Collages!
If you’re following me on instagram, you are probably aware of the existence of some of these new collaged pieces - but I haven’t really talked about them much other than, “here it is”.
Right now I’m leaning hard into the preservation of certain moments and the destruction of others, and the building/layering/sculpting of something entirely new.
I’m entranced with the physicality of the process, the trial and error, the cutting of the paper, the choosing of pieces and discarding of others, the glue on literally everything, and the final reveal that is nothing like the original pieces and nothing like the plan I had set for it.
It is a truthful embodiment of the merging of planned and unplanned.
That’s partially because that is exactly how they came to be, and partially because I haven’t figured it out yet.
I haven’t listed these for sale just yet.
When I work on something new I like to share it in person first and talk to people who are interested in the work. I’ve been showing these in person during the Rostrum 312 gallery event in Chicago and the Vyshyvanka Day auction last month, but will be preparing them for sale on the purchase section of my site soon. I’m so excited to share these experiments with you.
Make sure you’re on the email list to find out when they go live.
Springtime Studio Notes
What does an artist do when she can’t find the right peel-and-stick wallpaper? She paints it of course. I began this project naively thinking I could wrap it up in one weekend.
(Cue obligatory Spongebob meme… 3 weeks later….)
It’s still not done. I took a little break as we had family in town and couldn’t have all the furniture in the middle of the room, but it’s been like 40 hours of dots. Everyone who comes in now says I should leave empty areas. That it makes it more of a mural and less of a painted wall paper. What do you think? Should I keep going?
We had our first beer (and wine for 3 of us) tasting event in the studio. I put all of my in-progress works up on the walls for the night to give everyone a look at the new work in it’s early stages. These are always fun nights for me, it’s a low pressure way to see what people think of these first layers. Sometimes this changes their direction, other times it just reinforces it. Either way, beer/wine and snacks are always a good combination when looking at art.
And thanks again to all who made it out for the Vyshavanka Day Art Auction on the 19th and StudioStudio and York. It was such a lovely day to celebrate and support Ukraine.
Check out this post for more photos from the day and for ways to donate if you missed the auction.
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And arguably the most important thing to happen this month….
I finally found my hammer.
Art Auction for Vyshyvanka Day
Today we celebrated Vyshyvanka Day at with an incredible party organized the The Hosting. I donated these 3 new collages for the art auction, 100% of the proceeds goes to humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
Sky and Wheat 1, 2, and 3 - inspired by the colors of the flag of Ukraine. 11 x 14, mixed media on paper and framed in maple.
<Link to bid has been removed, auction has ended!>
Installation by the ONE AND ONLY Passion Flower Sue.
So many beautiful blooms.
If you weren’t able to bid on a piece but still want to help check out Razom for Ukraine . They are a nonprofit dedicated to helping the people of Ukraine and offer many opportunities to give.
Rostrum 312 - Chicago Show
Oh hey Chicago - long time no see!
I was in Chicago for the weekend for the show with Rostrum 312 and wow, what a party.
Like, we broke the fire code party.
In my excitement to get there for the install I completely forgot about the time change from Michigan to Illinois. So. I showed up far, far too early. Which was fine. I found the venue, parked and got a bowl of rice and spicy avocado. (And wine)
After the install I ventured into downtown, the sky was full-on Bladerunner.
The following morning I had all to myself, so I popped into the Art Institute of Chicago to see an O’Keefe that has been on my heart since my husband has started his private pilot’s license training.
I’m a very nervous flyer and I’m working on re-aligning those pathways in my brain to something positive so I can go with him and not have a meltdown in turbulence. I’ll compile my thoughts on that elsewhere - but this painting is one I desperately wanted to see to start off this journey.
THE SHOW:
The show was a blast. I got to meet so many incredible people and have so many amazing conversations about the work, materials, and just art in general. I adore the Rostrum model of taking empty storefronts and converting them into gallery space for a time, and it was so thrilling to see the members of the community hop on the board and turn out in droves.
So much so, that we exceeded the fire code for allowable people in the gallery at one point and a line for entry had to form. And then it went down the block apparently.
The only downside was the amount of photos I was able to take - I ended up so busy that there were not many to share at the end. But I’ll have the memories though, and they are fantastic.
Thanks to all who showed up for the event or supported me from afar and huge thanks to the Rostrum312 team and those who took home work! If you purchased one of my pieces I’d love to see where it ends up hanging - send me a message <3
I’ll be back for sure, thanks again for the great time Chicago!
A Quick Trip to the St. Louis Art Museum
My husband wanted bbq and I wanted to go see Joan Mitchell’s work (next up the retrospective in Baltimore…) so we headed out to St. Louis to do both.
Rocking socks + sandals because it’s supposed to be 75 there.
We headed out to the museum (which was free by the way!) and had ourselves an excellent day touring their expansive collections.
Novemeber / December / January - Gerhard Richter
I got stuck in the modern and contemporary art wing (no surprise there) with most of the day being spent in front of Joan Mitchell’s Ici.
It’s like seeing a favorite band, or actor. I can’t look directly at it at first. Seeing work I’ve loved since being a baby artist is such a monumental feeling. The actual paint strokes, the texture from the brush, her signature… it’s just an amazing experience.
But I’ve got the show with Rostrum 312 in Chicago this weekend, so we made it a quick trip.
Art, bbq, beer, home!