Yesterday, I went over to Waterbury Center to hang my solo art exhibition: What Remains.
34 pieces: assemblages of various sizes, mixed media collage, and altered books. Almost all of them new work.
I have put together other art exhibitions and been involved in group shows, but this endeavor is my 1st solo show. I feel like I am growing up as an artist. Perhaps it's a coming into my own.
I have to admit that it's a bit scary to put yourself out there and exhilarating as well.
I've been working hard at getting the word out about the show. Writing press releases, making postcards, tweeting, and talking it up on Facebook. Now, with it only three days away, I have no idea of what to expect. I don't know how many people will make the trek to Waterbury Center to celebrate achievement with me on Saturday.
I'm headed back there tomorrow night, after work, to move things around a little and start tagging everything. I've still have a ton of stuff to do, but feel so very accomplished at this point. And so very thankful for all the people who have supported me and cheered me on. This is something that I have pushed myself to do, but could not have gotten here without all of you.
So, in this quite moment, before settling off to slumber I thank you for that. And, reflect on what it is all about.
The one thing I know, the one thing my art is reflective of, is the reality that "this moment" is fleeting. That no matter how hard I try to hold on to it, Sunday will be here sooner than I know. So, to live each moment, with fullness without regrets is all I can do. Embrace the now, for tomorrow will be only memories..... but great memories that I will have for a lifetime.
About two years ago, I drove down to Topsfield MA, to take some classes with Michael deMeng at Absolutely Everything. What happened to me that weekend was equivalent to taking a can opener to the top of my head and just cranking away. It was the catalyst to the art that I am making now. The point of no return. The beginning of my transformation.
Now fast forward to the present, I have my work up at the S.P.A.C.E. gallery and opening my debut Art Exhibition,, "What Remains" in about 2 weeks. There are so many opportunities are unfolding in so many strange and wondrous ways. And for the icing on the cake, Michael is teaching here, this weekend in Vermont! and only 15 minutes from my house at Shelburne Arts Center! In addition to teaching to classes, Pandora's Box and Angels and Demons, he is showing some of his recent work in an Exhibition in the SAC gallery. How's that for luck. I am so excited to be taking a class with him again. I can't imagine where this weekend will end up taking me creatively. We will just have to see.
(c) Michael deMeng
I know there are some spots open for his class, contact SAC @ (802) 985-3648 for more info or check Michael's website for details. He's a terrific teacher, with a great sense of humor and creative insight. He is also a huge inspiration to me as well as a lot of other mixed media artists I know. If you get a chance to swing down to Shelburne, stop by the reception on Friday Night from 5-8pm, check out Michael's magical assemblages and say hi! It's going to be a ton of fun!
The few last month has been so productive for me. I feel like I have finally hit my slipstream and getting into the flow of it all. I am so blessed to be able to be moving forward this way, creating art almost everyday. Art that seems to touch people deeply and personally.
Now it is October. The leaves have started to fall and the days grow colder and shorter.Halloween is right around the corner and I am reminded that this is the time when many people believe that the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest. We allow ourselves to be spooked and to think of ghostly things in this darkening time of the year.
So it is auspicious that I am a part of two very "haunting" shows. The The Art of Horror, which opened this Friday, October 1. The reception, which was part of the Burlington Art Walk, was simply terrific. I met so many wonderful people and had an amazing time! Thank you Beth, Kevin and Christy for putting together this event.
And....
In just about 20 days, I will be hanging my own work at Seminary Arts in Waterbury Center. The show is called, "What Remains" and is a collection of work from the past two years that deals with the essences, the aftereffects that are left behind, in and around the objects of our daily lives. The things that I pull together to create my art is "What remains." The stories I weave together are ghost stories, moments that are remembered if only in our dreams and vague recollections.
Whether it’s an old family photo or grandmother’s rocking chair, we’ve all felt the presence of someone long gone when we encounter their things - the imprint they leave behind after possessing an object for a long period of time. It may be just a fleeting memory, a faint electric impulse that jolts us into thinking, into feeling that person’s wordless presence, but it is there. The ghost of a person, left behind in the yellowed paper, the cracked leather, the worm-eaten wood…
By sifting through these disparate objects, I have found the compatible bits and pieces of others’ lives and woven their faint and ancient energies together until they sing together in one voice. These new pieces not only speak to the sadness of these lost and forgotten things, but they remind us that their owners have been lost and forgotten as well.
And if them, what of us?
Join me on October 23rd as we celebrate the past and the future and where "when lingers" at Seminary Arts in the Center. I will be posting more info about the show and the workshop I am going to be teaching on October 30th. Stay tuned....
I am incredibly excited to be a part of this show at the S.P.A.C.E gallery again this year! Being a costume designer, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. There's just something about it that inspires me . Then, have my "haunting" work on display in this show is a real treat!
"The Art of Horror is a collection of dark artists who explore the musty recesses of their wickedly creative closets and shake loose a few skeletons to startle and disturb the unsuspecting villagers."
If you find yourself in Burlington, VT this Friday, swing by the SPACE gallery and check out the exhibition, it's guaranteed to give a thrill.
OPENING RECEPTION FOR FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK: Friday, October 1, 2010 5pm - 9pm
Kevin Montanaro
The gallery is open through October 31st, Thursdays-Saturdays 11AM-4PM.
