An exhibition of mixed media works and prints by AVIS SALTSMAN on the themes of the natural world and countering climate change. February 18th to March 20th 2010.

PAINTINGS

‘Seasons’ mural in acrylic paint 1825 x 601 mms. £3000
‘Summer’ Framed acrylic 693 x 903 mms. £1000
‘Winter’ Framed acrylic 693 x 903 mms. £1000
‘Wall of Oceans’ gouache 555x 720 mms £1500
‘Flower Bowl’ framed. Newspaper, tissue and gouache 340 mm x 488 mms. £400
‘Verdant’ Framed gouache 600 x 730 mms. £1000
‘Pack Horse’ Framed gouache 515 x 370 mms. £1000
‘Womb’ Open framed gouache 450 x 660 mms. £1000

ELEMENTS (set £3500) series:-

‘Earth’ Framed gouache 665 x 444 mms. £1000
‘Air’ Framed gouache and pen 672 x 554 mms. £1000
‘Fire : Bacchus’ Framed gouache, ink and felt-tip 772 x 552 mms. £1000
‘Water’ Framed wax. gouache and ink 666 x 552 mms. £1000

MIXED MEDIA WORKS WITH PHOTOGRAPHS AND STUDIES.

‘Birch’ 1 photograph, 4 pastel studies, 3 print experiments, 1 large framed batik £3000
Also from ‘Birch’ : - ‘Wall of Forests‘ mixed media collage 765 x 515 mms. £3500
‘Spanish Cork Oak’ 1 photograph, 2 paintings. 1 large framed batik £3000
‘Tree’ 1 photograph, 1 drawing.
‘Hothouse’ 1 photograph. 1 large framed batik £3000

Small and very varied drawings and paintings of INSECTS.

PRINTS. All prints sold unframed (u/f) from editions.

‘Summer’ Screen print. 1 mounted. 5 u/f. 550 x 800 mms. £300 each
‘Winter’ Screen print. 1 mounted and 6 u/f 650 x 770 mms. £300 each
‘Ape of Thoth’ plate lithograph. 2 mounted and 3 u/f. 630 x 540 mms. £150 each
‘Frog Lane Bridge’ plate lithograph in sepia. 1 mounted and 4 u/f 555 x 380 mms. £50 each
‘Frog Lane Bridge’ plate lithograph in colour. 1 mounted and 7 u//f 555 x 380 mms. £50 each

MOUNTAINS ‘Golden Pillar of Spantik’ trilogy:-

‘Basis ; The Crux’ Screen print 1 av. u/f 630 x 775 mms. £500
‘Approach : The Ground’ Screen print 7 av. u/f 630 x 775 mms. £300 each
‘Essence : The Objective’ Screen print 4 av. u/f 630 x 775 mms. £350 each

WIND

‘Personified Breeze’ stone lithograph. 1 mounted, 14 u/f 670 x 650 mms. £200 each

WATER

‘Spirit of the Sea’ Collograph 2 mounted 610 x 765 mms. £750 each
‘Mountains and Sea’ Framed Screen print. 9 u/f. 600 x 720 mms. £250 each

TREES

‘The Park’ Stone lithograph. 1 mounted, 2 u/f, 3 av. 670 x 865 mm £750 each
‘Temperate House Kew’ Screen print. 1 mounted, 9 u/f £150 each
‘Magnolia in Basement’ (yellow) Screen print. 10 u/f 580 x 685 mms. £100 each
‘Magnolia in Basement’ (pink) 1 mounted, 9 u/f £100 each
‘Gardens of the Alcazar’ 6 u/f 610 x 760 mms £300 each

BIRDS

‘Sympathy with the Bird Seeking Shade’ Soft and hard ground etching 1 mounted, 9 u/f 680 x 830 mms £500 each
‘Sleeping Birds’ 1-6 unique. Multiple print methods. All 650 x 825 mms. £750 each. Set £4000

MAN

‘Civilisations’ b/w etching 470 x 560 mms. 2 mounted 6 u/f £100 each.

Welcome. (Range of attendees).

When a very young adult I was a member of a group of artists in Manchester led by a painter, Terry McGlynn and his wife Ida who lectured at Manchester Training College. In spite of modern art movements most people still regarded art as being representation and Terry had evolved a method of teaching which freed artists to release what he described as the ‘collective unconscious’ through enjoyment of a free use of materials one on and against another. He and Ida knew how art in Europe was changing (this was 1956). I was recently given a present of a book ‘Bauhaus Women’ about extraordinary women artists, participants in the formative art movement of the early 20th Century. I noted how the teaching methods at the Bauhaus were similar to those used for the Manchester group. A quote from book:-

‘those who live in harmony with the environment could be creatively active, that every person carries this harmony within them and could tap into it by way of exercises, transporting it from the unconscious to the conscious’.

This was remarkably like McGlynn’s method.

The group were given a few guidelines such as attempting to fill the space available, regarding the empty spaces or shapes as just as important as the painted ones and ‘knowing when to stop’. In this exhibition ‘Flower Bowl’, ‘Verdant’, ‘Pack Horse’ and ‘Womb’ stem from that period. When I moved to the Midlands, I continued to work in this way and taught adult classes using the same method. In this show ‘The Seasons’, ‘Wall of Oceans’ and the Elements series stem from that period.

When I was living and teaching in West London from 1971 and began to work towards an art and education degree, I drew trees for five years (in Kew Gardens and Osterley Park) and used them as a starting point for Part One of the degree, leading to many studies and large pieces shown for the first time here :- the batiks ‘Birch’, ‘Spanish Cork Oak’ and ‘Hothouse’ and the multiple collage ‘Wall of Forests’ . In West London I also began to practice screen printing where ‘Temperate House, Kew’ (also called ‘Chilean Wine Palm’) and ‘Magnolia in Basement’ were produced. (Erasmo Hernandez now in his 80‘s was my teacher of screen printing. He had been a student in Paris with Fernand Leger)

I have lived in Islington from 1989 and learned and practised the print methods displayed here. But what now seems dominant is a preoccupation with the natural world. As a friend recently said ‘You’ve always been ahead of your time!’, meaning my preoccupation with threats to that world were now coming to the fore.

I have never put ‘one-off’ paintings or collages for sale but have sold many prints. I hope people will consider buying not least because my storage is too crowded to produce more. I would like to produce new work from the insect studies. I hope people will come back and take time to look at the show properly. Print editions can be bought from the volunteers. Buy because you like what you see. This will help to pay for rent, framing and wine.