rocks can be small pebbles,
or cookie-sized
stacked into a castle.
rocks can also be massive:
they are teeth,
the bone structure of the earth’s crust.
water is eternal:
submerging so much rock
water can make satin from crusty lava
pummeling the sediment at shore.
when i hold
new life i immediately rock
that infant – my instinct moves
back and forth
ebbs and flows.
i know i cannot rock the water.
it drains between my fingers
but i can rock in water
afloat on surges.
these are both rock and water
dependable yet fluid
steadfast but dancing
the wax billows, seeps and undulates
quenching the dry canvas.
rocked
by
wax.
just as i am rocked
by
water
This is a solo exhibition of encaustic paintings by Mary Ellen Chapman. This collection offers wide angle horizons combined with exaggerated close ups of Lake Huron waterscapes. Although inspired by specific studies from The Fishing Islands, these coastal images can remind one of shores from the Canadian Maritimes to the Carribean.
Mary Ellen paints from photographs that investigate the colours and textures of water hovering over rocks: ever changing with the shifting weather patterns.
What is fascinating about this pigment-embedded-in-wax technique is that, even after studying these paintings for long periods of time, the viewer can discover new revelations with each perusal. These are paintings that continue to provide riches for a lifetime of looking.
rocked by water is exhibiting at the Williams Mill Gallery from April 21-25, 2010. Open noon to 5 pm. Opening reception with the artist will be Saturday April 24th, 7 to 9 pm. For gallery location and blog go to www.williamsmill.com.
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