PARHELION; Thoughts behind the work.
This week one of my favorite paintings found a new home.
par·he·li·on
/pärˈhēlēən/
noun
a bright spot in the sky appearing on either side of the sun, formed by refraction of sunlight through ice crystals high in the earth's atmosphere.
Parhelion began from a series of sketches that explored tones from the sky above my little studio. You wouldn’t think of Michigan as a great place for sunsets/sunrises, but I regularly find myself looking up in awe at the colors above.
It sat, unnamed, water-soluble pastel on canvas in the form of a color study as I debated what to add to be able to call it complete. It was one of those pieces that I really enjoyed in the state that it was in, so I didn’t feel a huge rush to “finish” it.
Several months later, while in the car - watching a sundog (and having just started adding acrylic over top water soluble pastel paintings) I had my answer.
A few layers of titan buff later and a title - and Parhelion came to be.
Announcing: Color & Contour, a 2 day solo show!
I’m so excited to announce that my 2 day solo show; Color & Contour will be opening on June 11th at StudioStudio!
The opening party on Friday will start at 6 pm for the general public, with a live digital preview for my email list, gallery friends and collectors at 5:30. RSVP here to make sure you get the link!
I’ll have more information about available work, the inspiration behind the pieces and the general plan for the weekend soon, so stay tuned.
What’s Inspiring me/ Nurturing me Right Now
I feel like I am waking up from a deep hibernation. Slowly stepping out of the caves (still masked, please and thank you!) and feeling a new warmth in the sunlight has been reinvigorating for both myself and my work.
A little lighter hand, a little lighter spirit. (And two weeks away from being fully vaccinated!!)
Here are a few other things that are inspiring/nurturing me right now;
LOOK AT THESE BUDS:
Everything is new and smells so good. Walking around our neighborhood has been a multi-sensory experience lately.
I will never not feel like painting after looking at Magnolia/cherry blooms. Even the puppy is getting in on the sniffing action.
Midweek ‘Cheese’ plates:
I’ve been making little ‘cheese’ plates every so often - olives, this really good vegan feta and crackers. Sitting outside at like 5pm with one of these bad boys has been the perfect selfcare.
Books:
I’m currently reading The Curators Handbook and Dog is Love. The first has been a great dive into the world of curation - something I know little about but would like to know more. The latter book has been a really neat look into the minds of our canine friends, both domesticated and non-domesticated. If either of these subjects interests you I highly recommend checking them out.
Hope you are all doing well and staying safe. I’ll have a more art-focused post next time.
<3
Seasons of Work; how my work-flow has changed in the pandemic
* Note * Please, please, please, if you are able, go get vaccinated. So many people have lost so much/everything to this virus. It’s real, it’s serious and we have a way to stop it - please go get the shot(s).
Here are some resources;
It’s been interesting (at least, to me - maybe not to anyone else!) to step back and see what life in this pandemic has done to parts of my process. I can’t see all of it currently as we are still very much IN this pandemic, but patterns have slowly started to emerge.
The early pandemic days in the studio started as a frenzied mess. I was trying to make use of the extra time quarantining afforded me because if not, that extra time would be wasted and then I am a bad artist.
You can imagine how successful painting with that energy was.
(Narrator’s voice; it wasn’t.)
It took me a while to let go of the desire to harness some pandemic-residency vibe. To tell myself that we are living through some utterly weird and terrifying times and that extra time wasn’t necessarily best spent painting or other art-tasks. That I could use some time to process too.
In detaching myself from my ‘Before-Times’ schedule of brainstorming, creating, documenting, posting and shipping, all sandwiched between shows (cancelled), travel (cancelled), or other out-of-the-studio moments (severely decreased) I was able to watch a more organic, slower process start to become apparent. Less fits and starts, less following one project through each phase, more seasonal.
A season of creation.
A season of documentation.
A season of making the work public, sharing it and sending it to its new home.
Right now I’m firmly in the midst of creation. I’ve been making a lot of new things, some more successful than others, but the key is I’m making.
