iteration/span & a reminder

I will take you to far off places
Munro/Bremner © 2010/2011

Here we are again, and I am going to pretend that I wrote this on Friday but the hardcore readers will know the truth. Things got away from me this week as I have been hosting visiting U.K. artist Stewart Bremner who is preparing for his joint exhibition iteration/span with Craig Munro to be held in the Hive Gallery at the Fayetteville Underground during the month of May. It has been interesting watching Stewart prepare for this exhibition, reminding me of all the small details and expense that goes into a show.

If you are local or regional please come out to the Fayetteville Underground Thursday May 5th during first Thursday from 5-8pm and say hello to Stewart who has traveled a long way from Edinburgh, Scotland to share his and Craig's combined photographic images. Stewart will also be giving an artist talk on Saturday May 7th from 11- 12 about the process and inspiration behind the exhibition as well as answer your questions. It is always a rare treat when we get to hear directly from the artist so please be sure to attend so you can get the inside scoop. As always our exhibitions and art talks at the Fayetteville Underground are free and open to the public.

In other news, I have been enjoying being a tour guide and trying to stay dry during this excessively rainy spring we've been having lately. I would love to say I am bursting with new inspiration at the moment, but sadly I can not. I will just have to accept that I am in a bit of a lull at the moment and hope that the art will materialize again soon.

The following affordable and original works from the maps of the night and flashcard series are still available. If you are interested in one of these works on paper please email me at megancha@gmail.com to reserve your piece. I really appreciate everyone who supports me and my work by buying a flashcard or a painting. You keep me going and you make me work harder. Thank you.

the vines
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
$25

static
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
sold

solace
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
sold

quiet voices
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
sold

where two points meet
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
sold

a favorite place (when I close my eyes)
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
$25

it all points to an expertly crafted myth
mixed media on paper 24x 36"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
$100

She would remember for him, he would forget for her
mixed media on paper 24x 36"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
sold

As always, keep fighting for your art, your vision and your life. It is short and what you bring to this planet is unique and so valuable.

Oops! It's Friday !?!?

in my thrift store shoes © 2011 megan chapman

What a busy week it was and Friday came upon me slowly and quickly at the same time. I was simply drawing a blank for my blog this week but I like to maintain my routine so I asked my friends over on facebook to submit questions for this week's post. Here are their questions and my answers.

Amy asked : Do you think there is a difference in the art communities in Fayetteville (where I live) vs. Springdale? (the neighboring town) If so, how and why?

Amy: I have a rather limited experience with the art community in Springdale, but I have participated in several exhibitions at the Art Center of the Ozarks in Springdale, including several 5x5 benefits, many Artists of Northwest Arkansas juried exhibitions, some group shows and had my own solo show there in 2004. Yes, I do think there is a difference in the art communities in the two towns. Some of the events at the Art Center of the Ozarks are well attended and some less so. It seems that even though Northwest Arkansas is a considered a metro area, that people don't seem to move out of their comfort zones that easily. Fayetteville people don't seem as likely to attend art openings in Springdale and vice versa. However, I think this is changing. I am sure that not having a University impacts the art scene in Springdale as well as the fact that they don't have as many art galleries. Remember though, that Fayetteville's art scene has always gone in waves and in fits and starts and it really wasn't until the last several years that we have developed a more cohesive art community.

Lorel asked: What's the most popular subject for an artist?

Lorel : This is a tough question. Self portraits have always been popular as have landscapes. But then again for an artist like me, neither of those apply since I work in the abstract. I think most art references the artist either directly or indirectly. I believe many times that the artist is trying to show you something that is either important to them personally, culturally or historically significant, or something of beauty.

Ginna asked: What's your favorite color?

Ginna: My favorite color is orange. Orange feels good to me, I love that deep burnt orange and rusty orange oxide is my favorite. I have used it in my work for years, even my kitchen is orange and you can see the titles on my blog are orange. It is happy pure color that has many layers. On the surface orange is simple, but there is so much more to this color. Second choice (not that you asked) is phtalo blue mixed with burnt umber a third choice would be Alizarin Crimson. I love black, grey, and white too!!! I love color. But orange is my top choice.

Robert asked: Music seems to be an important part of your studio life and art life. What do you think are the differences and similarities in music as an art and 2-D visual works as an art?

Robert: This is a fantastic question. You are right music is a huge part of my life in general and always has been. I think there are many similarities in music and art and I think that is why they go so well together and why I use one medium to inspire another in my studio. As in 2-D works I think music paints pictures and presents a space for the viewer/listener to wander in and out of. Good music and good art take you somewhere and change your mood or alter your experience of a space and your life. Art challenges, soothes, prods, and can inspire real change in the viewer. I think music does the same thing for the listener. Art can be a type of visual record of your life just as music can be a soundtrack. I think of the two almost as interchangeable.

As far as differences, I love the words in music- the lyrics. I love the ability that the words have to refine the atmosphere and take a person more quickly to where that artist intends for them to go. Sometimes with 2-D work you have much less control over the viewer and where they go within your work. However many artists use words in their works to achieve this. The adoration of musicians and artists is certainly different. Can you imagine unveiling your latest body of paintings to screaming fans? And going on tour with them? I wish folks could sing along with paintings. It would really change things. I think music has a more clear and easily accessible connection than the visual arts. Everyone knows what you do with music, but not everyone knows what you do with art.

