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My very kind brother Alpha helped me deliver my show to Dixon this morning. It was exciting to see all the pieces all dressed up and ready to go out on the town. It was even more exciting to pull up behind a huge Rodin statue to unload my work. I continue to be thrilled at this opportunity to have an exhibition in a museum, the kind of museum that has huge traveling shows by Rodin come through.
I got a sneak peek at part of the Southern Impressionism show in the main gallery, and I can't wait to see the whole thing. The museum reopens Sunday, November 1, after its summer of renovation, and my exhibition will be a part of that.
The official reception for my show will be Thursday, November 19 from 6-8, with my old friends the Tom Lonardo Trio playing jazz. I can't wait. I'll also do a gallery talk on Wednesday, November 11 at lunch time, talking about my art hero John Constable, how he shaped my art and subject matter and work habits. I'll also talk about the process of making multi-color prints with multiple blocks. It's a slightly arcane process for most of us, but great fun.
I got a sneak peek at part of the Southern Impressionism show in the main gallery, and I can't wait to see the whole thing. The museum reopens Sunday, November 1, after its summer of renovation, and my exhibition will be a part of that.
The official reception for my show will be Thursday, November 19 from 6-8, with my old friends the Tom Lonardo Trio playing jazz. I can't wait. I'll also do a gallery talk on Wednesday, November 11 at lunch time, talking about my art hero John Constable, how he shaped my art and subject matter and work habits. I'll also talk about the process of making multi-color prints with multiple blocks. It's a slightly arcane process for most of us, but great fun.
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The weather is utterly beautiful for late October, so Mr. Darcy and I had lunch on the back porch and also took a sketching walk in the forest late this afternoon. I've been loving the graffiti addition to the trail marker in the Old Forest, and this week it seemed topical for me. I decided to go sketch it.
It's funny. I had just had a discussion with a friend about work/life balance and keeping a distinct line between work and leisure, since I work at home. It gets blurry immediately, though, because in the midst of all my framing and show work, what I've wanted to do for fun for an hour is get out and sketch. It's nice to have a vocation.
Then in my art journal group online, this interview with Liz Steel appeared. "How do you unwind? Having a cup of tea and sketching it. That’s why I don’t have any work/play balance. The act of sketching helps me unwind because it gives me processing time."
It's nice to know I'm not alone, at any rate.
It's funny. I had just had a discussion with a friend about work/life balance and keeping a distinct line between work and leisure, since I work at home. It gets blurry immediately, though, because in the midst of all my framing and show work, what I've wanted to do for fun for an hour is get out and sketch. It's nice to have a vocation.
Then in my art journal group online, this interview with Liz Steel appeared. "How do you unwind? Having a cup of tea and sketching it. That’s why I don’t have any work/play balance. The act of sketching helps me unwind because it gives me processing time."
It's nice to know I'm not alone, at any rate.
Mostly this week I've been framing for Dixon. I'm getting close. Ten out of eleven are in frames, though I still have the biggest one left, and I have to get brown paper and wires on all of them. Work is due Monday, though, so I've got time without killing myself, which is nice. It's been a full work week, though.
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My week has mostly been prep for my Dixon exhibition. Work is due a week from tomorrow, so I've been working on getting final prints and framing. But I took a break to join the Memphis Urban Sketchers at the historic Elmwood Cemetery, one of my favorite places to go sketch. Because we were outside, Mr. Darcy could join me, which is always a treat, and it was fun to catch up with my friends after my recent travels.
After sketching a remnant of us went to lunch. The group kindly agreed to eat outside on the patio so Mr. Darcy and I could join them. We ate at Tart, and they immediately brought out a bowl of water for Mr. D, which won me over. And the beet/goat cheese salad was lovely.
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I am continuing to celebrate Inktober (and my lovely new pen) with some very simple line drawings. I've been crazy busy and exhausted with the Pink Palace Crafts Fair (which went BEAUTIFULLY! Thanks to all of you who came out to support and hug me and say a few words) and getting ready for the Dixon exhibition. So a quick line sketch of Mr. Darcy on the sofa in the evening is just what the doctor ordered. It's lovely to do something creative in the midst of the show prep and printing.
Today I did two rounds of printing and filled my print rack, worked with my art journal group at Memphis Theological, and picked up framing supplies. By 5pm, it was gorgeous outside, and I decided to treat myself to a sketch outing in the forest. I started with another simple line sketch.
As I was drawing, Mr. Darcy settled firmly on my foot, and I couldn't resist sketching him as well. That's twice in two days sketching him on my feet. I'll be glad for that come winter.
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So this happened today. I went to Dixon to have a final meeting before my exhibition, and Laura Gray told me there was a banner of one of my prints out on the corner of Park and Southern. The plants have eaten my name a bit, but it is a total thrill to see my work blown up and out on a museum banner. A career moment for me.
