Eleanor Rubin: An Artist's Impressions

A Sea of Voices

In this post I am highlighting my art work on the cover of "A Sea of Voices," a collection of poems by women poets in Israel.  This book was edited by Marjorie Agosin and will be available as of summer 2008.  Below is a picture of this book which is to be published by Sherman Asher, Sante Fe, New Mexico.
(Click on the thumbnail image to enlarge it).

Virtual Studio Open House

I've chosen this calligraphic drawing of a woman to represent my current work in progress.
This image together with two other November '07 posts and new photo albums, will collectively give you a feeling for my on-going interest in narrative art.  Comments are welcome.  Click to enlarge this and all images.

Work in Progress: Homage to GEGO

Years ago I met the Venezuelan artist GEGO (Gertrud Goldschmidt, 1912-1994).  This year I saw the retrospective of her work at the Drawing Center in New York.  I've grown to love the works on paper and the sculptures of this woman who draws with wire and whose work can be both monumental and intimate in scale.  Here  are a few recent works of mine inspired by GEGO's  "Lamina" series.  (click image to enlarge)

Work in Progress: Narrative images

This year's "WORK IN PROGRESS" includes several series of narrative images.  Mid November through January 1, '08 I will post a secession of on-going narrative series. This group of images is called: "A Twig of Bird Song" 

Illuminations

My watercolor, "Floating Possibilities" is part of the Fall '07 Illuminations exhibit which opens Novemeber 7, 2007. Illuminations is an exhibition at Massachusetts General Hospital's Yawkey Center for Cancer Care.

"Being in Pictures" book by Joanne Leonard, foreward by Lucy Lippard

The photos posted here are from the book "Being In Pictures: An Intimate Photo Memoir" by Joanne Leonard.  Joanne Leonard is my identical twin sister. (All photos can be enlarged by clicking on the image within the post. Click "Being in Pictures" link to get to Joanne's website and ordering information about the book.)    

 

 

" Intimate is the perfect word to
describe this remarkable and beautifully
designed collection, our pick for the best art
book published this year. The stylistically
diverse photography, which ranges from
documentary photographs to photo collages, is
clearly the work of a singular artist. Joanne
Leonard's work, linked by her feminist politics
and her deep engagement with family, comprise
an autobiography in which the pictures and
accompanying text echo off each other, breaking
open a most interesting life and the work of a
major artist."-- Karl Pohrt, bookseller, Shaman Drum Bookshop

The first image I show in this post is the book's cover.  Photos from the book's early chapters of Elly and Joanne as infants and as teens are also posted here. The photo of Joanne and Eleanor in their 20s was taken by Elly's husband David.  

Joanne has included my artwork in her book. Below is one drawing by me which appears in her photo memoir:  Pictured is the birth announcement card for Joanne's daughter, Julia Marjorie Leonard:

In Praise of Animals

I am pleased to announce the publication of a book of poems and quotations, "In Praise of Animals" which uses my woodcut "Anniversary Elephant" on its cover.  This book, edited by Edward Searl, is published by Skinner House Press, (WWW.UUA.ORG/SKINNER) April 2007. Click on this image to enlarge.

Spring '07 finds me hard at work on a children's book that I am writing and illustrating.
I'll post updates of my progress on this book here later in the season.

New Book Cover: Coming of Age

Click on the image to enlarge and view the book cover of "Coming of Age." The art work on the cover is my watercolor/collage titled "Winged Companion."  This book is one of four collections of poems and quotations edited by Edward Searl and published by Skinner House Press.  "Coming of Age" will be available later this month.

Winged Companion

"Winged Companion" is the title of this watercolor/collage. The image was chosen for the cover of a book published by Skinner House Books December 2006. The book is called "Coming of Age" and is Edward Searl's selection of poems and quotations to celebrate the transition from childhood to adulthood. The book is available now from Skinner House Books

Work in Progress: Studio Open House October 22, 2006

Welcome to my studio Open House event. If you can attend in person, Wonderful! If you are visiting on line, Welcome to you too! Below is a short description of what I am trying to accomplish with the project that I will feature, along with my prints, drawings and watercolors created in the last few years.

Dynamic Signals in Times of Danger: Kites, Lanterns and Fans

I'm interested in how people signal that they are in danger, that they want peace and that they want to communicate their needs to others when communication is dangerous or forbidden.

My inspirations for this project include:
KITES that flew over the barrier wall between Israel and the West Bank in a 2005 project called "10,000 kites." My long-time interest in birds-in-flight- is another antecedent of my current focus on exploring kite making. The image that is shown on the front of the 2006 card that announces this project is of "Postal Kite", a kite made from an envelope with fabric tail.
LANTERNS used to commemorate the bombing at Hiroshima are another source of inspiration. In Hiroshima the ritual of setting lanterns afloat to remember those who died is repeated each year. People return to Hiroshima's Motoyasu river to light the lanterns and set them afloat. The Motoyasu river is the very river that some survivors fled to in an effort to escape the heat of the nuclear blast. The lanterns set a-float on rivers around the world each year on August 6th are said to release the souls of the dead.
FANS that carried private messages among women in China at a time that women were forbidden to write to one another, is the reason for including "Fans" in this exploration. The novel, "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See is invaluable to anyone interested in the secret messages women who were isolated from their families sent to each other in this way.

Visitors to my studio open house will see first attempts to make kites, lanterns and fans. I have much to learn and hope that feed back from visitors will assist me. Vistiors to my studio will see prints, drawings and watercolors developed in the last few years along side of kites, Lanterns and Fans. If you would like information about the time and place of this studio open house, please contact me.
"This program is supported in part by a grant from the Newton cultural council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency."