August 2022: Making Adjustments
Poet T.S. Eliot famously declared that “April is the cruelest month” but July has been pretty difficult for my family with health problems and adjusting to lifestyle changes as a result. While many decisions on how to proceed are still in the balance, I have decided to pull back from my commitment to Ghostwolf Gallery, but I am so happy to announce that a wonderful artist will be taking my place starting in September, so stay tuned for an announcement from Ghostwolf! Ghostwolf is a great gallery and I love the artists and art represented by the gallery, and I hope to return at some point. Meanwhile you can still find my smaller items at The Next Best Thing to Being There: an extraordinary shop on Mountain Road in Albuquerque, at a group show at Tortuga Gallery in October, and online at deniseweaverross.com.
Illustration & Design
This month I am featuring a wonderful book for which I have had the pleasure to design and create its cover illustration! Marjorie St. Clair (writersadventure.com) has lived a colorful and creative life as a feminist, writer, and creative mentor to other women. I previously designed her two writing workbooks as well as their cover illustrations—Wild Women Write: Re-connecting with the Wild Feminine and Writes of Passage: Writing through the Seasons of Your Life. I recommend Marjorie’s creative and insightful exploration of women’s lives, rich with prompts to help the writer in both self-discovery and self-expression.
Her new book is the first volume in a series of memoirs. A Southern Belle in Paris: Bikinis, Bombs, de Beauvoir & Billy Bob traces Marjorie’s life from beauty queen, to officer’s wife, to feminist and activist. Below is an excerpt from the upcoming book:
A big grin spread across my face when I picked up the box of plastic speculums delivered to my APO address at the Embassy. The American Embassy in Paris! I felt like I was participating in a secret mission to assist women in freeing ourselves and our bodies, and it was being carried out right under the noses of the ruling patriarchy inside a bastion of male authority whose entrance was guarded by tough-looking, no-nonsense marines.
Pre-orders, shipping included are available by clicking button below.
Let’s Get Metaphysical!
Opening at Tortuga Gallery on Friday, October 7 from 5-8pm
This provocative show features work by nine Albuquerque artists whose work is grounded in metaphysical explorations from the microscopic to the metagalactic, and from the soma to the psyche. Historically, humans have explored the nature of existence and expressed their limited understanding of it through philosophical, mathematical, and creative arts. Metaphysics, as a branch of philosophy, attempts to explain that which is unseen yet impacts the physical world.
In this show, each of the following visual artists present works that makes the invisible, visible:
Caitlin Padilla is a Spiritual Surrealist painter, focusing on oil and chalk pastel. She uses metaphysical imagery and the feminine form to show power through vulnerability and connection on a universal level.
Carol Roullard creates stunning award-winning micro-crystal art that has been widely shown and written up in publications both nationally and around the world. Her recent micro-crystal jewelry gives the wearer the opportunity to take her incredible art with them wherever they go.
Denise Weaver Ross explores her understanding of the world through images richly layered with mythological, natural, cultural and historical references. An award-winning artist and poet, Denise will be presenting work from her
I Ching series, based on the 64 hexagrams of the 2000-year-old Chinese divination system.
Diane Arthur aka Cosmic Bird, is a multi-disciplinary artist whose rich tapestry of spiritual beliefs and experiences serves as the foundation for all her creations. Her work represents her soul’s magical experiences and the love that has grown inside her as a result.
Jenn DeSantis aka LadyJennD, is a visual DJ and much like a DJ remixes sounds to create new music, she combines samplings of imagery and text to create her unique visions. Her cerebral mixed media collages are in collections worldwide.
Jona Lou Batt credits the Japanese concept of Yugen as the inspiration behind the intuitive applications of vibrant color that create her cosmic imagery. A NM State Fair Blue Ribbon winner in the oils and acrylics division, Jona hopes her work will continue to inspire a renewed sense of awe and wonder about our shared existence.
KD Neeley currently works as the Graphics Specialist for The Corrales Comment newspaper. She is a Marine Corps Veteran recovering from severe PTSD and uses artwork as a vehicle toward recovery from trauma.
Roe LiBretto creates internationally collected allegorical paintings that use an obtuse visual conglomerate of cross-cultural metaphysical and mythological symbolism. As a visionary artist, Roe is a conduit for visual representations of experiences stored in what Carl Jung refers to as the universal unconscious.
Sonia Luévano Campbell is inspired by Pope John Paull II’s Letter to Artists which guides her to express beauty in what might otherwise be darkness. Sonia reaches beyond her formal training in liturgical art to create unique, visually powerful, narrative works.