Elements of Style, Group Exhibition at Royse Contemporary | New Works

In four days, I join forces with seven other regional artists in the group exhibition, Elements of Style: Color, Line & Texture. It all happens Thursday, July 12, 2018 from 6-9pm, coinciding with the special “Summer Spectacular” Thursday night Scottsdale Art Walk in Old Town Scottsdale. 7077 E. Main Street, Suite 6, Scottsdale, AZ. The exhibition will remain on view through Saturday, August 25, 2018.

“This exhibition showcases the work of eight noteworthy artists based in both Arizona and Texas including Angel Cabrales, Charmagne Coe, ColorOrgy, David Allan Paul, Dan Pederson, James Anthony Peters, Daniel Shepherd, and Marilyn Szabo. Their work is original, captivating, pushing boundaries and redefining their mediums in contemporary art today. The evening will feature an opportunity to meet the featured artists, lively art discussion, as well as light hors d’oeuvres and refreshments,” states Nicole Royse, owner and curator at Royse Contemporary. More information: roysecontemporary.com and https://m.facebook.com/events/1413397598760660#!/events/1413397598760660. We hope to see you there!

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In Elements of Style, I will be featuring my latest painting, full of hope and humor, Flesh the Meadow. It is approximately 31″ x 39″framed.

Here also are some of my most recent works.

I continue to travel the side roads in my process. Incorporating new media – like feathers (the one below is yet another found gift from my son!), scraps of fabric, wood and string – is a playful investigation, and very spontaneous. These elements add literal and metaphorical dimension to my painted narratives. This joyful work is Feral the Foxes, 2018 watercolor, ink, pastel, acrylic, charcoal and found feather, 27” x 21″, unframed.

This is another painting in which I’ve subtly gravitated in a newer direction and have collaged pieces and used acrylic for added texture. Well Spirit, Well-Spun, 2018, 12 1/4″ x 9″, watercolor, ink, pastel and acrylic.

And… one of my favorite figurative drawings so far this year. Hear Tell, 2018, pastel and ink on cotton paper.

Thank you for reading! Have a great July!

Flesh the Meadow, Free Arts

The abstract direction in my process is pulling me into more open-spaced territory as you will see with my latest work. I also continue adding new mediums to the recipe. This painting was started by taping a large piece of Saunders Waterford 200 lb cotton watercolor paper to my studio wall, then making large markings with a charcoal twig (my son created for me as a nature gift) and free-feeling loops and slashes of pastel. I like how the different figurative components in this piece appear unique to themselves but connect and interact with one another to write the story. Some of my other pieces are more saturated and dense compositions, but this work contains larger breaths of white space in between the delicate shapes and has a similar approach I use in my drawings. I hope you enjoy.

Flesh the Meadow, 2018, mixed media, watercolor, ink, pastel, acrylic and charcoal, 21″ x 29″. It is available here.

Here are some details:

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What a great turnout and support of Free Arts Art from the Heart Art Auction. This fundraiser for Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona was presented by Edward Jones, with featured artist Fred Tieken, and more than 70 other Arizona artists. Thank you so very much for generously attending and your online bidding! It is important to see our community coming together for our AZ children! If you are curious about the many other ways you can contribute to Free Arts, be sure to go to their website.  Here are some pictures of the event which took place at Saks 5th Ave in Phoenix, AZ last last Saturday, April 7th, 4:30 – 7:00.

Here is a small detail picture from a work in progress… creatures are tucked here and there among the flora brambles. Some are sleeping. Some are curiously approaching each other, or you.

If you don’t already, also follow me at Instagram to see more projects and snippets of creative process.  https://www.instagram.com/charmagnecoe/

My work is always available at my website and Royse Contemporary in Scottsdale, AZ.

Art From The Heart, Auction Fundraiser for Free Arts

Mark your calendars for an important upcoming charity event by Free Arts, “the only nonprofit organization in Arizona delivering creative and therapeutic arts programs, at no cost, to children ages 3 to 21 who have faced abuse, neglect and homelessness.”  

Art from the Heart Art Auction
Saturday, April 7, 2018
4:30pm – 7:30pm
Saks Fifth Avenue, Biltmore Fashion Park
2502 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix, AZ

Enjoy a silent auction featuring masterful works of art from featured artist, Fred Tieken of the Tieken Studio and Gallery AZ, and prominent Arizona artists. Bidding starts today, Monday, at https://aesaz.co/ARTS2018! Also, Click here to see a complete list of artists’ works. My painting, Lighten, 2017, watercolor, ink and pastel, 6 1/16″ x 5 1/16″, will be included. For information regarding event details, tickets, or sponsorship opportunities please contact our Development Manager, Robert Raygoza at rraygoza@freeartsaz.org or 602-258-8100 ext.15.  Hope to see you there!

