After the Fireworks, Catch Ursa Major
Posted July 3rd, 2012
After you’re done watching the fireworks light up the night sky on July 4th, let your eyes linger and take in the beauty of the twinkling stars that never fizzle out. Those celestial bodies were the inspiration for Michelle DeMarco’s bear, Ursa Major located at the Pascommuck Club on Easthampton’s Union Street.
Read more about her inspiration and process in the Q&A below.
Name?
Michelle DeMarco
What town/city do you live in?
Three Rivers
Where is your studio? What is your usual artistic focus/genre, when you aren’t working on a bear?
Three Rivers and the world. I work in new media which is an amalgamation of digital, traditional painting and drawing and modeling/sculpture.
What was the process you used on the bear?
I had an intention from Ursa Major as part of our guiding star in the northern hemisphere to translate her ageless presence and our interdependence. I made her base colors the color of the arctic to bring awareness to that region of our world. Then I used interference paint and created an intertwined tree of life as a metaphor for world theological and spiritual understanding of the interconnectedness of all life on our planet. Atop this I created a unique motif representing the Inuit designs and expressing the ancestral spirit bear concepts.
What materials did you use and why did you choose them?
I used all acrylic paint from Golden paints because they had wonderful technical data and resources. I chose the interference paint because of the way light plays off it. And lastly I chose phosphorescent paint so she could be seen at night and hold some of the sun’s energy.
What is the theme for your bear and what was the inspiration?
See above.
What have you loved about the project?
I loved the community aspect of artist helping to foster the creative within the community and for children.
In what ways do you hope your bear will move the folks who view it?
I leave that experience to each viewer.
What else would you like to say about your project or the Bear Fest as a whole?
I hope that the project as a whole succeeds beyond our expectations.
