My Exhibition of paintings and prints Finding My Lines will be at Evie Salon starting in March and running through the end of May 2024. The reception will be held March 16th, come enjoy art, nibbles and beverages!
To celebrate I have opened my online shop with seven monotypes that will only be available here online.
Finding My Lines
Paintings by Noel Danforth
March — May 2024
RECEPTION
Saturday, March 16th
6:30pm–8:30pm
Evie Salon Studio
57 Holland Street
Davis Square, Somerville, MA
Please come enjoy art, nibbles and beverages.
Finding My Lines—Paintings by Noel Danforth
The secret of seeing is to sail on solar wind. Hone and spread your spirit till you yourself are a sail, whetted, translucent, broadside to the merest puff . — Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Artist Statement
I paint abstracts because I find them beguiling. I use the word liminal to describe the space in which I work because it is an unformed in-between place that contains possibility and allows for not knowing. There is a flow, and there is also a conversation.
Working with curiosity and embodied knowledge, painting is my conversation with the canvas. Putting myself broadside to receptivity, I work with my susceptibility to color and form. And like a conversation with a friend, the conversation grows deeper and richer as it develops.
The viewer also holds a conversation with the painting. Connection happens, or it doesn’t, but an ultimate joy in painting is when a viewer finds resonance with your work.
Paintings are totems of conversation. Good paintings are beautiful because they connect us—wordlessly.
My second trip to Mexico… and we headed straight to the big city. CDMX as it is known, has a population of over 20 million in the metro area and is at an elevation of over 7,000 feet above sea level. It’s a gritty and vivacious city with amazing food and refreshingly warm and generous people. We walked for hours. My take away is that we could learn a lot from the people of Mexico, their generosity and openess, their presence in life is something to admire and reflect upon.
The second half of our trip was in San Miguel Allende, (Population ~69 thousand). It’s beautiful and graced with a cake like cathedral at it’s center. Generous people, wonderful food and loads of visual inspiration.
Retablo: LOVE, mixed media collage on wood, framed.
Detail: Retablo: LOVE
The bidding in MassArt’s Silent Auction starts online April 1st (no joke!) and runs through April 14th at noon. MassArt is the nation’s first public, independent college of Art and Design. The auction supports academic programming and student scholarships. Registration is now open at Bidsquare.
My mixed media collage : Retablo: LOVE, 12” x 15” x .75 ” (framed) is in the silent auction. SOLD
The opening for Concord Art’s MJ2: Collage, Crafts, Drawing, Graphics, Mixed Media, Photography, Printmaking 2024 is February 22nd at 5:30pm. The show will run through February 11th 2024. My collage Retablo: Music was selected as part of the show.
Retablo: MUSIC
Detail
““Pursue, keep up with, circle round and round your life, as a dog does his master’s chaise. Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.””
Artist Statement
I am launching into this statement with a Thoreau quote. We are in Concord after all!
The compelling part of this Thoreau quote is the idea of chasing down that which speaks to you. As an artist, it might be the meat of the endeavor. Taking risks and experimenting is a way to 'know your own bone.' Making this retablo collage started as something that caught my attention out of the corner of my eye in the process of printmaking. Retablos are usually devotional paintings of Saints. In the process of investigating what it was that had caught my attention, I made three mixed-media collage retablos, a trinity. I named them Music, Beauty, and Love.
The experiment to make these collages into retablos was probably seeded by my visit to El Santuario, a chapel in Chimayo, New Mexico. The artistry of the altarpiece, and other art in the chapel, have a beautiful and humble folkart-like magnificence in their use of wood and colorway. I was moved by the human devotion to craft and to beauty and to that which is transcendent. I am not religious, but I try to work with my own susceptibility in art. Back to Thoreau's words: "Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw at it still."
My collage Retablo: Music is an exploration of human devotion to music over time. The beauty of abstraction is that it allows for multiple interpretations. I'm thinking tribal, religious, and music made on the back porch.
