Northwest Arkansas, my art is with YOU!

Dissonance
mixed media on canvas
6x8.5" © Megan Chapman 
$75.00

Listen to the wind
mixed media on canvas
6x8.5" © Megan Chapman
$75.00

Dear Northwest Arkansas Friends and Art Lovers,

I may be miles from Arkansas living and working in Edinburgh, Scotland but this special collection of original works and limited edition prints are with you in Fayetteville and available now to purchase for two weeks only! This special online sale runs from April 29th to May 13th.

These works once reserved and pre-purchased online will be available for collection from the Ozark Natural Foods outdoor dining area from my friend and fellow artist Maggie Ivy on Saturday, May 14th from 12-2 pm. There will be no work for sale at the collection site - only pick up of presold/paid for works.

20% (after PayPal fees) will be donated to Northwest Arkansas charity, Able Talks "providing high-quality learning experiences for young adults with autism."

If you have any questions regarding the sale or collection of these pieces click the purchase button, this will send me an email to simply start the conversation. To finalise your purchase I will send you a PayPal invoice.

Currently, my archive only allows me to post in GBP (£). Here are the conversion rates (these can vary slightly).

Works on deep edge wood panel: £160.80 ($200.00)
Small rectangular slim profile canvases: £60.30 ($75.00)
Small square slim profile canvas: £52.26 ($65.00)
Limited edition prints - square: £40.00 ($49.75)
Limited edition prints - rectangle: £44.22 ($55.00)

Thank you for your continued support of my work, you are a rare and wonderful community of art lovers and a tough act for any city to follow.

Sincerely yours,
Megan Chapman

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE AVAILABLE WORK

In the house you live
12x12" mixed media on panel
© Megan Chapman
$200

Our stories align
signed limited edition print
11.7x16.5"
© 2017 Megan Chapman
1/25
$55.00

A most perfect obstacle
signed limited edition print
11.7x16.5"
© Megan Chapman 1/25
$55.00

I have only shared a few of the available pieces here in my blog. There are 11 original works on panel and canvas and 11 limited edition prints to choose from. When you click the purchase button it will send me a message with any questions or concerns you may have and we can go from there. Reach out - there are no silly questions, I just want you to live with my art and support a great organisation in the process. 

Thanks! 

- Megan 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE AVAILABLE WORK

In Scottish art news, I will be setting up my work along with the Abstractionistas and many other talented artists at the Dalkeith Palace this next Wednesday for the Inception exhibition on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 6-8th. Get tickets to attend. 

See you there! https://www.dalkeithcountrypark.co.uk/event/inception-art-show/

A rollercoaster of a week!

Thanks to everyone who read, shared, responded and commented on last week's blog post. It's always interesting to see which posts strike a chord with my readers. Before I delve back into the exciting subject of curating exhibitions in alternative spaces and creating a collective of like-minded artists, I must share a bit of news from the studio this week.

This week in the Tuesday Studio Video Visit I shared my new book series and my ideas behind the project as it was 20 years ago and wondered how I might approach it today. You can see and hear all about it below.



In other news, one of the galleries that had carried my work on a trial basis since December contacted me this week to ask me to collect my three paintings. It's always a bummer for all involved when a gallery isn't able to sell my work, especially when it is on a street revered for its art and in a space that specialises in abstract work. I had a perfectly lovely chat with the gallerist and we caught up on the local art goings on and I got to enjoy the current exhibition as well. I am always thankful for the opportunity.

The "art world" is a business and this is just part of it. I wanted to share this news with you (especially if you are an artist) because it is just the reality of it and it doesn't have to be a big deal or even too much of a bummer. Of course, I was disappointed and I even had a good blether with the taxi driver all about it. Questions popped up as he drove me and the paintings across town, "What makes it art?" "Why does it command the price it does?" "Why are you an artist and someone else isn't?" He even gave me a bit of a pep talk before I exited the vehicle. I found his interest and kindness the most emotional aspect of it all. Onwards we go!

