My medium is photography. Photography keeps me involved in seeing, observing, reinterpreting the world as I move through it, watching the light, the people's faces as we interact in casual conversations. Lately I have been photographing nature where there are not people, only light and shadow as it moves on the landscape of trees and water.
Being self-taught means that nobody is warning you about all the things you shouldn’t do, and the trial-and-error path is full of wrong turns and blind alleys.
My process is unusual. First I throw my pieces on a wheel. Then I create a pattern using a vertical, horizontal, and diagonal grid, afterwards removing the top of the vessel so that I can get my hand inside. I cut through the wall and move parts of the clay pattern, changing the angles of the various connecting planes.
As a portrait and landscape photographer, I look for special moments to capture – the scene, emotional values, time of day, the light.
I start with a question or feeling about the environment, then study data like maps and satellite images. I go into the field with my camera — sometimes using materials like wildfire charcoal — and create images that combine data with personal observation, helping people see and feel environmental changes.
Barbara McFadyen Iron Feather Studio - jewelry - Chapel Hill This is one in a series of posts about artists in the Orange County Artists Guild.IMPORTANT: Barbara's address and telephone number in OCAG's tour brochure are incorrrect! Here is the correct information:Iron Feather Studio2223 Mangum CourtStudio #74bnmcfadyen@gmail.comwww.barbaramcfadyen.com919-280-8672 How did you get interested in metalsmithing? I was the youngest of three…
NOTE: Steven Silverleaf is participating in the Studio Tour on both weekends. Find him at Studio #47. This summer, I spent the month of August in residency at Tenjinyama Art Center in Sapporo, Japan. I had done a residency in 2023 and was in need of a working space and they let me know that if I would apply they…
Painting - Carrboro This is one in a series of posts about artists in the Orange County Artists Guild. “April Afternoon” What is your medium? Why do you love it? I paint with acrylics and love its versatility. Unlike oils, it dries quickly and is great for painting 'alla prima' or all at once, as the Italians say. One can…
The preview exhibition for our upcoming Studio Tour at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro is going up! Volunteers from the guild are hanging the preview today. You can see the work of many of the artists participating in the Studio Tour there now through Oct. 26. The ArtsCenter is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday…
Elizabeth (Betty) Haskin Book arts - Chapel Hill This is one in a series of posts about artists in the Orange County Artists Guild. What is your medium? Why do you love it? How did you get interested in it? I became interested in bookmaking about twenty years ago when I attended a workshop at Penland School of Crafts…