Malley Weber

I am a potter, a ceramic artist/sculptor, and a teacher. My work is elemental and deeply intertwined with my life. I work with the earth in the timeless medium of clay.

I dig my clay by hand near the Androscoggin river 20 miles from my home. The gathering of this clay is a part of my ongoing exploration of ritual. I have made a conscious choice to utilize local materials and fire my work in the most ecologically sound method I can.

“The Garden of Life and Death” earthenware clay wall hanging with terra sigilatta slip, electric fired to cone 04 2 ̋ x 8 ̋ x 9

I am a studio potter. My work is made by hand. I throw clay on the wheel and hand-build functional and sculptural work. I utilize clay as a vehicle for expres-    sion of deep emotional grieving. I dig into the clay and I tap into deep emotional sources. I use the power behind these emotions to unearth age-old questions. I have many questions about grief, death, and loss and the cultural norms and needs of expressing deep emotion.

“Female Mourner” earthenware clay sculpture, electric fired to cone 04 18 ̋ x 12 ̋ x 12

My explorations of death have led me to poetry, performance, and ritual. My performances investigate a new very direct style of communication regarding loss. I seek to understand the relation-ship between Life and Death.

“Day of the Dead (Dad’s Funeral)” performance harlow Gallery, hallowell Maine 10/10

left:“The Garden of Life and Death” earthenware clay wall hanging with terra sigilatta slip,

electric fired to cone 04 2 ̋ x 8 ̋ x 9 ̋

above:“Day of the Dead (Dad’s Funeral)” performance harlow Gallery, hallowell Maine 10/10

right: “Female Mourner” earthenware clay sculpture, electric fired to cone 04 18 ̋ x 12 ̋ x 12

Bridgette Mongeon- With professor Richard Hathaway

I have always been drawn to the human form, especially the face. I strive to capture more than a likeness. Through my sculpture work I seek the essence of an individual. I create a memory or time in a life through portraiture of both the living and deceased. A masterful portrait does not come from the artist alone; it is a collaboration among artist, subject, and those who revere or love the subject. The emotional investment of these people helps to bring each work to life.

I see the world in the face of the elderly
and the heavens in the face of a child.
 
Bridgette Mongeon-Sculptor

My most recent studio work incorporates both traditional and digital processes of sculpting:tra-digi art. The perpetual advancements and the desire to streamline my creative process fuels me.

There is a healing and an educational process that I desire with all of my creative endeavors. In my writing and podcasts, I share vulnerability, experiences, both my own and others, and conversations with the genuine hope that they will assist others in healing. I strive to help both myself and others obtain a fulfilled life infused with creative passion and curiosity and bringing to light new processes that enhance productivity. This healing and educational practice is integral to all of my creative endeavors.

COLLABORATIONS

I’m seeking opportunities to educate groups through speaking engagments and workshops on teh following topics

• Marketing in the Arts
• Sculpting
• New Technology in traditional Studio
• Digital Sculpting
• Writing
• Spiritual and Motivational topics.

WEBSITES

Contact

Bridgette@creativesculpture.com

Tom Hansell

I like to get my hands dirty. My work grows from the rural communities where I live and work, and collaboration is an important element of my artistic process. As a result, my community has become my studio.

I am interested in combining ecological principles of interdependence with organizing strategies that build community power and cultural equity. Most of all I want my work to deeply impact the individuals and communities that I work with – creating fair and just public policies, opening peoples minds to new opportunities, or simply making people laugh and think at the same time.

“The Sunbuggy” solar panel, galvanized steel, plastic wheels, battery, voltage inverter, electrical wiring, automotive lighting, LCD video monitor 36 ̋ x 38 ̋ x 36

My body of work includes documentary video and audio about the efforts of Appalachian coalfield communities to achieve economic and environmental justice. I have also created a series of self-powered video installations that create their own electricity through sunlight and motion. I am currently developing a set of site-specific installations exploring the natural and human history of the New river – the oldest river in North America.

“Greenhouse effect” electric meter globe, forged steel, native appalachian plants, and coal 18 ̋ x 14”x 14

CONTACT

thansell@GMail.CoM

COLLABORATION

WEBSITES AND LINKS TO OTHER MATERIALS

Tammy Parks

My art is my immediate and thoughtful response to the world. Currently, I am a public artist working in glass, tile, paint, clay, and cement. I have begun to incorporate nontraditional materials into my work as I am becoming more conscious of the stuff left behind by others and myself. I focus on how I can consume less and reuse more in the creation of my art.

