“Art Lives!” / “This Green Space” / a mosaic

I’ve been having a lot of fun in my studio lately and I thought I would share some of my ideas, unfinished work, and creative process.  I’m working on a mosaic commission as well as several pieces for two group shows in March.

 

Art Lives!

This is the start of a collaborative piece that I am working on with Erika Nelson for "Art Lives!"

“Art Lives!” is a statewide collaborative project pairing women artists  to work together to make art about the theme art lives. The project was conceived by Rachel Epp Buller, an artist and professor at Bethel College in N. Newton, Kansas, as a response to the condition of arts funding in Kansas; Governor Sam Brownback vetoed funding for the Kansas Arts Commission making Kansas the only state without an arts agency.

 

I am working in my studio on a collaborative piece for "Art Lives!"

I am working on a couple of pieces for this exhibit.  I am most excited to be working collaboratively with artist Erika Nelson of Lucas, Kansas, known for her “Worlds largest collection of the world’s smallest versions of the world’s largest things.”  I still haven’t met Erika in person, but I have enjoyed talking with her on the phone and through Facebook and email.  We’ve decided to begin two collaborative pieces, one that is “political” about the state of the arts in Kansas, and one focused more loosely on the theme art lives.  We are passing the two pieces back and forth in the mail, and by now have each had a chance to add to what the other has done.  It’s a fun process and we’re thinking of it as a dialogue.

 

This is the first layer of the piece that I am making for "Art Lives!" I will be layering ink and other media on clayboard and then scraping back into it with a scratchboard knife.

I am also beginning to work on a piece of my own for this exhibit.  I am imagining art lives as a depiction of a theatrical scene with dancers and actors springing forth and even flying through the space.  I’m imagining this “play” as including subtle references to the Occupy  movement because that movement has highlighted how publicly-funded programs like the Kansas Arts Commission are being taken over by wealthy corporate interests. I am excited to try a more  process-oriented approach with this piece, so the final product might be very different from my first thoughts.

                              

 

The exhibit “Art Lives!” will be on display at City Arts in Wichita, Kansas, from March 28 – April 21, 2012, with a Final Friday reception on March 30.

 

“This Green Space”

Call for entries

I am also planning a piece for an exhibit called “This Green Space” at the Percolator in Lawrence, Kansas. For this exhibit artists are invited to share their visions for imagining and re-imagining the green space at the corner of 9th and New Hampshire in Lawrence, a space that may become a large hotel — just across the alley from the Percolator.  Alternately, artists are invited to exhibit work that tells the story of how they have re-imagined “green spaces” of their own.

 

The green space that I am imagining at 9th and New Hampshire is a fantasy playground.  What I hope to convey in my finished scratchboard piece is a feeling of joy and play, focused on the needs and interests of children. I have quickly sketched out some ideas, made a more detailed plan, and am now in the process of rendering the piece in scratchboard.

 

“This Green Space” will be on exhibit March 3 – 25, 2012, at the Lawrence Percolator, and will be open for a reception during the March “Final Friday” event.

 

Mosaic commission

Mosaic in process

And as I move forward with the above new projects, I am also in the process of finishing a mosaic commission that I have been working on since December with a tree-theme.

Wheatfields Bakery Exhibit, Lawrence, KS

Have some coffee and a scone and see my art at Wheatfields Bakery in Lawrence, Kansas!

 

My art is on display at Wheatfields Bakery (904 Vermont) from Monday, October 10 – Sunday, December 5, 2011.  The exhibit includes mixed-media collages, clayboard drawings, and mosaics that I have made in the last few years through the present.

 

Some of my work is now available as prints, and these are listed on the information sheet at Wheatfields. Wheatfields is open M – F 6:30 am – 8 pm, S 6:30 am – 6:30 pm, and Su 7:30 am – 4 pm.

Grout is Good: When Commissions Come Together

Occasionally I get the chance to create a piece of art that is commissioned for a particular purpose or occasion.

