inspiration I had when I started. In contrast I now work in an impromptu manner that keeps me emotionally tuned
in and interactive with the work throughout the process as I strive for an aesthetic that correlates it, albeit subjective. I draw with the same intensity as I do when painting but very seldom intentionally make a painting from a drawing.
I paint without preconceived ideas regarding composition or final results so as I paint there are a myriad of thoughts emerging on any number of subjects I feel a strong attachment to having to do with my total life experience. Hopefully the finished result takes this collection of thoughts a little further than personal bias. So I dive right into it, initially putting down color and creating texture,
then observation. I add and subtract, often leaving traces of the under-painting punctuating the surface with subtle clues to the process. I look for relevant shapes and images to emerge and work with them creating a balanced composition of color, line, texture, shape, value and movement to engage the viewer in an emotional response.
I'm not opposed to dripping, scraping, scratching, stamping, lifting, splattering, blowing, scrubbing or rubbing. I suppose if I had to pick a predominant theme in my work it would be the "human condition" with current work being abstract figurative.
Susan Detroy
http://www.susandetroy.com/
"Versatile" is a word often used to describe Citra Solv products, but it's also ideal for the multi-talented Susan Detroy. As a professional artist and exhibition designer, Susan also enjoys photography, ceramics, woodworking, painting, mixed media, and more. Her enthusiasm and passion for her craft make her a vibrant and colorful artist, a perfect fit for the lively month of July, which is why she has been chosen as this month's Citra Solv Artist of the Month.
The Northwest has been my home for 40 years. I have worked in the arts as a photographer, artist, exhibit designer, arts manager and consultant. I currently work as a project manager and exhibition designer. I design and install exhibitions and consult for individuals and businesses.
I am a multi-talented visual artist accomplished in several media. In forty years of art making I have produced work in printmaking, photography, collage, painting, drawing, film and mixed media pieces with ventures into painted ceramics, fabric painting and wood crafts. My most prolific areas are printmaking, ink paintings, mixed media and photography.
I use CitraSolv in my printmaking and mixed media pieces.
Currently I am creating prints and tags. Through experimentation, I originated a single-edition printing method that I use in a similar fashion in producing unique tags. The multiple processes develop individually with no possibility of reproduction. Pieces are worked simultaneously, begun and completed in widely varied timelines, each influencing the other. I add texture to the layers manipulating the paper surface. The prints may combine historic contact printing of Van Dyke brown and Cyanotype photosensitive emulsions, with the dyes of digitally produced photos and are built with numerous transfers using CitraSolv applications adding back hand-manipulated color with watercolor and pencil. The tags I am creating combine and use similar techniques on a smaller scale.
The intellectual/spiritual base of the work represents the natural world, derived through my botanical/biological course work and nature study. I research and collect imagery distorting and manipulating it to create a new vision. In my work I express my spiritual reverence for plants, insects and animals. My work is awash with an awareness of environmental degradation, which I use to contemplate beauty and destruction.
I work with chance, intuition, evolution and synthesis. The synthesis of mediums and approach provides a unusual visual and emotional syntax. There is duality, impermanence, tenacity, change, light and dark, a view of a hidden and unknown place.
I sell art as originals and reproductions.
See her Citra Solv Gallery here.
Christine Martell
www.exploringnewoptions.com
Christine Martell is a master communicator who's been blessed with the ability to convey and connect with both words and images. A highly educated professional, Christine is passionate about the creative process, and helping others find their creative spirit, too. For her dedication, expertise and enthusiasm, Christine has been named the June Citra Solv Artist of the Month.
Over the years I have become more interested in the process of creating art and in fostering other people's creativity. Now I use my photography and art to transform conversations. I started VisualsSpeak.com to use photography to help in business for things like team building, leadership development and visioning. My new site, ExploringNewOptions.com uses a combination of photography and my artwork for personal development in coaching and counseling.
At this point, all of my work is designed to spark conversations and insights. I use a combination of traditional and digital media. In order for the images to work really well as conversation starters, I look for a certain energy in the surface. My natural style tends to be tighter and more structured, so I like techniques that have unexpected qualities to them. This is why I love what Citrasolv offers. Both melting magazine pages and transfers are unpredictable. I get looser types of marks and textures that serve as a base for other kids of drawing and painting. It's also a joy to work with a solvent that is natural and smells good.
Ken Umbach
http://www.kenumbachsart.com/ken/
The award-winning artist Ken Umbach caught our eyes with his magnificent entries in our recent "Inspire Your Heart with Art" contest. His rendering of a hauntingly beautiful tree, which included papers altered with Citra Solv, garnered second place. Ken's work has also been recognized around the world, and for his talent and commitment to his craft, we are proud to name him May's Citra Solv Artist of the Month.
Ken Studied at the School of Fine Arts, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; University of Cincinnati; Cincinnati Art Academy; Central Academy of Art, Cincinnati; and the Tyler Art School, Temple University, Philadelphia.
Works primarily in acrylic, mixed media, watercolor and ink. Currently creating a series of tree paintings using acrylic mixed media in a unique textured ground that mimics forest tree forms. He recently completed a large commission of 15 figurative paintings for an Orthopedic/Sports Medicine practice in Atlanta, Georgia.
An award winning artist, his paintings and drawings are represented in private collections throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Galleries in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, North Carolina and Georgia have represented his work. He is currently represented by the High Country Gallery, Blue Ridge, GA.
