“Every day I contribute by drawing one line at a time.” Patricia Bradley Bereskin

BETWEEN THE LINES

Patricia Bradley Bereskin | 13" × 18" (33cm × 46cm) | watercolor, photographs, cotton string, wood, tissue paper on 300-lb. (640gsm) matte board

Ten years ago while I was recovering from emergency surgery, I had a vivid dream of the flapping sound of sheets drying on clotheslines in the summer. As I walked past the rows of sheets and laundry, there, tucked between each line, were the women of my family who had passed away. They smiled at me and talked to me, but I couldn’t hear their words—I could only feel their intentions.

The dream haunted me for two years. After a variety of mediums and several tries to re-create the scene from my head, I put the project aside. Months later, it all came together when a photo of my grandmother hanging sheets on a line fell from a book.

That was the beginning of this picture. I found all of the women among the photos. They had crossed oceans, left family, encountered tragedy, lost children and husbands, suffered and been poor, hungry, lost and more. They survived everything life had thrown at them with dignity and grace.

By sizing, cutting and gluing them into place, I became even more intimately aware from this dream that their daily lives allowed me to be who I am and to be present at this moment to add to the line.

FROM THE TAPESTRY OF TRUTH AND BEAUTY

Pat Stevens | 12" × 12" (30cm × 30cm) | gesso, acrylic paint, pastels, toner copies, hand-painted paper on canvas panel

This piece is part of a larger work entitled, The Tapestry of Truth and Beauty. Consisting of nine square panels arranged in three rows of three, it is a present-day take on antique icons. The piece is modernized by the use of bold colors, multiple layers of pattern and texture, and the repetition of the central image as a sort of homage to pop icon Andy Warhol.

My mixed-media work can be compared to dreams, because dreams are often a combination of verbal, visual and emotional stimuli that form mystifying narratives or intriguing representations. By using nontraditional materials and new techniques, mixed-media work often breaks the binds of traditional art and enters a less defined area similar to the dream state.

GYPSY

Amanda Beck Mauck | 11" × 9" (28cm × 23cm) | mixed media, paint, ink on paper

My work is a direct response to dreams realized. Through archetypal themes such as birth, escape, captivity, conflict and impotence, I reinterpret the world and convert it into something completely “other.” Hands, umbrellas, mirrors, feathers and tools symbolize those urges, wishes and terrors that we would censor in the waking state.

I use ethereal colors and loose lines to capture the whimsical, curious and inexplicable—our unconscious wishes and urges. Not knowing what is coming next and the anticipation of what lies just beyond our sight is thrilling, yet we find a familiarity with each narrative. We share a universal truth with every other creature, both real and imagined.