April 2013

Pam Foss Fine Art 

Join us in celebrating the arrival of spring in St Michaels with a “knock your socks off” show of exciting new sculpture and gorgeous new paintings by Pam Foss and Joe Mayer.     This is a must see show, and one that I’m not about to spoil by showing you anything beyond the four attached pictures that speak volumes to the strength and beauty of this amazing exhibition.  

What I can say with certainty is that this show clearly demonstrates that both Pam Foss and Joe Mayer are at the top of their game.  They, in this writer’s informed opinion, are creating work that compares favorably with that of any sculptor or painter at work today. 

Pam Foss works in a space between life and art. Her sculpture, in addition to being structurally complex, thematically ambitious, and materially inventive, is also personal, poetic, nuanced and mysterious.  

Joe Mayer, a veritable fountain of youth, is a brilliant painter and true master of abstraction whether working with oils, acrylics or watercolors.   His colorful pictorial expressions are masterfully composed and brilliantly executed. 

In addition to these stunning new works by Pam Foss and Joe Mayer are a selection of major recent sculptures and paintings in a wide variety of media that are being presented as part of the Gallery’s ongoing celebration of 100 years of Modernism in America. 

Pam Foss Fine Art gallery is open every day but Tuesday.  Hours are 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Friday and Saturday and from 11:00AM to 5:00PM on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.  The gallery is also open by appointment.  To schedule an appointment, please call (410) 490-1140. 

Come visit the gallery as soon as you can and share the excitement.  This is one amazing show! 

While in St Michaels you will also want to stop by Pam’s studio at 413 South Talbot and see the incredible sculpture model Pam has well underway based on the 1931 Artic Expedition of the submarine Nautilus.     

September / October

September 25, 2012

Pam and I are thrilled to announce that Saturday, October 13^th has been set for our official Gala Grand Opening of our new, contemporary fine art gallery in St Michaels.  The grand opening is open to the public and will be held at the Pam Foss gallery in St Michaels between 5:00 and 9:00PM with light fare and wine being served.  The gallery is located at 413 South Talbot Street.  Please call (410) 745-2465 or (410) 490-1140 for directions or further information.

In keeping with the upcoming presidential election and our strong desire to encourage people, regardless of their political persuasion, to get out and vote for the candidates of their choice we are presenting new sculptures and paintings at the Grand Opening paying tribute to the heroic women of the woman’s suffrage movement.  Those remarkably brave women who were willing to fight the fight and pay the price for the right of all women to be able to freely cast their vote.

Pam has been working on creating new sculpture for the Suffrage show.  The first, which she just completed, is a bas-relief of of Inez Milholland on horseback in 1913 as she prepares to lead a suffragette parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC.  Inez took up the suffrage cause while still a student at Vassar, recruiting more than half her classmates to the cause.  Inez went on the complete law school at NYU and practice law in New York City, representing laborers and helping women with divorce proceedings.    She devoted her life to the cause of woman’s suffrage, dying at the tender age of 30 from a rare blood disorder while on a speaking tour in Los Angeles.    Thousands of supporters would mourn her death at a Christmas Day memorial service under the dome of the U.S. Capitol.

Pam is also well underway with a fascinating “art box” construction portraying a moment in the life of Alice Paul, the fearless leader in the suffrage fight and founder of the National Woman’s Party.  Alice employed tactics she learned while in England assisting the fight for woman’s suffrage in Great Britain.  These tactics included massive demonstrations, parades, and picketing the White House, all of which were unheard of in that day.  Not surprisingly these tactics were not well received by the establishment.  The women demonstrating for their constitutional rights were jailed, beaten and subjected to force feedings for refusing to eat the rotten, maggot infested prison food.   

Ann Sharp, a superb portrait artist has done a phenomenal painting of suffragette, Dora Lewis.  Dora Lewis was among the outspoken hunger-striking suffragettes and she received some of the most brutal treatment at the hands of wardens at the District jail and the Occoquan Workhouse. During the infamous “Night of Terror” of November 15, 1917, at Occoquan, Lewis was hurled bodily into her cell. She was knocked unconscious and feared dead when she collided headfirst against her iron bed frame. Lewis and Lucy Burns were initial leaders of the hunger strike in Occoquan; both grew so weak that they were held down by attendants and force-fed through a tube.

