Time to get back to the Blog

Wow, moving from Alaska to Montana was a lot of effort. I did not plan to take such a break from my creative blog here. But somehow time just slipped by in the chaos of all the change. We are still settling in, but feeling more grounded.

I just got back from a great trip to Austin and San Antonio TX. Hot, hot, hot there, whew. I attended the 7th Annual Encaustic Conference, now named Encausticon. It was great to be surrounded by so many artists and all the creative ideas. Ate some great food in Austin and enjoyed some live music. Emily Wolfe at the Cactus Cafe, a fun quirky up and coming singer/songwriter doing a residency at the University of Texas.

About the second week I was in Bozeman I found out about a plein air painting class and was able to attend. It was a great class by David Mensing (from Idaho). I met a few local artists and am slowly finding some connections here. That is the worst part about moving is leaving your artist friends.

Just looking through my photos and decided that I need to post a few days on my trip to Texas. Lots of things to share.

First I'll start with my plein air studies from my oil class. It was so fun to get back to the brushes, even if I couldn't find all my supplies. David was a great teacher, so much information in 2 days. We didn't have much time to paint, but were given so much info that will last and add to future paintings. The class was hosted by Cobalt Moose Studios, which is a mother/daughter team of artists. They are both amazing artists and were so friendly and welcoming at their studio/home and property.

Blogger is being cranky and not letting me write more, so I'll save the rest for another day.

First day, painting-quick less than 2 hours

Second day, around an hour and a half

 

 

Painting in Denali

Yes there has been a little painting! Not much however with packing for the move to Montana. I attended the David Mollett workshop in Denali, it was fabulous. A great learning experience and time with other art minded people and the outdoors, fun.

Four at Midnight Sun Brewing Co

What started out as a blustery end of winter day ended with spring sunshine on our opening afternoon.
The show looks great and is a fun mix of art styles. Just in case you can't get there, or need more prompting I'll give you a quick tour of most of the show. I dashed in yesterday to get some photos right at opening time, as it often too busy to get photos without people while they are open. It was a little challenging due to the sunlight streaming in, but you can get the idea. If there is a cloudy morning-I'll head back over and get some more pics. Enjoy.

Darla Myers oils  Erin Osinkosky Monoprints

Darla Myers encaustics

Darla Myers encaustics      Erin Osinkosky collage

Erin Osinkosky collage    Darla Myers encaustics

Cheryl Lyon Oils and Encaustics

Cheryl Lyon encaustic

Wendy Gingell ceramics

Wendy Gingell ceramic

Cheryl Lyon Oil

Cheryl Lyon encaustics

Darla Myers encaustics

Spring?

Yeah, the calendar says it's Spring, but in AK the seasons don't really conform. The days are extravagantly long into the evenings, while still lacking in the early morning light. Snow is melting and dripping, sidewalks are still non existent and the world is mostly grey/brown and white. The promise of summer taunts and keeps us going.

In the meantime a great way to spend this hopeful time is looking at bright and fun Art. Or better yet, finding some Art you love and making it your own. You can do all that and more this First Friday in Anchorage, at the Midnight Sun Brewing Co.

April 6, 5-8 will be the Opening of "four", showcasing the works of Wendy Gingell, Cheryl Lyon, Darla Myers (myself) and Erin Osinkosky.

My new works are three mini-series in oils and encaustics. The encaustics are sunflowers with great textures and iridescent fills, and Trees reflecting various states of mind. My oils are a a series of three paintings from a day in flight. I've been traveling quite a bit between AK and MT as we get ready for the big move south. Between those flights and my work as a Flight RN, I get the bird's eye view often and it has been begging to be painted.

I always try to get a window seat on the big planes and my camera is always nearby, the paintings below were all from the same day returning to AK.

These paintings are all 16 x 20 and have a fun red undertone peeking through. Come see them in person this Friday!

A Day in the Sky-Clouds

A Day in the Sky-Ice Circles

A Day in the Sky-Mountains

Art Field Trip

Last year I learned about the Archie Bray Center in Helena, MT while attending a ceramics lecture sponsored by the Anchorage Clay Arts Guild with my friend and fellow artist Wendy. I had no idea at that time that I would be moving to Montana. While I'm not taking up a new Art medium, it was a great place to visit. Full of creative energy and quirky art all over the grounds. We toured the grounds, aided by the complementary brochure, also happened in on a teaching presentation and listened/watched a good part of it and learned a little of the process of creating ceramic sculptures, amazing!

