Your community is waiting

Cup of sun in the studio

The sun is shining through the window and onto my face. Daffodils smile at me from the jar on the table and I have a dreamy Hermanos Gutiérrez song on repeat on my big headphones. I sway to the music like a reed in water. 

Yesterday, I walked out the door and into the sun. I surveyed the pots in my garden - Daffodils, Muscari, Tulips, and Hyacinth all greeted me. The Lilac is preparing to leaf. I left my wee haven and walked on through the neighbourhood past the art school where two women were working on a large piece outside. I saw the shopkeeper who sells plants chatting with passersby. I walked on to the library where the friendly librarians answered my questions and cheerfully assisted me in my research. I left with two books, new information, and a spring in my step. I walked down the road past the glass artist working in her studio window and then on to the wee grocery, where we talked about celebrating the sun, enjoying our days, and the pleasures of good food. And then after being out in my neighbourhood for a couple of hours I walked back home. On my way, I shared a laugh with a young man enjoying a drink outside, and I found some street treasure. 

Street treasure: A box of 100 Flower Postcards from the Royal Horticultural Society

Later in the day I hit the neighbourhood streets again to visit my friends at their open studio event and met their friends too. We all had spirited conversations peppered with shared laughs and commiserations about art, life, and the way of things. I think alliances were forged or at least a recognition of kindred spirits. It was a good afternoon that turned into night. I left with art, new information, and again with a spring in my step.

It was a wonderful day full of everything I value and believe in. It was the type of day I dreamed about as a child when I played with my Fisher Price Village, read a Richard Scarry book, or watched Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood on PBS. We can never underestimate the power of community connection and interdependence.

Written on my studio wall: 

Protect your peace. Say No.
Say Yes to Art, Movement, Nature, and Community.
Create your world now, not later. 

So go outside and be weird, be awkward, be ridiculous, laugh loudly, say the wrong thing. Disappoint people. Find the people who won't be disappointed. Ask for help. Be vulnerable. Your one wild and precious life and your community is waiting.

Thank you for being part of mine

Leith must be the place

From the window of Custom House Leith

Hello Dear Readers, 

I hope December finds you well and cosy. This post practically wrote itself last Saturday. When I left you last week, I mentioned I was going to meet Julia to explore the Leith Creative Trail and that is what we did. 

Julia and I met in front of the Leith Library at 11am and we wandered the streets all day in search of everything the artists and makers of Leith had on offer. It was a full day of adventure, beauty, and community. Leith is definitely the place. 

We visited the following fantastic Leith venues:

Art Glass Studio 34 / SilverHub Studios / Mote 102 / Ground Floor EHFM / Coburg House / Cyan Clayworks / Custom House / Brown’s of Leith / Away Industries / Populus Cafe / Bethany Shop / Leith Makers Open Studios & MULCH:Collective Exhibition / Sebs Urban Jungle Winter Makers Market The excitement continues this weekend so do check the trail guide for all the details.

Happiness is a blue wall

While we were out walking the Creative Trail, Julia spied this blue wall and thought it would make an ideal backdrop. I was proudly wearing my new brooch designed by Julia and happy to pose for a few photographs.

I am lucky to have a friend that I feel so comfortable around and who has a great sense of colour. I really don't like having my picture taken so it says a lot about the photographer when I look this relaxed. Her brooch made me feel like a million bucks. I do hope you will check them out. As I have said many times, colour is medicine and good friends are the best. Find your new brooch and view Julia's art here: https://julialaingstudio.com

I need to get ready to meet a pal for a Friday morning walk. There are other things going on behind the scenes of course, but more on that later. 

Wherever you are, don't let the bastards get you down. Keep fighting and shining. 
We need you and the gifts you bring. X.

Could I tell you anything more?

Could I tell you anything more
mixed media on 200gsm acid-free paper
42x59.4cm/16.5x23.4"
©2020 Megan Chapman

What can I tell you now?

I am grateful for the flowers and the honest conversations. 

I am grateful for bowls of soup served on the tables of friends.

I am grateful for the "Just checking in..." and "Hows you?" lighting up my phone. 

I am grateful for the sounds of nature: birdsong, wind, and waves. 

I am grateful for dreams, new ideas, and laughter. 

I am grateful for the tall grass as it dances. 

Oh, what a beautiful world. 

Thank you sun, moon, stars, and music. 

Thank you art, film, and culture. 

Alchemy, magic, and mystery. 

