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Marsha Connell Studio

Marsha Connell Studio

Category Archives: Still Life

Dream Vessels and A Murder of Crows

19 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by Marsha Connell in Art, Collage, Dream Vessels, Dreams, En plein air, Event, Exhibits, gallery, Healdsburg Plaza, Healing art, Landscape, Oils, Painting, Poetry, Still Life, Upstairs Art Gallery, Healdsburg

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Tags

assembling, Authentic Movement, birds, broken, California, crows, dance, darkness, gallery, hope, inspiration, Murder of Crows, nature, peace, spirit, studio, Vanitas, voice, wings, witness

Connell3_125 Dream Vessels_Metronome.jpgDream Vessels #125: Metronome

Gathering paintings and collages and poems for an exhibit at Upstairs Art Gallery Feb. 24-Mar. 24.

Discovering connections and stories in my own artwork, how collage making laid ground for constructing Murder of Crows paintings. What Vanitas symbols can you find?

Artist reception and short poetry reading with my daughter Reba on Sunday afternoon March 10, 2-5 pm. You’re invited!

Upstairs Art Gallery, 306 Center Street, Healdsburg, CA 95448

(707) 431-4214  Open daily 11-6

www.upstairsartgallery.net  

March Featured Artist, Marsha Connell

Dream Vessels and A Murder of Crows

EXHIBIT DATES: February 25 – March 24, 2019

Artist Reception:  Sunday, March 10, 2019: 2 -5 pm  

Poetry reading with Marsha Connell and Reba Connell, 2:30-3 pm.

Marsha Connell_Thinking About Bonnard_o/c.tifThinking About Bonnard, Murder of Crows oil painting series

Press release:

The March Featured Artist, Marsha Connell,  presents works that articulate an artistic evolution initiated in collage and leading to the “Murder of Crows” still-life oil paintings.

Connell had long been a painter and sculptor when her daughter, Reba, invited her to make a collage for shared communication while she was having her junior year abroad in Israel, a year that coincided with the first Gulf War.

The collages became an unexpected healing process, fueled deeper by a dream of war preparations that suggested she bear witness.  The collage “letters without words” to her daughter grew into a series of 150 “Dream Vessels” that speak with a visual vocabulary, like Vanitas paintings, symbolically merging awareness of death and the passage of time with the beauty of life.

When words finally came, they emerged from the “dreaming in the day” dance practice of Authentic Movement.  The resulting poems were often written in the presence of the collages and arose from a similar place of finding connections among discovered fragments.  They accompany the Dream Vessels, but do not describe or explain them.

The arranging and rearranging of found images in collage-making, laid the groundwork for assembling and staging objects in the “Crow” series.  “Spirit birds” and wings play a supporting role in the collages; birds star in the still-life series.

Marsha-Connell-Thinking About Hokusai-Oil-16x16in-2012.jpg

Thinking about Hokusai, Murder of Crows oil painting series

 

“Through this work, I found a way to bring hope together with darkness.  Assembling these found images was like taking the broken pieces of the world and putting them back together.”

Both the collages and the crow paintings entice the viewer to look closer and follow a path of discovery.  The paintings are also homages to other painters, such as Thinking of Bonnard and Thinking of Emily Carr. And there is humor, Connell confided,  “The longer these crows were in my studio, the more trouble they got into!” evidenced by their activities and positions in the paintings.

Connell_DreamVessels50_CloakofDarkness.jpg

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Dual Businesses: Upstairs Art Gallery and Levin and Company Bookstore

27 Monday Aug 2018

Posted by Marsha Connell in Art, Exhibits, gallery, Painting, Sonoma county, Still Life, Upstairs Art Gallery, Healdsburg

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https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8654233-181/dual-businesses-healdsburg-bookstore-serves?sba=AAS

Dual businesses: Healdsburg bookstore serves as grand entrance to art gallery

Levin and Company bookstore has been in business for 27 years and Upstairs Art Gallery opened six years later. While the original store was also on Center street, the move to the center of the block on the Healdsburg Plaza quadrupled their business.