Thanks again everyone for your questions. One of you will win a small art thing... and rather than make you wait for it, I will just announce it now! The random number generator picked lucky number 3! Ginna you win one of my latest flashcards. Go here and let me know which one you would like! Congrats.

As always keep fighting, the world needs your art.

PS. Go out and do something that scares you this week. Live a little and grow a lot. You can do it.

Just around the corner...

a favorite place (when I close my eyes)
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
$25

Today is a day where anything seems possible. The sky is grey and the leaves are brilliant green. Flowers are blooming and bees are buzzing around. The air is cool and everything is a verdant paradise. Spring is here, no doubt about it. I love these days. It stormed in the night, bringing with it this cooler weather. It feels like something magical is about to happen just around the corner, the air feels charged and the music sounds even sweeter. I hope your Friday is treating you well.

Besides all this flowery talk of Spring, I managed to paint again this week! I am slowly but surely getting back on track. I told you I would have eight new miniature flashcard series pieces to share with you and I do! If you are interested in any of these pieces just email me at megancha@gmail.com to reserve your painting.

The "flashcard" series is a new selection of affordable miniature works on paper. The paper isn't perfect, there are some rough bits where the tape masked the borders. These works are about the process, the immediacy, the action of making. These are flashcards and the paintings are the answer. You provide the questions.

trajectory b
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
Sold

the vines
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
$25

static
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
$25

solace
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
$25

restructuring
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
Sold

quiet voices
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
$25

where two points meet
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
$25

In other news, I also have a new 16x20" painting to share with you as well! This is just a quick studio snap shot. I am very excited to have worked on canvas again, this is the first canvas painting I have worked on since my Falling into Sound exhibition in November 2010.

this is the part (where she wakes up)
mixed media on canvas 16x20"
$425
© 2011 Megan Chapman

I keep feeling like I am not painting enough, but when I look back I know that it is not true. Since January, I have painted twenty Maps of the night, and sold all but two of them. I have also painted these sixteen flashcard series paintings and have sold ten of them so far. I also painted the above 16x 20" work. Not to mention I completed the huge seven foot by five and a half foot painting commission as seen below.

Silence in the drifting
mixed media on canvas 7x5.5'
© 2011 Megan Chapman
commission/sold

All this was created while working and helping with the Fayetteville Underground, writing about art and beyond, maintaining my photography, and selling other works. I also happen to have a life outside of art (I do - I really do!!). I am writing this to remember. It is so important to remember, because it is so easy to forget and discredit. I would say that this has been a very productive three and a half months. Let's see what happens next!

As always keep fighting. The world needs your art.

Time moves swiftly...

blue spark
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
Sold

the connection
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
Sold

I am happy to report that all the miniature flashcard series works that I posted last week on my blog have now sold! I made two more flashcards at the beginning of the week. I have posted them above for your enjoyment, one of them has sold already as well. I plan to create many more in this series. I like the miniature scale, the format of the work, and the spontaneity.

In other news, we had a wonderful first Thursday at the Fayetteville Underground last night. I sold two canvas paintings, Implosion and Behind the Whispers, from my last color series that I created at the end of 2009 before I switched over to the White Series. I know these paintings went to the perfect home as well, which is just such a wonderful feeling. I also sold another Map of the Night, as well as three of the miniature flashcards. It is always a thrill when my work finds a home in the world. The moment someone chooses my work for their home or office is such an amazing feeling, like nothing else I have ever experienced. I still jump up and down as giddy as a school girl with each sale, I hope I never lose this.

Again, it must be said that every purchase of my art no matter how small or great impacts me the same way, it helps me live and work as an artist. It keeps me on the path, it encourages me and gives me validation that I am on the right track. I am grateful to all of my patrons over the years, your numbers are adding up and you are spread all over the world. I hope you will continue to enjoy your paintings of mine for many years to come. Thank you all.

Next week more flash cards; at least eight new ones and that is a promise!

the light on the edge, where anything is possible
© 2011 Megan Chapman

P.S. I love making, marketing, and talking about art as much as the next person (no, I probably love it just a tiny bit more...) but don't forget to get outside, soak up the spring sun, smell the lilacs, listen to songs drifting from open windows, rest in the grass and live.

The Flashcard Series

This is the beginning of the "flashcard" series. A new selection of affordable miniature works on paper. The paper isn't perfect, there are some rough bits where the tape masked the borders. These works are about the process, the immediacy and the action of making. These are flashcards and the paintings are the answer. You provide the questions.

currents over the ocean
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
Sold

the place you know
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
Sold

explosive and lovely
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
Sold

on the left, the darkness
mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
Sold

electric lines in the distance

mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
Sold

in the time it takes

mixed media on paper 6x4"
© 2011 Megan Chapman
Sold

For more information on how you can reserve and purchase one of these small works please email me at megancha@gmail.com and stay tuned, more flashcards to come...