Fluid Viscosity and Paper Marbling

Tags

Art Camp, Children, Paper Marbling

Text by Gregory Phillipy, Curator of Education

What is viscosity?

Viscosity is the measurement of the rate at which liquids move.  Think of the thickness a fluid has:  Water is thin and syrup is thicker, so therefore syrup has a higher viscosity than water.  Some liquids can move very fast (water and milk) having a low viscosity and others are slower (dish soap and honey) having a high viscosity. 

Paper marbling is the art of creating colorful patterns by applying high-viscosity liquid over low-viscosity liquid.   Taking advantage of the adage that, “oil and water do not mix,” this art form is based on controlling the flowing qualities of fluid movement.

Since the late 19th century, a boiled extract of the carrageenan-rich algae known as Irish moss (Chondrus crispus), has been employed to create the mucilaginous and highly viscous solution upon which the colored dyes and paints are applied. Today, many artists use carrageenan extracted from seaweed.   In recent years, a synthetic size made from methylcellulose, a common ingredient in instant wallpaper paste, is often used as a medium upon which to float acrylic and oil paints.  Some artists use ordinary shaving cream as a viscous medium.  The point is that these media will support a layer of higher viscosity liquid upon which to float colors for a design.

Colors made from pigments are mixed with a surfactant such as ox gall. Sometimes, oil or turpentine may be added to a color to achieve special effects.

The special tools of the trade are brushes, a deep tray, pigments, cattle gall and tragacanth.  It is believed to be invented in the thirteenth century Turkistan.  This decorative art then spread to China, India and Persia and Anatolia.  Turkish Ottoman calligraphers and artists used marbling to decorate books, imperial decrees, official correspondence and documents.  New forms and techniques were perfected in the process and Turkey remained the center of marbling for many centuries

This summer in July, Turkish artist Baki Cavlazolgu will teach at Children’s Art Camp at the TAMU University Art Galleries. 

TAMU Art Galleries Summer Art Camp 2013

For Children Ages 7 – 12

Cost: $50.00 per child – Registration limited to 20 students

Wednesday, July 24 – Friday July 26  1:00 – 4:00

Wednesday at the Stark Galleries

1:00 – 1:30 Registration/ check in: rules and introduction to the Art Galleries

1:30 – 2:30 Stained Glass/ Glassmaking Workshop:  Featuring Runyon Collections from the Forsyth Galleries. Campers learn about how stained glass is made and also about artistry as they create patterns for their own beautiful mosaic stained glass image! No glass cutting or soldering required.

2:30 – 3:00 snack time and games*

3:00 – 4:00 Frederick Remington and Western Storytelling Art

Thursday at the Stark Galleries

1:00 – 2:15 Turkish Delight and the Art of Paper Marbling:  with Turkish Artist Baki Cavlazoglu learn the art of true paper marbling history and technique to make your own colorful designs from the traditions of Turkey.

2:15 – 2:45 snack time and games*

2:45 – 4:00 Tai Chi Fan:  Learn this ancient Chinese martial art celebrated as a healthy activity and as a visual performance art form using a traditional Chinese fan.  Taught by Dr. Suzanne Droleskey and sponsored by the Confucius Institute. 

Friday at the Stark Galleries

1:00 – 2:15 Fun Photography:  with Gustavo Castillo: Campers will enjoy making photo techniques using wet plate and cyanotype styles of photography which do not require a camera.  We will also play games based on photography themes. 

2:15 – 2:45 snack time and games*

2:45 – 4:00 Mask Making: Become anyone (or anything) you want to be.  Make a mask that reflects your inner self.   Campers will explore the history and uses of mask from around the world.  We will use colored papers, tape, pipe cleaners and other materials to make our own masks.

*(Children bring snacks from home) Water and lemonade supplied by camp.  All art materials supplied at camp.

Payment:  Cash or check made out to University Art Galleries

Contact: Trudy Six

University Art Galleries, Texas A&M University

tsix@uart.tamu.edu

979.458.5460

Toilet of Venus- George Woodall

Tags

Art, Cameo Glass, george woodall, toilet of venus

Text by Kenya Hadnot, Gallery Attendant for the Forsyth Galleries

Born into a family of talent in the mid 1800s, George Woodall naturally drifted toward figurative work, life drawing and soon became a skilled craftsman. Between 1881 and 1882, George and his brother experimented with the production of carving cameo glass, soon specializing in this work. George was determined to refine the process used by John Northwood, the first major carver of cameo glass. George was quickly recognized as the greatest cameo carver of his time, as he surpassed the amount of work ever completed by Northwood. As a perfectionist, he was unhappy with the work of other engravers on his team. So he increasingly worked alone, sketching his own designs and carving his own vases; however, he occasionally collaborated with his brother to create highly valued work. He received much attraction for his solo works, not only because of the elaborate, decorative quality, but also because George’s love for photography marketed the glass very well and added to their commercial success.