Beth Robinson
The Opening Party on October 1st from 5-9pm will host audio and visual nightmares assembled by the creeps at S.P.A.C.E., as well as ghost stories from the Queen of Halloween, Thea Lewis. Costumes are encouraged. Admission is free and open to all ages, but those who are faint of heart and prone to hysterics might wish to consult with their doctor or priest prior to attending!
Also, I want to give a HUGE shout out to Stacey Merrill, aka Artsnark! She has always been a huge supporter of my work, and continues to do so with her blog posts from way down south in Tampa, FLA. She is also an extremely talented artist, as well as a generous and giving friend. I wish you could be here this weekend Stacey. You would love this creepy show!
Strangest thing happened this week- I was in 4 Etsy treasuries. This never happens to me. Etsy has been pretty much on snooze for the past year. So to get so much attention in one week, just sort of knocked my socks off.
Thank you all the shops who have featured my work this week! Hopefully it will lead to some sales.
Working and getting over a cold. That's what I have been doing since I can home from the gallery at 404 Pine Street after an energizing Art Hop Weekend, The Hop was great and really has motivated me to get into the workroom every night. My solo show at Seminary Arts in the Center is opening in about a month and I have tons of work to do!
Here's a little taste of the work that is going into the show.
This piece, I like to call, Captain O My Captain, I finished late last night.When found the frame and the tintype at Whistle Stop Antiques I just fell in love with him. For months he sat on my worktable with a few other elements, waiting patiently for me to commit to him. Finally, something swept me up, and I started in on him with fervor. It's strange to me how things just are that way. That odd moment when something clicks and the work "just happens"
I'll be looking for some more of that inspiration to strike me tonight.I'm working on a few more soul houses as well as a very large piece about nightmares. Time to get back to work.
Two weeks ago, I made a pilgrimage to New York to take a class with the amazingly talented and inspiring Judy Wilkenfeld. Judy creates the most beautiful and thought provoking handmade books I have ever seen. Her tomes have no written narrative but tell compelling stories, just the same.Each piece she creates is a unique work of art that resonates deeply with the viewer.
Judy is from Australia, and when heard that she was coming to the US, I could not pass up the opportunity to take her class.
For two days we sat on the wrap-around porch of the Homestead, Sallieanne McClelland’s home and creative space, learning Judy’s technique to create an accordion book. She creates books with layers and layers of texture imbued with symbolism and then add a dash of mysticism and magic. More than the techniques of putting the structure together, and how to use specific products and tools to get the result you want, I gleamed a sense of spiritualism from her books, seeing many of the up close and in person for the first time. The book Charlotte O Charlotte that she created to teach this particular book structure was designed around the folk story of Frozen Charlotte and consequently the dolls that were manufactured at the turn of the century.
assembling the pages
After Judy imparted her knowledge of book making to us, and gave us the tools and inspiration to create our own stories she set us to task. Each participant created something, unique and personal that could be a foundation or template that could be further built upon.
The two fun-filled days were packed with many great suggestions, one in particular I will not forget, concerning cutting book board with a proper metal ruler.That weekend left me very inspired and motivated to get to work.
I am still working through my ideas about Captain Ahab and his wife. The book I started in Judy’s class is about him and his young bride. I, of course, have been working on this theme in my work for almost a year, since I read Ahab’s Wife by Sena Naslund. I guess I am just not ready to let go of it. Must be there is something for me to figure out, some ghost I need to set free. At any rate, I left the class with an almost completed piece and all the tools and momentum to finish it. I think it is remarkable the energy, traveling and taking part in a course like this, can help to lift my creative spirits and propel me forward.
Thanks Judy! It was so worth the trip!
On my way down to the class, I stopped at the home and studio of one of my old friends, Nick Gamma. Nick and I go all the way back to the 80’s, driving around Long Island, making trouble with some other equally nutty personalities with very unorthodox haircuts and battered leather jackets. Ah… that was the past… we are far more sophisticated and refined now.
set up @ Nick's
At least Nick is. Since he graduated from FIT in the late 80s, he has propelled himself forward into an amazing career in graphic art and design. He is 20 year veteran in the entertainment industry working with some of the industries top photographers. He has directed close to 100 photo shoots for some of the leading musicians and entertainers.Tapping in to his own creative roots, Nick has been developing his own art through photography. He brings out a very unique and striking beauty from his subjects. It can be something as simple as a building or a tree but way he manipulates the light and draws you into the frame is what is so very special about his work. So when I was thinking about getting press shots taken for the press kit I am putting together, I wondered if he would entertain the idea of shooting me. God knows, I am not the easiest subject to photograph. I don’t smile for the camera. Nope, you’re lucky if you get a smirk out of me. I am too self conscious about the whole thing. So when he said yes, I almost fell off my chair.
Taking photos of me in the dark reaches of my basement, where I work on my art in the utility room, wasn’t really an option to me. And not nearly as glamorous as going down to Trumbull, Connecticut where he lives. Plus, it was on the way to my class, so that was that. It was decided! We would shoot in his neighborhood. No “Where Women Create” studio shots for me. Sorry Somerset, maybe next time.
We had a great time, catching up and going through the whole process. Nick invested so much time thinking about the back grounds, scouting the locations, setting up the shots. We spent the entire day working in the studio and on location. The result is some incredible photos that I am extremely pleased with. Not only will the serve the purpose of good printable press shots, but they are stunning and artistic. Credit completely due to man behind the lens.
Yesterday, I went over to Waterbury Center to hang my solo art exhibition: What Remains.