Washington Street Community Mural

Art, created individually or collectively, can revitalize communities by fighting the homogenization of identity fostered by institutional domination of culture and values through placeshaping, the concrete artistic expressions that celebrate and make plain the shared culture, geography, history and stories that make up the identity of its people. I am working to decentralize art from institutions and impart its knowledge, experience and participation to those  who know little or nothing of its history and power and to those others who feel alienated from art due to an emphasis on elitism and marketing. What exists in the space that lies between “public” and “art” is the embodiment of a dialogue between artist and audience, a conversation that takes place or comes to be in a community of social consciousness, commitment and collaboration.

Appalachian Sunset - stained glass

CONTACT

tparks@pCVa.us

COLLABORATION

WEBSITES AND LINKS TO OTHER MATERIAL

Linka Behn

A watcher, I collect expressions in the face or shouted in stance of body. Textural history in rusting metals, peeling paint, aging wood describe momentary and transformative life. Combined, they describe individual, moment and time.

“Choices rising” Mixed Media: collage, textured paste surface, acrylic, charcoal 24 ̋ x 48“4-Back” Mixed media: found metals, pastel, textured paste surface, collaged pattern tissue, acrylic, colored pencil, charcoal 18 ̋ x 18

I celebrate women: the curves, dips, rises, landscape of woman’s body- nuances of color within her skin, whis- pers of beauty draped in shadows across her body. Silent stories of history reside in how she rests, sits, stands, folds her hands. She is cloaked in a spiritual ease: an aura of knowing.

Women are an invisible column of continued growth and support in the architecture of our society. I paint commonalities, women’s authenticity from transformation- silent or voiced. exploring layers of shared responses: joy, pain, hope overlaying personal history, exclusion, and involvement. Summoning strength, she rises above to peace-filled knowing of ‘woman.’ I capture this com- mon ‘rising-above’ troubles- her recogni- tion of strength and capability.

I reason what it means to be a woman now, with things to say, to share, to teach. I examine how we make mean- ing in our lives, how we create identity, what we hide, and what we allow to be seen. Women in my world envelope. Understanding her, I understand me.

“4-Back” Mixed media: found metals, pastel, textured paste surface, collaged pattern tissue, acrylic, colored pencil, charcoal 18 ̋ x 18

CONTACT

linka@artZeyes.CoM

COLLABORATION

WEBSITES AND LINKS TO OTHER MATERIAL

Coni Porter

As an interdisciplinary artist, my work is conceptually based in nature and incorporates an awareness of the science behind global climate change. My practice includes working with different media: graphite rendering, abstract acrylic painting, electronic digital media,nature-based musical compositions, and large-scale outdoor installation.

I use art as a language with which to pursue the important work of environ-mental awareness and action. As an edu- cator I use art to initiate conversations with my students about our intentional and unintentional human impact on the world. As a musician I make pieces that combine natural and man-made sounds that serve as sound tracks to our dance with nature. As a gardener I plant and harvest in creative cooperation with the seasons, visually recording the saturated beauty of the growing process.

My art reflects my thoughts and concerns for the human and non-human world. I identify most closely with contemporary artists who claim a stake in the environmental art movement. Carbon emissions, chemical pollutants in our soil and water, and the systematic degradation of the environment give me pause. I slow myself down and look around. I see so much worth saving.

“Growing Suspicions” #4 in series - Graphite rendering/photography/digital manipulation - 4ft x 3ft large-format digital print

CONTACT

COLLABORATION

WEBSITES AND OTHER LINKS 

www.Cporterdesigns.com

“Palm Fronds in Sand” From the Character, style and expression series 2010 sarasota, Florida

The earth invites me to seek movement, guides me through it with gentle persuasion while standing strong. It is a partner that allows for just the right amount of space between us, not to encroach on each other’s persona; one whose wisdom challenges my attention.

“Balanced rock” From the Footwork and body Movement series 2009 Goddard College Campus

One of the most significant findings from this crossover between dance and land art is how much more connected my work is to my daily life. My art- work in the environment connects to the versatility inherent in earthly materials. I believe the fundamental relevance to partnering response to a human need for association and its core values define harmony in a dance of equality. As in dance, my art practice is grounded in the repetition of basic elements for me, this is the foundation of a sustainable practice.

“Grass Braiding” From the Connections and Floorcraft series 2010 Goddard College Campus

Contact information

Collaborations

Websites and other links