We also wandered around Helena downtown and took in the sun and architecture, need to learn more of the local history that's for sure.

Lots of pictures to share from the outing. Various scenes on the Bray Grounds:

 Even amazing art in the restroom!

A little of downtown Helena

If you are looking for fun this Friday (March 2, 2012), stop by the Guest room at IGCA, my friend Erin Osinkosky will have her show of prints and drawings on display, "Monster Heart Jesus". She is also giving a talk and demo with her puppets at the Anchorage Museum the same night. She's super creative and makes quirky puppets and drawings. Check it out!

Reclaimed Art

Reclaiming paintings that have been languishing in the temporary limbo of the unfinished is bringing back the muse. The studio feels lighter and has more room for creative thoughts already. And I've got some pretty fun new paintings out of the process. Just seeing a smaller stack of unfinished, unloved works makes a big difference, which while refreshing, surprised me with it's effect. 

I'm starting to think in color and brush strokes again. The right brain is able to take over easier once again, shutting out time and the inner critic, ah...

It was exciting to see my piece as part of the members show at IGCA (International Gallery of Contemporary Art). Seeing the painting on the lovely white walls, surrounded by works by various other Alaska Artists and feeling I am a part of the whole, and contributed my own  unique artist voice to the group show was very satisfying.

My studio has reached a new level of "precious" to me. I am coming to realize that with the move, I most likely will be giving up the luxury of having an in home studio for the next year or so. It becomes about the needs of the "family", and finding a place to live on fairly short notice with 2 dogs means prioritizing and compromise. In the long term, it will give us more time to look for a place with all the desired things to buy and settle in to, that's what is important to remember now. It will also give lots of motivation for plein air painting, it will be nice to have more winter colors than blue and white! The colors we see in the winter in Alaska, while breathtaking and fleeting often look rather unbelievable and even garish in most painting attempts. They seem to be best taken in at the moment, as vague memories of the amazing beauty of Alaska skies and alpen glow. Montana has outdoor beauty also, just on a different scale, and a bit more accessible. Alaska lures with it's magnificently astounding beauty while also keeping it just out of reach, you often can look but much more infrequently be a part of it.

Muse is Missing

December was a crazy month in our household. Just when I was getting ready to have the Holiday Season behind us and a dark long winter to produce art-the Husband gets a new job. Not that this was a complete suprise, as he had been applying and interviewing. BUT it happened really quick and left me living solo (with the precious dogs) in Alaska.

No problem I tell myself, all kinds of uninterrupted time and the whole house to use as a Studio. Yes the whole house, ask any artist-that is a reasonable expectation. But now the place in my brain where art comes from keeps getting interrupted by all kinds of thoughts. Where will we live, how will I find a satisfying part time job, will we like it there, how much work will it be to pack,  and on and on......I try to push the mute button, but it doesn't seem to work so well these days. What to do? Just paint.

I'm finding the idea of a whole new mass of paintings while facing a big move to be a bit daunting. However there are unfinished paintings and paintings that I'm not completely satisfied with-these are who are calling to me right now. I seem to feel the parallel of a sort, of reinvention with the move and with my art currently.

Having an upcoming show however calls for a somewhat cohesive body of work. Learning to stretch big canvases and work big will have to wait until after the move. I've been revisiting some of these paintings and feeling a bit renewed in the process.

In progress with reference photo (mine of course!)

 

 

 

 You can see the bits of the previous painting still showing, when the painting is complete there may be only a hint of the old start, but it will lend a layer of unexpected mystery to the painting.

Close up, hard to photo the iridescent gold

Another close up of my first winter Sunflower

 This painting also has some hints of what went before showing in a few places. The Gold  (which doesn't show well in photo). was a new experiment and I know I will be working with it more. That's one of the benefits of working on renewing an art piece, that precious guarded feeling is gone and I am much more free to just try something new. 

Encaustic sunflower in progress

It will be fun to finish this piece. I finally decided that I was not going to wait for it to be above

zero to open the window and vent for encaustic painting (a necessity). I was able to paint for

a while, once I got cold and plugged in a space heater-there went the breaker-too many things plugged in in the studio-oops! 

Working on these pieces has been restoring my muse. Starting to be able to quiet the worries and listen to the podcasts and paint. Only thoughts of color and compostition......ahhh.