Art Map Burlington, October 2007

ART ON THE COVER

Maggie Standley

In the heart of the artistically vibrant South End, wingspan Painting Studio is located in a sunny, welcoming third-floor atelier, filled with the diverse work and inspiration of Renaissance woman Maggie Standley. While she specializes in decorative painting, murals, and faux finishes, as well as offering art classes, it is Standley’s fine art painting that takes center stage here. Her most recent work, a series of abstract canvases ranging up to 5’x4’ in size, is filled with texture and vitality. Also a poet, Standley calls these paintings “linguistically driven”, and begins by writing freehand cursive on the canvas with graphite pencils. These unscripted words, often inspired by a concept she’s been sketching or contemplating, create the lines of a “map” to be filled in with oil paints and pastels. The physical process, which is just as important as the result, is unforced, spontaneous and interactive. Standley augments her graceful shapes and layered pallette with materials like wax, paper clippings, and lipstick. In several places, she adorns the canvas with understated lipstick kisses.

The artist has traveled extensively, and her experiences abroad inspire and inform her work. Some of the more unconventional elements: on a trip to Guatemala, she acquired a handful of discarded hair in a barber shop, strands of which she incorporates into paintings, and picked up some blue powder used in Guatemalan concrete. A trip to Belize influenced “Sacar en Claro”, ten small paintings musing on the depths of fear and inspired by a 400-foot deep “blue hole” ocean phenomenon.

On her trips, Standley packs art supplies to give away or trade for local artwork, sometimes offering impromptu art lessons to local children. This spirit of openness and discovery is threaded through all of her work; in her own words, “every piece is an experiment.”

G. BLAKE MACPHAIL

Art Map Burlington ARTICLE
BACK
Nooo! by Maggie Standley 50” x 33” oil, string on paper human shooting target 41. wingspan Painting Studio 4 Howard Street (at Pine Street, entrance on Howard, green door, red awning, 3rd floor) (802) 233-7676 www.wingspanpaintingstudio.com		ART ON THE COVER Maggie Standley In the heart of the artistically vibrant South End, wingspan Painting Studio is located in a sunny, welcoming third-floor atelier, filled with the diverse work and inspiration of Renaissance woman Maggie Standley. While she specializes in decorative painting, murals, and faux finishes, as well as offering art classes, it is Standley’s fine art painting that takes center stage here. Her most recent work, a series of abstract canvases ranging up to 5’x4’ in size, is filled with texture and vitality. Also a poet, Standley calls these paintings “linguistically driven”, and begins by writing freehand cursive on the canvas with graphite pencils. These unscripted words, often inspired by a concept she’s been sketching or contemplating, create the lines of a “map” to be filled in with oil paints and pastels. The physical process, which is just as important as the result, is unforced, spontaneous and interactive. Standley augments her graceful shapes and layered pallette with materials like wax, paper clippings, and lipstick. In several places, she adorns the canvas with understated lipstick kisses. The artist has traveled extensively, and her experiences abroad inspire and inform her work. Some of the more unconventional elements: on a trip to Guatemala, she acquired a handful of discarded hair in a barber shop, strands of which she incorporates into paintings, and picked up some blue powder used in Guatemalan concrete. A trip to Belize influenced “Sacar en Claro”, ten small paintings musing on the depths of fear and inspired by a 400-foot deep “blue hole” ocean phenomenon. On her trips, Standley packs art supplies to give away or trade for local artwork, sometimes offering impromptu art lessons to local children. This spirit of openness and discovery is threaded through all of her work; in her own words, “every piece is an experiment.” G. BLAKE MACPHAIL
Art Map Burlington is a publication of Kasini House, Inc. info@kasinihouse.com Copyright © 2007 Kasini House. All Rights Reserved