Friday, May 29, 2009

images from the road.






I am back home from Atlanta and I had a wonderful trip. I am filled with inspiration and new ideas. Who knows if anything will come of these ideas, but they are nice to have and play with if only in my mind. Thanks to my readers that left comments last week. I really appreciated them and was so happy to see Matthew Lyman and Michele Maule's work at Youngblood gallery. I loved the gallery and went back twice during my week stay! Wonderful all around.

While in Atlanta, I saw great art and architecture and had some fun. I am pretty exhausted having just returned Wednesday night. I just want to post some of the images from my trip here for you all to enjoy.

I hope everyone is well and inspired.
Take care out there and keep fighting.
Megan

Friday, May 22, 2009

Come as you are...


Dear Readers.

I am away this weekend, visiting Atlanta Georgia.
I hope to visit the High Museum, and the Marcia Wood Gallery as well as other things.I am looking forward to being away from my usual surroundings and around family. Congratulations to my niece Emily Annabelle Chapman on her high school graduation!!!

So this blog is up to you this week.
Tell me what you are working on
What shows you have coming up
What shows you are going to see
Something that has inspired you
A new concept for some art
Leave a link to your local museum, favorite gallery whatever you want that is art related.Use the comment section as a bulletin board and promote yourself.

To all my artist friends that are in the midst of preparing for exhibitions or in the middle of one, I say congratulations and good luck! I hope you are inspired and hopeful.

I am so glad your art is a part of this world.

Take care out there.
Love,
Megan

Friday, May 15, 2009

Inspiration at every turn...

I am really enjoying getting to know and working alongside my studio mates in the Fayetteville Underground. Things are really coming together, and it is wonderful thing to be a part of. Studio spaces are filling up! For more information about studios or submitting art for a potential exhibition in one of our galleries please visit the Fayetteville Underground's website, here.

Last night, I attended ArtAmiss X ; a one night only exhibition of local art, music, fashion, and fire; featuring many new and emerging artists. This event just keeps getting better and better. I had a wonderful time talking with many of the artists, enjoying the fashion show along with the projected images on the building outside, fire dancers, and just top notch visual art. Two Thursday nights in a row of excitement and wonderful art. I am very proud of my town for providing these consistent and quality art events.

Today, I want to share this short film by Jeff Desom. Music by Hauschka. A friend posted this to my facebook page and as I watched, I was moved to tears. I think it is a slice of genius. I am so inspired by all the ways people create these amazing new worlds for us to discover and explore through the arts.

Enjoy.

Hauschka - Morgenrot from Jeff Desom on Vimeo.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Thursday night is alright with me...



The art scene in my town is alive and well and this makes me extremely happy.

Last night, there were six galleries open on the Fayetteville Square for a thrilling evening of art, drinks, music, laughter, and palpable excitement. In addition to the galleries being open, there were also six artist's studios available for the public to walk through and enjoy. This is just the beginning of something very special and much needed.

Thanks to everyone who came out in support of the artists and galleries. Keep coming back.If you are in the Fayetteville, Arkansas area, know that you can enjoy great art and artists every First Thursday of the month from 5-8pm all conveniently located downtown on the beautiful historic square at The Fayetteville Underground, The DDP gallery and the Four Square Fine Art Gallery.

To learn more about the Fayetteville Underground or to apply for a studio space or to exhibit in one of the galleries please visit www.fayettevilleunderground.com


I currently have several pieces on display at the ddp gallery as part of the current group exhibition Now & Again

Pictured above: a selection of my paintings and my name in the foyer of my studio at the underground.
Also pictured: The Vault Gallery in the Fayetteville Underground.

Friday, May 1, 2009

No language, just color.


I feel that sometimes in my paintings; I have no language, just color. I am an abstract painter and some people think I am quite the colorist and that my paintings are evocative of certain emotions. I personally have a hard time knowing about picking up emotions from my colors. I know emotions from words, photographs, music, and film, but I'm not always sure about color. I know how to use colors, but not always sure what they mean, say or evoke. This isn't the same argument I have had in the past where I wonder about the validity of making lovely or beautiful art, or what it all means. This is really about understanding what color says to people and what it says to me.

I was having this discussion yesterday, as it comes up every now and then and I said I could talk about it for hours, and I think I could. I really want to understand it. What does color mean to you, is it spoon fed? Does green equal fresh and red equals anger, passion or love? Or can you feel sadness in olive green or hope in bright yellow? Why are we drawn to the colors we are drawn to? What makes me put an orange oxide next to a phthalo blue? Is it because of learned color theory or is it an emotional response, or just because I know they click (in my mind at least).

I think my titles hint at emotions or the stories I was thinking of or creating while painting the work but if you look at the paintings without the titles I am not sure how emotional or evocative they are. Or perhaps I am the only one that pays attention to my titles.

I see beauty in color, I think I even feel color- but I don't know if I can name an emotion to it. Now I do get emotions from a broken pencil or charcoal line or empty space in a painting, so what does this mean? I get emotion from the overall atmosphere of the painting but perhaps not the colors that create the atmosphere. Is this possible?

Suddenly I am thinking of the Tao and the "Tao is nameless, goes beyond distinctions, and transcends language." So perhaps naming certain emotions found in an abstract painting is an obsolete practice. To know it, is to not have to speak of it. It all turns inward into itself. You either like the work or you don't, you either feel it or you don't. It recalls something within you or it doesn't.

No language, just color and we are back to square one.

And speaking of color...I have finally restocked my Etsy shop with nineteen new affordable and original small works on paper. Please visit www.artmaven.etsy.com and Enjoy!



Pictured above:

You'll find me here (again)
©2009 Megan Chapman

Once set, not abandoned
©2009 Megan Chapman