Mary Reusch, Artist

My work is hung and ready for ArtPrize!

2010-09-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

Finally the big day came: every painting was placed in its frame, and all of the paintings loaded in the van. Mark Mitchell (wood worker) and I arrived at the Grand Rapids Art Museum ready to hang, and found just the perfect wall waiting for us. It took five hours to hang, with Mark being very exacting in his measurements and exacting in the placement. When we were finished, we were delighted with the entry's appearance! I was the first of 43 artists with my artwork up!

ArtPrize getting close!

2010-09-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

I spent a couple of weeks of wrapping the frames with the copper, applying the chemical to make a patina, & then applying elbow grease with steel wool to burnish them down. I think they are now close to done! I still need to apply the wax to the frames and polish. The paintings are now mounted on board and ready for putting in the frames, so I took a moment this morning to assemble them on the floor, and was excited to see how the copper looked around the paintings.

Work Involved to finish my ArtPrize project!

2010-08-19T08:30:00.001-07:00

Another ArtPrize Exhibition is drawing near! I have been working on mine since January- you can see the beginnings of it in an earlier post. (A short recap: my project is a group of 16 images, all to do with the idea of "The Tenacity of Nature" and deals with how nature makes it through man-made elements no matter how we pull, stomp and push back. And it's good.)

My ArtPrize this year will be at the Grand Rapids Art Museum! I have my paintings nearly complete, and now am concentrating on the frames, which have been built by a friend (who is a wood-worker) and now I'm hand finishing them by wrapping them in copper. This finishing touch should complete my statement. As when we lay down bricks, cement, roads and watch nature grow right through it, so we lay down copper and watch what nature does to it as well. In this case, I just need to help the copper along a wee bit. I am texturzing it (to make it have more of the machine look) and torching it- to make the color beneath have a more varied and subtle glow, and will be applying patinas as well.

I have a few photos here showing a bit about the stage it is in now. Although I have one prototype finished, I still need to continue working to get all 16 complete!

Exhibit at Park Congregational Church

2010-03-22T09:01:00.000-07:00

On March 21, 2010 I had an opening at Park Church Congregational Church in downtown Grand Rapids. A friend took some photos of the opening and I took a few photos of the walls.

The Tenacity of Life

2010-01-28T08:34:00.000-08:00

The Strength of the Spirit of Nature:
Have you ever walked down a path, road or a sidewalk and noticed seedlings and plants trying to make their way through the barriers that mankind has constructed to keep them out? I have long observed and given these tiny bits credit for trying so hard to make it through anything that we put down! Of course I have been a perpetrator as well, and a puller of "weeds" or plant life in the wrong places, but still, I see beauty in the growth, and a tenacity of spirit for these seedlings, to push their way through and venture into life. There is something settling about the way the natural world eventually topples us, slowly, and efficiently, and with great strength of spirit!

At the moment I am working in Baton Rouge, where I have set up a little make shift studio and going on walks to find new and adventurous ways to realize that life continues.

The images you see are varied, a crack in the pavement, an anthill slowly wearing away the pavement in my driveway, A little flower making its way in what looks like no crack at all, a mixture of driveway cracks that have a multitude of life, and one just barely begun, a plant that found it's way up to a rooftop to insinuate itself on a garage!

ArtPrize Madness!

2009-10-04T19:40:00.000-07:00

The first weekend was pretty exciting! We had an opening on Saturday night, and then Shawn and I had an art talk on Sunday! I brought along digital slides from my computer, and the original plein air painting that my larger piece was painted after.

I also am including some photos of the big event on Sunday when the 100,000 paper airplanes were dropped
from the tops of buildings
on Monroe Street.

Grand Rapids has been
a remarkable place to be!

ArtPrize Is BIG Event in Grand Rapids!!!

2009-09-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

I am exhibiting in ArtPrize and welcome all to participate. You can pre-register to vote online and then finish registering at a voting station starting September 23rd. I am encouraging everyone to vote and vote often- you can vote for as many artists as you would like in the first week.

For full information about my work please go to:
http://www.artprize.org/artist/id/4168

Voting number:
vote31541

My venue is at:
St. Mark's Episcopal Church,
134 North Division,
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

There will be an ARTIST RECEPTION on Saturday, September 26 from 6 to 8 pm, and artist talk: Sunday, September 27, 2 to 3:30 pm.
Don't miss this unique week of art!

