in the studio

Just one work in progress this week. I'm maybe eight layers in and a ways to go. The blue is too heavy, or heavier than I intended at this level, but I'm enjoying the vibrancy. I think it will remain very green. Earlier in the week, I finished the final reporting for the grant project and that is a relief to be done with.

acrylic, 24" x 36"

in the studio

This week in the studio included more moving into the studio. I worked two days there doing collages. I hope to have regular studio hours at the end of next month, until then it will sporadically. 

6.10.15.1, collage, 5" x 7"

 

6.10.15.2, collage, 5" x 7"

6.10.15.3, collage, 5" x 7"

6.13.15.1, collage, 5" x 7"

6.13.15.2,  collage, 5" x 7"

This was a very full weekend. Landscape's Language closed at the Towle Theater during the Hammond Art Walk, Saturday Afternoon. We made it into the paper! That evening the after party/ Second Saturday/ LIVE IN THE VILLE event was happening at White Ripple (including the Dyer Arts Visionaries Pop Up). Sunday was Family Arts Day at the Center for Visual and Performing Arts. I spent the afternoon helping kids make paper crowns, which was super fun.



Next week will be much quieter. 

in the studio

So this week's in the studio takes on a whole new meaning. I have been working out of my home studio, aka the former guest room for the last several years. And this week I moved into a real, legitimate studio at White Ripple Gallery in Hessville. 

I'm sharing the space with fellow artist Tony Lipka. We've got a bit more to move in, but we managed to be set up in time for Saturday's opening of LIVE IN THE VILLE month-long event. We'll be updating the work every month for Second Saturday. Meanwhile, I have just a few more days of kids-in-school freedom, so I will be working between the two spaces til the end of July, when I will start to have regular studio hours. Until then, I'll be available there on Second Saturdays and by appointment.

Workwise, I am still tweaking the seenUNseen project and we got the group together for a feedback session Saturday. This was very helpful. We are regrouping at the end of summer for phase two. Teaching work ended last week and I'll be able to get all of the associated art supplies out of my house tomorrow, which will please my husband to no end. They sort of take over and breed when no one's looking.

Out of the studio brings me back to the new studio space at White Ripple Saturday, and to the Dyer Arts Visionaries Pop Up Gallery space also at White Ripple. (love wins is there now.) Sunday was the 64th Annual Chesterton Woman's Club Art Show, where I had two small #art365 paintings of the prairie.

Up next week: Saturday is the Downtown Hammond Art Walk. This is really the last chance to see the Landscape's Language pulp paintings at the Towle Theater. I will be there 11 am to 2 pm. Lots and lots of participants this year.

And then back to White Ripple Saturday evening for the Second Saturday opening/open studios 6-10 pm. This Sunday I'll be at the Center for Visual and Performing Arts in Munster teaching art for their Family Arts Day! It'll be a busy weekend, but should be lots of fun!

in the studio

These posts have become really infrequent because I've been working on a project I can't share yet. Possibly next week.

detail, seenUNseen project

Out of the studio, a lot is happening. This week I updated works at Paul Henry's. There are now nine collages there which have never been shown before. I delivered heartland work on Wednesday which was installed for a Dyer Arts Visionaries show. The Friday reception was very successful and I sold two pieces. The heartland show will be up for about 2 months. I entered two juried shows, and I stopped the opening of the Giant Monsters Show at Paul Henry's to support a bunch of local artists. 

And something big is in the works. But that's a secret for now, too. Next week's in the studio should be less vague.

in the studio

I started this week with a small gouache study based on my studio. Robin Kalinich posted in the Ink & Alchemy facebook group, asking to see everyone's studio, which made me think I ought to just paint it. I'm looking for angles and architecture/structure that I'm not having in the landscapes I've been working on. Also, this piece has an initial layer of text in ink, which is mostly obliterated (and that's okay) by the additional layers of gouache. 

ink and gouache, 5" x 5"

The paynes grey in the lower right corner gave me some hope that I could get the gouache to work in a way similar to the pulp painting. So from there I did some landscapes. You'll notice I did not title them. I decided dating them was sufficient for now.

12.10.14, goauche, 4" x 6"

12.11.14, gouache, 4" x 6"

For the rest of the week, I went back to interiors. I think I will be exploring here for a bit. I wasn't sure what to expect when I posted them online. Although I occasionally do draw things along this line, I don't usually add color and they never get posted. These has been really well received among my online followers, and I'm very thankful for that.