The bookstore, which started selling used books, developed a committed following of loyal customers who asked it to order new books. Now, only the sidewalk cart holds used books and the store is filled with new publications.

Owner Aaron Rosewater has hung out in bookstores since he was an 11-year-old, first in the long-gone Toyon Books, where his mother Adele Levin worked, then in the store his mother started with business partner Jacquie Robb. He bought out Robb in 2001.

Adding an art gallery has complemented the bookstore. Walk through Levin and Company, head up the stairs and the conversion to art gallery begins on the walls and shelves of the stairwell carry some art objects and visual art.

The gallery began with artists from the Santa Rosa Art Guild who wanted to show their work. They saw the available space and created an artist-owned gallery.

Only 16 artists belong to the gallery at a time because of the available wall space. Each artist-owner pays monthly rent and a 20 percent commission to the gallery.

Current manager Carolyn Wilson has been in the position for seven years. The first manager was Phyllis Rapp, who just returned as a gallery artist. Over the years about 60 artists have been part of the gallery.

“It’s a perfect match — the gallery and books,” said Wilson.

Levin and Company and Upstairs Art Gallery are located at 306 Center St.

For more information visit upstairsartgallery.net or levinbooks.com.

 

 

 

 

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Gallery Seven – Pastel Landscape and Still Life

20 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by Marsha Connell in Art, Drawing, En plein air, Landscape, Painting, Pastel, Pepperwood Preserve, Still Life

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Tags

California, colorist, drawing, interior landscape, landscapes, mark making, Marsha Connell, Mendocino Art Center, nature, painterly, Pepperwood Preserve, Sonoma county, still life, tabletop, upstate New York

Just published, a gallery of pastels, and their stories. Enjoy!

Gallery Seven – Pastel Landscape and Still Life.

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En plein air and in the studio: Mendocino pastel workshop and more plein air news

24 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by Marsha Connell in #PACE15, Art workshops, Drawing, En plein air, Landscape, Mendocino Art Center, Painting, Pastel, Pepperwood Preserve, Still Life

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#PACE15, California, Coastal, en plein air, Mendocino Art Center, Monterey, pastel, weekends, workshop

I’ve just returned from 5 days in Monterey at “the Woodstock of plein air painting” with 700+ painters at #PACE15, the 4th Annual Plein Air Convention and Expo. I attended lectures, demos and critiques by many accomplished artists in oil, pastel and watercolor, and painted every afternoon on the beautiful, and windy, central coast of California. I’m refreshed and re-inspired to share the joys of the plein air painting experience with others!

Marsha Connell_Bluff–Looking Up_pastel_16x20"

My Spring Retreat at Pepperwood Preserve: Landscape Painting “En Plein Air” is filled! but happily there is still space in my summer Mendocino pastel workshop, en plein air and in the studio. LIVELY PASTELS: BRIDGE BETWEEN DRAWINGS AND PAINTING. July 31–August 2, 2015 (Friday–Sunday, 9:30am–4:30pm) SU15FA513 • For all levels. You can register online @ http://www.mendocinoartcenter.org/Summer15/Connell.html
Or call 707 937-5818, ext. 10. Toll-free 800 653-3328, ext. 10

Marsha Connell_Bluff–Looking Down_pastel_16x20"

I’ll be there again for the Mendocino Art Center’s “Mendocino Open Paint Out”, September 7-12. I’m honored to have been invited as one of eight “celebrity artists”. In addition to painting every day on location, in public view with many other painters, I’ll be demonstrating pastel painting and serving as a juror to award prizes to participants. Mendocino boasts a spectacular coastal location and a charming and walkable New England style small town. It would be lovely if you could join us! http://www.mendocinoartcenter.org/pleinairMarsha Connell_Blue Moon_pastel_16x20"

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LIVELY PASTELS: BRIDGE BETWEEN DRAWINGS & PAINTING at Mendocino Art Center, July 31-August 2

26 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by Marsha Connell in Art workshops, Drawing, En plein air, Landscape, Painting, Pastel, Still Life, Workshops

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Tags

August, California, Coastal, demonstrate, interior landscape, Marsha Connell, Mendocino Art Center, nature, painterly, September, tabletop, weekends

LIVELY PASTELS: BRIDGE BETWEEN DRAWINGS & PAINTING at Mendocino Art Center, July 31-August 2.

