Throwback Thursday

America! Have a happy 4th and stay safe this weekend.

america, 2011, acrylic, 36" x 48"

This piece was inspired by a friend's post of this video the previous year.





Don't forget the Studio Independence Sale!

Studio Independence Sale

aka: The free up more space to make more art post.

This morning I brought 10 canvases back into my house, which reminded me that I have entirely too much artwork here. So if there was something you had your eye on, let me know. I'm willing to negotiate on any work currently in my possession. 

the tip of the iceberg

This one came home today. Many people commented that it looked like it belonged in this space and suggested the City of Hammond purchase it and have it permanently installed. And, I would be totally okay with that happening. But maybe it would look even better in your house. Or, maybe you have a small house like I do, and don't really have room for a 7.5' painting. But you might have room for a smaller canvas, or drawing, or print...

photo by Wes Bushby

So help me clear through some art so I have more room to make more art. It's a vicious cycle, really. The Studio Independence Sale will run through the holiday weekend. Be safe and have a happy 4th!

in the studio

This week, I'm actually posting this recap on the usual Sunday. Last week, I started prepping on Saturday, and the internet went out in a storm, and when it came back up, I finished the post and published it, without realizing that I was a day ahead. I suppose that is better than a day behind.

I did finish two paintings this week. The small crashing through and the larger something about the current are both based on the Boquet River at Wadhams. A new canvas was stretched which will have another longer view of the Middle Road area which was featured in middle (of the) road.

crashing through, acrylic and ink, 12" x 12"

something about the current, acrylic, 20" x 20"

The stretchers for the next piece, 38" x 64". If you think it looks like it belongs there, it's because it does. I bought those stretchers months ago thinking that I'd out a painting over the mantel. This is now stretched and steamed and ready to start tomorrow, after I get home from Hammond Library. The paintings which have been there for the last two months are returning home. 

Throwback Thursday

I could not think of a more fitting throwback for today than this:

love wins

This was painted last year after the Supreme Court rulings on DOMA and Prop 8. And yesterday, (my current home state) Indiana's marriage ban was struck down. 

love wins, acrylic and ink on canvas, 32" x 32"

love wins is at the Hammond Public Library for a few more days. The show comes down Monday.

in the studio

This week, I finished for now this is where the river turns. I reworked some of it today, after having looked at it for a couple of days. It's being set aside for a while. A smaller piece was started. Still untitled, but I am leaning towards crashing through. Both these paintings are of the Boquet River in upstate New York. These photos are very deceiving. The lower piece is tiny in comparison.

this is where the river turns, 36" x 36"

untitled, 12" x 12"

Also this week, got word that my grant application was accepted by the Indiana Arts Commission! I will be spending a week this fall in a papermaking residency at Hook Pottery Paper, and the work will be framed and shown at Towle Theater next spring. I'm going to need a good hashtag for this work. #grantwork? #papergrant? If you have a good idea, let me know.

Friday, I managed to hit 3rd Friday at Zhou B, including Diana Leviton Gondek's studio and Chris Winquist's work at 4ArtInc. Saturday I was gallery sitting at Studio 659.

Throwback Thursday

Today's throwback is wicker park willows which was one of two pieces painted during the Live Art Show last year at Studio 659. The other sold. This one has been out of my studio recently and was hung on the corner hutch door knobs. Which we never use. I mean there's stuff in there, that we never use. Except that I recently put our dinner plates in there (which we also never use - because, really, we're kind of a paper plate family.) And we've suddenly had to use them a lot, which requires taking down the painting to get in and out of the hutch, and it's kind of a hassle. My husband has asked that I find a better place to put this piece. Maybe you have a better place  for this, like in your own home or office? 

wicker park willows, acrylic on canvas, 10" x 10"

in the studio

I told a friend yesterday that I was fighting a painting that hated me. He laughed. But it was an I've been there laugh.

Last week, I decided I needed to put this piece aside because I didn't really know where it was going. Of course, I did not do that. I just kept throwing paint at it, in hopes that I'd figure out what I was doing. I didn't. 

But, on a drive past the prairie, I thought, I just don't want to paint green. And there you have it. I got rid of all the green in the painting, and now I have a direction. I still think this piece will change a bit more, but I feel like it is now heading in the right direction. Or at least a direction.

this is where the river turns, wip, acrylic, 36" x 36"

Also this week: I snuck in and saw Summer Sizzle, which is the instructors' show at Substation. I have three paintings in it. The show will be up all summer, but the reception has been set for July 17, 5-8 pm. I spent Friday night at the Beverly Shores Depot opening, where I will have work all season. Their openings are on the 2nd Friday of the month from 5-7 pm. Saturday, I started at White Ripple's opening and then wandered over to SideCar where there was a raku firing. This bowl was thrown by Mike Kaysen.  Lauren Ball and I glazed it last night. That was a very cool experience. If you ever have the chance to see pots pulled out of the kiln, do it.

Throwback Thursday

It's summer vacation and the days are flowing one into another. I spent most of today thinking it was Saturday. I've been taking my son for more car rides now that he is out of school and I've been watching this spot every time I drive by.

I think it's dead. 

Really. I don't know what kind of small trees these are but they didn't leaf out, and we're nearly halfway though June and everything else is green. It survived last year's burn. How can this favorite little spot of mine be dead? 

copse, 2013, acrylic

copse is currently at Paul Henry's Art Gallery in Hammond.

in the studio

This week in the studio, I finished a painting and started a new one. The second is on a reclaimed canvas, which I was relieved to find because I wanted to paint but didn't want to stretch any canvases. Sometime this week, while I'm still working on this new piece, I need to stretch more canvases so they're ready to go when I am.

Both of these paintings are based on places in upstate New York. middle (of the) road is from a view on, or possibly just near, Middle Road. I'm not entirely sure because I wasn't taking notes, but I'm going with it anyway. this is where the river turns is one of the many windy turns in the Boquet River.

middle (of the) road, acrylic, 12" x 12"

this is where the river turns, detail, #wip, acrylic, 36" x 36"

Also this week: I have work in 2 group shows which opened this week Abstract Art: Breaking the Norm at Studio 659 and an instructors show at Substation. An reception for the latter will be planned for July. This Friday (yes, the 13th!) there will be a reception at Beverly Shores Depot, where Brabant Lenting is the featured artist for the month, but I still have three paintings.

Throwback Thursday

this woman's work...

circa 2012. Currently at Studio 659's Abstract Art Show, along with 2 others from the same series. Opening reception tomorrow night at 6:59pm.