robyn geddes

Red Crown is an ongoing series of works without direction. Elements include various botanicals, portraits and text from Bill Wilson and Charles Jackson concerning addiction.

"FLOCK: Birds on the Brink”, was a group show curated by Nancy Gifford at Lotusland in Montecito. Specific for the show was, “Lost, A Century of Extinction”. Lost shows the dates and last location sightings for a number of species in the United States.

Lost, A Century of Addiction, Detail, 48x36” oil/panel.

Red Crow, “FLOCK: Birds on the Brink”, Detail 48x36” oil/panel

Other Works:

East Harlem Crow, Detail 48x36” oil/panel

New York, 48x36” oil/panel

Panama 1959, 48x36” oil/panel

Santa Barbara, September 2007

All 48x36" . Oil & mixed media on board.

Folklore was a series started in 2006. For many of the paintings in this series, the templates were circus posters from the early 20th Century. Basically the general idea for these works were taken from Neo Rauch and the current Leipzig School of painting.  The idea was to twist perspective and defy gravity in new ways. 

Of Course Reginald Despised Moses, 1939

The architect of New York looks down on Reginald Marsh and his squalid New York during the 1939 World’s fair which ushered in a new city plan.  Marsh’s character bread line steps into the picture and the general relentless awe that is New York.

Last of the Ivory Billed Woodpeckers 1936

In 2004 reports of an Ivory Billed Woodpeckers sighting in Arkansas fueled debate about the bird’s extinction. the bottom of this painting shows the disappearance of Ivory Bill in Jonesboro, Arkansas and assumes this scene is where he spent his last days.

Ted & Helen Geisel, La Jolla, 1948

The creator of Dr. Seuss and his wife on a Sunday afternoon in their Victorian home and passing thoughts of the world he was creating.

Lake Erie Fairgrounds 1943

A hallucinogenic fairgrounds scene created by arsenic laced waters. The performers showing magic and deception all inspired by the Liepzeig School of Painting.

Important Californian Home With Art

A play of words on the ubiquitous description “important” that auction houses and galleries place on works of art.  Rothko and the Sonoma garden and pool created by Thomas Church and Adeline Kent in 1948.  The home itself lifted from the Santa Barbara real estate section now an infinity pool and sculpture garden added.

Ike and Mamie Visit The East, 1956

Mystery and danger are the fore warnings to Ike and Mamie on their State Department visit to the Eastern World.

New Mexico 1903

“Pigeons” for confidence games.

A continuation of bird works taken from various historical illustrations. Oil on tar paper mounted on cement. Shown at Downing Yudain, Stamford.

A series of small hummingbird works from 2005 to 2011. The pieces were oil on heavy paper mounted in cement. Shows at Gerald Peters in New York and Granary Gallery in Shropshire UK.

Hand Made Books -  An ongoing project over the years re-purposing commercial decorating binders with house paint, collage, silkscreen and drawing. 

chrysanthemum bullrush     

19x20”  78 pages   

Hand Made Books -  An ongoing project over the years re-purposing commercial decorating binders with house paint, collage, silkscreen and drawing. 

Cuba /Crushed Wall Coverings           15x18”     112 pages   

New York Post - July 22, 1969

Nothing exciting or unusual happened that Saturday.  But from the earliest I can remember, the Post held a particular fascination for me.  The Post always seemed to deliver the news in a cheap and salacious manner.  Every section of the Post was fascinating especially the ads for the Catskill Resorts and New York movies – WOW!   In addition the visual coarseness of the pages was exciting with light and bold type, wayward ink smudges and sometimes whole sections being out of register. 

In the late 1970’s besides working at Warhol’s Factory, I worked weekends for Rupert Smith who was Warhol’s art director and printer.  During the process of printing Warhol’s work, trial runs were printed on cheap newsprint. The newsprint would be recycled, printing image on top of image.  The result was a visual jumble and although meant to be thrown away, cropping could produce unexpected compositions.

New York Post, July 22, 1969 has no meaning. The backgrounds are taken from a copy of the Post and mimics Warhol’s early work appropriating newsprint. This series is a synthesis of my long fascination with the Post, my own insight into how serigraphy can be interesting and a more recent subject matter of the last twenty years involving birds. 

Shown at Downing Yudain, Stamford, CT.

The landscape where I live in California is dominated by Crows. So mechanical reproduction with the black key made perfect sense. For this series I combined Warhol’s grid system to show volume but found Rupert Smith’s manipulation of a squeegee much more interesting. Crows made their appearance at Caruso Woods in Santa Barbara and most recently at Downing Yudain in Stamford.

Bird paintings on sandpaper shown at Kristy Stubbs, Dallas and Caruso Woods, Santa Barbara.

Sandpaper works shown at Munder Skiles, New York and Nancy Littlejohn Fine Art, Houston.