Revisiting the illustrated past, plus new work

Here’s some information for an event today, fundraiser for Medieval Womens Choir. Featured are artworks by choir members and I chose to show ones which appeared on the choir cds Both of these works were on the covers of MWC recordings that Margriet Tindemans and Nancy Zylstra produced.

Alice Dubiel, Tu Flos Es, from the series, O Rubor Sanguinis, 55.88 W x 76.2 H cm, acrylic mixed media on gesso on handmade paper, collection of the artist, 1997.

This image appears on the cover of River of Red cd by Medieval Womens Choir.

Alice Dubiel, A New Song in Praise of Peace, from the series, Creation, (original) 40.5 W x 50.7 H cm, acrylic media on board, in the collection of Brandy Williams (former MWC member and board member), 2009. The image appears on the cd Laude Novella by the choir. Reproduction is 30.2 W x 38.5 H cm, giclée on 100% rag watercolor paper. The reproduction is framed.

The image of A New Song in Praise of Peace was inspired by the processional banners and new art approaches of the Italian Renaissance this painting was commissioned by Margriet Tindemans for the Medieval Women’s Choir compact disk, Laude Novella. The praise songs of St. Francis of Assisi, and works by Margriet Tindemans and Peter Siebert for the choir invite reflection on our environment and its evolution as a dynamic system. Through the painting process of acrylic media on board, I have been experimenting with a textured material which mimics ceramic crackle glaze. To incorporate movement and drama within a temporal awareness, I chose yellow and azure backgrounds, colors which appear in the banners and paintings of the quattracento. I also use mineral pigments which, through their iridescence, refer to the geology and biochemisty of our world. These materials are somewhat fragile but allow complexity in both surface texture and background variation, inviting comparison with the diversity and interdependency of ecosystems.

I’ve also included a new work below, The Book of Shadows: Blake’s Crinoids, acrylic mixed media on wood panel, 61 x 31 cm, 2025