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Open Studio: Sonoma County ART Trails

06 Monday Oct 2014

Posted by Marsha Connell in Art, Art workshops, Landscape, Oils, Open Studios, Painting, Sonoma County Art Trails, Still Life, Watercolor, Workshops

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

appointment, art, cards, Cloverdale, collages, Corrick's, crows, Dream Vessels, fields, flowers, Fulton Xrossing, gallery, hats, Icehouse Gallery, landscapes, Marsha Connell, Mt. St. Helena, Murder of Crows, music, October, oils, open studios, originals, paintings, Pepperwood Preserve, Petaluma, prints, Sally Baker, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma county, still life, studio, Vanitas, watercolor, weekends

August-Afternoon-for-emailIf you’re nearby, please do stop in! Map. If far, please enjoy a virtual visit by clicking links below. I’ll be delighted to see you or hear from you!

Journey with me through landscape and still life in oil and watercolor. . . enter the inner worlds of Dream Vessels Collages.

The upstairs studio is featuring skies and waterways,
downstairs is a gallery of fields and flowers.
Hats and a Murder of Crows may appear in surprising locations.

Originals grande and petite, prints, and cards. Many new small works and an opportunity to discover “specials” in all sizes. (I’m reducing studio inventory in preparation for a move. . . details yet to be revealed. . .)

You may also view paintings year round, by appointment,
at the studio, in your home or office, and at
ART Trails Gallery at Corrick’s  637 4th Street, Santa Rosa
​
Follow my new blog Marsha Connell Studio, where you can also register for our November watercolor workshop at Pepperwood Preserve.

My paintings are in these current Sonoma County ART Trails exhibitions:
Sebastopol Center for the Arts (our new program sponsor), Corrick’s, Fulton Xrossing Gallery, Cloverdale Arts Alliance, Icehouse Gallery Petaluma.
Marsha_Connell_The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life_collage_11" x 17"
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life.

Dream Vessels collage created for Take Five project of the 2014 Sonoma County Jewish Film Festival.

On exhibit at Corrick’s in October and at the Rialto Theater, Sebastopol, Tuesday, October 14, during the two screenings of award-winning film, The Lady in Number 6.

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GESTURE and STILLNESS Fall 2014 Watercolor Workshop

12 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by Marsha Connell in Art workshops, Landscape, Still Life, Watercolor, Workshops

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brushstrokes, colorist, gesture, Marsha Connell, painterly, paintings, Pepperwood Preserve, Sally Baker, sharply focused objects, still life, stillness, watercolor, wet in wet

with Marsha Connell and Sally Baker 

Saturday&Sunday November 8&9, 2014, 9:30am-3:30pm

Pepperwood Preserve, Santa Rosa, CA

Marsha and Sally green and black copyTwo painter friends
One known for expressive “painterly” landscapes, one for elegantly rendered still lifes, both passionate about color, offer their unique weekend of watercolor exploration.

You’ll explore skills including
Painting soft-edged wet-in-wet forms, building images by layering marks and shapes, painting seamless transparent washes as a meditative practice, and delineating sharply focused objects.
IMG_5883

Approaches
From abstract to realist, from spontaneous space-shaping with a brush to methodical color-forming based on careful drawing.
IMG_7208_2

Your instructors
bring many years of painting and classroom experience to guide you—Marsha at Santa Rosa Junior College and Sally at Healdsburg High School, as well as workshops and classes for students and teachers across the country.

