MA is Where it's At!

Embracing Uncertainty

Sowa Art District in Boston - October

     Embracing Uncertainty, organized by Claudia Fiks, draws on the philosophical ideas of Bertrand Russell, who believed that embracing doubt fosters wisdom, creativity, and growth. Russell argued that the pursuit of absolute certainty limits progress, while uncertainty can spark intellectual and artistic exploration. This exhibition challenges artists to explore their vulnerabilities and the unknown within their work. It encourages both artists and viewers to see uncertainty as an opportunity for growth, reflecting Russell's belief that accepting unpredictability can lead to new perspectives and innovation. 

Note: Universe Series - Night Mare & Monkey Mars were in this exhibition.


Screen printing

Zea Mays Printmaking in Florence, Massachusetts

     Serigraphy, commonly known as silkscreen printing, is a modern printmaking mode with a very old history. Its origins can be traced to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) in China and then it made its appearance in Europe in the 18th century. It is a stencil-based printing process, which has been used widely for commercial purpose, but it takes skill and knowledge to make a fine art print using this method. Some historically important fine artists who used this method of printmaking were Andy Warhol, Marc Chagall and Peter Max.

     The most important part of the process is making drawings that will make great transparencies or stencils. Zimmerman understands this and creates her original drawings, not only as works of art on their own, but thinking about how they will translate into stencils. Her thoughtful use of the white of the paper, her textured shading and her attention to the negative space all are essential in her drawings and make this translation natural. Once her drawing is complete, her stencils are made by separating the elements of her finished drawings to create a layered design, so each color has its own stencil. Once this is done the rest of the process goes as follows. Her stencils are placed on very fine screens that are coated with a light sensitive emulsion and encased in a metal framework. The screens are then exposed to intense light for a specific time so that where the stencils block the light; the emulsion remains soft while the rest of the emulsion hardens. These soft areas are then rinsed out with water leaving open areas where ink can pass through. When ink is applied, it is pushed through these open areas marking the paper below. One or more screens are made this way depending on the number of colors desired in the print. The inking is also repeated using one screen per color to layer the different colors on each sheet of paper in the edition.

Note: Zimmerman was working on Animal Engineering Series.


Speak Up III

Sowa Art District in Boston - November

Dear Kathleen,

We are thrilled to inform you that your artwork Rights - Balanced & Unbalanced has been selected for Speak Up III. Cameron Sumner thoughtfully reviewed your submissions and was deeply impressed by your creative expression and its powerful message.

This exhibition will provide a vital platform for artists to engage with important social and personal issues and share their perspectives with a broader audience. We are excited to have your voice as part of this conversation.

Warm regards,

Claudia 

Note: Rights - Balanced and Unbalanced are in this exhibition.


Wabi-Sabi

Sowa Art District in Boston - December

   The theme of this exhibition is inspired by the Japanese philosophy of Wabi-Sabi — a perspective centered on the acceptance of imperfection, uniqueness, and transience. It encourages us to appreciate the simple, rustic, and unassuming, challenging the traditional Western ideals of perfection and grandeur. This show will create a space for reflection, where the overlooked details of life are celebrated, and the beauty of imperfection is embraced.

Note: Nursery - Hey Diddle, Nature - Stone, and Nursery - Black Sheep will be in this exhibition.

Zimmerman Fine Art Studio


Here & There!

The Slater Museum in Connecticut held a regional juried exhibition in which Yin Yang - China, the drawing, was chosen. It is shown on the far right.

The Mill Works in Connecticut gave me a Solo exhibition. My intaglio prints, serigraphs and cast sculpture graced this lovely local venue as shown below.

The Canal Street Art Gallery in Vermont is where I had a Solo exhibition titled Up Close & Personal. That show featured my BlockHead Series, To Be or Not To Be? Forest and Star Series, as shown below. Since I am a gallery artist, the gallery always has some of my work in the gallery so visit when you are in the area.

The Art Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts, in which I am a gallery artist, exhibited my MidLife - Adrift & Anchored serigraphs in their current Transformation exhibition. My artwork is featured in the middle and far right in the last photo below.

Artsy is now selling a number of my serigraphs. Click on the link below to see, and acquire, your favorite works of art.

https://www.artsy.net/artwork/kathleen-zimmerman-midlife-series-anchored-and-adrift-diptych

Kathleen Zimmerman

YES!!!

Dear Kathleen Zimmerman,

Congratulations on being accepted into CAFA’s 113th Annual Exhibition! Your piece Yin Yang - China has been selected by the jurors to be admitted into our show.