Dora Lewis was also the primary speaker at a protest held in memory of Inez Milholland at Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., on August 6, 1918. When she was dragged away and arrested before finishing her first sentences–much to the consternation of the gathered crowd–other speakers rose to take her place. One after another, they too were arrested.

The tactics employed by the Suffragettes of the National Woman’s Party succeeded in galvanizing the public’s attention to the cause and finally, after a 75 year long fight, getting a constitutional amendment passed and signed into law in 1920.

Come and celebrate the accomplishments of these truly remarkable women while also enjoying the collection of amazing art that is making our beautiful gallery the talk of Maryland’s Eastern Shore and beyond.  

Pictures of the Inez Milholland bas-relief by Pam Foss and the Dora Lewis portrait in oil by Ann Sharp are attached.

Bob & Pam Foss      

August

It's show time!

The response we’ve been getting from people attending my Quiet Waters Show thus far has been very rewarding.  Frankly, I was a bit worried going in as to how people in the Annapolis area, thought by many to have no appreciation for abstract art, would respond to my big, bold abstract sculptures that are the focus of this show.  I’m pleased to say that my worries were completely unfounded.  Seeing people love and embrace my work to the extent that they do at Quiet Waters is the most gratifying moment I have yet to experience in my career. 

I strongly encourage each and every one of you who haven’t yet seen my show at Quiet Waters to make doing so a priority.  If you haven’t seen these sculptures in person, then you simply haven’t seen my work at all.  Photography, no matter how well it is done, tends to flatten out three dimensional works and deprive the viewer of the subtlety, complexity and textures that define the work.  The Quiet Waters Show also marks the very first public showing of the vast majority of the abstract sculpture I have created over the past two years.

I will be at Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis every Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM throughout the remainder of show which ends on September 18. 

June and July

We've been busy getting things together for my show at Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis, MD.  Putting a thirty year retrospect together is quite a task.  I think you will be pleasently surprised with the changes and grouth I've made over the years, from traditional to abstract, it's all there.  This is a show you won't want to miss.

Your Invited

You are cordially invited to the opening reception for my solo show A Passion for Paper at beautiful Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis, Maryland.  The show will run from August 4^th through September 18^th and be open to the public daily except Tuesdays between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM 

An opening reception will be held at the Willow Gallery between 2 and 4 PM on Sunday, August 7^th 2011.  The Willow Gallery is located in the Visitors Center at Quiet Waters Park.

Admission to the reception is free.  Simply present this invitation or tell the attendant at the gate that you are attending the reception and they will allow you to enter the Park.  Once you are beyond the gate, just follow the signs leading to the Visitors Center.

In addition to the large number of cast-paper sculptures I will be showing at Quiet Waters there will also be a selection of bronzes and cast resin sculpture I have created over the course of my 32 year career. 

Please contact me should you have any questions concerning the show.

Pam Foss

25330 Lambs Meadow Road

Worton, MD 21678

May

We're Back

We've had a very busy and cold winter.  On any given day, you could find me sitting on a space heater in my studio.  This was the only way I could stay warm enough to get my work done.  I feel good about how things turned out, it was well worth a little discomfort.  My husband Bob has turned into a great Studio Nome, helping me with the castings.  He's as excited about this new work as I am.

Sculpture with a Pulse

It is with great pleasure that I share a glimpse of a magnificent new mixed media relief by Pam Foss.  This piece represents the latest and perhaps greatest progression yet of Pam’s unique ability to infuse her sculpture with rich, varied surface textures and a phenomenal sense of movement that combine to bring her work to life.  Her work may be accurately described as sculpture with a pulse!

Making far greater use of color than in any of her previous sculptures, Pam blended a palette of bronze and copper pigments to create a truly spell-binding, highly luminous surface that accentuates the passion and motion inherent in this sculpture.      

Pam named this beautiful relief sculpture Cross Currents.  It was created as an essential stepping stone in the progression leading to a stunning 3-D mixed media diptych that Pam has underway and nearing completion in her studio.  This diptych is comprised of a pair of beautifully modeled, highly expressive, abstract landscapes in relief that measure 48” high by 48” wide.   Pictures will be available before month’s end.  Stay tuned.          

Cross Currents is a mixed media piece made of hand cast paper and acrylic paints.  It measures 14” high by 14” wide and mounted on a 20” high by 20” wide black matt.   This is a one-of-a-kind sculpture and available for sale.     Please call for pricing and shipping options.

