hand-picked olive branch, patmos, greece (the light / the shade)
oil on linen on panel, 2018, 6"x4"
AVAILABLE - Contact me at abbeyryan@gmail.com for purchase information
"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
~ Mother Teresa
Today's painting of an olive branch (which I picked) is part of my ongoing painting series, the light / the shade, inspired by American poet Robert Lax's book-length poem, the light / the shade (pendo verlag, 1989). I painted it on the island of Patmos, Greece while creating work for my Johnston Fellowship research. While hand-picked olive branch, patmos, greece (the light / the shade) is not included in my exhibition in the Harrison Gallery at Arcadia University, the exhibition includes 14 paintings and will be on view from now through June 16, 2018.
My gallery talk for the community at Arcadia (also open to the public) will be this Thursday, April 19 at 4pm in the Harrison Gallery, University Commons, with a reception to follow. I will post the gallery notes / press release and share Greece landscape and still life paintings in the exhibition in the coming days.
Generous support for my the light / the shade work from June 2016 – June 2018 is provided by the inaugural Dr. Norman Johnston Faculty Fellowship in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Arcadia University.*
Over the past year, I'm grateful to have had an invaluable ongoing dialogue with Paul Spaeth, Curator of the Robert Lax Archives and Library Director, Rare Books & Special Collections Librarian at St. Bonaventure University in Olean, NY (Robert Lax's hometown). I visited the Robert Lax archives last fall as part of my research, and Paul Spaeth has been instrumental in certain aspects of my research as well as the exhibition planning. I am also honored that in Spring 2019 my exhibition the light / the shade will travel to New York and be on view in the gallery at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University, Olean, NY. More details to come.
If you've followed my blog, my the light / the shade paintings are part of my daily painting work and are inspired by Robert Lax's minimalist poetry and Lax's contemplative life on Patmos, Greece (one of the oldest known penal colonies in history – a particular detail that connects to the work of Dr. Norman Johnson, for whom the fellowship is named). If you're not familiar, I first wrote about Robert Lax as the inspiration for my the light / the shade paintings here.
If you enjoy this painting, you may also like to see more paintings from my the light / the shade series.
*The Dr. Norman Johnston Faculty Fellowship was endowed by the estate of Dr. Norman Johnston to encourage talented and dedicated faculty members to excel in research and scholarship in the humanities and social sciences and to share their knowledge with the University community. The fellowship promotes the values of Professor Emeritus Norman Johnston, who understood the central role of faculty in the education process, the open exchange of ideas, and the engagement of the entire University community. Dr. Johnston joined Arcadia in 1962 and was an international expert on the history of prison architecture. He taught at the University for 30 years, retiring in 1992. Dr. Johnston passed away in October 2012 at the age of 91.
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