Warm Up

 
 

Like an athlete, I do warm-up (or practice) sheets in the marbling tank, stretching memory muscle and calibrating hand-eye coordination, before diving into "real" tank work.

 
 

I'm also testing my bath and paints to see how they are behaving. Like us, a new day means a new personality for both of them and things that worked well yesterday may not today. Warming up is about getting into the groove.

 
SkoogWarmUp3.jpg
 

Many times, these practice pieces turn out to be some of my favorite pieces, partly because I have no expectations of them and partly because I don't think too hard about things and just let my creative instinct (and eight years of marbling experience!) take the lead.

Visual Show of Recent Work

I do a lot of posting over on Instagram (@barbskoog), my favorite social media platform. Here's a little catch up on some recent work ~ sketchbook (a.k.a. practice), works-in-progress, and finished pieces. 

Magnus Colo: Opening Saturday at Dab Art Gallery

 
Rogue Thought, 2015Marbled Wood Panel24" x 24" x 1.5"

Rogue Thought, 2015
Marbled Wood Panel
24" x 24" x 1.5"

 

I am so excited to finally give you a peek into one of my favorite series to have worked on in the past few years. I've been keeping this work under the radar, not sharing it publicly on any social media, but now it is making its great debut at Dab Art Gallery this Saturday as part of the group exhibition Magnus Colo. 

From the press release:

Dab Art is pleased to present MAGNUS COLO. An exhibition featuring the colorful and intriguing works of Franscesa Saveri, Rebecca Woodhouse, Huntz Liu, Janet Milhomme, John Swartout, Lisa Daniels, Kirk McCoy, Barbara Skoog and Perfecto Baloloy Jr. 

Using the strategies of accumulation, saturation, and the repetitive mark, these artists explore their fascination with color saturated space and form. From the delicately controlled hand cut lines of Huntz Liu’s layered paper piece Spilt 1(2016) to the jostling interaction of Perfecto Baloloy’s Food Trip (2016) and Barbara Skoog’s Rogue Thought (2015), where contrast controlled surroundings and fluid lines are layered in between heavy color.
 
Inside Underneath, 2015Marbled Wood Panel20" x 20" x 1.5"

Inside Underneath, 2015
Marbled Wood Panel
20" x 20" x 1.5"

 

I started creating this series last summer, during the two-week residency with my New Ground collaborator Liz Kalloch. There were moments in between working together on our collaborative pieces where I needed to bust out on my own and exercise different creative muscles (partly because of my ADD-like personality and partly because I was stuck or tired or inspiration struck or I was waiting for something to dry before working on it more). What started out as a simple exploration of bold color blocks eventually led to adding overmarbled "windows" that were in response to the interesting shapes that emerged from the color-block background. 

 
Happening, 2015Marbled Wood Panel24" x 24" x 1.5"

Happening, 2015
Marbled Wood Panel
24" x 24" x 1.5"

 

After returning home from the residency, I continued work on the series. both on wood panel and on paper. I'm thrilled that six of the wood panel pieces will be at Dab Art ~ one in the group show and the rest in a second gallery. 

Also part of the show are several pieces from another series I started work on earlier this year. In these pieces, I created distressed marbled backgrounds and then overmarbled both geometric and organic shapes using masks. 

To Be Seen, 2016Marbled Wood Panel8" x 8" x 1.5"

To Be Seen, 2016
Marbled Wood Panel
8" x 8" x 1.5"

Mindset, 2016Marbled Wood Panel8" x 8" x 2"

Mindset, 2016
Marbled Wood Panel
8" x 8" x 2"

Three pieces from this series will be a part of the group exhibition and five will be included in the second gallery as well.

Curator Yessica Torres has pulled together a strong show ~ you can check out some of the featured work here and the list of invited artists here.

I'm so looking forward to seeing the instillation and meeting the other artists at the Opening Reception this Saturday. I invite you to join me and experience the show in person, meet the artists, and share in an evening of color and intrigue.

