ereisa wells gentile

Wide Open Art Show

                   
Despite terrible rain, damaging winds and flooding in Red Hook, the turn out at the Wide Open Art Show opening was impressive. We arrived around 3:30 and had a great time sipping Champagne and discussing the artwork. Thank you to my husband for taking pictures so that I could enjoy the show. 

                    

Housed in a pre-Civil War waterfront warehouse, the BWAC art space is very special with a strong feeling of history.

                    

                    

                   
 

                    

My little brother recently moved to New York. It was so fun to have him at the show.

                    

                    

My husband and my youngest collector :)

                    

The award winners (above)...

Here are the pieces I submitted for the "Affordable Art Wall":

                    

                    

Afterwards, we went to dinner at L&B's (a Brooklyn Institution) for their famous pizza and antipasto... the perfect ending to a great day.

-Ereisa :)

seeds

I spent this Sunday working on more paper cut studies - this time inspired by seeds. My husband found some kind of spikey seed from a tree outside and and gave it to me sometime last Fall and I've been wanting to do some work inspired by it for some time. The warm weather this weekend got me thinking about Spring and the possibility for new life contained in these amazing little structures. 

                   

                   

                   

                   

                   

Have a great week,

- Ereisa :)

yet ANOTHER snowy day in Brooklyn... :)

What is going on this Winter? Maybe my memory is foggy but I don't recall nearly this much snowfall last year. I know I've said before I'm a snow-lover but even I am starting to tire of it. I'm ready for Spring... open windows... longer days... flowers and budding trees. Still, I wasn't going to let a 16" snowfall pass without getting outside to enjoy it. 

My husband and I took a long walk to the store for emergency supplies: like butter for biscuits and cabbage for coleslaw which will accompany the barbecue spareribs that have been slow cooking for bout 6 hours now. When you're still in the heart of Winter you must have comfort food.

                   

                  

                   

                   

                   

We came across a feeding frenzy... these guys really hit the jackpot behind the bakery.

             

And then this guy showed up...

             

He looked pretty impressive among the poor Rock Doves... (don't you just love that fancy name for pigeons?)

             

Then my husband caused some trouble with a snowball:

             

Back at home the sun came out. Finnian found a nice spot...

             

...and I went to do some studies. I so enjoyed photographing them against some of my wood canvases and in the strong sunlight. It's making me think about how I might combine my wood pieces with my paper pieces in the future. 

             

             

             

            

            

            

I really have missed the sun. :)

-Ereisa

great news! :)

First of all, it seems I am finally going to get that long-awaited major snowstorm! New York is bracing for a pretty good one and I couldn't be happier. I just hope it's as big as they say it's going to be... ;)

My other news is that I was accepted to the Wide Open art show! There were almost 1600 entries and this piece was one of 147 accepted. 

                   

This was my first time entering a juried show so I am really grateful to have one of my paper cuts included. What an amazing way to start the year! 

Now back to work... :)

-Ereisa

work in progress

Happy Super-bowl Sunday :)

I've been busy in the studio this weekend trying to stave off my jealousy at the blizzard that took place in the states below New York. Though I'm not a huge fan of Winter in general, I adore a big snow. It's kind of the one thing I do like about this season. When it snows, I want it to SNOW. I want to be trapped inside, unable to open the front door, with hot chocolate and pajamas and movies and then have a few days off from work for good measure. Sigh... I guess it just wasn't to be this time.

I wanted to share a quick study I did of some flower-like pieces I am thinking of doing on a large scale. I say "flower-like" because they are from imagination rather than observation. This is probably a far less detailed version of some of the things I am planning on doing (in color)... 

                    

                    

                    

I am also working on another wood painting and revisiting the gold leaf. I'm actually starting to feel a bit more comfortable with it. Don't get me wrong though - it's still a beast and sloooow going... but better.  

                    

                    

                              

I am hoping to have a finished piece to show sometime soon.

Oh, and go Saints! 

-Ereisa

finito!

