Paintings of Time and Place

"Mystery Mask," Abstract Monotype, Mayan, New Orleans or How You See It

I printed this monotype a few years back.  As artists do, I kept it in a file ready for the right time.  Who knows when the right time is?  Perhaps when one looks through the file again.  Perhaps when real life triggers memories of the image.  Or perhaps...... I only know, the time is right.  Don't ask me why.  Perhaps it's because I visited New Orleans the week after Mardi Gras.  Masks are in the windows of specialty shops.  The mystery and magic of Mardi Gras still permeated the streets--the crowds were gone, but the aura remained.  This monotype has a magic visible to the viewer.  It can be what you want it to be.  Enjoy!

Mystery Mask, Monotype on Paper, 5 3/4" X 5" (image size), matted, unframed, $75.00 USD

Copyright charlotte shroyer 2012 

 www.charlotteshroyer.com

"A Song of Joy," Abstract Monotype

The joy that this young black girl sings of is joy for the place from which she has come and the place of glory and honor to which she goes.  We all should be able to sing for joy as we contemplate our lives.  Some have had greater hardships to overcome, some imposed by society, some by family, and some by self and yet there is a joy to life if we allow it to be.

 I feel blessed that my journey has been one encompassing far greater things than I could ever have expected from my humble upbringing in a rural area outside Columbus, Ohio.  Neither of my parents had a high school education--yet I earned a Ph.D.   Neither of my parents traveled outside a radius of  more than 200 miles--yet I have traveled the world.  My parents always lived in Ohio, my father in a "holler" close to Bidwell and my mother in Columbus, than a married life outside Columbus.  I have lived in several different parts of this great country. 

I have been blessed in many ways.  In spite of his own upbringing in a poor family of 13 in southern Ohio Appalachia, my father recognized the value of education and always encouraged more of me.  My becoming an artist is a minor miracle in my eyes.  There was very little art in our home, only a calendar or perhaps some plaster of paris statuettes.  I never painted until I was 24 and that only by accident, a requirement in an elementary education methods curriculum which I took after obtaining a B.A. with a major in French.  What does one do to earn money with a French degree?  I have been blessed in so many ways.  This young girl sings a song of joy for herself, for me, and for all of us. 

A Song of Joy,  Monotype, 5X 2" (image size), matted, unframed, $50 USD

                                     www.charlotteshroyer.com 

                                                        SOLD

 

"Of the Past," Monotype on Paper, Inspired by Love of Medieval Europe

 

More of the figures reminiscent of medieval Europe appeared as I worked on yet another spontaneous monotype.  When I start braying the etching ink on the plate, I have no preconceived idea of the image to appear.  Work on the plate becomes more a matter of color than form initially, but as I squish the ink around one way and then another, I begin to see an image.  Still there is no guarantee of the final image until the magic appears.

 

Of the Past, Monotype on Paper, 8 X 7 1/2" (image size); 16 X 15" (framed size)

 

                SOLD

"The Mind Master," Monotype of a Wizened Man, Maybe Buddhist

Where this figure came from, I know not.  Perhaps from my own searching psyche always curious and always looking for answers to the situations in which we find ourselves in life.  An inner being always ready to help with the answers if only I let it.

Monotype with oil on paper;  Image size, 6 X 4"
matted and framed in gold frame; finished size ready to hang:  16 X 13,"

                 $105

 

 

                 SOLD

"The Snow Wizard," Snow Magic in Taos and the Taos Ski Valley

The magic of snow has dressed the area in white. It is almost as if a snow wizard has waved a box of white confetti on the town of Taos and Taos Ski Valley. It soon disappears in town, but continues to grow in the mountains. Snow this year is even more magical in light of earlier meteorological forecasts warning of drought like winter conditions. The snow wizard decided otherwise. As grand as the magic may be, I would rather hear the magic of exotic birds of the night (as in my previous monotype).

 

The Snow Wizard, monotype with oils, 6" X 4" (image size, matted to fit 12" X 9" frame), 50.00 USD

Also available framed

             SOLD           

"Man from Time"

Man from Time, Monotype with faux gold leaf, 14" X 12" (framed size), $85.00 USD

 

This figure appeared in my unconscious to then be placed upon the etching plate.  Man with many different personas has come through the halls of time.  In spite of time and the technology so revered in today's culture, he is still Man with all his human foibles.

 

"Aspens in Winter," Monotype Inspired by Taos, New Mexico

 

 

Aspens in Winter, Monotype on Paper, 16" X 12" (framed size), $85.00 USD

 

              SOLD

 

 

"Journey into Night," Monotype Showing in Miniature Show, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, New Mexico

Another of these mystical figures from other times.  I see this figure as an archetype of woman from many different geographical places, many different historical times, and many different ethnic origins.  She comes from my inner psyche and speaks to so many different places deep within. Woman has had and still continues to have a journey that goes into the night, but emerges from the night and the darkness of history with hope, love, and light.  Each viewer will interpret her being and her journey in different ways according to his/her own journey on this planet.

 

Journey into Night, Monotype with Oils, 14" X 12" (framed size), $85.00 USD

 

       SOLD

 

To purchase, contact:  Kathleen Michaels, miniatures@millicentrogers.org or go to millicentrogers museum

"Magic One," A Special Woman Ready to Work her Wonders

It's been such a long time since I have written a blog.   Life just gets in the way some times and my blog just has to wait patiently on the sidelines.   I have been painting for the past couple months getting ready for the show at the Art Association of Harrisburg on October 23 to November 25.  Lots of new work with some old themes and some new ones related to the old ones. 

In the meantime, am involved in the Taos Art Organization studio tour featuring new work, old work, and monotypes.    One of the monotypes included is "Magic One,"  6" X 4," Monotype with oil embellishment, Matted and framed, $110.00.

"The Three Soujourners" Looking for Solace in Life, a Monotype

The magic of monotypes has invaded my being.  Never knowing quite what the final result will be, I have found a special magic in creating mini monotypes by the reductive process--placing background etching ink on a small acrylic plate, then removing a part of the basic ink.  Adding different colors in different shapes becomes part of the intuitive creative process.  Only when the paper is carefully removed from the plate after pressure of the rollers does the final image appear.  Voila!  Much more than I could ever have imagined.

These three soujourners have set off on a spiritual journey, searching for a solace the nature of which they know not only that they will feel an inner peace and serenity to become a part of their lives.  Each looks for the peace that will become a part of the individual soul, but which will also enable the three to live in a world devoid of greed.   

 

The Three Sojourners (2009), Monotype,   14" X 12".

                    SOLD