Tuesday, December 30, 2014

A sample of my 3d foundry work


Solid bronze dumpling potsticker paperweights
...or are they empanadas? You tell me! 
First run was individually hand formed from wax using my mother's old Cantonese cookbook as my guide.  Next --- I will make bronze har gow, sui mai, etc.  These dumplings weigh about 1.5 lbs each and are for sale on my Etsy site. Sold individually or as a set of three. 
An excellent gift for the foodie executive in your life! : )



Saturday, October 4, 2014


The Las Vegas Art Studio Tours are back! 

I'll be showing new works in INK, TIN, PAINT, and various media.

It's a 2 day event; the last weekend of this month, Sat & Sun Oct. 25-26th from 10-5 p.m. Please stop in and say hello! 

*Opening Reception for the Preview Show at LVAC: Friday, October 24th, 5-7pm, Gallery 140, 140 Bridge St, LV, NM, 87701


Tuesday, September 30, 2014

First plein air paint out of the season!

Click image to enlarge:
My first painting of the season, Hermit Peak from Frontage road 
'Just North of Town' (sold)
(c)Amber MacLean
Acrylic on canvas
2014

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Oregon landscape, 2006

The Last Lumber Mill (Oregon)
Amber MacLean
Acrylic on canvas
15" x 20" unframed
2006

As a kid, we drove up and down the coast a lot, camping or just passing through small towns. Back then, these things were everywhere. They no longer exist, so I was surprised to run across this one in a small Southern Oregon town in 2006.  I'm selling it here on etsy, as well as fine art giclee' prints:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/202119609/the-last-lumber-milloriginal-canvas?ref=shop_home_active_1

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

The 3rd Annual Las Vegas Plein Air Paint Out, 2014!


The Las Vegas Plein Air Club is busy getting the plans together for another great year! Please see our announcement below.  Stay tuned for more details.
Tom Wezwick, Pecos River, oil, NM 2013
 Announcing...
The 3rd Annual Las Vegas, New Mexico, Plein Air Paint Out 
and Plein Air Oil Painting Workshop 
OCTOBER 9 - 12, 2014

Please join us for The 3rd Annual Las Vegas, New Mexico, Plein Air Paint Out, held October 9-12, 2014 in historic Las Vegas, New Mexico. 
    This year we will hold the opening night/registration at el Zocalo' Artist Co-op, and hold the reception at World Treasures Weaving Ctr/ TRAVELER'S CAFE (1814 Plaza St. Las Vegas, NM) both in the town Plaza. 

Plein Air Paint Out event registration: $25/person (plein air event only)
 -Thur, Oct. 9: Opening night/Registration, plus artist demo with Tom Wezwick, at el Zocalo Cooperative Gallery.
-Fri, Oct. 10: Paint day/Quick Draw in the Plaza with Prof. Todd Christensen, NMHU
-Sat, Oct. 11: Paint day, Artist Reception at Traveler's Cafe & Weaving Ctr in the Plaza
-Sun, Oct. 12: Paint day, plus closing Tea at el Zocalo
For early registration to the event and more information, contact:
     Amber MacLean 505-652-0191
          ambmaclean@me.com
     Duffy Peterson 505-426-6688
          duffypeterson@ymail.com

OPTIONAL: Plein Air Oil Painting Workshop with Tom Wezwick  $200/person
5 student minimum/12 student maximum. Register early to ensure a space!

This year we are offering a separate 2.5 day introduction to plein air oil painting workshop for the moderately experienced painter who would like to advance their plein air painting expertise: Intro to Outdoor Painting with renown LV outdoor painter, Thomas Wezwick. We will paint on location and explore the benefits of painting from life, and includes a critique secession to help the student see problems in their painting, as well as what really works. Tom will give a demo each day and explain as he paints what he is attempting to put down on canvas. We will go over the benefits of a limited palette, and the need for simplifying our subject matter. There will be discussion of looking for masses and patterns in the landscape. Tom will be spending time with each student, helping them through the process. While this is an introduction to painting en plein air, some painting experience is needed. Most importantly, this is a fun workshop, and just the time spent observing nature and trying to capture it in a more simple form on canvas can help the indoor painter with their landscape painting.

Supply List
These are suggestions, but students can use what oil painting supplies they are accustomed to using:
     Paint: titanium white,
               cadmium orange
               cadmium yellow light
               yellow ocher
               ultramarine blue
               alizarin red
               napthol red
               sap green
Brushes: 
               flat # 10
               flat #8
               flat #4
               flat #2
     Medium: 
               turpentine or medium of your choice
     Canvases, nothing smaller than:
              12x16
              16x20
              14x18
     Easel for out door painting (an inexpensive A-frame easel could be used)

For more info on our guest artist/workshop teacher, Thomas Wezwick: http://atwez.fineartstudioonline.com/about

Welcome!


    Amber MacLean is a working artist residing in the rural college town of Las Vegas, New Mexico. (The original Las Vegas!) She practices a variety of disciplines, subject matter and media --- including drawing, painting, foundry, tinwork, animation, illustration and Chinese brush painting. MacLean, (b.1967) grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she studied drawing and painting at The Academy of Art San Francisco and SFSU, while working as a sketch artist for a 2D cartoon animation studio. MacLean cites influences from a wide range of artists, including the Taos Modernists, the artist Lynda Barry, Chinese ink painter Qi Baishi, and her family.  
Her work can be viewed year around at Tito's Gallery in Las Vegas, New Mexico.


Live and in person

    An oldie painting participating in a 'live art' auction. Chinese brush painting produce at the La Grande Farmer's Market. The art was auctioned off and donated to the town women's shelter. I believe this was summer 2008;  Chinese ink on rice paper. Several local artists participated.






Monday, July 21, 2014

Figurative Smigurative

    Maybe it's because of my mixed Asian-Scot heritage, but I've always disliked being labeled or pegged --- be it the label of 'landscape artist 'or 'illustrator'; 'fine artist' or 'animator'; or whichever. I can't imagine painting nothing but one style in one media for the rest of my life. I strive to create honest artwork, whether it be in bronze or in ink; cutting social satire, or a meditation on the land. Ideally, it all sort of comes from the same place. I don't think I'm alone in this. Many "fine artists" over the decades have worked in a wide variety of media. i.e.: Picasso! Many made their bread and butter from illustration: ie: Andy Warhol! But that's another story. 
    As far as my personal work, the media doesn't matter so much as the expression. These thoughts are fueling my next series of scroll works. Please stay tuned! 



Some examples of my some of my figurative work...
Life drawing from a model at El Ancon sculpture park, Summer sessions, 2014
Top: Painted live from a model at The Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco.
This scroll was last exhibited at Burris Hall, New Mexico Highlands University, "Landscapes and Things" with sculptor Paul Rosal.
2011

'The Thinker; after Rodin'
Chinese inks on rice paper
©Amber Lon MacLean
Las Vegas, New Mexico
2005

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Chinese Brush painting, aka Sumi

Amber Lon MacLean
Pronghorn 
Las Vegas, NM
Chinese inks on paper
2014

The Castle (at United World College)

Amber Lon MacLean
The Castle (at United World College), 2010
acrylic on board
14" x 11" 
Giclee fine art prints available at Tito's Gallery, Las Vegas, New Mexico

Sold