Paintings of Time and Place

Which One?, Oil Painting Exploring Duality

One of my more recent paintings exploring duality of self.  Part of my fascination with this concept stems from "my other life" in the world of disability.  I worked for several years as a college professor in Special Education at the University of Maryland, a director of a nonprofit school to work program for disabled youth in San Francisco, and a diagnostic specialist in a Federally funded program at the California School for the Deaf, Fremont.  There was always so much more to comprehend in these individuals than what was apparent to the eye or ear.  But isn't that the way it is with all of us?  Much remains hidden underneath the surface--it may or may not become visible in a lifetime.

Which One?, Oil on Paper, 6 X 4 inches, matted and framed in contemporary frame, $140 USD

Check out my other work on my website

Charlotte Shroyer Copyright Charlotte Shroyer 2020

                                              SOLD

 

   

"Between the Two of Us," Another Blog Now in Italy

Another facial fantasy for an exhibit in Bologna.  It is so much fun creating these faces outside the realm of reality.  We all live in another space from time to time.  Who knows what runs through the mind?  It is fun to imagine how we might look in another space and time.

Between the Two of Us, Oil on Canvas, 8 X 8 inches, $120 USD or 105 euros

Copyright 2019 Charlotte Shroyer

For more facial fantasies, check out my website.com 

One of Featured Artists, Core Gallery, Denver, Colorado, January 25-February 11

I am happy to be one of the featured artists in this exhibit:

Show Title:  We Are Here

Where:  Core Gallery, 900 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, Colorado

When:  Show runs January 25-February 11, 2018

            Hours:  Thursday, 12-6

                         Friday, 12-9

                         Saturday, 12-6

                         Sunday, 1-4

            First Friday Art Walk:  Friday, February 2, 6-9

 

 

Into the Future

One of my latest oil paintings created as a companion to Balance taught me that it is very difficult to go to a point back in my creative time.  Both paintings have similarities, but are very different in several ways.  Each of us is a microcosm of all that has preceded this very point in time, the events, images, people all adding up to a new perspective. 

Into the Future is more than just a composite.  It presents a question for which there are no answers, only conjectures.  What will the future of the planet be?  Technology has already changed the way we live.  How will it alter our future?  Only time will tell.

 

Into the Future, Oil on Canvas Gallery Wrap, 36 X 36 inches

 

 

 

This painting is available at Frisco Fine Art Gallery in Frisco, Texas, (214)872-1917.

Copyright 2017. 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                  

Fractured, an Oil Painting in Progress

This painting has been in progress for some time.  Each time I make changes leading to more changes.  It has a bit of a Southwestern feeling along with a touch of the mystics, a part of the place where I live and a part of what I read.   Dead Souls by Gogol is my current read--a novel of 19th century Russia by one of Russia's foremost literary geniuses.   Who know what the next changes will be comprised of?  Since I am painting this piece from some place deep within my unconscious, anything might appear.

 

Fractured, (in process), 36 X 36, Oil on Canvas

"Triality," Oil Painting Inspired by "Snow Crash"

It seems that the more I read, the more images race around in my head.   The last novel to linger for a long time is Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.   Published in 1992, it has so much relevance for what is happening in the tech world today:  avatars, metaverses, and more that may come into being.  Some of the characters seem to be from another universe with their bizarre personas.  I read and paint images of duality, but why not triality as we thing about alternate universes?  And what about that other 60 percent or more of the brain which we do not use?   This character or characters lead one to wonder.

Triality, Oil on Canvas, 12 X 9, $220 USD

Ancient Memories--Then and Now, Silk Screen of Sikyatki Prehistoric Motif

Two worlds merge in this design:  prehistoric pottery of the Sikyatki of Hopi legend and the modern abstract world of Frank Stella.   For years I have been fascinated by the ancient cultures of South, Central, and North America and the beauty inherent in both.  The reptilian form, and especially the Great Plumed Serpent,    figure prominently in Hopi culture.  What to do with this form which I had put onto a screen for printing some 30 years ago?  The “aha” moment came when a I viewed a Frank Stella exhibit at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco.  His approach to abstract geometric forms inspired me so much that I played with line and color in combination with ancient form.  

Ancient Memories--Then and Now, Silkscreen with Oils, 7.25 X 7.25, $140 USD

The Embrace, Oil on Canvas

I am starting to expand the visual boundaries of the faces which I paint.  This painting includes arms and torso, not just a face.  At one time, I painted nudes, standing figures which incorporated the entire body into the painting before I began to focus only on the face.   The body can communicate as much as the face.  In my diagnostic work with deaf children with multiple disabilities, I was observing a girl about 7 years of age.  She had been identified and diagnosed as mentally retarded, but was referred to the California School for the Deaf for further observation.  I observed her nonverbal behavior, how she played, how she imitated, how she moved in her environment.  Thank goodness, someone else agreed with me and saw the same behaviors which I saw--not those of a mentally retarded child.  The diagnosis was changed and she was placed into a classroom where she received the appropriate education.   That's just a part of my "other, past" life which influences what and how I paint.

Check my website Charlotte Shroyer for more wacky faces.

Hey, Look at Me, Oil on Canvas

Last week I posted an image titled Can We Be Friends?  In that post I indicated that the image was not completed.  I have now finished it and finished a second one that may coordinate with it as a diptych or may be viewed separately.  The diptych is titled Can We Be Friends?  Separately this painting is titled as above:  Hey, Look at Me.  The character in this painting is so extroverted that attention to him cannot be denied.  If you look very carefully, you might see another character a little less introverted and that is not the woman shyly demurring. 

Check my website Charlotte Shroyer for more wacky faces.

Paintings Still Being Held in Portuguese Customs; Help is Needed

 

Should I start making ransom arrangments?  No one can give me a really good consistent reason why this art work has been held for the past month.  To question the validity of this original art work is beyond the realm of rationale.  Examining the work for more than two weeks is a bit much. Just to feel the paint and inks, to smell them and to look at the work should be good enough reason to classify them as original work.  But maybe the XRay machines need to do their work. 

I have been told that my work has a European feel to it, but all should know I was born in the US, live in the US, and work in the US.  I am not copying or making posters of the work of another artist.  These pieces just appear on my canvas.  From where, I know not.

If anyone has ideas as to how to approach this problem, please let me know.  charlotte@taosnet.com