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.

Be careful what you ask for!

Artmaking has been a lower priority these past few weeks. This is not a optimum thing in any shape or form. First it was the Pre-Holiday "things to get done and sent", then the Annual Winter Solstice Party-with lots of homemade food to prepare. Now throw the fact that your Lucky Husband just landed a job that he has been preparing and trying for for over 15 years. Oh-the job is just a few states away-Montana! With a short hiring timeline he got barely 3 weeks notice. I'll be holding down the fort in Alaska until warmer weather, then working on the move south.

Can I just say it's always something? I'm feeling a mix of anxiety and excitement which trade place rapidly through each day. My secret hope is that with the "distraction" of Lucky Husband gone-I will spend more time buried in my world of Art. We will see if that comes to fruition. Coping with the anxiety of all the change and facing a BIG move coming on I have turned to ORGANIZATION as a way to settle my mind, not to mention it will make room in the Studio and will make packing and selling art before the move much easier.

I just rediscovered Bento-loaded it on my IPAD (thanks Santa) and am committed to inventorying all  new works and gradually getting older works documented. It's super easy and fun to set up. I'm using a trial version on my Black Mac and know I will be purchasing the full version soon. Also  I decided to make sure that all finished works were wrapped, labeled and accounted for-this is the almost free way to organize paintings. All are wrapped with kraft paper and labeled on the side, as well as a masking tape label with painting name and medium corresponding to it's placement in the box.

Paintings wrapped, labels and put away

More of the finished work new organization 

I did manage to fit in time to rework a painting for the Members Show at International Gallery of Contemporary Art. It is an encaustic that I was not satisfied with-now I like it! The photo does not do it justice-needs to be seen in person. The Members Show will open Jan 6, 5:30-7:30pm and will be on display for the month.

Fall Foliage, encaustic painting

Studio Time

It's been a busy productive time in my studio. I'm putting the finishing touches on the encaustic paintings for my upcoming show. Also working on a couple small pieces for the IGCA 100 x 100 exhibition. Time to name, price, finish edges and put hanging hardware on everything. 

Pallet just after turned on-wax still unmelted

Another pallet show-some of my favorite colors

Works in progress, awesome torch too!

Adding a window fan to my studio has been very helpful. Now in addition to limiting my time around the wax fumes, they actually get drawn out (as they should be). It has been a very fun show to paint. Nice to have the memories from my photos of various landscapes, mostly around Alaska.


The upcoming show is titled "sweet dreams". It will open with a First Friday reception on December 2, 5-9pm-at Octopus Ink Gallery, 410 G Street, Anchorage.

Quiet on the Blog, Busy in the Studio

Yes-I'm attempting to get back to weekly blog posts. While the blog has been pretty quiet, they studio has been busy. Encaustics have been the complete focus with a show coming up next month. I've been listening to my favorite pods casts, which include: Latina USA, Fresh Air and E-town. I think I'm caught up  and need some suggestions for a few new podcasts to paint by. I find that listening to spoken words puts my mind at rest and the creativity flows easier, I listen to the speaker and not my inner critic I guess.

Here a a few quick snap shots of parts of some recent paintings. Better ones will be posted when it's closer to the show.

Two paintings just neared completion this afternoon and I'm really excited by both of them.

 I've got some new formats including a couple diptychs (two piece paintings), that are on 2 square panels, also a couple narrow rectangles. The show will be in downtown Anchorage at the hip little gallery, "Octopus Ink". Stay tuned for more information as the date nears.

Sorry Blog I've Neglected You

Wow-I planned on posting something at a minimum weekly. After a crazy summer trip with multiple vehicle breakdowns and lack of relaxing plein aire painting I had planned I totally missed the mark.

So time to get back to business. My little pal Allie keeps me company in my studio-of course she'd rather be on a walk-but she's still good company.

During the past couple months I have attempted to consolidate studios back into one studio-that being my home studio. It feels a bit overwhelming at times-but is nice to have everything in one place again! Also no commute, pay for parking, and I learned that I am much more of a solitary artist than I was admitting to myself.

I am working on a new series of encaustics for an upcoming show in December. It is getting close to time for some sneak peeks. The series is a continuation of landscapes and trees. I've having fun with the encaustics, trying to spend from 2-4 hours in the studio on all days that I'm not working at my job with a bigger paycheck. I keep reminding myself that it's what makes you content and whole that is most important-everything in life should not be measured on monetary value scale. Painting is important.