 

Once I made a collage time-line of sorts for a client who gave me important photos, memorabilia, and documents from his life to incorporate.  It was scary working with such precious things, among them a copy of his birth certificate, weathered and encased in fragments of plastic. He was someone I didn’t know and he didn’t want to influence my design or working process at all — total trust. And that was nerve-wracking. Would he like it? In the end I think he did, or at least he said he did.

 

Once a friend commissioned a piece of art for her wedding; two nesting doves portrayed in scratchboard. The original black and white image was reproduced in purple for the wedding invitations, programs, and t-shirts. Ten years later my friend’s parents commissioned another piece, now for my friend’s tenth anniversary. I used mixed-media collage for this one, again in purple. And now the doves have kids.

 

Today I am in the process of making a small commissioned piece in mosaic. The design phase is over, and for me that’s the hardest part of the creative process and also the most satisfying. The finished piece will be a gift commemorating new beginnings in a story that only my client could tell. I’ve enjoyed gathering some of the details of the lives that this piece will honor. I’ve worked alongside my client to find the right symbol and design: blowing prairie grasses. I am using broken shards of recycled dishes to make the mosaic. In addition, I’m incorporating small pieces of colored glass, special to my client who picked them up around her farm. I’ll know whether or not the mosaic will come together as a whole only after I grout it and it dries. Grout is the unifier. Grout is good.

Linked in Spirit at the Percolator

I enjoyed showing my exhibit Linked in Spirit at the Percolator in Lawrence, Kansas in May and June of 2010. 

Here are some of the art pieces that I showed in the exhibit, including clayboard drawings, mixed-media collages, and mosaics.

Look for additional images from my exhibit under Pages: Portfolio: Linked in Spirit

I painted mural-figures related to my art on a movable wall. The figures directed people to one of my favorite pieces, and led viewers around to the other side of the wall.

On the other side I made a collage of photos, sketchbook entries, and memorabilia that represented some of the ways I find inspiration for my art.

I held an all-ages art making workshop at the Percolator where participants experimented with materials and made clayboard drawings, mosaics, and mixed-media collages.

I’m looking forward to showing this exhibit again, including new work, at the Yost Art Gallery at Highland Community College (Highland, Kansas) in November of 2010.

Linked in Spirit, The Percolator, May 15 – June 27

detail of "Blackbirds"

The public is invited to a reception to celebrate the opening of “Linked in Spirit: an Exhibit of Clayboard Drawings, Mixed-media Collages, and Mosaic,” on Saturday, May 15, 6 – 9 pm, at the Percolator (look for the green awnings in the alley between 9th St. and  the Lawrence Arts Center at 940 New Hampshire, Lawrence, KS.) Keyboard musician Brad Hoopes will play at the reception, and refreshments will be served.

The exhibit runs May 15 – June 22, 2010.  Gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday, noon – 6 pm, or by appointment call 785-840-5507.

Linked in Spirit, Bethel College, Mar. 5 – Apr. 2

Linked In Spirit: An Exhibition of Mixed-media Collages, Clayboard Drawings, and Mosaics is on display at the Fine Arts Center gallery, Bethel College, North Newton, KS, March 5 – April 2, 2010.  Hrs. M – F 9 am – 5 pm and Su 1 – 5 pm. This exhibit will be at the Percolator, Lawrence, KS, in May.

1109 Gallery Exhibit (and upcoming shows)

Headwind (available)

Strange birds are visiting my imagination, and although these are caught in a strong headwind, you might also enjoy the bird-oid I made playing in a fountain, on display at the 1109 Gallery (1109 Massachusetts, Lawrence, KS) from November 11 – January 10, 2010.  Everyone is invited to the opening reception on November 14, from 7 – 9 pm.

I would also like to invite you to see my work at Bethel College in N. Newton, KS in March, 2010, and at the Percolator Gallery in Lawrence, KS in either May or June of 2010.  More information on these exhibits will be coming soon

The Latest

January

I wanted to make a piece of art based on the iconic image of blackbirds sitting in a winter tree. I photographed the perfect tree during a visit to Newton, KS, this winter, and used that photo as a point of departure for this piece. The piece, a mixed-media collage using fabric, embroidery thread, and acrylic paint, is 2′ x 2′.