Magic in the Air

Greetings and Happy New Year from the forest of Hobbit Land in New Zealand!  I definitely felt the magic and enchantment there in early December, 2013, while sitting in the chair from Beorn's house! 

More magic ensued when, immediately following the New Zealand trip, I traveled to West Palm Beach, Florida and taught a Master Class on environmental art to ninth graders at the A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts.  While in the class, I experienced the "magic" of the student's focused interest, their originality, creativity and enthusiasm.  Please visit the link to read some of their own comments about the class.  http://dreyfoosartreview.blogspot.com/p/mary-lou-dauray.html

Lastly, we, as artists, integrate magic into our art.  Below is a 90"wide by 30"oil triptych which almost created itself.  As many of you know, my recent work has concentrated on raising awareness about the issues of global warming and pollution.  In these three paintings completed during the fall of 2013, I collaged broken pieces of painted plastic onto the canvases which allude to the problem of plastic ocean pollution in our oceans.  The white paint at the bottom suggests icebergs.  As you can see, the linear drips of rain fall down into what looks like cracks in the ice.  These drops descended and created their own pathways on to a magical journey to the snow.  I was so pleased to see this happen.  

Please check my website:  www.maryloudauray.com to see more of my work.  I look forward to hearing from you.  My email is mldauray@gmail.com.

Here I am working on a new triptych painting about icebergs while, at the same time, thinking about news reports (John Vidal--The Guardian--March 25, 2013) linking the massive snowstorms and bitter spring to the dramatic loss of sea ice.

My "Iceberg Wasteland" oil painting (see below) was honored on May 1, 2013, to receive an Award of Excellence in the Manhattan Arts International Competition celebrating the Healing Power of Art.   Also please check out my interview at http://reneephillips.blogspot.com/2013/05/interview-with-artist-mary-lou-dauray.html".

The Week of 15-21 April

On Sunday, April 21, 2013, I finished a large (4' x 3') work on paper—painted with oil, watercolor and gesso.  It wasn’t until I was done that I realized the artwork was filled with my outrage and grief resulting from the horrific Boston bombings.  It has been proven that creating art of any type relieves stress, heals, and can help to release anxieties.  I was thankful to be able to put paint to paper these last few days.  It seems as though I have done that a lot this year.  There have been too many tragedies.  My prayers go out to all those maimed, in pain, missing loved ones and suffering.  

A NEW ICEBERG PAINTING!

Here I am working on an oil triptych for an upcoming show at the University of Southern California Institute for Genetic Medicine Art Gallery in Los Angeles.  The show, entitled “Aging People/Aging Planet” will be open from March 2 through June 21. 

I have been doing my “Iceberg” series for about three years now and they have become a way for me to visually express my concern about climate change and the melting of glacial ice.  This triptych, “Iceberg Wasteland” is the most recent of the series.

Big announcement:   two of my “Iceberg” paintings were just published in the Feb/March 2013 issue of “Professional Artist” magazine under the caption  “Artists as Caretakers of the Earth” by Renee Phillips.

Here is the latest news from Mary Lou Dauray's Art Studio! 

Icebergs, Watercolor, 10"w x 14 1/2"h

It has been a fruitful and rewarding painting year for me.  Eight watercolors in my “Iceland” series were juried into a show at the University of California, San Francisco, Women’s Reproductive Health Center.  "Icebergs" (above) was one of the artworks selected for this show entitled "Serenity". 

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During the period of the Iraq war,  I painted a series of war-related paintings and one of the pictures, “War Equals Anonymity”, was juried into a show entitled Consequences,  held during May at the Arc Gallery in San Francisco. 

War Equals Anonymity, Watercolor, 12"w x 15"h

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I was fortunate to spend a painting week in mid-May at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico....Georgia O’Keeffe’s favorite place on earth! Here is one of many pictures I have painted while at Ghost Ranch:

Kitchen Mesa, Watercolor, 13"w x 20"h

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In June I travelled to Jordan—and, yes, hiked in 110 degree heat up, and then down 800 rocky steps to the Monastery at the awesome archaeological site of Petra. I also witnessed the beauty of Petra at night while hundreds of candles flickered and illuminated the carved red sandstone! Later, while in Amman, Jordan, I photographed some ancestor statues at the Archaeological Museum which were created around 6500 BC. These pieces intrigued me, and after returning home, I painted two of these enigmatic statues.

Ancient Ancestor,  Mixed Media, 15"w x 22"h

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Almost Before Time Began,  Mixed Media, 15"w x 22"h

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"Speak Up", one of the paintings in my Faces series that I have been working on all year, was juried into the Contemporary Women Artists XVI International Biennial Exhibit in August. The St. Louis Chapter of Women’s Caucus for Art sponsored the show. This artwork represented an older, wise woman encouraging others to Speak Up for justice. 

Speak Up,  Watercolor, 15"w x 22"h

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During the summer Olympics, through the support of Art of the Olympians, I had two pieces  from my Icelandic series on exhibit at the College of London. One of the reasons for showing these artworks at that time was to help bring, through the arts and to a wide audience an increased consciousness about our environmental problems.  I also participated in a panel discussion on the environment—and hopefully the result of those discussions will be the incorporation of environmental awareness in future Olympics.

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Here I am on November 6, 2012, standing in front of my watercolor “Mt. Tamalpais During a Spring Storm and White Wisteria".  This painting was one of two watercolors that were juried into a show entitled "Marin" held at the O'Hanlon Center in Mill Valley, California.

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With the current crisis of global warming and rising seas and climate disruption,  I know  that my “Iceland” series, which consists of about 40 pieces, relates to my  concern of the many significant and problematic climate changes on our planet.  I am concerned that our natural world is about to alter. The year 2012 is on track to become the hottest year in the US.  As a community we need to find our voice and work to relearn our innate balance in order protect our earth, our home. 

New Painting-New Series-New Year!

"Face 1" oil, graphite, ink on gessoed paper

While traveling in Romania in the fall of 2011, I met a young woman who had recently moved back to this country to help her sick mother.  During the Ceaucescu communist regime, her mother had to work three jobs, had little food and worked in a highly polluted area…and on top of that had to take care of her children.  Before that era, her parents suffered the horrors of war.  This painting evoked an almost faceless woman, tired, worn, burdened…one of many thousands who starved and slaved thanklessly for decades.  These struggling women labor incessantly  not only in Romania but around the globe. 

 

"Face 2" oil, graphite, ink on gessoed paper

 

"Face 3" oil, graphite, ink on gessoed paper

Inspiration for painting these sorrow-filled and pained faces came from a visit to holocaust sites in Eastern Europe.  Doing the artwork enabled me to begin a process of trying to comprehend the intense anguish I felt from seeing these memorials of terror.  Also, while painting, I kept being reminded of the seemingly endless struggle experienced by women and minorities against oppressive and destructive brutality.  With my art, I hope to bring attention to the purposelessness and viciousness of such unspeakable horrors.

"Face 1" and "Face 3" were accepted into a juried show by the WCA (Women's Caucus for the Arts) at 825 Gallery in Los Angeles (February 7 to March 2, 2012).

 

"Face 4" oil, graphite, ink on gessoed paper

 

"Face 5" oil,graphite, ink on gessoed paper

"Face 4" and "Face 5" paintings continue the series of women's faces  I had started in late 2011.