Rise from the chair and go down the hill to cross the stream with its banks of moss and Foamflower then back up over a piney ridge and down again to Iris Pool. Blueberry and winterberry bushes grow thickly there in hummocks of fern and sphagnum, hiding the nests of waterthrush and four toed salamanders, dividing the waters into lesser pools where the wood frogs and peepers laid their eggs, now tadpoles swimming, invisible. Pollen dusts the surface which is dimpled by hundreds of tiny snorkels belonging to a comma-shaped insect metamorph, ready for the final act. Mosquito season is about to begin.
At Masson Ridge every day is different but after 20 seasons, we know the pattern. It is a version of All Life that is proceeding uniquely here on forested glacial till and ledge, enlarging itself and us too. The work we have done that you can see on these pages is to celebrate the basis of our present condition and if possible, to protect it, all of it. You may see more of the place itself here: www.massonridge.org.
Bill's:
My work is the sculpture. The forms that I find most attractive are usually organic, rarely neat or symmetrical. Many analogues of natural development and growth are possible with clay and I use them deliberately for a result that cannot be precisely known: divided and joined, spread and retracted, folded and pouched, punctured, studded, sliced, cracked and bent with attitude. If it seems to be alive or used to be alive or driven by some earth-force, I will probably like it. The Tree of Life, Deep Time, Life Cycles and the human body are my Muses in the studio. How can we keep it all in balance, forever?
Christine's Artist Statement:
I paint the infinitely complex and changing natural world. To convey its depths and dynamism requires an approach to painting that is informed by detail but allows for movement and impression. My work expresses my fascination with recurrent transitory processes of plant and animal life - the alternation of generations in moss, the migration of birds, the ephemeral bloom of wild flowers in the spring forest, the movement of fish. My paintings are narratives of life in action where color, form, and movement are linked to purpose, though this may not always be obvious. I want to suggest a story about a species but I also want to paint a picture that has a life of its own. The calligraphic swipe of a rigger brush (informed by much observation) suggests the essence of a wild turkey. The meandering flow of paint suggests the watery environment of moss when the time is right for reproduction.
I use either soft acrylics with flow medium or acrylic inks on Fabriano watercolor paper or canvas. Laying the groundwork with wet paint on a horizontal surface yields surprises – color and form emerge and blend with my intention. Acrylics look and act very much like watercolor but can be corrected without ruining the support and will retain a translucent effect after subsequent applications. As needed, I can apply the paint more thickly for an opaque effect.
At Masson Ridge every day is different but after 20 seasons, we know the pattern. It is a version of All Life that is proceeding uniquely here on forested glacial till and ledge, enlarging itself and us too. The work we have done that you can see on these pages is to celebrate the basis of our present condition and if possible, to protect it, all of it. You may see more of the place itself here: www.massonridge.org.
Bill's:
My work is the sculpture. The forms that I find most attractive are usually organic, rarely neat or symmetrical. Many analogues of natural development and growth are possible with clay and I use them deliberately for a result that cannot be precisely known: divided and joined, spread and retracted, folded and pouched, punctured, studded, sliced, cracked and bent with attitude. If it seems to be alive or used to be alive or driven by some earth-force, I will probably like it. The Tree of Life, Deep Time, Life Cycles and the human body are my Muses in the studio. How can we keep it all in balance, forever?
Christine's Artist Statement:
I paint the infinitely complex and changing natural world. To convey its depths and dynamism requires an approach to painting that is informed by detail but allows for movement and impression. My work expresses my fascination with recurrent transitory processes of plant and animal life - the alternation of generations in moss, the migration of birds, the ephemeral bloom of wild flowers in the spring forest, the movement of fish. My paintings are narratives of life in action where color, form, and movement are linked to purpose, though this may not always be obvious. I want to suggest a story about a species but I also want to paint a picture that has a life of its own. The calligraphic swipe of a rigger brush (informed by much observation) suggests the essence of a wild turkey. The meandering flow of paint suggests the watery environment of moss when the time is right for reproduction.
I use either soft acrylics with flow medium or acrylic inks on Fabriano watercolor paper or canvas. Laying the groundwork with wet paint on a horizontal surface yields surprises – color and form emerge and blend with my intention. Acrylics look and act very much like watercolor but can be corrected without ruining the support and will retain a translucent effect after subsequent applications. As needed, I can apply the paint more thickly for an opaque effect.