As luck would have it, the same day (right after I got out of the taxi), other opportunities opened up - alternative space possibilities were discussed (for curating the collective exhibition), as well as a solo exhibition opportunity and an upcoming highly visible one-night-only exhibition were all mentioned over a 10-minute impromptu meeting. I will keep you posted on these opportunities in the near future, but safe to say the wee meeting was a boost and left me excited.

The hits keep on coming, now for the big news! The next day, Jackson's Art Supplies, an international art supply shop, based in London, published an interview with me on their inspirational blog on their website. It is quite an honour and I am grateful for the opportunity. The interview was happily splashed all around social media yesterday. If you missed it, you can see it here. It's a rather in-depth interview and filled with images of my work and some studio shots as well. I am beyond pleased! Thanks to artist Julie Caves for the brilliant interview. I also want to send out a special "hello!" to any new blog readers or social media followers due to this interview.

Today, the studio where I work, The Out of the Blue Drill Hall in Leith, chose me as their featured artist of the week! This is a new feature they are trying out on Instagram and Twitter, to promote our work and the tenants within the organisation. I am grateful to work in such a beautiful old building around the corner from the flat. Always nice to be recognised and have my work and the galleries that represent me shared!

That's the week in the studio covered, wonderful promotions, ideas and opportunities are the parts I plan to focus on. I have plenty more to say in regards to last week's blog post, but I think I may work on it privately with a pen and paper and try to share more about it all next week.

Thank you for being part of my art world and allowing me to be part of yours. I do think we are stronger together and I think we are even stronger when we share our successes as well as our struggles. The joy is in finding each other and ourselves again and again through this wonderful practice called art. Until next week, keep fighting!

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Do you enjoy my blog, my video visits, the paintings I share, or the other content that I provide for free across social media? Consider buying me a cup of coffee in support of my work. I am a member of Ko-fi.com, A friendly way for creators to get paid! Thank you!

My city was gone

I am in the library listening to the Brambles' album Charcoal, trying to find a bit of peace again. The sun is out and things are warming up. I have had a lovely early morning goodbye chat with Barbara, a coffee chat with my friend Sarah, and another dear Sarah is on her way for lunch. Later, there will be more driving, this time up to Springdale to see another sweet friend but for now, I am here in the library with my headphones on trying to put some order into my day and words to my thoughts of this curious town.

Oh Fayetteville, you are a heartbreaker. I shed a tear or four for you this morning over a massive artisanal chai latte. It's always been hard to criticize you and your strange ways but it can be done among the ones that carry your embers.

I am still a guest in your sprawling, glass-faced condo so I will mind my manners. I will always love and work for you and I will always represent you. It is the heart of your streets that raised me and I am grateful.

I will speak for the broken beer bottles on the railroad tracks that made a romantic and slightly dangerous route through town, I will speak for the old art deco bridges (kudos on the refurb), I will speak for the overgrown vines that wrap around power poles in the summer, I will speak for the fullness of the chorus of the bugs and birds. I will speak for the abandoned graves almost lost in the tall grasses back in the woods.

The alleys and small streets cross my heart and memories, like the pie at the old Red Bird Cafe, after summer art classes at the guild with my mother. I will speak for the punk scene of the mid to late 1980's to the very early 90's and all the brilliant and important music I was able to see in this little town. In this town, I was surrounded by creative and passionate people, many who never lived to see this current version of Fayetteville.

I don't live in the past and I am not out of touch. I understand that things change and that they often should.

Many of my old houses are gone, as are many of my old friends - the working class also appears gone or hidden. Gentrification takes hold as old homes are demolished, green spaces are cleared and newbuilds proliferate. The University now grows like wild kudzu in a ditch.

I speak for the blue sky, the sunset, and the old leaning tree on the sledding side of Wilson Park and of course the wee castle there. I speak for the old view out west from the cross at Mt. Sequoyah and the legend of ghost hollow.

I do have hope for the artists creating new and exciting works and for the old school folks that have stayed behind so that they can preserve some parts of the heart of the town. It's not your job, but I know the ones who work tirelessly for the good and I am thankful for you.

As I drove away from town tonight, I cried. I cried for every student apartment dwelling that obscured the view of the hills or the sunset. It seemed as if a new fortress rose up at every turn like a barricade.