Ken has served as Vice-President of Shows and Exhibits for the Southern Appalachian Artists Guild and is a past board member of The Art Center in Blue Ridge, GA. He currently teaches painting at The Art Center, Blue Ridge, GA, the John C Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC, and CraftSummer at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
Ellen G. Horovitz
http://www.pixiq.com/contributors/ellenghorovitz
As a professional art therapist, Dr. Ellen Horovitz has been recognized for excellence in teaching, research, and service; she has been published in prominent professional journals, and she has written several books. She's also a beloved professor, among so many other accomplishments.
Dr. Ellen understands the psychological aspects of the creative process, and the affective properties of different art materials, and uses these brilliantly in her art and in her profession.
For her talent, her abilities and her humanity, we are pleased to name her the April Citra Solv Artist of the Month.
Dr. Ellen G. Horovitz, ATR-BC, LCAT, RYT is a professional artist, art therapist, registered yoga teacher and Professor at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY. Her training is from various universities including Rhode Island School of Design, New York University and The Union Institute. Ellen specializes in mixed media art and photography. She has authored over 5 books in the field of Art Therapy , and published over 8 DVD films. Ellen is also Media Editor for Arts and Health: Research, Policy and Practice. .
Her latest book is Digital Image Transfer: Creating Art With Your Photography, which is currently available. In this book, Ellen examines new and traditional methods to transfer photos onto an array of substrates, including fabric, polymer and liquid clay, glass, wood, metal, leather, and assorted papers. She details the process from beginning to end for utilizing over three dozen types of transfers with easy to follow step-by-step instructions and hundreds of illustrations as examples.
To see what Ellen is doing and creating, you can visit her blog: www.pixiq.com/contributors/ellenghorovitz
Here you can learn about the methods that she uses in her art and how to use one of her favorite mediums, Citra Solv, to create unusual artworks and mixed media projects. Feel free to visit the site, and email her with questions and comments.
Gretchen Bierbaum
http://www.nationalcollage.com/
She traveled the world, founded and presides over the National Collage Society, and counts among her fans professionals from sports to politics. But Gretchen Bierbaum, this month's Citra Solv Artist of the Month, modestly sums up her numerous accomplishments in a few simple words: "I teach. I write. I travel. I glue." No matter how you phrase it, her incredible work certainly speaks for itself.
Creating Collage In All Dimensions
"I teach. I write. I travel. I glue."
Gretchen Bierbaum, the "Queen of Collage," and author of Collage in All Dimensions brings new and exciting collage techniques to artists. This book includes more than 50 full-color collages and assemblages from members of the National Collage Society, a non-profit organization. They also share their tips and secret methods for creating one-of-a-kind works of art. From handmade papers to found objects, both amateur and professional artists will
enjoy exploring the visually exciting world of collage, the only new fine art medium of the 20th Century.
Wendy Anderson
http://www.picturetrail.com/wending
Wendy Anderson is a gifted artist, a visionary, and in many ways, a magician. She can transform several varying objects into a single work of brilliant art. Her passion for her subject matter and obvious love of the creative process made her the clear choice as the February Citra Solv Artist of the Month.
Wendy Anderson is a mixed-media collage and assemblage artist who says she finds creating art to be almost as vital to her life as breathing. "I have always loved and needed to make things. Mixed-media is a pleasurable way for me to create scenarios and landscapes which I'm pretty sure exist only in my huge imagination. Cutting up images and rearranging them in new ways, assembling sculptural elements, or guiding the flow of paints and inks, is like building new worlds…I love the melding of art and science, and was thrilled to discover the surprising distressed and geologic effects that I get when using Citra Solv."
Focusing on the research of techniques and materials, Wendy has gathered a treasure house of knowledge based on her own experience of trial and error, and also through the exchange of information about techniques and materials with a community of artists, created over the course of many years. She has also enhanced her knowledge through attending classes and workshops held by various renowned artists such as Michael de Meng and Tim Holtz.
Wendy lives in her native San Francisco Bay Area.
Pam Tucker
http://pamtsartloft.blogspot.com/
Whether it's transforming the words of a dream or poem into art, or creating portrait collages from altered pages, Pam Tucker always manages to create something spectacular that speaks to her audience. Her ability to translate emotions, and her willingness to share them with us, makes her a natural choice for the January Citra Solv Artist of the Month.
Pam Tucker loves to experiment in her art. Currently her favorite form of expression is the mixed media portrait. "I'm obsessed with portraits and drawing faces right now," she admits. Her "Warhol Collage" won first place in the Collage Category in the First CitraSolv Art Contest. And she just finished a commissioned painting called "Yesterday" based on a portrait piece she did as an art journal page. "I love using CitraSolv papers in my portraits, both in the background and in the portraits themselves. "And using the CitraSolv papers with paint and collage in my portraits, I'm always thrilled with the results!" She has also used the CitraSolv papers in her digital art, acrylic painting and in her encaustic art. "The possibilities are endless!" she says.
Her first career was in the medical field with a degree in microbiology. "Taking a break from lab work, I've only just entered the art scene within the last five years. Right now I'm learning about encaustic painting and am very excited about that! I'm always looking for ways to incorporate other media into what I'm working on. The CitraSolv papers are so beautiful in collage and painting...they will always be a part of whatever medium I choose to work in."
Pam currently lives in Lafayette, Indiana with her husband and Calico cat, Isabella. You can see more of her artwork on her blog at http://pamtsartloft.blogspot.com/.
All images are copyright by the artsit. Please do not use without permission.
