April 2023 at the Gallery
Volume 14, Issue 4
Featured Artist:
Debbie Slay
To hear her tell it, Debbie Slay's watercolor journey was conceived in a single day. Prior to that, her only painting experience had been "paint-by-numbers." Then she signed up for a one-day class on watercolor painting, selected for no particular reason. But the instructor had a style and way of teaching that resonated with her so much that it drew her in and has yet to let go even a dozen years later. She took more classes, watched many youtube videos, and did a lot of experimentation. These days, Debbie is a working artist who has settled into her own style of watercolor painting. She is also a private instructor of watercolor painting, partly paying forward the transformative experience that was once gifted to her.
Whether it is a notecard or a framed watercolor painting, all of Debbie Slay’s paintings are originals. She does not deal in giclees or prints. She likes to paint; and she likes everything to be fresh and unique and personal. For Debbie, there is so much beauty in the Hawaiian Islands that perpetually inspires new paintings.
So what exactly about watercolor resonates so strongly with Slay? First, it is easy to blend colors. Second, and more paramount, is the experience of Managing the Flow. Flow is about the interplay between water, color, paper, and painter.
More on Debbie Slay and watercolor painting:
Art Journeys with Shannon Nakaya: Silversmithing with Scott Pincus
Last month, I did an article on KVA guest artist Scott Pincus featuring his sterling silver jewelry. In the process of preparing for that article, I learned some of the technical aspects of silversmithing, along with its multitude of complexities.
The process, called the "Lost Wax Casting Method," begins with am individually hand-crafted “master." The “master” is packed in layers of rubber, which is heated under pressure to form a rubber mold. The “master” is very carefully excised from the rubber mold with surgical precision so as to not damage the mold. A special type of hot wax is injected under pressure into the rubber mold to make a wax model of the “master.” Rubber molds can be reused and multiple wax models made. Copies are attached to a "sprue" forming a "sprue tree."
Are you still with me? I said it was involved. The sprue tree goes into a flask where it is surrounded by a specialized plaster, which is heated till the wax melts away and vaporizes, leaving no residue and preserving the finest detail.
Molten sterling silver is then poured into this mold to replicate the entire sprue tree in silver. The plaster is then removed. At this stage, the silver replicas are in an oxidized state and black.
Copies are trimmed from the sprue. Next, they spend time in a weak acid bath which reverses the oxidization giving the piece a white patina. The white patina is polished away leaving a shiny sterling silver replica of the original “master.”
From here, Pincus returns to hand-crafting wearable pieces of art by adding pearls, gems, studs, french loops, clasps, etc. If it all sounds complicated and labor intensive, that's because it is! But the results certainly speak for his dedication.
KVA Welcomes New Guest
Artist Joyce Monsky
The artists at KVA are excited to introduce Joyce Monsky, a new guest artist in the gallery. Joyce works in clay, both wheel thrown and slab built clay pieces. She has worked with clay for 50 years, taught school in Ka’u for 20, is president of the Kona Potters Guild, and well respected around the island.
I was fortunate enough to meet and chat with Joyce at the South Kona Artists Collective (SOKO) Art Studio Tour. A small woman with a large presence, she commanded the room in the same way her large pieces dominated the space; like a loadstone, something about her pulled you in, almost magnetically. People stood, waiting to talk to her, almost bask in her presence. Her works do the same. Rich, vibrant colors pull you in from across the room, glints of gold, orange-red, deep blue Her works are like poetry in clay. She describes her work poetically as well. I can do no better. Here is Joyce in her own words:
I take my rambling thoughts and inner connections, the synapse of perception and move these influences unconsciously through my fingers, hands and breath – to create something new that is somehow like a memory. A feeling, an illusion, an abstract impression that culminates in the sweetness of what I’ve made. A tactile feeling of my own impression of the Goddess, releasing emotion and truth. Not all things are beautiful, beauty fades and changes, yet blossoms again.
Life is a precious gift, Nature powerful in her glory, I am part of this, in this moment in time.
Joyce does many things with clay, wire, and beads -- pottery, mugs, wind chimes, and sculpture.
See more on
Joyce Monsky's Artist's Page:
Whether you let it do its own thing or whether you micromanage it, watercolor painting is about managing the Flow.
Water and color flow differently over smooth paper versus more textured paper or silk. Creating hard or soft lines, or just wispy clouds of color depends on how the pigment-carrying water flows, gets absorbed by the paper, and dries.
As this month's Featured Artist, Debbie Slay will have an expanded selection of framed paintings on display. Landscapes and flowers are her favorite subjects, but she also enjoys the challenge of doing custom works for the visitors and local people she meets and sharing in their island memories.
Debbie Slay will be at Kailua Village Artists’ Gallery on April 2 (Sunday), April 10 (Monday), and April 24 (Monday).
April 2023 New Art At The Gallery
Giclees and Photographs of Hawaii Island