The cameo technique refers to the art of carving or engraving a figure on a surface made up of at least two layers of different colors. The design is drawn onto the outer, opaque white layer of the vessel while the area that is meant to remain white is coated with an acid resistant agent. A great deal of skill, experience, and patience allowed engravers to endure the slow working process.

The colored plate I chose, Toilet of Venus by George Woodall, is white on blue on plum plaque (three layers) and is 17 1/4 in. George completed this piece in 1898 only after the artist discovered a flaw in the glass, and the whole of the work (which occupied him for many months) had to be recommenced on a fresh piece of glass. This beautiful piece stood out to me because of the hues and shadows that allowed the girls to come forth as angelic. The inner plate stars his daughters, two of whom are interacting with one another, and the third sitting on the floor in her own world. The depth of the photo along with the dark cobalt blue background give the girls an up-close, magnified view, though detail can be seen throughout the picture. The girls themselves look as if they could be statues as they stand amidst fountains, doves, fruit, bodies of water, plants, and other statues. Superb detail encompasses not only the inner plate, but the border as well. The outer plate consists of mythical creatures patterned in such a way that similar heads face the opposite direction, unless of course it is the lion head. These creatures are surrounded by floral designs and vines.

The tiniest flower was shaded to perfection and I am amazed by the amount of hard work George and similar engravers must have put in during their commercial peak. Every piece I’ve seen is amazing, whether it be simply floral designs on a vase or detailed mythological figures referencing Ancient Greece and Rome. Several of George Woodall’s cameo glass pieces are in possession of the Forsyth Galleries at Texas A&M University, including “Love’s Awakening” featuring Cupid, “Aurora” completed by George and his brother, and numerous vases such as “Wild Waves”, “Diana”, and “Sea Gulls”.

An Exciting Weekend in Aggieland

Text by Taylor Wilson, Gallery Attendant for the Forsyth Galleries

Suddenly, hundreds of them appear out of thin air. They’ve taken over every inch of our territory. They’re at Kyle Field, the MSC, walking along Military Walk, even on Northgate. Who are they, you ask? PARENTS!

That’s right; this past weekend was Parent’s Weekend, a time-honored tradition that welcomes the parents of our hard-working Aggies to College Station. There were plenty of events for them to attend including the Maroon and White game, an Aggie Mom’s Boutique, Midnight Yell, College Open Houses, and many others that helped them get a taste of what the Aggie life is really about.

Here at the Forsyth Galleries it was the closing weekend of our MSC OPAS exhibit. Some of the parents that stopped by were former members of OPAS and were excited to walk through their history. Traffic in the gallery was at an all-time high as students enjoyed showing their parents the artistic side of A&M.  With over 200 visitors on Saturday and Sunday, the gallery was constantly filled with excited parents, enlightened siblings, and proud students.

Even though we have now said our goodbyes to both our parents and the OPAS exhibit, there are even more exciting things to come in the near future including the end of a semester and the beginning of our new exhibit: Mount Washington Glass.  See you soon!

What A Workshop!

Tags

Artistic Expressions, Glenda Hoon Russell, Mixed Media

Text by Kenya Hadnot, Gallery Attendant for the Forsyth Galleries

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

The Forsyth Galleries collaborated with an on-campus student organization, Artistic Expressions, in order to host a mixed media art workshop. Glenda Hoon Russell instructed a number of students with diverse artistic backgrounds, showing examples of her work and guiding artists to perfection as they learned her medium of expertise. This non-traditional collage class was like no other; individuals were free to do whatever they pleased with the supplies available. Glenda encouraged artists to experiment and nurtured creativity as she constantly offered new ideas and compliments for unfinished pieces, and encouraged starting over if a student grew tired of the piece on which they were currently working.

Participants were allowed to use art supplies such as watercolor, ink, pastels, charcoal, glue, exacto knives, crayons and much more. Glenda explained that the purpose of the non-traditional collage was to enhance the element of discovery. While some images or text were superbly obvious, others were contrasting or even camouflaged. Artists tore apart books, newspapers, and magazines in order to form the foundation of their art pieces on a cardboard square. With access to a variety of mediums, each piece produced was one of a kind. While some participants worked patiently with blow dryers to melt crayons for cool coloring effects, others used paints and color pencils to enhance their paper findings. Working with cardboard squares and blow dryers in one setting was rather eclectic, but it got better.