Instead of needing to stop to prep for a show or trip, I’m just going to ride this painting wave until my energy shifts back to the computer, to the camera and getting things ready for my website. Then onto the selling part, then to a new addition - rest and reset.
I’ve gone about two or so cycles with this pattern of making work, and thus far it’s been a welcome shift. Once life starts to get back to normal I know it will be hard to keep it - but for now I’m happy to exist in these seasons.
On Sharing Old Work;
(Big thanks to all the artists/collectors who took the time to chat with me about how they feel about seeing/sharing old work! If you want to join in the conversation leave me a message below or follow along on instagram!)
One of the (many!) reasons for my site re-design was to allow easier access to my older work. On the previous version of my site it was there… sort of? Definitely not able to be found without several specific links or lots of digging/clicking. Which was not my intention, just merely the result of lots of little updates moving older things out of view.
Why showing past work is important:
If you’re anything like me, keeping things compartmentalized is a really important part of my process. (Like keeping separate sketchbooks for different endeavors. See: A Look Into My Composition Book)
So, for a while I was comfortable showing a small, super-curated collection of my super-current work. Like a French/Capsule wardrobe, but for my art. And yes, while it presents a quick, easily-understood snapshot of exactly what I’m interested in at the moment, it doesn’t offer any clues to the path ahead or address anything I’ve already explored.
The current work is just out there, free-floating without information on how it got there or any hints as to where it might be going.
From collectors to galleries, to viewers just interested in what you are making, giving them the access to that history is a great way to share the process and enthusiasm for what we do - without having to state it. Even if the past work is different from what’s being made right now, it’s important to show that things are being made.
Like this 10 x 10 from 2015. Is it what I’m working on now? Clearly, no. But a lot of the same motion, contour and linework is still in play in my current work. Also this was exhibited during Miami Art Basel - which is something fun to share too.
Here’s a peek at some REALLY old work. (Ink on paper, for an auction, from like 2012….)
How far back is necessary?
This changes from artist to artist, there’s no magic number of works that has to be displayed.
Factors like time spent working and style exploration play a big part in deciding what/when gets shown. For me I went back to 2015, which is about the time when I felt my work starting to speak to the paintings I am making right now.
(Plus, at 2021 - I felt like 5 tabs would be enough to dig through. )
I debated adding an ‘early life’ tab for fun, to share some my favorite paintings from growing up - but I think I’ll save those for a blogpost instead.
As the feelings around ‘old’ work can be so personal and can differ extraordinarily between artists I thought I might see what instagram had to say.
I asked two questions; one of the artists and one of collectors and had some amazing conversations about old work. Thanks again to all of you who took the time to write me messages, it is always so wonderful to get to chat with you (whether I used your message or not!)
I don’t see it as older work looking from the outside in. It is your work!
When I find an artist I really like or am inspired by, I always scroll to the beginning of their Instagram to see how their work has changed and evolved. It’s always so interesting! I’m a long time follower of you and I love your older work, but the things you’ve been doing in the past year have been cool too. I guess I like seeing it all 🤗
I feel almost naked when I show old work. I hate leaving it out for the world to see, when it feels so far removed from what I’m doing now.
-Anonymous
I think showing previous works to be very important. It shows growth and direction. As well as giving your audience a better understanding of who you are as an artist and who you want to be.
As an artist, I feel like showing my older work shows the progression of my style over time, and how my work is always evolving and changing while still being inspired by older work of mine.
I totally understand Anonymous’s gut feeling about sharing past work, it can be really scary to show the world something we believe we have ‘moved past’.
It is an act of real vulnerability to let others see where we came from. But in the case of our work, our art - it’s so important to leave that visual history trail behind. (To a point, no one is demanding the macaroni collage for 2nd grade… though I always love to childhood projects!)
What do you think? As a collector do you enjoy seeing earlier pieces? Or, as an artist how do you feel about sharing those pieces?