Opening reception for "Nature Rubbings," artwork by Sue Biddle. Exhibit runs April 13–May 25.
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Nature rubbing is a process of discovery; finding the rock or tree stump, laying rice paper on it, rubbing the paper with a hard wax crayon, revealing images, adding color, and imagining meaning.
The paper is soft with long fibers, which help it cling to the surface of the rock or stump without tearing. The crayon is palm sizes, hard, black wax that is also used for tombstone rubbing.
When the paper is rubbed with wax, the texture of the source underneath is transferred. The rock's history, the trees life lines, sap lines, bark edges, and natural and man-made inclusions become black and white images. Color is added using water based paint, pencils, or crayons.
The artistry lies in the selection of the subject and how the rubbing is arranged on the paper. Colors are chosen to enhance the shapes and spaces which spark the viewer's imagination. The finished rubbings stimulate stories that describe each person's perceptions. Nature, the artist, and the viewer all participate in this creative process.
Rock and tree rubbings are real, direct, and personal experiences with the textures of nature.
ARTIST BIO
I think of myself as a catalyst for creativity. I have spent a lifetime encouraging creativity in unlikely places. What is art? Answering that question was a challenge from my first drawing professor. After earning a BFA from the University of Kansas and after many years of teaching art, I discovered "art is healing". That led me to Arts for the Aging, a non-profit organization in Washington DC.
As their Director, I trained and scheduled local artists to share their passion with people who have Alzheimer's disease — people who seem to have lost everything. Through my art classes, using visual stimulation, music, movement and a community of respect, I saw connection and joy surface. I began to search for an art experience that would reinforce the participants' creative involvement.
After experimenting with different material and textures, one day, while sketching on the banks of the Potomac River, in Falls Church, Virginia, I looked down at the boulder I was standing on. My passion with rock rubbing was born! Rocks have stories to tell. Since 1989, I have added stumps and other natural and man-made objects to my rubbings.
My first rubbings exhibit was, appropriately, at the United States Geological Survey in Reston Virginia. My rubbings have shown in galleries and expositions throughout the country, including; Washington DC, California, Missouri and Austin, San Antonio and many other Texas Cities.
As a footnote, the rubbings experience really resonated with the Alzheimer's group, children and everyone in between!
AGE GROUP: | All Ages | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Exhibits | Arts & Creativity |
The Sprague Branch's high-gabled English Tudor style building has served the Sugar House community for three generations. The building was selected by the American Library Association in 1935 as the "Most Beautiful Branch Library in America." The two-level facility was opened in 1928 and has been renovated several times as use continues to increase. An expansion project to add a new public meeting room and remodel the building was completed in April 2001, which increased the square footage to 13,058. As the Sugar House shopping district sprouted up, the Sprague Branch continues to hold its historical charm and provide community members with outstanding public library services. Free parking is available to the east and south of the building, and free wi-fi access is provided throughout the library.