Gabrielle Robinson, CAFA Director

This regional juried exhibition sponsored by Connecticut Academy of Fine Art gives me the pleasure of exhibiting at the historic Slater Memorial Museum! Note: This drawing was also juried into and won an award at the Mystic Museum of Art in another regional juried show.

Exhibition: July 1 - August 9

Opening Reception: Thursday, July 11, 2024 • 5-7 PM

Address: 108 Crescent Street, Norwich, CT 06360

Museum Days & Hours: Monday, Wednesday, and-Saturday 10 – 4pm

I will be at the opening and hope you will be too!

 Dear Kathleen: 

We would like to welcome you as an “Artist / Performer” member of the Eastern Connecticut Center for History, Art, and Performance! You are officially a CHAP! 

Thomas D. Buccino, Jr., Executive Director

I am happy to have a local venue to exhibit, do readings and listen to live music. Concerning the first, I will be having a solo exhibition at Mill Works in their gallery from mid-July through mid-September. All the details are listed below except that I will be at the opening and most Saturdays between 10 and noon. Hope to see you there!

WELCOME TO THE ART GALLERY and NEW ENGLAND ART CENTER!

”I am honored and thrilled to start working with you. Congratulations on being accepted into our gallery. Your exceptional talent and creativity are truly inspiring, and I am excited to have you as part of our vibrant community.”

Claudia Fiks, Manager/Director

I received this notice informing me I will be a gallery artist at The Art Gallery, or for short, TAG. It is located in the SOWA Art District in Boston at 460 Harrison Avenue, Unit C-2, Boston, MA 02118.

I will be participating in at least three group exhibitions annually, have an ongoing presence on their website and ARTSY, as well as be apart of this vibrant artist community!

Rabbit Hole in exhibition at a neighboring gallery in 2023.

Yes is what I like to hear!

Kathleen Zimmerman

Early Summer Exhibitions in New York, Vermont and Connecticut!

The graphite drawing Rights - Unbalanced, shown below, will be in NYC June 7 - 22! It is my submission for the National Association of Women Artists (NAWA) 135th Anniversary Annual Members Exhibition. Exhibition details follow:

One Art Space

23 Warren Street (Tribeca), New York, NY 10007

And online at theNAWA.org & OneArtSpace.com

Friday, June 7 – Saturday, June 22, 2024

Gallery Hours: Monday – Sunday, 12PM – 6PM

Opening and Award In-Person Reception

Friday, June 7, 2024 • 6-9 PM

It was created to express the way some try to take away the inherent rights of animals and women.

Note: This drawing won the John Fleming Memorial Award when shown at the Guilford Art Center Annual Juried Exhibition.

I just finished transforming more of my graphite drawings into hand-made small edition intaglio prints. Intaglio printmaking has a long history. Metal plates with an image cut, or etched, into the surface then printed by applying ink into the recessed image and run through a press began in the 1400’s. This mode of printmaking has been used by Renaissance artists such as Albrecht Durer and Rembrandt, by Expressionistic artists such as Kathe Kollwitz and Francisco Goya and by Graphic Artists such as M. C. Escher. It continues to be widely used today by Contemporary artists including me.

Balanced and Unbalanced below are both from my Rights Series. Rights Series concerns a balanced and an unbalanced way of treating both animals and humans.

Some more, or Summer (hahaha), intaglio prints that I finished and are ready for exhibition follow. All were created to celebrate the drawn, or rendered, image. I added just a touch of meaningful color and white charcoal for contrast and texture.

Moon Rabbits and Counting Sheep Two below are from my Farm Series. Farm Series honors farm animals for what they have given to humanity. Moon Rabbits plays off rabbits' appealing rounded shape as well as mythical ideas surrounding these animals. Counting Sheep Two plays off sheep’s' social nature and explores interpersonal dynamics of groups. Both these works of art are at Canal Street Art Gallery in Bellows Falls, Vermont!

Three Bears, Black Sheep, Hey Diddle, Little Crooked, and Little Lamb below are all from my Nursery Series. Nursery Series takes a contemporary look at several traditional nursery rhythms/lyrics. All these works of art will be in exhibition in July through August at the local art/performance center Mill Works in Willington, CT.

Night Mare, Saturn Siesta, Monkey Mars, Rabbit Hole, and Milky Way below are all from my Universe Series. Universe Series uses a variety of animals to represent life as they ponder the latest scientific theories concerning the Universe. These playful explorations look towards Space and at humankind's reaction to it. Who hasn't dreamt of scary aliens invading from afar, imagined what makes up the rings of Saturn, wondered what it would be like to live in the caves of Mars, thought about when we might be drawn into the black hole that keeps our galaxy together, or seen heaven when we look up at the stars? Come and let your mind take a journey with these not-so-scary life forms. All these works of art will be in exhibition at local art/performance center Mill Works in Willington, CT as well.