Glenda carefully explained several techniques, making sure that each participant understood the vast amount of directions they could go. Instructions included tearing away from their piece with an exacto knife, using paper towels and glue to ball up for texture, painting with fingers and napkins instead of the traditional paint brush, and using tape to hide parts of the piece so other parts could stand out more. In a two hour time frame, some participants worked in detail on one piece, while others were able to produce two or three. For such a learning experience, Glenda Russell’s mixed media art workshop was fun, and simple to duplicate. Inspired by her teachings, Artistic Expressions will allow their members to recreate this experience.

Forsyth Guest Lecturer Violet M. Showers Johnson

Tags

Africana Studies, Black, Cotton Club, Garveyites, Harlem, History, New Negro, Professor Violet M. Showers Johnson, The Other Black Bostonians, West Indians

Text by Lynn C. McDaniel, Communications Specialist for the University Art Department

This past Thursday, February 21st, at our monthly brown bag lunch and lecture, Professor Violet M. Showers Johnson presented an extremely interesting lecture which she called Ambivalent Aesthetics: West Indians, Garveyites and the “New Negro Art” of the 1920s and 1930s.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Forsyth Learning Gallery was filled with guests, who listened as Professor Johnson discussed the emergence of the “New Negro”.  She explained that, following the Civil War, the failure of Reconstruction, and the black migration to the Northern States, black people began questioning who they were.  Were they African?  Many black people came from places other than Africa (such as the West Indies), and many were born in America—a generation or two away from Africa.  Were they American?  Technically, yes, but they were culturally undervalued in a nation deemed to be “white, Euro-American.”  Were they slaves?  No, they had their freedom, and yet they were still looked upon as inferior and were segregated in society, even by the Northern black people, who considered them trouble-makers.

Professor Violet M Showers Johnson

The 1920s and 1930s represented an age of vibrancy, energy and change.  It was the era of The Cotton Club and similar clubs in Harlem, where largely white audiences enjoyed shows performed by black entertainers.  Called “the Harlem Renaissance,” this period represented a time of growth and self-reflection for black people who asked themselves, “Who am I? What does it mean to be black?”  The “New Negro” discovered a newfound self- and racial-pride, and expressed that confidence through music, literature, theatre, dance and the arts.

In her description of what her presentation would be about, Professor Johnson stated, “The diverse creations of the New Negro Art validated and highlighted the African past of African Americans while situating them at the center of contemporary American life and culture.  At the same time that African American artists, scholars and activists were advocating this hybrid art movement, immigrants from Caribbean British colonies (the West Indies) were grappling with their multiple identities as British subjects and Blacks in America.  Nevertheless, as staunch adherents of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), founded by Jamaican Marcus Garvey, many West Indians were in the forefront of Black Nationalism and the celebration of black aesthetics. This presentation will describe, discuss and illustrate the immigrants’ conflicting encounters with American ‘New Negro Art’ while balancing imperial belonging and the Black immigrant experience.

Loïs Mailou Jones’ painting, Les Fetiches, 1938

Professor Johnson offered two examples of visual art which depicted the energy, vibrancy, and conflict of the “New Negro” movement.  The first, Loïs Mailou Jones’ painting, Les Fetiches, 1938, is a powerful painting of an African mask, which was a perfect symbol for this time of self-evaluation, question and discovery.

Aaron Douglas’ Study for Aspects of Negro Life: The Negro in an African Setting, 1934

The second example was Aaron Douglas’ Study for Aspects of Negro Life: The Negro in an African Setting, 1934, again, a vivid portrayal of dynamacism, joy and life that was evident in the “New Negro”.

Without question, the cultural impact of this movement–on all forms of the arts–was significant, and helped give a mighty voice to black people that they had never had before.  In the two decades that it lasted, the New Negro Art movement inspired significant changes in numerous other aspects of society as well, slowly contributing to the breaking down of racial barriers and integrating society, proving that art truly is the universal language.

Guests of the brown bag lunch and lecture series, which is held from Noon to 1:00 every third Thursday, are always encouraged to bring their lunch to enjoy during the lecture, and then participate in a lively discussion afterward.  The Forsyth invites you to join us and learn more about art and how it affects our world.

Violet M. Showers Johnson is Professor of History and Director of Africana Studies. She is the author of The Other Black Bostonians:  West Indians in Boston, 1900-1950.  For more information about the Africana Studies Program, please contact Ms. Johnson.