Yahoo!

I just signed a contract with Storey Publishing to write my first book!

It will be on surface design techniques, including at least 80 techniques, as well as featuring the work of fiber artists who use surface design techniques in their own artwork and sewing projects. Stay tuned to my blog to track my progress and process.

http:www.cherylrezendes.blogspot.com

I had been the art columnist for the Greenfield Recorder in Greenfield, MA as well as other periodicals and web sites for close to four years. This is a sampling of of my work using the written word rather than visual images.

 Ed Wierzbowshi

Having traveled to the ancient stone ruins in Southern England called Stonehenge only in books and magazines, I may have come close to experiencing at least some of the sensations of that magical and mysterious place by visiting Colrain artist Ed Wierzbowski’s outside studio. 

Perhaps it was the thick fog giving way to only an impression of the great vista that lay stretched out beyond his enormous wood sculptures-in-the-raw that really capped my awe. But truthfully, fog or no fog one can’t quite get over the very personal and intimate sense of wonder, mystery and love that Wierzbowski’s art works bring forth.

Having 2 siblings as artists and doing a double major in piano and media, focusing his studies on art as a mass communicator Wierzbowski almost can’t help himself. Creatively, through his company Global American Television he has spent the past 22 years filming and selling documentaries on controversial topics such as nuclear and weapons plants, the truth about the Rosenberg family, and been keenly involved in the Russian media industry where he brought Western television and advertising to the Russian TV screen.

It has now been only 3 years since Wierzbowski has returned to sculpting. Involved in the State Forestry Management program with his 100 acres of woods, the artist will often work with dying or felled trees from his own property. At other times a neighboring farmer might call him with a special prized tree. At this early stage the artist’s tractor, chain saw and visceral visual instinct are his only tools.

With the help of his tractor the artist will drag the log, roll it, flip it on one end and then the other. This important first step can sometimes take as little time as a week but most often it is as long as a year. Following the grain and inclination of the wood, without a plan or even a vision, but always looking and searching for what lies within Wierzbowski will cut away portions of the log. Keeping it balanced he might discover that an entire section from top to bottom needs to be cut away. The artist refers to this process as direct carving.

“Direct carving is a process of discovery and surprise,” states  Wierzbowski. “With no set plan the artist follows his feelings and finds what the wood has to say, discovering a Gestalt or wholeness of the wood. The pieces unlock deep memories from the chaos of our beginnings, to tie us once again to nature and the world we live in.”

Wierzbowski will then bring the piece indoors to an open-air barn-like structure that is connected to his home. Once here the artist will move, rotate, ponder and carve some more. Sometimes an entire family will be found hidden inside a single log. And at other times a section that has been cut away shows that it has it’s own energy and emotional life force. It then becomes an art piece itself.

August and September are reserved for sanding. At times Wierzbowski has found he has had to manufacture his own tools, turning large grinders into sanders. While sanding and carving the artist might also discover carpenter ants or large areas that have long since rotted out. These circumstances that are all beyond his control will also play an integral role in the final out-come of the piece. The artist tells us that, “Unlocked through the process of direct carving, the pieces have their roots in the unconscious psyche. We all have deeply shared archetypes whose meanings and memory of are lost in everyday conscious thought. Through this primitive carving technique these buried images are unlocked in 3-dimensional form.”

The artist produces life size wood sculptures that are both abstract and figurative. The curving lines of the outside parameters of the pieces along with the grain and colors of the wood are sensuous and alluring. These art pieces cry out to be touched, stroked, hugged and almost danced with. Grouped together the sculptures converse, celebrate and applaud each other.

“Carving from the natural inclination of the wood, each piece develops it’s own character. Set loose to interact with the other pieces, they can be arranged to create an array of feelings – 2 pieces can be placed in such a way that they are immersed in a deep conversation or with a simple rotation in complete disregard of each other.”

Besides finishing the dozen or so pieces standing in his studio by the end of October, Wierzbowski also has big plans to revitalize the Pushkin Gallery in the heart of Greenfield. What started out as a simple way to exhibit his work, he now dreams of the old bank building as a multi-media art space that encompasses painting, sculpture, installation, video and the performing arts.