New Signs of Life – Hello, Spring

Hello! Spring is officially upon us! I’m enjoying signs of budding life, homemade lemonade with my kids, cool morning runs and new inspirations.

After many years of dedicating my creative process to growing skills with watercolor, ink and pastel, I’ve recently begun to include additional media in my paintings. It is exhilarating to plunge into other directions.  I’m also taking an even more immediate, direct approach using abstraction with surrealism. A most recent work includes cotton thread, colored pencil and markings from charcoal twigs my youngest son made for me as a surprise gift one afternoon. It delights me to create artworks that come not only from within myself, but that are a collection of efforts and energies all around me. 

Below is my brand new painting with detail pictures, The Drops 54321, 28″ x 21″, watercolor, ink, charcoal and thread.  Also here.

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If you have not signed up for my email newsletter, please consider it! This month through the beginning of April I am offering a subscriber only…

Spring Special
On All Paintings and Drawings!

Signing up is also another to keep abreast of my upcoming exhibitions and recent developments. And it won’t clutter up your inbox because I only send one or two a month. 🙂

Here are some other new works from this year.

I am deeply thankful to my agent and Scottsdale gallerist, Nicole Royse of Royse Contemporary, for the opportunity to show my works and exhibit in Arizona.  Thank you to all of you for your many kind and generous ways of showing support.

Pictures above from Pan Door, my recent January solo exhibition at Royse Contemporary. 

In my studio, there rests a progressing mother/child drawing in deep cerulean blue pastel, and two large abstract paintings which feel all at once mischievous and full of longing. My work is cut out for me.

 

Pan Door, Solo Exhibition at Royse Contemporary in Scottsdale, AZ

Happy New Year to you! 2018 has greeted me with a lot of new opportunities and creative plans in progress. Tomorrow is my first solo exhibition of the year and I hope you’ll join me!

Royse Contemporary, in Downtown Scottsdale, AZ, will present my drawings and paintings in my solo exhibition, Pan Door. This is a first-ever showing of my watercolor, ink and pastel surreal drawings. It will also include my newest works. The above picture is a detail from Nigh Blossoms, 2017, 20″ x 19 1/2″, watercolor, ink and pastel. Opening reception tomorrow night!

Pan Door
A Solo Exhibition of Surreal Drawings and Paintings

Opening Reception:  January 11th, 5:00pm – 10:00pm
Exhibition dates:  January 11th – February 3rd
Royse Contemporary, 7077 E Main St Suite 6, Scottsdale, 85251
You may direct inquiries to nicole@nicoleroyse.com

The following are excerpts from my artist statement:

“While the artworks may seem fantastical, they are also rooted in the material and immaterial substance of daily life and history. In viewing these works, you may see the shifting of a paradigm, the transformative dynamics within a relationship, accepted pain, hope illuminated and the pursuit of joy.”

“Her most recent methods are less refined and more raw as she pushes the limits of her skills and media in hopes of imparting the message most authentically and alive.  The driving forces of her work are love and egalitarianism. In weaving together characters and environments, she shows the tangible and intangible ways people connect to one another, to the collective unconscious and with their natural world.”

Pan Door, 2017, 6″ x 6″,  watercolor, ink and pastel.

Some drawings included at the exhibition:

Thank you for reading and for your kind support of my artwork. I wish you all a year with much love and joy.

Roads Together, New Series: Micro Drawings

Details:

For many works, I’ve recently nixed my tape+staple routine of laying out a painting for a more immediate method. I simply lay my paper on a wood panel, untaped, and begin working.  No clean edges. Rawer work method,  like the old days. I’ve tried this with my little works, to wonderful effect… and have recently started a larger work in the same way. A simple step away from what could become cumbersome can open up new channels and free the work to flow in new directions. Very important. For those who paint, I am using a fabulous 200 lb Saunders Waterford cold press paper… it is very sturdy and does not warp easily, hence the ability to “rough it”. 🙂

I’m really happy to share that I’ve created a new series: Micro Drawings. These small, expressive drawings are thoughtfully created with my favorite medias, watercolor, ink and pastel, on fine 100% cotton paper. They are just right for those who seek a small and meaningful collectible to beautify their environment. Each one is $50 and available in my online shop. I am so enjoying creating these!

Findway


In You Me

Whirl


Unbind

Please keep my art in mind as we approach the holidays! It’s been a full year in my studio, weaving together stories on canvas and paper. I’ve created miniature to large works, and always with my heart on my sleeve.  You may contact me or Royse Contemporary gallery in Scottsdale with any art queries. We’d love to hear from you! To see my full inventory, visit: http://charmagnecoe.com. #GiveArt #SupportArtYouLove

Two New Small Works: Soft Ferocities, Pan Door

This is Pan Door, 2017, 6″ x 6″, watcolor, ink and pastel.