GROUP EXHIBIT || MAGNUS COLO
Opening Reception || Saturday, April 16, 2016 || 7-10PM || RSVP
Dab Art Gallery || 1793 East Main || Ventura, CA 93001

 

TAG Recap

 
Our pieces in the TAG show: Side Conversation and Liminal #1. These were made by my co-collaborator Liz Kalloch and me during our New Ground residency this summer.

Our pieces in the TAG show: Side Conversation and Liminal #1. These were made by my co-collaborator Liz Kalloch and me during our New Ground residency this summer.

 

What an extraordinary time in the Bay Area a couple of weekends ago! The TAG pop-up show was such a blast and a huge success. Joyce Conlon did a fantastic job curating the exhibition and the walls were pure eye candy! I loved watching people walk the rooms and take in (and respond to!) the artwork, asking great questions along the way. It was a wonderful evening and a spectacular personal experience.

For me, one of the highlights of participating in a group show is developing relationships with the other artists ~ and standing side-by-side with them in the gallery (with all the trepidation, excitement, and anticipation that comes with exhibiting one's soul work) while sharing our creative stories (the good, the bad, the ugly, the ups and downs, the techniques that worked and didn't, and everything swirling about in between!). This group was no exception. Talented, funny, curious, open-hearted and open-minded ~ my 48 hours with them I will cherish.

 
Most of the participating artists: Kimberly Rowe, Joyce Conlon, me, Liz, and Bill Russell.

Most of the participating artists: Kimberly Rowe, Joyce Conlon, me, Liz, and Bill Russell.

 

One of the questions Liz and I got asked most was, "So, how does this collaboration thing work?" And the simple answer is...it just does. Liz and I don't put a lot of effort into the structure of the collaboration. In other words, we don't have regular meetings to establish goals or rules or expectations. There is no pre-nup that outlines who gets what should our collaboration abruptly end. We didn't sign a sacred contract and we didn't do a personality test beforehand. We simply became really good friends and then decided to create something together. We didn't know exactly what that would be but we were both willing to take the journey together.

And that was how New Ground started.

Liz and I have been collaborating together for over a year now and our work has taken us in several directions and on several adventures as we learned (and continue to learn!) how to work with each other and our two mediums. And it was the summer residency, which pulled together all the effort and energy we've put into the collaboration, where things really took off. If you'd like to see more of what we've been doing, head on over to www.NewGroundCollaboration.com and check things out.

Thank you to all who came to the TAG show. You're support, encouragement, and enthusiasm are received with so much gratitude. Liz and I are excited to get back into the studio together again (next month!) and continue to travel down the creative path together.

Hand-marbled Papers in the Shop!

 
 

Over the past month, I've been adding an affordable line of select hand-marbled paper to my online shop. These are papers I have a particular liking for...they catch my eye in some way: a perfectly executed traditional pattern, a lovely color palette, a stunning unique design. The inventory is always changing and I'm adding new papers once-a-week.

The best part: hand-marbled papers SHIP FREE (in the US)!

I'm excited to be shipping this one out to a sweet customer (who said kind words about my work) today:

 
 

Marbling Class at BookArtsLA

 
 

I'm so excited to be teaching again at BookArtsLA next weekend (March 5-6). The facility is such a lovely place with lots of room and natural light to work in. And I have had such fun students in these classes ~ full of energy and enthusiasm with a fearless attitude toward playing in the marbling tank! I don't know how I keep getting so lucky!

I'll once again be teaching the popular 2-day Introduction to Marbling class. In this marbling immersion class, students will learn the nuts and bolts of the art form, dive into traditional pattern making (foundation and advanced patterns) using the large marbling tank, and have time for creative exploration. You'll leave with a robust understanding of the art form, dozens of marbled papers, and the confidence to start marbling at home.

Everything is provided. Just show up and have fun! To register, head on over to BookArtsLA's website.

Introduction to Marbling
Saturday, March 5 and Sunday, March 6
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
BookArtsLA
11720 Washington Place, Los Angeles