The Art Blog

Trespassing opens tonight at the Pacini Lubel Gallery . Please come out and join me for an evening of art and creative conversation from 6pm to 8pm. The gallery is located in downtown Seattle in the arts district of Pioneer Square - Click here for directions.  Hope to see you there and thank you for your support of the arts! Statement: This recent collection of paintings is titled Trespassing: A Venture Beyond Boundaries. Generally speaking the word trespass has a negative definition but the context here is one of risk and adventure. Stepping beyond boundaries from the known to what has not yet been discovered is the underlying theme of this work. As a painter I enjoy taking risks and often find myself on the edge of a boundary between what I know will happen and the chance of ruining the artwork. I create my paintings with a small blowtorch and the flame often acts as my brush. The risk here is ever present as one wrong flash of the torch and months of work can be des...

Show title wall featuring Soloist Pacini Lubel Gallery street view Me posing with Sapphire Cove Today I am feeling richly rewarded after several months of hard work. The opening of Second Nature was lovely and I want to say "T hank you!" to all the dear friends who came out on Thursday night to support me. I also want to extend a special thanks to those who traveled long distances to see the show and to those of you who have left me such kind comments here on my blog. Gallery southeast view Me posing with the gems. Many of the little gems have already sold and there is a possible commission in the works. The Seattle Times also ran a blurb about the exhibition and featured an image of my work in the Arts section of the paper. So here I am feeling grateful, content and inspired. The studio beckons and I need to start preparing for my 2010 exhibitions. I will be participating in several group shows starting next spring and I have a solo show slated for J...

River Trio- encaustic w/mixed media 2009 - 36" x 36" Tourmaline- encaustic w/mixed media 2009 - 24" x 72" Well… it's finally here – Opening Night! Please join me at the Pacini Lubel Gallery for the opening of Second Nature. Tonight, Thursday, November 5th from 6 to 8 as part of the Seattle 1st Thursday gallery walk . This solo show features my most recent encaustic work. I have not seen the final installation so I will be experiencing the show for the first time tonight. Here’s what friend and fellow artist, Barbara Dunshee , posted to her blog about my work: “I've recently been reintroduced to Alicia Tormey's work. I loved it before and her recent evolution is very exciting. Her new show, opening at Pacini Lubel Gallery November 5th, is called "Second Nature". A great title as her encaustics on wood are nature enhanced to a higher power. Her abstractions are landscape reminiscent but on varying planes of existence, simultaneously ma...

Opal - encaustic w/mixed media 2009 Malachite Field -  20" x 30" encaustic w/mixed media 2009 I have enjoyed posting a daily gem these last few weeks leading up to the opening of my show. Thank you for following and to those who have left such generous and encouraging comments. For today’s post I am also including a few more of the larger works. There are several of these large paintings that will be featured in the Second Nature show but so much is lost when reducing them down to a post-it size preview. I am including some detail images so you can get a better feel for the work. The show opens tomorrow and runs until November 28th at the Pacini Lubel Gallery in Seattle. Please come by and introduce yourself if you are in the area. I will post more work from the show tomorrow Water's Edge - encaustic w/mixed media 2009 36" x 48" Water's Edge Detail 1 Water's Edge Detail 2

Andalusite - encaustic w/mixed media 2009 This gem series piece is titled Andalusite, after the mineral known for its variations of green. I wanted to create a sense of intimacy in this by framing the view with delicate wisps of grass that I scratched into the surface. There are only a few days remaining now until the show opens this Thursday. It will be the first time all the work is displayed together instead of piled around my studio in various stages of completion. I will post two more gems tomorrow: Corundum and Labradorite

Botanica I - encaustic w / mixed media  2009 This is one of seven botanical works that will be featured in the Second Nature show along with the gems and landscapes. Below you can see how the paintings play off of each other. I imagine these as if you were to enter one of my larger landscapes and return with clippings and specimens for further study. Hard to believe the show opens in just 5 more days. I am looking forward to seeing dear friends and meeting new ones. Tomorrow I will post another gem: Serpentine Botanical Specimens I, II & III as a grouping Click on the art to view full images.

Amber - encaustic w/mixed media 2009 I chose to feature Amber as today’s gem. Below is a detail so you can see the under currents of this painting. There are many subtle layers to this piece that are not coming through in the photo. This painting easily jumps back and forth between the abstract and representational imagery. I will post new work from the botanical series tomorrow. Detail from Amber

Jasper - encaustic w/mixed media 2009 Today’s gem piece is titled Jasper and in doing my gem research I learned that jasper and agate are the same stone. This has the tones and translucency of an agate and someone told me they see a figure skating or running in it. I was hoping for an abstracted tree form and I love the playfulness of this piece. I’ll keep tomorrow’s posting a surprise – not sure if it will be a gem or a botanical or perhaps both.

Black Coral - encaustic w/mixed media 2009 Today’s gem series painting is titled Black Coral. Only nine days and nine gems until the show opens next week. Tomorrow’s gem: Sapphire

Diopside - encaustic w/mixed media 2009 The gem stone diopside is known for its bottle green color. The organic forms on the left of this painting look like green glass so diopside seemed like the perfect title for this piece. The show images are now posted to the Pacini Lubel Gallery website so you can view the entire show online. I am thrilled to report that several pieces have already sold. Tomorrow I will post some images from one of the larger works in the show.