Tears burned down my cheeks as I drove away and back into the old hills of Winslow as I wondered who stole the soul and why were they allowed to?

Passing through in stillness

I am writing this studio blog on a Saturday morning since I am on holiday in Arkansas and the days have gotten away from me. I will backdate it for yesterday for consistency. I am sitting in the extraordinary Fayetteville Public library in the locally owned Arsaga's cafe located in the foyer.

I am listening to Brambles and their album Charcoal on my headphones. I have a soy chai latte by my side. I have just said goodbye to my brother Sean and his family after enjoying a lovely vegan breakfast scramble at a new place (new to me - there are so many places here in my old hometown that are new places to me). Stewart is upstairs in the library reading comics.

I am alone and everything is empty and quiet around me and there is a large Christmas tree made out of books surrounded by red poinsettias. I have sat at this table with my computer before when I lived here but I don't live here now. I am a visitor. I have dreamed of being a visitor from this seat when I lived here before. It is a grey overcast day, and the skeleton trees reach out into the mist and a lone pine stands tall and comes into view. A few people trickle into the library.

This is a studio art blog but I am not writing about art. This week, I am using my studio blog to find peace and a moment of reflection. This is not my standard place or view but I know it well. This library is my sanctuary and a place of pause and rest. I am exhausted and on the brink of tears but here in this library I feel space and hope. This has always been a safe space for me,  with all the amenities one could need. I am grateful.

I am grateful to be able to sit here alone, safe and warm surrounded by books, music, film, art. This beautiful space filled with dreams and aspirations, a place that offers more of a level playing field than we often find in American society. Libraries are key to a civilized society.

I return to myself. I sink into the orange chair, my fingers find the soft flat keys of my computer as the spices of my Chai feel peppery in my throat.

Just as I relax for a moment, I realize this is usually when I post my annual year-end wrap-up. As, a kindness to myself, I vow to write that post another day, perhaps next week. A friend and collector stop by my cafe table, radiant with her beautiful new baby, we share a moment of smiles and chat. This is a lovely town, it is a different town than I grew up in now, but still full of good hearts and sharp minds.

I think about other ways I can write about art or culture or this town, but again as a courtesy to myself, I am just going to write about this experience of sitting here as it unfolds.

The music ebbs and flows, the atmospheric dark string and piano arrangements punctuate the scene as more people enter the cafe and the town continues to wake up and make their Saturday plans. I am just passing through, in stillness.

******* art moment *******
If you missed it on my Facebook art page you can see my Tuesday Studio Video Visit again here. I visited the Chancellor Hotel and the Fenix exhibition here in Fayetteville which will be on display until January 9th.


Happy new year wishes for all. Thank you all for reading my blog, sharing and supporting my work. Until next week and next year, keep fighting! The world needs you and your work!

I am of the dirt, cedar, and pine.

Greetings from Arkansas! These next few blog posts might be a bit different from my usual Studio Blog. I hope you will enjoy them.

We arrived late Sunday night, all flights were smooth and on time. Like a vacation in the sky, I enjoyed the films on the first and longest flight, especially Brillo Box (3¢ OFF), the story of one family and their prized Andy Warhol Brillo Box. It's a story about the importance of growing up with art and how it moves through a family, their memories, and then into the greater art world.

On our first day here, we helped to take down Glow, Float, Drone, a sound and light exhibition by artist and dear friend, Craig Colorusso. It was so great to see his work again. It felt like the best way to signal that I was home. We really enjoyed swinging as the drone sounds played against the grey sky as we propelled ourselves higher. I was returned to childhood in an instant.

Later we came out to my parent's place in Winslow, Arkansas population 300. It's a beautiful rural spot on top of a hill that frequently wakes covered in fog. The skeleton trees of winter show that we are surrounded by various ridges and valleys. It feels good to have all this space and fresh air. There have been highway walks, rambles around the land and gathering of seed pods, lichen-covered sticks, ivy and tall grasses. Many photos have been taken.

The Tuesday Studio Video Visit was filmed at my parent's house this week. I did a partial tour of their art collection. They have art in every room of the house and always have as long as I can remember. The art has shaped and inspired my life. If you missed it on my Facebook art page you can see it again here.