Visit Sally and Marsha during Sonoma County Art Trails Open Studios, October 11 & 12, 18 & 19, 2014. View our paintings year round by appointment, at our studios, and at Art Trails Gallery at Corrick’s  637 4th Street, Santa Rosa, CA

Participants of diverse backgrounds are welcome.
Class is structured around group exercises and individual pursuits, both indoors and in the beautiful Pepperwood landscape. Beginners will find guidance for basic exploration. Experienced painters and repeat students will find support to develop technique and personal expression.
IMG_5873Materials
Use what you already own or consult our list, sent upon registration. Snacks provided. Please bring your lunch.

Sign up early!
Workshop is limited to 25 participants.
Fee: $195. Complete registration using form below. Mail checks to Marsha Connell, 2180 Beverly Way, Santa Rosa, CA 95404 or Sally Baker, My Daughter the Framer, 637 4th Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404. You may phone in credit card numbers or ask questions of Sally 707-829-0396, or Marsha 707-527-7754.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

GESTURE and STILLNESS Watercolor Workshop
with Marsha Connell and Sally Baker          November 8&9, 2014, 9:30am-3:30pm

Pepperwood Preserve, Santa Rosa, CA

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GESTURE and STILLNESS Spring 2014 Watercolor Workshop

01 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by Marsha Connell in Art workshops, Landscape, Still Life, Watercolor, Workshops

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

brushstrokes, colorist, gesture, Marsha Connell, painterly, paintings, Pepperwood Preserve, Sally Baker, sharply focused objects, still life, stillness, watercolor, wet in wet

with Marsha Connell and Sally Baker 

Saturday April 19, 2014, 9:30am-3:30pm

Pepperwood Preserve, Santa Rosa, CA

Marsha and Sally green and black copy

Two painter friends
One known for expressive “painterly” landscapes, one for elegantly rendered still lifes, both passionate about color, offer their unique weekend of watercolor exploration.

You’ll explore skills including
Painting soft-edged wet-in-wet forms, building images by layering marks and shapes, painting seamless transparent washes as a meditative practice, and delineating sharply focused objects.
IMG_5883

Approaches
From abstract to realist, from spontaneous space-shaping with a brush to methodical color-forming based on careful drawing.
IMG_7208_2

Your instructors
bring many years of painting and classroom experience to guide you—Marsha at Santa Rosa Junior College and Sally at Healdsburg High School, as well as workshops and classes for students and teachers across the country.

Visit Sally during Art at the Source, May 31 & June 1, 7 & 8 and Sally and Marsha during Art Trails Open Studios, October 11 & 12, 18 & 19, 2014.
View our paintings year round by appointment, at our studios, and at
Art Trails Gallery at Corrick’s  637 4th Street, Santa Rosa, CA

Participants of diverse backgrounds are welcome.
Class is structured around group exercises and individual pursuits, both indoors and in the beautiful Pepperwood landscape. Beginners will find guidance for basic exploration. Experienced painters and repeat students will find support to develop technique and personal expression.
IMG_5873

Materials
Use what you already own or consult our list, sent upon registration. Snacks provided. Please bring your lunch.

Sign up early!
Workshop is limited to 25 participants.
Fee: $100. Complete registration using form below. Mail checks to Marsha Connell, 2180 Beverly Way, Santa Rosa, CA 95404 or Sally Baker, My Daughter the Framer, 637 4th Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404. You may phone in credit card numbers or ask questions of Sally 707-829-0396, or Marsha 707-527-7754.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

GESTURE and STILLNESS Watercolor Workshop
with Marsha Connell and Sally Baker          November 8&9, 2014, 9:30am-3:30pm

Pepperwood Preserve, Santa Rosa, CA

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A Studio Sunday Painting Demonstration

24 Friday May 2013

Posted by Marsha Connell in Art, ARTrails, Landscape, Painting, Still Life

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Corrick's, demonstrate, discussing, inspiration, oils, open studios, spontaneous still life, Studio Sunday, techniques

I will demonstrate painting a “spontaneous still life” in oils during Studio Sunday at Corrick’s, May 26, 12:30-4:30pm this weekend. You are invited to stop in!Studio Sunday 5-26

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Still Life with Colander or 36 Views of Persimmons

21 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by Marsha Connell in Art, Landscape, Painting, Poetry, Still Life