I hope you enjoy seeing this new work.

Bob Foss

Cross Current

14" by 14"

Westie Takes Manhattan

January

I thought I’d start out the New Year with a bit of fun by imagining what a giant, 30 feet high version of my Westie chair would look like placed on an uptown Park Avenue median.  Thanks to the miracle of Photoshop, I was able to bring this vision to life and now share it with all my friends. 

I don’t know about you, but I think the Westie really looks totally cool in this environment and would in fact make for a magnificent and beloved piece of public sculpture.  I must admit that it did get me thinking that if Jeff Koons could create some amazing public sculpture with his “Balloon Dogs” then maybe I should do the same with my “chair dogs.”  There is many a great city across the land in need of the immense good cheer that a sculpture like this will bring to those who comes in contact with it each and every day of the year.  

Anyone in the market for a 30’ tall Westie chair?

Despite the weather, work is progressing nicely on my latest new cast-paper sculpture.  The sculpture is being done in two stages with the first stage nearing completion.  I’ve attached a picture to show the progress I’ve made on the piece in the last month. 

My Quiet Waters Show in Annapolis is coming up in August and I’m hoping to be able to show a number of bronzes along with my cast paper and chair dogs at the show.  I currently have three bronzes committed for the show, but would like to have more.  If anyone owning one of my bronzes would like to loan their sculpture for the show please get in touch.      

I’ve been thinking of creating a new sculpture for my Painted Critter “chair dog” line.  The sculpture I have in mind is a King Charles Cavalier spaniel that would be similar in size to my Westie and Boston terrier.  I would welcome pictures from any of you who own a Cavalier that you think would make a good model for the piece.  I love doing dogs that have a certain quality that serves to define the breed.  I know it when I see it.

Finally, Bob and I have recently been invited to serve as board members for Artworks, a long established community art organization in Chestertown, Maryland.   We appreciate the honor and relish the opportunity of contributing our energy and experience to this superb organization.

Stay tuned and visit soon.

Pam & Bob Foss

Pam Foss Sculpture

25330 Lambs Meadow Rd.

Worton, MD 21678

Tel: (410) 348-5439

Web: www.pamfosssculpture.com

Email: info@pamfosssculpture.com 

December News

I have two items to report on in the December News.  The first concerns the Painted Critter website which we have discontinued as part of our effort to consolidate all of my work on my primary site which is www.pamfosssculpture.com.   As of now, those visiting the Painted Critter website you will be re-directed to our primary site.   

The second bit of news is that we are now able to accept PayPal on purchases of my work from my website.              

Being that the short cold days of winter are on our doorstep and we’re all looking for something to warm and brighten our days, allow me to put in a shameless plug for one of my fans favorite sculptures, Terracotta One.  Many of my collectors tell me that this piece conjures an image of the hot, wind blown surface of a sun drenched desert.  Others speak of it as a metaphor for the ever shifting currents of life itself.

Terracotta One measures 16” high by 16” wide by 2.5” deep mounted on board. I cast and painted these sculptures as a limited edition of 12, each signed and numbered.  There are just a few sculptures remaining in this edition, so please don’t delay if this is a piece you would like to add to your collection.  The price is $595, shipping included.

I love my new studio and busy creating a number of new cast-paper sculptures for my August/September 2011 show at Quiet Waters in Annapolis.  At the moment I’m working on a mixed media relief comprised of two large panels, each four feet high by four feet wide.  The piece is an abstraction of the gently rolling, but ever changing landscape that makes Kent County Maryland such an inspiring place for an artist to live and work.  This is a very complex relief to create in that I am sculpting the model using a combination of both clay modeling and foam carving techniques to give the viewer the illusion of motion.  I’ve attached a copy of my working drawing for this sculpture along with a picture of the progress to date.

Those interested in seeing this, or other works in progress are more than welcome to visit my studio.  Just call and arrange an appointment that will be convenient to the both of us.   The studio is a less than a two hour drive from Philadelphia, Washington, or Baltimore and a three hour drive from Manhattan.

Our new Studio is located at the old Still Pond Coast Guard Station right on the Chesapeake Bay.  The most inspirational location to create my art yet.

Bob and I wish each of you a happy Holiday Season and a happy, healthy New Year.

Pam & Bob Foss

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