Accidental Portraits

Remembering William Mayes Flanagan

My dear friend Bill was a gift to the world. I will miss talking shit with you, drinking with you, talking about art and the community with you. No one worked harder to make things happen. No one had more passion for art, social justice, and for living life to the fullest. Loyal, funny as hell, a talented painter (no one paints moons like you, Bill), a great storyteller, and so extremely kind. I am a better person for knowing you and I will never forget you. I bought you a wee half pint at that pub we all had fun in and left it on the table for you and there's a glass (a french jam jar) of red wine for you on our mantel. You and Barbara (your beloved) are part of my chosen family. Thank you for all the kindness and love. You were like a father, a delightfully irreverent uncle, and a much older brother all wrapped up in a revolutionary package. I love you, Bill. I love you, Barbara.

William Mayes Flanagan hung my 8 pieces at the Fenix & Friends exhibition at the Walker-Stone house at the beginning of the month. He is the reason that I offered my work for the exhibition. I am honored that he touched every single one of those paintings of mine and he will always have a special place in my mind and heart. One of the greatest gifts the Fayetteville Underground gave me was getting to know and love William Mayes Flanagan. I made a short video tribute to my dear friend that you can see on my facebook art page, here.

Please take a minute to look at Flanagan's work and read his statement on his website. 

A strange phenomenon

My work at Union Gallery

The opening of "The Colour Purple" exhibition last Saturday at Union Gallery in Edinburgh was a lovely way to spend an evening. The space looked wonderful as the light streamed in through the windows illuminating the art while friendly chat was enjoyed.

I am so pleased to have these seven paintings on the main floor as part of this exhibition. It is always wonderful to see the work out of the studio and on a gallery wall. For me, it is always like seeing the work for the first time. It is a strange sensation to know the paintings intimately and to have spent such time with them and then to see them in an entirely new light. They become something else once they are in the gallery or on a patron's wall. It's a delightfully strange phenomenon that I will never get used to.

My work at the Walker-Stone House.
Photo credit: Mayor Lioneld Jordan

Also, last Saturday and at the exact time, but 4,000 miles away in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the Fenix and Friends exhibition was opening its doors at the Walker-Stone house. I was able to see photos of the exhibition from friends and on the city's promotional social media pages. What a wonderful light filled space, the exhibition looks grand, a perfect place for my Reconstruction series. I wish I could have been in both places as once, but at least my art was.

In other news, I decided to introduce a new weekly feature over on my facebook art page. I created a quick check in video chat from my studio. For me, the point of this is to have more immediate interaction with my peers and patrons. Nothing slick or filtered just a quick hello and sharing of my studio space and what I am working on, inspired by and thinking about, in hopes of creating a deeper connection with folks. I need the private dreamy time of creation but I also need the community aspect of conversing about the alchemy of art making. I don't want to be just words and still images on a glowing screen but instead, someone that viewers can get to know. If you haven't seen my studio video chat already, you can view it here.

The Art Scotland interview is getting promoted here and there on social media and I love how they are teasing out the quotes from the piece.

In the meantime, I am still promoting my Distillation Prints from my Etsy shop all the while unexpected abstracted portraits have been popping up in the studio lately when I work. I think they are mostly to entertain myself and for me to just keep moving in between series.

Thanks to a recommendation from one of my friends on facebook art page, I watched a brilliant Joan Mitchell documentary this week. I highly recommend it. Here's a quick phone grab of one my favorite scenes from the film.

It's been a good week of being present in the art world of my making. I hope you are well, wherever you are. The world needs you and your art.

Exhibition and Interview News!

A change in the frequency

Acrylic on canvas

41x51x4cm / 16x20x1.5"

© 2016 Megan Chapman

When it rains, it pours! I am very excited to write that I will be participating in two exhibitions, both of which are opening tomorrow and on two different continents!

In Edinburgh, come join us at the gorgeous Union Gallery located at 4 Drumsheugh Place in Edinburgh’s West End, for the preview this Saturday (tomorrow) the 8th of April from 4-6pm! I am delighted to have work featured in this exhibition with such a talented group of fellow artists. The exhibition will be on show from the 8th of April through the 13th of May.