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Tags

constellations, ekphrasis, Hiroshigi, Hokusai, Japan, landscapes, luminous, Mount Fuji, persimmons, perspectives, sacred, Sally Baker, tabletop, Ukiyo-e

Still Life with Colander
or 36 Views of Persimmons

Sally-Baker-Still-Life-With-Colander-watercolor


written by Marsha Connell for my good friend and collaborator Sally Baker,
for her exhibit of watercolors and ekphrasis* poetry

There was a time—200 years long—
when Japan shut its doors to travelers from the West,
to sailors and missionaries, to diplomats and artists —
Sakoku, closed country.
And Japanese citizens could not travel abroad —
to prevent disruptive influences,
for purity of culture, internal peace.

Now Japan is a very small country, a nation of islands.
Imagine the wanderlust, the cabin fever, living within
such circumscribed boundaries for a lifetime, for ten lifetimes!
Thus, elaborate ritual journeys evolved, with way stations,
pilgrimages and shrines,
measured by small distances and changing views
of sacred Mount Fuji.
And so began, too, the practice
of painting the serial journey. First Hokusai’s
woodcuts, 36 views of Mount Fuji,
then 48 views, then 100, seen, and reseen,
with fresh perspectives and characters.
He inspired Hiroshigi’s 36 views of Mount Fuji,
and 100 Famous Views of Edo.

Ukiyo-e—pleasures of the floating world.
When I see these two characters, in their brilliant orange,
green and blue, their flashy feathers like costumes of kabuki players,
or perhaps priests for a ritual, standing on a classic cobalt,
ultramarine and white textile, under the subtle
presence of stacked orange persimmons
one looming high above like Mount Fuji, peeking over
the lip of a spring green colander, pierced with dark constellations—
I wonder if Sally, ensconced at her studio table, thinks of Hokusai,
and Mount Fuji, when she travels over, under, around, through
her tabletop landscapes, painting her luminous
36, 48, 100 views of persimmons.


(
ekphrasis*: the description of a work of visual art)

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Marsha Connell Studio

  • About
  • Contact and Social Media
  • Gallery Five – Seasonal Paintings, A Pepperwood Sonata
  • Gallery Four – Artist in Residence at Pepperwood Preserve
  • Gallery One – Lakes and Gardens
  • Gallery Seven – Pastel Landscape and Still Life
  • Gallery Six – A Murder of Crows
  • Gallery Three – Hats on Broadway
  • MEET SONOMA COUNTY ARTIST MARSHA CONNELL by Satri Pencak
  • Gallery Two – Pond in Bloom
  • Art Workshops

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Marsha Connell Studio

Marsha Connell Studio

Articles

  • Gathering Clouds Magazine past Issue #2 (3) "Color & Mood" Marsha Connell and others. . .”My paintings are a dance in color, a moving meditation in the landscape,” pages 4-9.

Artist Website

  • Sally Baker

Blogroll

  • WordPress.com
  • WordPress.org

Books

  • A Murder of Crows: Three Artists, Three Objects, Three Images Catalog of an exhibit by Sally Baker, Marsha Connell, Micah Schwaberow. This exhibit has traveled and is available to more venues! *Murder is the collective noun used to describe a group of crows.

Collections

  • Art Talk / The Doyle Collection / Santa Rosa Junior College Libraries Art Talk captures the inspirations and experiences of artists showcased in The Doyle Collection. Click on each artwork to see the full set of videos for each artist.
  • The Doyle Collection, Santa Rosa Junior College Library I am honored to have three paintings included in this permanent collection: “Dissolve – Three Tree Hill”, “Salmon Barn”, and “Dusk at Duncan’s Landing”. They can be viewed on the 4th floor of the Doyle Library.

Fundraising website

  • Amy's Healing Journey: A Fund- and Spirit- Raiser Fundraising website for Amy Connell

My Art Website

  • Marsha Connell Fine Art Expressive Landscape Paintings, Dream Vessels Collages, Workshops

Nature Preserve

  • Pepperwood Preserve

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