Thank you.

Things are getting clear

Thanks to all my Arkansas and Southern United States supporters. I am delighted that 5 originals and 4 limited edition prints sold during my special 2-week online sale. 

These are the pieces that sold. 

A most perfect obstacle
signed limited edition print
11.7x16.5"
© 2017 Megan Chapman
1/25
Sold

What should have been said
signed limited edition print
11.7x16.5"
© 2017 Megan Chapman
1/25
Sold

Just under the surface
signed limited edition print
11.7x16.5"
© 2017 Megan Chapman
1/25
Sold

Deluge
signed limited edition print
11.7x11.7"
© 2017 Megan Chapman
1/25
Sold

Tomorrow's mysteries
Mixed media on canvas
5.75x5.75"
© 2017 Megan Chapman
Sold

To unwind the darkness
mixed media on canvas
6x8.5"
© 2016 Megan Chapman
Sold

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

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

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

Thank you so much! You all made my month and raised funds for AbleTalks and the important work they do! Special thanks to Jeanne Parham and Barbara Jaquish, and a huge extra thanks to Maggie Ivy for helping me with this sale. 

If you missed my Tuesday Studio Video Visit you can catch it below. I had a bit of fun and painted just for the joy and expression of it and had a few laughs. Perhaps you would like to do the same. 

Next week I will have new stories to tell. I hope you will join me. I love communicating with you about my art, life, and process. Thank you for being part of the experience. Things are getting clear and will be changing and I am excited. Stay tuned... 

And until next week, keep fighting. 

Be well, take care, keep fighting.

Dear lovely blog readers, 

Thank you for checking in here. I hope you are okay. It is totally understandable if you are not. The world seems quite heavy. 

A few good things I noticed this week: 

Visits with good friends are a balm for the soul. 

Spring flowers are magic. 

A long slow walk with birdsong heals. 

Cats, cats, cats, purr, purr, purr. 

Vitamins might be a good idea and perhaps some more water. 

If you are tired, rest. 

If you are sad, cry. 

If you are angry, let it out.

Here's my Tuesday Studio Video Visit.

My next blog will come to you from a new decade of my life. I will be 50... and I am not yet sure what I think about that, but I know I am one of the lucky ones. Thank you for walking on this path with me. 

Be well, take care, keep fighting. 

Lots of love, 

Megan 

https://crisisrelief.un.org/ukraine-crisis

Spectacular Spectacular!

Oh where to start...
What a week and a half I've had. Twelve days away from all those social sites, has yielded some amazing benefits.

First of all I am pleased to let my readers in Austin, Texas know that you can now find some of my paintings in your neck of the woods. I just shipped 5 small 10x10" paintings to a lovely boutique called Wear Art Thou, and like all my 10x10" paintings these are affordably priced at $275. Please visit the shop or tell your friends in the Austin,Texas area to check it out. Their website (here) is very spare but it does have their hours and location. To see which pieces of mine they have currently just visit my website and click on work and then Wear Art Thou.

Second, I am beyond thrilled to say I have just moved into my new studio space outside my home!!! I just signed the lease on a studio in the Fayetteville Underground. I am in studio 19 and will be keeping regular hours there painting and helping to promote the space and my fellow artists with whom I share the basement of One East Square Plaza. I am very excited about this project. I have visited other cities that have these type collectives and affordable studios for artists and always lamented that my town didn't have one. It is just the thing Fayetteville needs, and I think the timing is perfect. I have been very busy this week painting my studio walls and moving my things into the space.

This is a dream come true for me, and the possibilities are endless. It is a very exciting time. I want to thank all my friends, family, teachers, and everyone who has said a kind word to an artist, everyone who encourages an artist to go for it, everyone who makes a dream like this possible. I have people all over the world that keep telling me to go for it, and that is why ten years out of art school I am still an artist and I keep moving forward. It is a bumpy, crazy, and questionable path, but as long as I have people that believe in me I will keep fighting to stay on course and creating art. If you are an artist, please keep at it. I know it can be hard, but the world needs you.

So today I dedicate this post to the forward thinkers, the artists of the world, the gallery owners, the patrons, the collectives, the coffee shops that hang local art, the building owners that give space at a reduced rate for artist's studios, and anyone who makes cool and creative things happen around the world. THANK YOU.

For more information about the Fayetteville Underground please visit
http://fayettevilleunderground.com/about.html

Find me in studio 19...