"The Colour Purple is a curated exhibition with artists including Joyce Gunn Cairns MBE, Jenny Matthews, Annette Edgar, Drummond Mayo, Megan Chapman and Jackie Gardiner contributing to what will be a beautiful exhibition."

I will be showing four works from my New Language series (one pictured above and three below). This will be the first time they have shown outside of my studio since they were created. There will also be several of my wee works on canvas available in the gallery as well. I am looking forward to seeing the work up on the gallery walls. If you are local and can join us, it would be lovely to see you at the preview tomorrow.

Out of my mouth come flowers, come barbs Acrylic on canvas
41x51x4cm / 16x20x1.5"
© 2016 Megan Chapman

The new language
Acrylic on canvas
76x51x4cm / 30x20x1.5"
© 2016 Megan Chapman

All the time it took to remember
Acrylic on canvas
76x51x4cm / 30x20x1.5"
© 2016 Megan Chapman

Faith, optimism, alchemy
Acrylic on canvas
6x8.5"/15x21cm
© 2016 Megan Chapman

The ache at my fingertips
Acrylic on canvas
8.5x6"/21x15cm
© 2016 Megan Chapman

When words escape me
Acrylic on canvas
8.5x6"/21x15cm
© 2016 Megan Chapman

In my hometown of Fayetteville, Arkansas I am honored to be included in the impressive lineup of artists in the Fenix & Friends: Art at the Walker-Stone exhibition. My Reconstruction series of paintings will be on show April 8-29th at the beautiful Walker-Stone House just off the Fayetteville Square located at 207 W. Center. Gallery Hours: Thursday and Friday 12-8 Saturday 10-4 Sunday 12-9.

Adrift
12x12" mixed media on panel
© 2014 Megan Chapman

After the fire
12x12" mixed media on panel
© 2014 Megan Chapman

Begin again
12x12" mixed media on panel
© 2014 Megan Chapman

I'll sing my secrets
12x12" mixed media on panel
© 2014 Megan Chapman

In the house you live
12x12" mixed media on panel
© 2014 Megan Chapman

On the brink
12x12" mixed media on panel
© 2014 Megan Chapman

Patch and repair
12x12" mixed media on panel
© 2014 Megan Chapman

To return
12x12" mixed media on panel
© 2014 Megan Chapman

If feels good to be showing the Reconstruction series for the first time in Fayetteville and especially in the historic Walker-Stone house. These 8 works on the panel were the last works I painted in Fayetteville before moving to Scotland. These paintings then went on tour as part of the group exhibition, Abstract ARt, travelling to Kresge Gallery at Lyon College, in Batesville, Arkansas in 2014, The Art Center of the Ozarks in Springdale, Arkansas in 2015, and finally on to the Zarrow Center at The University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2016 before returning home in 2017. I could not be more delighted. This will be the first time my works has been shown in Fayetteville since 2014.

In other exciting news, a recent interview I did with Art Scotland has been published on their gorgeous site. The interview covers a lot of ground and I enjoyed the questions. I hope folks will enjoy reading it and learning more about me and my work.

I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given to introduce myself to the Scottish art scene in the past year, now with interviews/reviews in three smart publications, Portfolio Oomph, SOGO Magazine, and now, Art Scotland. 

It feels good to have my art being seen and written about and out in the world again after some initial growing pains from my transition from the US to Scotland. I hope the momentum continues.

While all of this is going on, my latest series of limited edition prints, The Distillation Process are happily now available for sale exclusively through my Etsy shop, Artmaven. It has been a quiet debut so far but expect to see more of them and hear more of the story behind them, as my social media ramps up. 

I am donating 10% from each sale of this particular series to the Scottish Association for Mental Health. Mental Health affects all of us and it’s time to remove the stigma and help those in need, as well as get help if those in need happen to be ourselves.

That’s all I have for you this week. If you are near Edinburgh I hope you will check out the Union Gallery exhibition and if you are in Northwest Arkansas, I hope you will check out the Fenix and Friends exhibition in Fayetteville.

Life is a strange dance and I am glad to be dancing through it with you. Until next week, keep fighting.