Nesting Box up for auction soon!

Let me just start this by saying I think artists get asked to donate artworks far too often at too high a cost to the artist and generally offering artworks for prices under the value of artworks, so I do not put my work up for auction lightly or often. But there are organizations and causes that I do like to support, so I will occasionally offer an artwork in a benefit auction.

The Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, is one of those organizations that I do feel strongly about supporting and with whom I love to work. So I am contributing to their annual art auction this year, coming November 17th, 2012. Here is my artist's statement and bio that will be accompanying my work.

“’Nesting Box’ is part of my home-themed series of works, exploring the concept of home and all that it encompasses. Home can be a structure, in this case, the house on the top, the nest inside and the box itself can all be homes. Home can be a more general geographic area, or even a kind of landscape. A home is a stage for life, where we retreat to and where we interact with others. Humans have brought dogs into their homes since prehistoric times and the land we share is home to many other animals and wild birds.

A couple notes of interest: The dog depicted here is a Staffordshire bull terrier, the same breed as my own two dogs. Many of my works include sketches of sparrows, to remind me of a Bible verse in Matthew that says God knows when a sparrow falls and how much more he looks after each of us. (It helps me to know I’m being watched over and cared for.) The rocks in this piece were first collected and polished by my great grandfather, who was an avid rock hound, then came to my possession after my grandfather’s death. My great grandfather created many lovely objects from the rocks he collected and I’m sure he’d be happy that they are now finding their way into my works of art.”

(You'll notice those rocks are missing from these photos, so you'll just have to come see them in person at the auction... or trust that they are perfect in the piece and phone your bids in...)

 

“In my work, multiple physical layers also stand in for multiple layers of meaning: black & white photos and sketches stand in for the physical world, colors represent the spiritual world. There is always a spiritual meaning that overlays my work. In this work, Home is also a reference to Heaven…”

Judith is always conscious of the environment and our impact on it, choosing to “up-cycle” found objects into artworks whenever possible. This work was started with a wood cigar box, to which the artist affixed her own original black and white photographs and sketches as well as with found and dried leaves. Color was then applied in multiple layers with colored pencils, acrylic glazes and Caran d’Ache artists’ crayons. The artist finally “feathered” her nest with a small found feather and stones.

Judith Monroe teaches photography at Sierra College and has worked in photography for nearly 30 years. Beginning with hand-coloring, she has continually incorporated additional media into her works until she became known as a mixed media artist about four years ago, using her photographs in her mixed media collage art and now working both two and three dimensionally. She is represented in several galleries across northern California and her work can be found in various collections including the Ontological Museum in Colorado, the Ritz Carlton at North Star, Tahoe, and Kaiser Permanente in Roseville, as well as in private collections from Sacramento to Scotland.

Selected Awards:

Honorable Mention, Juror Scott A. Shields, Chief Curator, Crocker Art Museum, “In Search of Grace,” St. John’s Thirty-Seventh Religious & Spiritual Art Festival, Sacramento, Ca, March 2011

First Place, “St John’s Thirty-Sixth Religious Art Festival” Juror Thomas Morphis, MFA, Sacramento, Ca, March 2009        

(Retail price for Nesting Box is $295 with an opening bid of $150 - but the goal is to raise money for the amazing exhibits, lectures and Studio Tour that the CCAS hosts, so bid high!) More details soon at http://www.ccasac.org/.