Micheline Klagsbrun's "Blue Morpho Nymph"

With cool blue skin against a bed of decorative organic shapes, the Morpho Nymph turns away from her viewers in a distant dreamlike manner. Although her position is opposite viewers, one can be pulled into her world like a curios child. Intricate details grace every inch of the canvas as the eye travels from the rounded, prominent hips of the figure to the butterfly-like patterns woven throughout brown and tan hues that surround her. There is a inhuman relevance to this piece, the figure takes on an avatar incarnation with beautiful grace. The use of electric blue paint to model the figure renders a living glow, which breathes life into the canvas' surface. White paint layered on on shades of blue highlight the figures skin, as if under a radiating, glowing light. The Blue Morpho Nymph is nestled in a bed of overlapping shapes moving inward and out, creating gentle movement as they give in to the weight of her mass. The composition of this piece also gives a unique repetition of shapes which compliment one another. With the lines that create the curves defining the figures leg and then continue onto the background, a sense of unison is clear. One can feel the inviting essence permeating from Klagsbrun's work immediately upon first glance.

The Blue Morpho Nymph is a sight to behold, graceful and delicate even down to the smallest detail, and worthy of nobility.

Tiffany Green- Marymount University

At Micheline's Studio, Talk and Transformations

Sing, O Muse, of a place where the like minded can gather and converse, as the greatest of orators, about the most divine of mortal pleasures, art.

At artist Micheline Klagsbrun's studio, artists and academics alike did just that last night. Studio Gallery's inaugural Artist Salon was both intellectually stimulating and visually rewarding for those in attendance. Approximately 30 guests convened in a post-industrial space, at 52 O Street Studios, with soaring ceilings and paint on the floor which hinted at the creation that takes place there. Though Micheline normally uses the space to paint and host weekly drawing classes, last night she welcomed anyone enthusiastic about the artistic dialogue of Washington, DC.

Standing among paintings in various degrees of completion, a swordfish, and a large oriental style umbrella, Klagsbrun cited inspiration as eclectic as her surroundings with particular interest in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Indeed, after hearing Klagsbrun's vivid invocation of her poetic inspiration, one could have believed one of the several mannequins that surrounded her could have sprung to life as if Pygmalion's sculpture, at least after several glasses of wine seemingly poured from the generous hand of Dionysus himself.