12.12.14, ink and gouache, 4" x 6"

12.13.14, ink and gouache, 6" x 4"

12.13-14.14, ink and gouache, 4" x 6"

12.14.14, ink and gouache, 4" x 6"

Also, this week I had another feedback session on the papermaking. I'm finding these very beneficial. I hope to have two more before the end of the year. Out of the studio this week, I went to White Ripple's Second Saturday opening. It was a full house! Both of the previous shows I have work in are still up: Small Works, and Indigenous Landscapes. I also have another opportunity to exhibit in the works for later this month, more on that next week!

in the studio

This week in the studio, I've been working through how I can take what I learned in the residency last week and apply it to my current body of work. This is definitely a trial and error effort. I've had the paper out once to show some during an interview I did for a local paper - it should be out mid-December. I spent most of this week dabbling with an existing canvas - and taking it a direction I hadn't originally planned.  It started here.

From here, I added in several layers of text using ink pens and then some paper cut out letters followed up with watered down acrylic. I think the acrylic was the most effective. I also think going forward that additional papers (written on) could be layered in underneath. Here is where I finished out the week.

It still needs some more work, and this may not ever get finished.

Today, though! Today was fun. my younger son played studio assistant and we printed our own holiday cards! He was reluctant to start but had a good time once we got going.

Out of the studio this week, I delivered the basketball for the Hoosier Hoop Dreams fundraiser. And delivered work for this week's opening of FOOT LONG! Small Works show at Thaddeus C. Gallery in La Porte. That show opens 5-8pm this Friday (December 5th) I know several other artists exhibiting in this show, and it should be a great show, with lots of gift-giving potential. Next week, I pick up the rest of the paper I made on the last day and will start soliciting input for what will end up in the show. I need to start photographing what I've got on hand already. I'm hoping to "release" one paper each week between now and the show opening.

in the studio: papermaking residency

This week in the studio, I was not in the studio. At least not my studio. I spent the week at Hook Pottery Paper in La Porte completing a residency with papermaker Andrea Peterson. I am not going to show off completed, dried paper in this post. It was an amazing experience and I am still digesting exactly what happened. I do believe this will change how I work, and how I paint and draw. It is going to take some experimentation to accomplish something similar in a different media.

My goal was pulp painting and the inclusion of text. At Andrea's suggestion the mark-making I used was entirely text based. I was not the best at remembering to stop and take photos while I was working, but I did manage to do a fair job of documenting this piece in particular. These photos are unedited.

the beginning

The red is a partial veil done twice,
once in the lower right and once along the left side.

The royal is a poured veil.

This layer is all text.

more text and a light blue wash
(washed top down through the center)

more text

post pressing but not dried

What's next? I still have to pick up the last day's work. From there I need to sort through it and I'll be asking some people locally for some feedback on what should be included in the exhibit in the spring at the Towle Theatre in Hammond.

I will be posting some of the work through social media. Please follow me on facebook, twitter, google+ and ello.

This residency has been paid for with a grant from the Indiana Arts Commission.

in the studio

New this week: I actually finished something. More than once. woo-hoo! Three new paintings completed: yet, forgotten, and univision (which was previously devil's slide, but no longer felt like that. A new devil's slide is in the works.)

yet, acrylic, 8" x 8"

forgotten, acrylic, 8" x 8"

univision, acrylic, 11" x 14"

And for the works in progress: a new devil's slide, an as-yet untitled wip, and hollow, which is very nearly done.

the new devil's slide wip. may need to be a square and/or vertical

untitled wip, acrylic 8" x 8"

hollow, wip, acrylic 11" x 14"

Out of the studio: I had three openings this week. Tuesday, there was an opening at Taltree Arboretum as an offsite location for White Ripple Gallery. I've got one #art365 gouache there. Friday was the Artistic License opening at Studio 659. This is an annual juried show, and my piece crashing through took first place! Saturday was an opening at White Ripple for the Small Works exhibit. 

Next week: I've got a newspaper interview Monday and a studio visit on Wednesday. Saturday there are two openings. First up the South Lake Artists Co-op 5th Anniversary Show. I have 3 paintings in this show at Paul Henry's Art Gallery. Afterwards, I'll be heading over to SideCar to check out the group show Earthwerks. In between all of this, I have to finalize details and last minute prep work for my residency the following week at Hook Pottery Paper.

in the studio

I was planning to post this later tonight, but then I realized my camera (battery) was dying, and figured I should take some photos before it's too late. I still didn't finish anything this week...but I'm closer than last week. There are three wips right now. The first is hoping to be plush. It is very different than last week, as threatened promised. The second has an ethereal quality which I'm hoping not ruin, and the last one (devil's slide) is a little mesmerizing in person. I decided to just embrace the patterning and not try to stop it. at all. 