And that's all I have for you this week. The tree is up and decorated with decades of family-made treasures, the rest of the family is headed our way soon and after a warm week, there is a dusting of snow on the ground. Time for a cup of tea and a wander.

I am of the dirt, cedar, and pine. I am of the wild wind of Arkansas.

Until next week, Happy holidays to you and yours. Keep fighting, making, doing, and seeing. The world needs you and your art.

Shift

This week was better than last and it was a relief. I was able to paint two pieces that I was pleased with and that seemed to connect with viewers.

This is always a good feeling. Suddenly I see possibility before me again and have a sense of freedom. The work I hold back is the work that is wanted. It is time for me release these things again. I know this release comes and goes in stages. These two pieces are the result of this shift.

Gestural and strong, guttural and decisive, that is what the future holds. It was good to come back from being so stuck and frustrated and have these be the last two paintings of the year. I talk about the shift in this week's Tuesday Studio Video Visit. If you missed it on Facebook, here it is again.


Don't forget it you are in and around Edinburgh, I currently have two paintings at The &Gallery at 17 Dundas Street. The group exhibition, Connection is on until December 23rd, so please don't miss it! I also have paintings at the Velvet Easel Gallery in Portobello until February 25th as part of the Winters Edge exhibition. Back stateside, I have pieces on show in the Fenix Group Exhibition at the Chancellor Hotel in Fayetteville, Arkansas until January 9th.

Speaking of Fayetteville, I will be heading back to my hometown this Sunday for several weeks to spend time with my family and friends for the holidays. I plan to keep up my Tuesday Studio Video Visits as well as my Studio blog with a hometown spin. I hope you will enjoy the change of scenery, I know I am looking forward to it!

Until next week, take care and keep fighting. The world needs you and your art. 

Connection

New exhibition news!

I am delighted that there has been a flurry of exhibition activity of late. Delighted is really too twee of a word for it. I have been ecstatic! The past three years here in Edinburgh have kicked my arse. Any of my closest friends would tell you this much. So, if you don't already, please consider yourself close. There is so much more to moving across the world and starting one's life over than I ever dreamed. I am glad I don't always have the best grasp of the seriousness of what I am trying to do in this world or I probably wouldn't do anything.

I woke up this morning thinking of my recent good fortune and how hard I have worked for this return to normalcy here in another country. The return of energy spent trading out and creating new paintings for multiple galleries is not something that just picked up where it left off in the states. This a bigger city than where I am from; this a cultural capital of Europe. I arrived pretty much unknown on these shores, but things seem to be looking up. I am grateful.

With that said, I am thrilled to be part of the upcoming December group exhibition, Connection at &Gallery on Dundas street in Edinburgh. I have long admired the aesthetic of &Gallery and their impressive stable of artists, to be included is an honour. Dundas street in the New Town is known for its high caliber galleries in Edinburgh. This is a big moment for me. If you are in the area, please make plans to attend the opening, Saturday, December 2nd from 2-4pm. These are the two paintings I will have in the exhibition.

Only to hold you
40x40x4cm/16x16x1.5"
Mixed media on canvas
© 2017 Megan Chapman

To tell you everything
40x40x4cm/16x16x1.5"
Mixed media on canvas
© 2017 Megan Chapman

Currently, my work is on exhibition through the 25th of November at Union Gallery in the West End and through February 25th at the Velvet Easel in Portobello. In hometown exhibition news, The Fenix Collective group show just opened last night in Fayetteville, Arkansas at The Chancellor Hotel and will be up until January 9th. I am so pleased to be able to grow these Scottish connections while I keep nurturing the ones back home as well. Thanks to everyone that takes a chance on my work and provides these wonderful opportunities.

If you missed it, here's a timely Tuesday Studio Video Visit. I talk about my perverse joy in finding hair and other gunk stuck to famous artists paintings while battling the same issues with my own work. Strangely, also this week, an article came out about a grasshopper found in a VanGogh. I've always said I'm a little bit psychic (and a little bit rock n roll).


Throw a website update into the mix, and that's all I have for you. Until next week, keep starting over, taking risks, and getting your arse kicked. Keep fighting and enjoy these beautiful moments. The world needs you, and your art.