New Work: Early Spring, Early Morning Pond

2009-07-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

This was painted using a plein air sketch of a pond near my home, early in spring, and early in the morning. I visited the site many times, observing and considering before I took my easel and began painting on a much smaller canvas. Next I brought the sketch to my studio, and began again, making new considerations concerning the image, changing and rethinking the initial conception but yielding to the original inspiration. The painting has been painted on gessoed linen that has been stretched on sturdy stretcher bars. I have a simple mahogany frame that I will bolt the painting into.

On the surface this is a painting of a pond in early morning light, at a point when the leaves are just beginning to form. On a deeper level, I was seeing the scene as representation of the four elements: the air (sky), fire (sun), water (pond), and earth (shore), using the trees to link it together. These elements are basic to our life, they are both life sustaining and dangerous at the same time. In equilibrium they provide the nourishment to the planet, and out of balance, they threaten our existence.

I felt the inherent balance of this landscape, providing a sense of serenity and calm in our harried world. In painting the trees, I could perceive strength of the trees, from roots to treetops; they live rooted in the earth, provide oxygen for our air, protect us from the sun, and bring water from the lowest areas to the tips of the leaves, uniting earth with the heavens.

Installation for Waiting Room in Greenville hospital

2009-05-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

Spectrum Health United Memorial Hospital in Greenville bought a painting from me called Four Elements, Four Seasons. There are 16 square boxes with linen attached to the front, each with an oil painting. They read vertically in Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall; and horizontally in Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. Mark Mitchell had made the boxes, and helped me install them this week. They are in a waiting area in the hospital.

Santa Fe work from Baton Rouge

2008-08-16T11:58:00.000-07:00

While in Baton Rouge, I was able to bring my pastels and paper and worked on 6 different images from my trip to Santa Fe. They are all 8 inches by 10 inches, or 10 inches by 8 inches.

When I was in Santa Fe, I was interested in the many beautiful doors and windows that you see in that area. Some were fairly old, and some were ancient. Some doors were closed, some were archways and looked to an inner courtyard. The kivas were mysterious- such a small square of light that caused the inside of this area glow!

And then there was the interesting building that appeared to have no doors and windows, jut abstract shapes.

These pastels are not finished, but have a sense of what they will be when complete.

2008-06-04T08:01:00.000-07:00

I just returned from Santa Fe where I visited my friend Meria. I had lots of chances for hikes, visits to galleries and chances to paint. I am including a few photos of the places and my paintings.

MidWinter progress

2008-03-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some images that I began in the fall, and have continued to work on during the winter. Except for the snowstorm one, which could be observed my studio window. Also, I have begun a series of downtown Grand Rapids, which was begun earlier.

Winter work from Fall Studies

2008-02-01T10:39:00.000-08:00

I began these paintings last fall, and just got a chance to put a bit more time into them. The first one, some beeches that live in my front yard, were glowing with a bit of sun, backdropped by fall colors of the woods. I found interest in the patterns of the bark, and the intertwining of the branches.

The next two were painted at Pickerel Lake, the first rather quickly on one of the last days of warmth in the fall. There was still a bit of color in the trees across the lake, I loved the drama that the sun makes early afternoon at that time of year.

The last one was started a couple years ago, and I just had to add a bit more to it to soften and expand the color range. Although I have thought it might be done before, I am more ready to submit to its completion now.

Aquinas Exhibit September-October

2007-12-31T09:39:00.000-08:00

I had a solo exhibit for the month of September at the Aquinas College Gallery. The theme was all about my back yard. I began with what is my own backyard, and proceeded to claim the different areas that I traveled, including my sons homes in Austin and Baton Rouge, a trip to New York City, and a month long stay in Japan. In essence, the lesson for myself was that my back yard extends outward to the world, and my interest should be and can be the entirety of of our planet.

Front Yard trees

2007-12-30T13:10:00.000-08:00

I found one of the last days of the fall to be a beautiful one with blue sky, moderate temperatures, and leaves still hanging on the trees that were a golden yellow.

Then, a few days later, by setting up my easel in front of the forest in the front yard, I was able to catch the light changing on the tree trunks as they were affected by the sunlight.