My children and I spent much of their earlier years in a northern Arizona forest. When we went into the woods, it was the closest thing to church we attended. There, we played, layed silently in falling aspen leaves, built forts, discussed mythology, ruminated on spirituality and continually discovered more about each other and the ecosystem of which we are small parts. Recently, my son turned thirteen. It is certainly a right of passage. We now live in a desert city, though the forest remains deep in us. We open ourselves up to new kinds of ecosystems, life stories, friends, dreams and experiences.

 

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Here is Soft Ferocities, 2017, 5″ x 5″, watercolor, ink and pastel.

I reflect often on our human emotional and physical neediness. We are prolific and impacting, to one another, to the earth on which we build lives. I feel, in a way, these rabbits are metaphorical for our fragility, as well as our innate ability to build/destroy.  Both fragility and the powerful ability to adapt our environments to ourselves have many facets, many ramifications.

Thanks for reading! Both of the above works are available. For more about them and my other works, visit http://charmagnecoe.com, Facebook or Instagram.  If you are near to historic downtown Scottsdale, AZ, my work is represented and always on view at Royse Contemporary.

Artwork by Fred Tieken (L), Charmagne Coe (center), Marily Szabo (R).

Two New Works. Rain With Different Frames. The Appearance.

This is one of my new paintings, Rain With Different Frames, 9″ x 7″, made with watercolor, ink and pastel.  My work moves in organic directions; I draw or paint what is authentically in my vision at the time, and stay very open to whatever else could surprisingly evolve. The themes take form as characters and textural atmospheres, both of equal importance, which relates my conviction that we are a part of this world, and it is a part of us. That is spiritual to me. When I am asked what inspires me, the “what” for me is found wherever my life is, or where my mind has wondered while reading a news article, researching, observing my children, listening to a song, walking through a temperate rain forest… the wondering finds me again in my studio.

Each work contains story lines woven together to form a whole narrative. Though the drawings and paintings may be fantastical in appearance, I feel they also contain metaphorical expressions that embody every day experiences.

And mysteries too.

Below is another new work. A miniature. This is The Appearance, 4 5/8″ x 4 1/8″, watercolor, ink and pastel.

 

 

 

 

You can find both of these works and others at my website, http://charmagnecoe.com.

Thank you for reading! Have a lovely weekend.

Tectonic, With Love

This week I completed a painting that was… arduous, completely puzzling every step of the way, and made me thankful to have learned even more about the media in which I work.

Here’s Tectonic, With Love, 2017, 19 1/8 x 18 5/16″, watercolor, ink and pastel.

At different turns, I’d hear, “You’re not done… there’s still a little bit/lot more left to paint here”, or, “It’s time to take a big risk — do or die.” The colors and layers were worked wet and dry, scraped away, rubbed into the Saunders Waterford paper till the fibers swirled, smashed, lifted with my apron, swept with a fan brush, erased into gauzy films…. I knew many years ago that my decision to work with these three media would provide me with endless challenge and creativity. I’m happy that this painting incorporates several abstracted elements, figures and what, to me, feels like an aerial and undulating perspective into relational terrain.

Here are some detail pictures.

When I finish a work, there’s still more to do. After the paint is dry, I pull back the painting tape to see the sharp line of the reveal, where the textured media stops against the contrasting tooth of cotton paper. I remove all of the staples and sign/date/title the back of the painting. Then I store the work under glassine to keep it safe from dust and damage. Sometimes a client will purchase the work unframed, and other times I will have it custom framed — always with conservation quality materials. Each painting has its own distinct frame, specifically selected for the hues, personality, and story.

The below inked works incorporate different colors and applications of media. I found some older Microns with scruffed-up tips to make some interesting marks. Next week, I plan to work out some ideas on black and brown papers, so come back and visit.

Aegis, 2017, ink and pastel drawing

Watch, 2017, ink drawing

From All Sides, the Surprising, 2017, ink and watercolor drawing

I have two upcoming September exhibitions, both curated by Nicole Royse. I will be posting more about those events in my next entry. You can also keep abreast of my shows at Facebook, Twitter and signing up for my newsletter at my website.

If you have a questions about my work, feel free to drop me a line!

As always, take care….

The Passage, New Drawings

I completed this painting last week, and the title seemed obvious to me. Two figures connect  and travel earthy caverns. Here is The Passage, 2017, 7 1/8″ x 10 1/4″, watercolor, ink and pastel. It is available here. 

Details:

It really is all in the details. I have a lot of fun panning out and zooming in as I work. I always feel there are many little paintings within the one.

Here are some other drawn works finished this month.

Pieces and Graces

Holding a Meaning Together

Bouquet

To Eat the Bread in Your Wild Wakes

The drawing below, made with sienna ink and pastel, is part of my biophilic series, elementals.

Lilt

Thank you again for coming by to look and read.