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.

Viva!

The Fayetteville Underground is Morphing into Something New

Artists to Launch a New Nonprofit Community Arts Organization

The artists and the board of the Fayetteville Underground gathered last week in the Vault Gallery, for a meeting to discuss future plans of the organization.  It was at this meeting that the board revealed they would be dissolving The Fayetteville Underground at the end of the year.  They did not leave open the option for the artists to carry on with the current organization.  After the meeting the artists stayed to discuss the news and plan for the future.  A decision was made by the artists to create a new arts organization based on the current model.  

Studio Artist and current Co-Artisic Director of the Fayetteville Underground, Megan Chapman, commented, “A lot of time and energy goes into creating something as special as The Fayetteville Underground. Every studio artist, every craft artist and every visiting artist that has shown at The Underground has made it what it is today. The artists know that we can take what we have learned through our experience here, and go forward to create something new that is even more impressive and exciting for all the artists involved, as well as for the community at large.”  

The November and December First Thursdays at the Fayetteville Underground will continue as planned.  The artists have launched a website to help transition to a new organization, and individuals can find the website at:  morphtheorg.com.  The artists are also asking that community members help them select a new name, by voting online or in person at the November First Thursday.  Voting will end on November 7th, and the winning name will be released the following day.  As the Fayetteville Underground takes a new shape, the artists ask that the community continue their support and direct any ideas, proposals or donations to the website at: morphtheorg.com.

Please remember! The Fayetteville Underground will remain open through December. Please join us for our November and December opening receptions on the First Thursday of each month from 5-8pm. Our regular gallery hours are W-F 12-5 and Saturday 10-5 and we will maintain our hours and our galleries until the end of the year. Thank you for your support and please help us as we move forward.

A love letter to the Fayetteville Underground

Having a studio outside my home had always been a goal of mine, an expensive dream that would most likely remain impossible. Having a studio meant that I could close the door on my daily life and go to work like the rest of the world. It would be a place dedicated to the making of art, a place where messy dreams come to life and where drips of paint on the floor and walls were welcomed. A place for patrons to check in and see works in progress and develop a relationship with me as an artist. This is what I had wanted for so long and this is what I got. In April 2009 I moved into a small studio at the Fayetteville Underground in downtown Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The Fayetteville Underground was just forming at the time, taking the basement of a mostly vacant bank building on the somewhat empty downtown square. It was a big experiment, an idea to have four galleries and fifteen working artist studios and a classroom. A dream to make Fayetteville an arts destination and help to boost the economy and desirability of the town.

When I initially signed my lease I thought of it also as a personal experiment. I was a little concerned that the other studio mates might be a distraction or that I would feel nervous working in a group environment. I would be giving up the windows of my attic studio and it also meant I would be changing my schedule and how I worked as an artist. I had been the type of painter that would roll out of bed at three in the morning to paint and I worried if working in this more formal environment with the more regular hours would hinder my creativity. It took a long time to get used to the sounds of the building, the manufactured air and the remnants of bankers and their offices. I'd also be lying if I didn't mention that it took time to get used to my fellow studio mates comings and goings, music and moods.

To top off the studio experience there were the four galleries to fill and regular hours to keep and the whole act of helping to create what has now become one of the premier arts organizations in the state of Arkansas. When I look back and remember how The Underground was when it started and how far it has come over the last two and a half years it is astonishing. Being a part of the Fayetteville Underground has been one of the greatest adventures and accomplishments of my life.

I have been able to work with some of the most amazing people and my studio mates have become my family. We celebrate together and we share our sorrows too. We talk about our big ideas as well as our tangents that quickly burn out. We have supported each other through the thick and the thin. Many of us had studios before the underground as well as gallery representation, but we didn't have this team of fellow artists behind us and we didn't know what we could achieve as a collective body. We have brought local, national and international artists and their exhibitions to Fayetteville. The underground artists consistently create and install quality exhibitions month after month.