The opening for Concord Art’s MJ1: Painting and Sculpture Exhibition is tonight. The show will run through February 11th 2024. Jazzed to have my painting In The Garden selected to be in the show!
ARTIST STATEMENT
I paint abstracts because I find them beguiling. I will use the word liminal to describe the space in which I work because it is an unformed in-between place, a space that contains possibility. There is a flow.
Working with curiosity and embodied knowledge, my painting is a conversation with the canvas. I work quickly, but the process can take months. And like a conversation with a friend, the conversation gets deeper and richer as it develops.
The viewer also has a conversation with the painting. Connection happens, or it doesn’t, but the ultimate joy of painting is when a viewer finds resonance with your work.
I believe paintings are totems of conversation. Good paintings are beautiful because they can connect us—wordlessly.
“I cannot cause light; the most I can do is to try to put myself in the path of its beam. It is possible, in deep space, to sail on solar wind. Light, be it particle or wave, has force: you rig a giant sail and go. The secret of seeing is to sail on solar wind. Hone and spread your spirit till you yourself are a sail, whetted, translucent, broadside to the merest puff.”
— Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Our ski trip to the Swiss Alps inspired a series of photo collage pieces.
Inspiration from the islands.
It’s a Wrap!
The opportunity to show my paintings was a full-circle experience—from the silent ‘creation conversation’ in the studio to these sun-filled walls. It allowed the paintings’ conversations to continue with others, making connections. Sweet.
Some images from the show:
My first trip to Mexico… how is that possible? Oaxaca is a hot bed of craft and color. The plant life is pretty cool too. :)
Possibilities
Paintings by Noel Danforth
October—November 2022
EXTENDED Through December!
RECEPTION
Saturday, October 22nd
6:30pm–8:30pm
Evie Salon Studio
57 Holland Street
Davis Square, Somerville, MA
Please come say hello!
Possibilities | Paintings by Noel Danforth
There are so many possibilities lying next to the impossible. –Tal R, Artist
Painting is my creative flow at the intersection of the left and right brain. Intuitive and attentive, it is a conversation.
While painting, I cultivate space to experiment and let go of knowing. I trust the conversation. Each mark suggests a new question, each response holds an unfolding story. It is this back and forth—this careful looking and listening—through which the painting emerges.
Living with art—abstract art in particular—can be transformative. It allows for gray areas, individual interpretations, and bringing one’s life experiences to the artwork. By identifying with the gestural quality of a line, the ambiguity of a shape, and the emotion of color, we gain insight into ourselves and others. Engaging with art is an opportunity to glimpse our interconnectedness. And, with curiosity, the possibility that abstract art can unearth transcendent beauty.
30th Anniversary trip and the keys to my heart; culture, art, food, nature, and friendship— not necessarily in that order. C’est pas du luxe! (it’s not luxury!). Soul feeding is not luxury but it looks like that to me. Being blessed with a partner with similar proclivities helps. :)
I’m a week back from my ANE workshop with Alfredo Gisholt entitled Abstract Painting and Perception and I am beginning to understand and see better the paintings I made there.
The Hamilton College campus has a beautiful collection of specimen trees and plants. Some of this beauty is part of the Root Glen, so there is much to inspire. I enjoyed many walks and took many photographs, my way of 'taking notes' while noticing. Now that I am home and taking a step back to look at the pictures I took, it's more apparent how my mind works when painting. While I do not work from photography or sketches, there is a connection to what I have photographed and sketched in my mind’s-eye.
Something That Quickens the Heart
6” x 6” x 1.5”, mixed media on cradled wood.
The bidding in MassArt’s Silent Auction starts online this Monday, March 21st at noon and runs through April 10th at noon. MassArt is the nation’s first public, independent college of Art and Design. The auction supports academic programming and student scholarships. Registration is now open at Bidsquare.
My triptych, Something That Quickens the Heart, 6” x 6” x 1.5”, mixed media on wood is in the silent auction. See the link below to participate!