It's funny, because this morning on my walk I noticed a spotlight of a sunbeam picking out one tiny sapling in the Old Forest. I took a photo and posted it on fb. It felt like such an encouraging image that we all get a spotlight at some point in our life. This afternoon when I saw the banner, I flashed back to that spotlight, feeling like it had been an omen. I just read The Alchemist last week, and it talks about being open to and aware of the omens in your life. It feels superstitious to me to wait around on them for decision making, but a wise man of my acquaintance today said, when I told him of my feeling about an omen, "A lovely thought. It's good to cultivate a sense of wonder wherever you go." I love that idea of being open to wonder around me. And, as E.M. Forster said, "Only connect."
It's funny, because this morning on my walk I noticed a spotlight of a sunbeam picking out one tiny sapling in the Old Forest. I took a photo and posted it on fb. It felt like such an encouraging image that we all get a spotlight at some point in our life. This afternoon when I saw the banner, I flashed back to that spotlight, feeling like it had been an omen. I just read The Alchemist last week, and it talks about being open to and aware of the omens in your life. It feels superstitious to me to wait around on them for decision making, but a wise man of my acquaintance today said, when I told him of my feeling about an omen, "A lovely thought. It's good to cultivate a sense of wonder wherever you go." I love that idea of being open to wonder around me. And, as E.M. Forster said, "Only connect."
A lovely day.
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I've been proofing as I carve, playing with colors. I think I may do a variable edition on this. The solid red is a bit too bright, but a darker red might be fun. I may also try one in blues and greens and purples as well. But so far, the top one is my favorite.
It's been fun to get my Dixon show finished and be able to work on something fun and just for me. This is an aspirational print for me. I'm not there yet in achieving this, but there have been some changes in my life over the last month or so that are moving me closer to this goal, which feels very good. So here it is. A wish for all of us. Less tempest and more teapot.
It's been fun to get my Dixon show finished and be able to work on something fun and just for me. This is an aspirational print for me. I'm not there yet in achieving this, but there have been some changes in my life over the last month or so that are moving me closer to this goal, which feels very good. So here it is. A wish for all of us. Less tempest and more teapot.
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I saw this phrase a while ago (I wish I could take credit for it), and it appealed to me on several levels. This print popped into my head because I love polka dots. After a long serious bout of printmaking doing landscapes for my show at Dixon, I decided to treat myself to a little light hearted work.
I'm still working on the bottom part, and I want to play with colors when I get the block finished, but it's far enough along to show you what I'm up to this week.
I'm still working on the bottom part, and I want to play with colors when I get the block finished, but it's far enough along to show you what I'm up to this week.
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This is a print of the forest path I walk every morning. I thought I had it ready to print final copies of (I was intending to go with the middle option above), but in my jet lagged state after Paris, I accidentally omitted the green block and ended up with the top left. I realized that the cool green was too jarring, and I liked the warm shades, so I tried it with the dark red leaves at the top right.
They were too dark, so I tried the three below, and I think I'm settling on the left-hand version for subtlety.
They were too dark, so I tried the three below, and I think I'm settling on the left-hand version for subtlety.
Then I decided I should try it in green as well. Facebook friends were lobbying for a series of different seasons. I think they were right, and I'd like to maybe have it as a set of three. Final prints still to come.
Please pardon the blurry cell phone shots. It's been a bit cloudy. This last one I had mostly carved before leaving, and this is my first color proof. I wanted a print of Dixon for my show there.
I usually have a very clear vision of a print in my head before I start, except for the pattern that emerges as I carve the non-figured areas. I have been up in the air on color for this one as well and plan to do more color tests. Not my normal way of working, but it's kind of fun. Stay tuned...
I usually have a very clear vision of a print in my head before I start, except for the pattern that emerges as I carve the non-figured areas. I have been up in the air on color for this one as well and plan to do more color tests. Not my normal way of working, but it's kind of fun. Stay tuned...
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I've been focusing and printmaking and sketching the last few years, but Dixon wanted some oils as well for my fall exhibition with them. It took me a while to get my head back in this space, but I've been flipping through some sketchbooks and found several images I'd enjoy painting, and I really have been having a ball. There's something very immediate and responsive about oils. They're lush.
I'm also enjoying revisiting a special place. This painting and the moonrise one (last blog entry) are both from watercolors I did at the woodworking school Country Workshops. My friends Drew and Louise Langsner live there and run the school, and their farm is one of the loveliest places I know. They periodically invite me to visit them and paint for a bit, and I always look forward to my time there. It's a fruitful place for my art.
I'm also enjoying revisiting a special place. This painting and the moonrise one (last blog entry) are both from watercolors I did at the woodworking school Country Workshops. My friends Drew and Louise Langsner live there and run the school, and their farm is one of the loveliest places I know. They periodically invite me to visit them and paint for a bit, and I always look forward to my time there. It's a fruitful place for my art.
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I've got a new painting underway for my fall exhibition at Dixon Gallery and Gardens. This is an evening sky I painted in watercolor when I was in North Carolina last fall. I've already done a print from that sketch, but the image continues to call my name. My favorite thing to paint in oils is big, lush skies. That medium does skies better than anything else I work in. I've enjoyed getting back into oils for this exhibition.