Yin Yang - China below is a graphite drawing and symbolic portrait of China. I created it when I first moved to Beijing for a five-year long residency. This work of art was juried into the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts 113th Annual Exhibition which is being held at the Slater Memorial Museum in Norwich, Connecticut. This drawing won an award at a Mystic Museum of Art regional juried exhibition.

Slater Memorial Museum

108 Crescent Street, Norwich, CT 06360

Exhibition dates

Monday, July 1 – Friday, August 9, 2024

Museum hours

Monday, Wednesday, and-Saturday 10 – 4pm

Opening and Award In-Person Reception

Thursday, July 11, 2024 • 5-7 PM

If you are in NYC this June be sure to visit One Art Space to see Rights - Unbalanced. If you are in Vermont this summer, be sure to stop by Canal Street Gallery to see Moon Rabbits and Counting Sheep. If you are in Connecticut in July and August be sure to visit the Slater Memorial Musem to see Yin Yang - China and Millworks Saturday mornings between 10-12 to see my latest intaglio prints, serigraphs and me!

Kathleen Zimmerman


Magic Circle and More!

Magic Circle is a collection of artwork in various medias from drawings to intaglio prints to readings to an illustrated book. It began with a series of graphite drawings that Kathleen Zimmerman created after she graduated from Art School. At that time she realized she wanted to create Art that had meaning to her not just what was the current trend in Art or what someone else thought Art should be. She had already developed a distinctive visual language and in these drawings she wanted to express her love for the natural world and strong connection with animals. So, she began drawing different circles of life to communicate the interconnectedness of all things using a few animals in each. One circle of life drawing is shown below, which is titled Tundra.

These drawings inspired her to clarify her thinking about life and the wonderful creatures that we share the planet with. Her prolonged interest in philosophy, and mythology, had its influence and caused her to write a mythical tale titled Magic Circles. Spirits, forces of nature, and circles of life, made up the cast of characters. As she was writing Magic Circles, she began using different animals from each circle of life drawing in short animal tales at the end of each chapter to expand the ideas of her main storyline. These animal tales eventually became her main interest and with the help of her son Jacob, became poetic.

These animal tales / poems are what make up the book Magic Circle (above) along with seven circle of life illustrations. Magic Circle plays with life’s issues faced in infancy, youth, maturity. middle age, old age, death/rebirth and ending in the here and now. There are three animal tales/poems dealing with different aspects of these issues making up the seven chapters; Magic Ocean, Magic Jungle, Magic Forest, Magic Savanna, Magic Tundra, Magic Desert and Magic Farm. To see a preview and to order the newly released book click on this link: https://www.blurb.com/b/11930658-magic-circle or contact us by going to the contact page on this website.

Besides the book, Kathleen began performing readings of these animal tales / poems both at art exhibitions, poetry readings, and for her own entertainment. One recording of a reading, Bear, Porcupine, and Me can be heard by clicking on the arrow above, but the whole series can be heard by going to the menu item, Magic Circle Readings.

Recently, Kathleen translated her drawings into a small edition of intaglio prints. These hand-made prints capture the simple beauty of the drawings but by using ink instead of graphite, white charcoal, and spots of acrylic paint, they offer the viewer a more contrasted, textured and highlighted version. Above are studio photos of the etched plates, a wiped plate, a print being pulled, the plate and the print shown together, the print hung up to start the drying process and prints edited and framed. Below are the edited prints: Ocean, Jungle, Forest, Savanna, Tundra, Desert, and Farm. While these circles of life may seem simple; drawing in a circular format, interlocking the imagery and creating a set of seven that all go together is not. We are quite proud of this collection and Kathleen Zimmerman’s artistic vision. Their first exhibition will be in Chelsea Art District in New York City this month!

Exhibitions starting and finishing this month!

Canal Street Art Gallery’s Open

April 16 - May 4

Atlantic Gallery

548 W. 28th St., Suite 540, New York, NY

Opening Reception: Thursday April 18th 6 - 8pm 

Besides the above intaglio/charcoal/paint prints, Zimmerman’s cast sculpture Global - Bear Hug and Moon Rabbit will be part of this exhibition. (shown below)

Canal Street Art Gallery’s New Work

February 16 - April 13

23 Canal Street, Bellows Falls, Vermont

Opening Reception: Friday February 16th 5 - 7pm 

Rights - Unbalanced, an intaglio/charcoal print on the right, is part of the New Works Exhibition at Canal Street Art Gallery on view in their Vermont gallery until April 13th. (shown below)

Art can be timely as well as timeless,

and start a revolution of kindness.

Kathleen Zimmerman

Zimmerman Fine Art Studio