I believe I have done some of my best work of my career during my time at the Fayetteville Underground. I think it has to do with the freedom and excitement that comes from working around other like minded artists. Our work improves as we are not working in a vacuum and have a built in audience that arrives each month during our First Thursday artist receptions. It is reassuring to know that someone will see our work, even if it is just a piece in progress in our studios. And that brings me back to First Thursday. I remember the first few and then suddenly the crowds! Suddenly it just took off and we were hosting 1000 people at the Underground a month! It was a thrill to feel the swell of people and to absorb their support and enthusiasm for the art we were providing them. Suddenly the empty square started filling up with new businesses and the empty bank building wasn't so empty anymore. We were starting to accomplish our goals as an organization and people were starting to take notice.

This did not happen over night and it was not easy, it took many meetings and much organization to create what the Fayetteville Underground has become. The Underground is about one thing and one thing only, and that is art. When rumors were flying about our lost lease we kept working, we kept doing what we do best, to bring the best in visual art to the city of Fayetteville. We kept having our studios open. our First Thursday receptions and we kept smiling (most of the time). We kept sharing our experiences of what the Fayetteville Underground has meant to us or what great show we were bringing next, or our next big body of work in progress.

My studio is my haven, my safe place in this world. Where I can float away into my art and bring forth new ideas to share with the public and my fellow artists. The family I have made there is special to me and we believe strongly in the value of what we do. This is our life and our livelihood. We will have to be out of our current building by January 15th and we have been a nervous wreck as a group ever since we found out this sad news, but we are a united group and we hope to find a new home for our studios and galleries.

Our lives have been deeply touched by all those whose talent, skill, and generosity has helped to create the Underground. I am not the same person or artist I was when I signed my lease in 2009 and I can't wait to see what this next incarnation of the Fayetteville Underground brings not only to the artists but to Fayetteville. 

Viva la Underground!

In other news: My exhibition Sometimes I love you and other stories closes on October 1. So please go see it at the Vault Gallery at the Fayetteville Underground before it does. Gallery hours are W-F 12-7 and Saturday 10-5. I am grateful for the support this exhibition has received!

I am also having a special sale of the color paintings in my studio. All of these works are half price until September 30th! Learn more about that here. If you have any questions about my sale please email me at megancha@gmail.com.

Megan Chapman: Small works (redux)

** This post was originally posted last Friday November 27th. It has been edited.

Since tonight is Friday December 4th and is the opening reception of the small and miniature works show at the Aaron Gallery, I have decided to leave this post up this week. I will let you know how it goes. Also, last night was the opening of the small works show at the ddp gallery, and I am happy to report I sold two blocks and received a lot of great feedback, people really seemed to enjoy them. They will be up the whole month of December. Check the bottom of this post for some new images of the blocks. Thank you! I will resume regular blogging next week.

I am very excited to announce that I will have four paintings in the 20th annual exhibition of small and miniature work by selected artists at Aaron Gallery in Washington D.C. this December! I hope everyone in the D.C. area will visit the Aaron Gallery and Dupont Circle Galleries for First Friday Gallery Walk on December 4th from 6-8pm. I am thrilled to have my work selected for this group exhibition. I thought you might enjoy a preview of the selected works.

You came with fire
mixed media on canvas, 10x10" $275
© 2009 Megan Chapman

Behind the Whispers

mixed media on canvas, 20x16" $375
© 2009 Megan Chapman

Implosion

mixed media on canvas, 20x16" $375
© 2009 Megan Chapman

All things fall to the side

mixed media on canvas, 10x10" $275
© 2009 Megan Chapman

In other exciting news, I will be debuting an entirely new body of work at the DDP gallery in Fayetteville Arkansas, during the first Thursday art walk December 3rd from 5-8pm. I am putting the finishing touches on these works, that combine my love of photography and written word. These blocks are a precursor to my 100 flashes of memory series, and I am very excited to share them with the public. Additional photographs will be posted here soon so watch this space for updates as the week progresses. This new project has been a labor of love and a challenge, and very inspiring for me.

This is a wonderful and productive time in my art career and I am glad to share it with you. If you need any additional information about these works or galleries please feel free to contact me or leave a comment.

pictured directly above : a collection of secrets © 2009 Megan Chapman

only at the ddp gallery. $150/block.