Author: johnfansmith

MARIA BALLADON CON LE STELLA

MARIA BALLADON CON LE STELLA is the companion piece to ST. JOHN THE MOSACIST and represents the young cousin and muse of St John the Mosacist. Like ST. JOHN THE MOSACIST, MARIA BALLADON CON LE STELLA is a 24” x 24” ceramic and stained-glass mosaic wall hanging. It consists of a single piece of hand built and raku fired paper clay made by the artist and somewhere between 900 and 1000 pieces of individually cut squares of stained glass scavenged from the donated glass boxes of the Ann’s Choice Stained Glass Club. Also, as in the case of St. John the Mosacist, the story of Maria Balladon Con Le Stella has been woven from whole cloth. ( 2022) ($325)

LEAF FALL

I am very pleased to be able to announce that my third major stained-glass piece this year, LEAF FALL, a commissioned piece, has been completed and accepted and is now part of a private collection in Elkins Park, PA. Like THE GREEN MAN and VORTEX, the design for LEAF FALL is an original design which seeks to convey a sense of motion, LEAF FALL was also designed to be displayed as either a wall hanging, or preferably, in a window and with no particular “right side”up.  With the frame it is approximately 22”x 24” and is comprised of 198 pieces of individually cut and foiled glass in four different colors

VORTEX

VORTEX is the second major originally designed and framed stained-glass panel I have completed this year at Ann’s Choice. Octagonally framed, it measures 23 ½” across and is comprised of 88 pieces of glass individually cut and foiled using 9 different types of stained glass. I built the frame from 1”x 3” pine specifically for VORTEX and can be displayed either as a wall hanging or, and preferably, in a window. When I was designing and constructing VORTEX, I was trying to capture a sense of movement – of being drawn into the center of the piece. (2022) ($750).

THE GREEN MAN

The mythology of the Green Man has continued to fascinate me and has been a recurring theme in my art in the form of prints, collages, cast cement, as well as two and three dimensional ceramic pieces. This version of THE GREEN MAN, however, is the first time I’ve depicted him in stained glass. Framed, my THE GREEN MAN, measures 19 1/2″ from top to bottom and side to side and contains  179 pieces of glass (each eye has three pieces of glass fused together). Because of the way the “attitude” of the piece changes as the light changes, this version may be my most interesting one yet. (2022)

MARIUPOL

MARIUPOL, the third paper collage in my “Commentary on Ukraine ” series was completed before the Russians finally destroyed the city and overran the outnumbered and outgunned defenders. It is intended as a tribute to the courage and tenacity of those defenders and perhaps as a suggestion that there may be modern day Alamos that need to be remembered. (2022) ($125)

SILOVIKI

Siloviki is the name given to the inner circle of advisers to Vladimir Putin all of whom have military or security service backgrounds and long-term relationships with Putin. My SILOVIKI is a paper collage of faceless men and FSP (financial security papers) torsos. While each one is different there is an overwhelming homogeneity to the group. SILOVKI, along with INVASION, MARIUPOL, and BUCHA is part of my “Commentary on Ukraine” series of collages. (2022) ( $125).

YOU TELL ME

When I create a paper collage, about 33% of the time I have a very distinct idea of what I want to say and how I am going to say it, as for example INVASION or DECEMBER MORNING FOG#3. Another 33% of the time, I know roughly what I want to say, i.e., I have a concept and materials, but the actual presentation evolves as I work on it, for example PORZECZKA. And for another 33%, the piece names itself when I finish it, for example AN ORANGE CLOCKWORK. The math majors among you will note that still leaves 1%, and that is the category into which YOU TELL ME falls. I have shown it to several different people and gotten wildly different interpretations and impressions of it. I see something new in it every time I look at it, but so far it has refused to speak to me. (2022) ($125)

A VIEW OF A THIRD FLOOR WINDOW

A VIEW OF A THIRD FLOOR WINDOW is technically part of my “Views From A Third Floor Window” series, but in this case the view doesn’t extend much past the window itself. This photograph was taken on the morning of March 9th, 2022. The day started out with a few raindrops hitting our east facing windows but quickly changed to a full blown “wintery mix” with high winds coming straight out of the south. A VIEW OF A THIRD FLOOR WINDOW was taken about 45 minutes after I first noticed the raindrops. Again, the image is, “as taken” on my cell phone with no filters, alterations, or enhancements. (590) ( 2022)

AN ORANGE CLOCKWORK

This year is the 60th anniversary of the publication of “A Clockwork Orange”, Anthony Burgess’ novel of a dystopian future society with violent subcultures. While it is considered a classic, as is the 1971 movie based on it and with the same name, I must admit that neither ever really resonated with me. However, when I was doing the preliminary layout for the “Negative to Positive” paper collage that became AN ORANGE CLOCKWORK, I was struck by the jaggedness of the orange pieces and by the shape of the blue pieces which reminded me of clock hands and “A Clockwork Orange “came to mind. We think of “clockwork” as something that is orderly, precise, and smoothly running. AN ORANGE CLOCKWORK is sharp edged and dysfunctional. Perhaps I am starting to understand Anthony Burgess, or perhaps just our current society. (2022) ($125)