                   

Please wish me luck with the show! I should find out sometime in mid-February. Now on to the next! :):):)

-Ereisa

 

one more paper cut to go...

I'm in the home stretch... one and a half more days to finish up what I can and submit my work to the Wide Open show for judging (dum, dum, dum, dum...). I'm definitely running out of steam a little as I'm fighting some kind of chest cold and aches and pains... definitely not ideal timing! 

Of course I am hoping to get into the show but I am a little concerned about how well my recent paper cuts necessarily fit into the theme of "wide open"... unless that means all subjects welcome. ;)  We'll see - as I've said before, the important thing is getting the work done and any show, any deadline, seems to help me enormously in doing that. 

In other news, I finally got that tetanus shot out of the way... it had been about 12 years and, when I stabbed myself in the finger recently(pretty impressively I might add), I decided it was time. I hadn't prepared myself for how painful it would be... the shot itself is nothing but for the next several days it's like Mike Tyson used your arm as a punching bag. The good news: I can now play with rusty nails, frolic with angry Pit Bulls, and work on my paper cuts without worry.

Here is my most recent addition to the series of nests I've been working on. There's something about it that has me thinking about doing some larger pieces - but not just yet.

                   

Time to get back to work and finish my last piece. I hope you're having a great weekend... 

-Ereisa :)

 
 

red hook

My husband Randy and I spent this cold and rainy Sunday in one of our favorite spots in Brooklyn... the waterfront in Red Hook. It's a very old and industrial area and we love to go down to stroll and shop at Fairway (if you live in New York and haven't been yet - go!) and eat some of their tasty sandwiches and homemade potato chips. Here are some shots from our afternoon... 

                    

                   

I just learned that this is the one spot in New York City (on land) where you can see the Statue of Liberty from straight on. 

                     

Red Hook in my dreams...

                     

There is a lot of art to be found... 

                    

                     

                     

                      

                  
                     

                      

                      

A lovely day despite the weather. :)

                      

And here are two new nests to show you. I am a busy little bee! I am working to get as many of these done as possible for the BWAC show deadline on the 25th. I will only choose the strongest ones to enter. 

                       

                       

                       

                       

                      
 
 Wish me luck!

- Ereisa :)

happy new year!!!

                  
 
Here is my latest nest, completed just a few hours ago. I made a few little mistakes and once again paper cutting reminds me of the need to sloooow down and be mindful... and also to not expect perfection. I think these things will be part of my resolutions for the new year. 

                   

                  
 
I'm wishing all of you a wonderful, healthy, creative and happy 2010. It's been an interesting year full of many ups and a few downs (like all of you I'm sure).

I am grateful for so much and I am hopeful that this year will be even better than the last. It's been a good year for me artistically and this blog has had much to do with it. For any of the creatively challenged/blocked artists out there I strongly recommend starting a blog this year. You can do it for free and it really does inspire you to keep working. Too often I think people feel they are creating in a vacuum... no one sees what they do and there's zero feedback. It takes guts to approach a gallery or other venue to try showing what you do that way, especially for people just starting out. When you blog, no one can tell you no. Don't worry so much about the writing part... it's not all that important. Even if you just put your work out there with a single sentence, it's out there in the world... where it should be.

Thank you for your support & in helping me to continue doing what I love to do...

Happy New Year,
- Ereisa :)

merry merry :)

I thought since we are on the eve of Christmas Eve, I'd share some photos of the spectacularly breath-taking Tiffany & Co. holiday windows here in Manhattan. Be sure to click on the photos to really see how intricate these paper cuts are (I'm assuming they are paper but may be some other type of material). It definitely makes me think about the posibilities of depth and light. I am so in love with this art form. :)       

                 

                  

I love the branches in this one.

                  

                  

                  

                  

Thanks to the lovely and talented Grace Kim for letting me share her photographs. :)

Wishing you a happy love-filled holiday and a wonderful New Year...

Merry Christmas!
Ereisa :)