This week seemed to go by in a blink! I am writing from the sofa under a duvet as I am fighting off a cold. I really wanted to put more time in at the studio but alas I was sidelined. This was made even more frustrating by the fact that I am excited about a new project I've just started but I will get to that later.
This week I promoted my current exhibition, A Delicate Balance at The Tide Gallery and Coffee Shop on Twitter, Instagram and various pages on Facebook and will do so again here. If you are in the Edinburgh area please check out the show before it closes a week from today! It has felt so good to know that my paintings are out in the world being enjoyed.
A Delicate Balance
Paintings by Megan Chapman
February 12th-26th
The Tide Gallery and Coffee Shop
56 Kings Road, Edinburgh
Open hours: Monday-Sunday 9:30- 5:30
There were two 16x20" paintings from an in between series that were interesting enough but had never really been finished. I just painted right over them on Monday. I mostly just covered up the old to give me a challenge for another day.
I decided I wanted to work on a whole wall of small paintings and change up the palette a bit. This grouping was made up of canvases that I had already been working on for a couple of months, ones I had also once thought were done. Not so fast...
I chose a sharp yellow rather than my usual ochre. Paint energetically dripped from one canvas to another across the grid. The charcoal forms were less defined, cracking and sputtering across the surface. These paintings were not just meditative asides or conversations about color. These paintings were created with broken bits of charcoal while I danced like Ian Curtis as he sang Interzone at full blast on my headphones. This work was raw, dirty and urgent and I needed it. This work was about taking bold action, allowing myself the freedom and finding the joy in the process.
After seeing a photo of these works in progress a friend wrote and asked if I had plugged myself into the mains...
Yes.
 |
| small works in progress |
This week I promoted my current exhibition, A Delicate Balance at The Tide Gallery and Coffee Shop on Twitter, Instagram and various pages on Facebook and will do so again here. If you are in the Edinburgh area please check out the show before it closes a week from today! It has felt so good to know that my paintings are out in the world being enjoyed.
A Delicate Balance
Paintings by Megan Chapman
February 12th-26th
The Tide Gallery and Coffee Shop
56 Kings Road, Edinburgh
Open hours: Monday-Sunday 9:30- 5:30
Also if you are in or near Sheffield, England I have five small works from my New Botanics series currently at Cupola Contemporary Art. These paintings were part of the Presents/Presence exhibition in December and January, however the gallery has kept them on for a while longer.
178 Middlewood Road, Hillsborough
Sheffield S6 1TD
0114 285 2665
Sheffield S6 1TD
0114 285 2665
In stateside exhibition news there is still time to catch Abstract ARt, where you can see some of my work from the Reconstruction series showcased alongside some of my esteemed, fellow Arkansan abstract painters through February 28th in Tulsa.
The University of Tulsa
124 East M.B. Brady Street
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103-2014
Now back to studio news.
It was an interesting experience going back to work in the studio without those eight large paintings from A Delicate Balance on the walls. It made me take a good hard look at the rest of the work from that series and some of the other paintings that were knocking about in the studio. I was hit with the strong urge to paint over some of them. This doesn't happen often. We are talking about finished paintings that have been on my website and on social media as done and available for sale. I consulted a couple of trusted souls in my art world about what I should do. They said "wait, order new canvases etc," so I waited...well, sort of.
It was an interesting experience going back to work in the studio without those eight large paintings from A Delicate Balance on the walls. It made me take a good hard look at the rest of the work from that series and some of the other paintings that were knocking about in the studio. I was hit with the strong urge to paint over some of them. This doesn't happen often. We are talking about finished paintings that have been on my website and on social media as done and available for sale. I consulted a couple of trusted souls in my art world about what I should do. They said "wait, order new canvases etc," so I waited...well, sort of.
 |
| two 16x20" with problems for me to solve later |
There were two 16x20" paintings from an in between series that were interesting enough but had never really been finished. I just painted right over them on Monday. I mostly just covered up the old to give me a challenge for another day.
 |
| small works |
I decided I wanted to work on a whole wall of small paintings and change up the palette a bit. This grouping was made up of canvases that I had already been working on for a couple of months, ones I had also once thought were done. Not so fast...
 |
| Small gesture works |
I chose a sharp yellow rather than my usual ochre. Paint energetically dripped from one canvas to another across the grid. The charcoal forms were less defined, cracking and sputtering across the surface. These paintings were not just meditative asides or conversations about color. These paintings were created with broken bits of charcoal while I danced like Ian Curtis as he sang Interzone at full blast on my headphones. This work was raw, dirty and urgent and I needed it. This work was about taking bold action, allowing myself the freedom and finding the joy in the process.
After seeing a photo of these works in progress a friend wrote and asked if I had plugged myself into the mains...
Yes.
 |
| works in progress |
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