Out of the studio, I saw Patti Tobin Davis' exhibit Rhythm Unfolding at South Shore Arts. Her work is up through the end of next week. I picked up work from the Salon Show and Oliver Brown exhibit and delivered work for the Small Works show at White Ripple and Artistic License at Studio 659. The Artistic License show is a juried exhibit, in its third year. I always describe it as all of the work and none of the glory of curating a show, since I end up doing the bulk of the behind the scenes work. On the plus side, we get to give out awards, which is always fun, and because I am not choosing the work selected into the show or for awards, I get to enter work in it, too. I finished installing today, and the show looks great! This year's juror is Ish Muhammad.

Up next week: Tuesday, there's an opening at Taltree Arboretum 11:30-1:30 (and it's free admission that day!) Friday, Artistic License opens at 6:59 pm and awards will be given out at 7:30. Saturday the Small Works Show opens at White Ripple at 7pm on the third floor. The Indigenous Landscapes Show is still up in the Mezzanine Gallery, so if you missed that exhibit during their Grand Opening last month, you've got a second chance to see that.

in the studio

This week: the #overthemantel painting is done. A whole lotta yellow went onto future wishes. The title has been shortened because the road was edited out. It was future wishes, or the road less traveled. The road in question was a private road on private property that ran along side the county road. future wishes refers to the field of dandelions. What kid has not made a wish and blown those seeds everywhere? This is likely the last of the Adirondack paintings.

future wishes, acrylic, 38" x 64"

Also happening: more work on the two impending storm canvases and some linoleum carving for the #postcardswap. And I've already seen two of the postcards! This is like Christmas for me. Even though I am not getting these postcards, it is still really cool to see them online.

This was after the first day of cutting which was pretty awful and reminded me that I that I have a strong dislike for linoleum. Many thanks to Johnny Disco for suggesting I iron the lino to make it easier to carve. I am about half way done carving now and will have printing to show for next week. 

Outside the studio, I went to Angel Hair for The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades opening featuring Lou Shields, Rick Therrio, and Sophia Rapata. This is the last week for my artwork to be featured at Uptown Evolution in Whiting and as part of South Shore Arts' Summer Sizzle. So if you are local to NWI, and haven't made it see those shows yet, time is running out. That also means I will have to find space for 15 pieces to come back into my already crowded studio, so if you find a piece you love, please give it a new home.

in the studio

Most of this week was spent working on an idea which I thought might be brilliant . And it was not. Still potential there but this attempt was a failure, or as I like to call it learning what doesn't work. Because, really, if you learn something then it can't be a failure.

More painting on these two, but I am honestly not really feeling these pieces this week.

And more work here, which is finally starting to show. Layers on the upper half which don't show, but eliminated part of the foreground and have a clear thought on where this is going, finally.

in the studio

I have three pieces I'm working on this week. I do feel like I get more done when I can set aside one to dry and pick up another, and rotate through them for a bit. The #overthemantel painting is down from the mantel and back in the studio. Step one: reduce the mountain. 

While I didn't set out to do this, these two (below) are becoming one piece. I will likely keep them separate, but they are heading towards a diptych of sorts. These are 16" x 20"

Next up: delivering #art365 landscapes to Uptown Evolution in Whiting this week. I will be the featured artist for the month! Last week to sign up for #postcardswap. You need to sign up by the 10th if you want to join this round.

in the studio

In the studio, the blog, and the rest of my social media sort of took an unintended hiatus this month. I think perhaps I need to regroup. So let me catch you up.

future wishes is still hanging out over my mantel where it's getting a lot of thought. And I've identified some changes that need to be made. Look for a reappearance of this piece next week. 

future wishes, or the road less traveled

Some small #art365 pieces were worked on, with the idea that these may become larger pieces. Here are a few of them. The first two were based on some photos from my #adk trip. The second set of two were from the Indiana Dunes. And the last is the prairie. All are 4" x 6" gouache.

And a new piece begun, maybe titled another roadside attraction or something of the sort.

In other news... I was a juror for a show at Studio 659. I have work in Summer Sizzle which opened at Substation No 9 last week. There's a new Abstract show at Paul Henry's featuring Pearlie Taylor and Jason E. Jones, which I quite enjoyed. Work from Renditions Gallery just came home Friday, as sadly the owner is relocating. And last night was a closing for my friend Larry A Brechner at White Ripple. This coincided with the end of the I AMerican Show with a gallery talk by curator Sergio Gomez. Up next, I will be featured at Uptown Evolution in Whiting. And, finally, the #postcardswap is back! (Deadline to sign up is August 10th.) So things are still happening, I just haven't been very good about posting about them.