Earlier Hand Series Paintings

These are the first three of the hand series, completed in August and October of 2010.

New Paintings!

After a heavy graphics work schedule for the last few months, I took an evening to finish one of the hand series paintings, then did two others right afterward! Sometimes they just flow....

Photography Book Published!

Thanks to the advice my Facebook friend, Annie Bissett, I found a good book printer/publisher. The first of my "Closer Look" photo studies is now available at Blurb.com. Stop by and take preview of the book!

A Closer Look: Nature by Rosemary Wessel | Make Your Own Book

Hilltown CDC Show

Resonances (continued) is up at the Hilltown Community Development Corporation offices in Chesterfield, MA. There aren't as many new pieces as I had hoped (the weeks have been too busy to finish the miniature series I'm working on) but it's a very different space with a different selection of pieces. It's a nice building, flooded with natural light and the Pelletiers, in charge of shows there, spaced the work out nicely, so each painting has breathing space. Unfortunately "Introspect" was deemed a bit too risqué for the general public once again, so it's not in the show.

Anyone is welcome to visit to see the art, whether they have business with the HCDC or not. The staff are very friendly and it's all right inside the main door and the big conference room. The show is up until September 15.


Work in the studio right now, a set of eight small pieces, seven with hands, showing different radiations of energy. I also still have "Shared Joy", "Bereft" (talk about polarity) and "Open Heart" ready to paint - now that I have a large paint supply again.

Repairs need to be made to Stellar Flame's broken finger, Distant Sharing's head injury and a re-bracing of the stretcher for Waves. These paintings need permanent homes.

There are also a couple I've set aside until I can come to terms with them - 'nuff said about those for now.

So much to do, so little time!

I've been negligent in keeping up the blog here!

My work is currently being exhibited at the Cummington Community House, now thru July 19th. Then I have another show at the Hilltown CDC offices in Chesterfield, MA from July 29th through September 15.

I really need to get a van for myself, rather than borrow the truck from my Mom all the time. :? Sometime soon I'm looking into a Westfalia or other diesel minivan that I can convert over to run on veg. oil. Nothing's worse than belching out extra carbon emissions for a show.

New work is coming. I have two scultped and primed, and one huge one ready to be primed. There are also LOTS of parts for other paintings waiting for me to assemble them and a series of small, non-figuratives living in my head. Onward!

New and old work documented

The sun was out today - time to bring the most recent paintings up for an official portrait, with more accurate colors. Both of these were fininshed in March.

"Overcharged"
(Former working title was "1,000 miles per second")


"High Hopes"

And these are some old ones, circa 1988 or 1989, recently found and finally bound for the "Old Art" gallery on www.rosemarywessel.com.



"Shift Approaching"

One of the last paintings in my old style. I painted in both styles for a few years as the new style evolved. The older ones tended to follow more sci/fi - illustration themes than the spiritual/energetic focus of the new ones. Also a rare experiment with acrylics. I never got used to them.





"Off Kilter"

The last of the early paintings of the new style. It's still before the mixed media canvases, but the paint is thick and highly sculptural on its own. There were a few years when I used this approach before I realized I truly wanted to sculpt the surfaces. It has a degree of abstraction I still struggle to achieve more often than not. It's done in oils.

Notes from down below

Hello! Lots going on down in the studio.

I just finished this painting this morning - "High Hopes". The coloring in the photo is horrid, but it's way too wet to carry upstairs for photographing in the light. This gives you the general idea. I'm pretty sure it's done ... maybe.

I have three more canvases primed and ready to go. "1,000 Miles Per Second" is next up with "Shared Joy" right behind it. "Shared Joy" is a large painting with casts from over half a dozen people. I've been working on it for a long time, and am now at the stage of contemplating the color sheme behind it. The third one - still without title - I may wait a while to paint. Since it has relatively prevalent breasts, I won't be able to put it in the upcoming show anyway - public spaces don't like to acknowledge any gender-specific parts. I wonder if they'd ban a Barbie Doll® show? :\

I also just finished sculpting the first of the Contemplation series, or as I keep calling it in my head "Sweet Buddha". Originally, I was planning to only emphasize the crown chakra area, but the model's stance when we were casting was so forward leaning, it looked like she was cradling something in her hands, so now the emphasis is on that nurturing energy - the ball of concentrated energy above the hands, a flooding of the heart chakra and the original expanded crown chakra I intended, along with an inner crest.

In the works also are "Bereft", a large canvas with it's casts in place, waiting for just a tiny bit of sculpting. As you may gather from the title, this one is depicting the point at which someone has nothing left to offer and nothing left to fight back with - total resignation; and "Thinking of You" a very small piece involving the influx of energies of other people to the main subject of the painting. This one's still in the casting stage. Several pieces are ready, but it needs lots of little bits of more faces.

There's one tiny canvas waiting for a decision. I think it's going to be a lone head with just a "slice" of aura.

Things in the works

Haven't posted in a while, though I've been quite busy with art.
Had a GREAT casting session with my neice, Jeana Hamilton Major, and her daughter Mariah. Got a box-full of casts including one set specifically for the meditation series I'm starting.

I have someone set for casting the series of seven "Connection" paintings in the previous post below. She's a friendly stranger - friend of a friend - and very interested in the work. These will be multiple full body casts - a generous offer on her part!

As always, I'm very, very grateful for everyone who's stepped up to be cast for these paintings. Aside from just a couple of cases of claustrophobia, the vast majority of people who have had it done have enjoyed it, comparing it to a spa day. The mix of cocoa butter and the heat of the plaster pack are a great facial. Some people relax until they fall asleep under the casts, and come out looking years younger! Still not sure if it's the heat pack or deep relaxation that does that for people.

If anyone's ever interested - especially guys, since so few have modeled so far - I'm always interested in getting casts for upcoming work. Just email, call or reach me through Facebook.