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/

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?

Ungrounded

 

The studios at the Underground are coming apart at the seams, the brushes, canvases and easels are being packed away. Tables moved and disassembled, the spaces we came to know as the studios of our peers are not the same. They are becoming the empty basement office spaces that they once were. The mark we left on One East Center is being erased as the artists pack up their studios just before the holidays.

I can say "when one door closes another one opens" and I can hope it is true. I can put a positive spin on it in the news and say we will be back in January in a new space, bringing you the same great art and artists that you have come expect from us for over the past two and a half years. But I honestly can't be sure. Where is the group of artists that became known as the Fayetteville Underground going? Where is the door that is about to open? I don't know. There are options, there are dreams, and there is reality.

Many of us worked very hard to bring the city something that the citizens and the artists seemed to want, need and appreciate and I am truly saddened that it was cut short by no fault of the artists or our landlord. It was an amazing run and I have never been more proud to be affiliated with an organization.

Who knows what will happen with the artists of the underground. Many will move back home to their abandoned extra bedrooms, attics and basement studios because it is easier than not knowing where they are going, and it is a way for them to control their own destiny. A few will stick together and continue trying to build the Fayetteville Art Alliance, trying to find studios together and manning a gallery, perhaps recruiting new artists into the fold and attempting new strategies. Some will just take a break and stop producing art for a while or perhaps look for gallery representation elsewhere. Perhaps there is space for some in the Old Post Office basement. As artists we may fragment and splinter yet there will be a tie that connects us, our time at the Fayetteville Underground.

The Fayetteville Underground taught me so much about people and it helped me become fully invested in my community. Working with many other organizations and groups was exciting and beneficial for all involved. Getting to know so many of the artists throughout the community was wonderful as well. I met people just like me who worked hard to create the work they needed to, in order to be true to themselves. Many amazing artists passed through the gallery doors of the Fayetteville Underground during these years. It was an honor to meet and get to know not only their work but them personally. We shared a lot of ups and downs together as a family, such as illnesses, separations, divorce, money troubles, depression, anxiety, artistic blows, blocks, and more than a few parking tickets! We also shared new love, special commissions, big sales, artistic triumphs, new visions and opportunities, inspiration and many bottles of beer, glasses of wine, and good meals in the restaurants and bars around the square.

I can't stand to see my artistic family fragmented. It is sad to see us come ungrounded and lose the vision that we as a team so brilliantly executed for so long. If I am willing to dream big, I hope we rise to this challenge and create something new, perhaps something never seen here before. Something perfect for this sweet town of art lovers and buyers. Studios on one side of town and a gallery on the other? Pop up shops in abandoned buildings? Take over a motel and turn it into a gallery for a week? Take the basement of the Old Post Office by storm creating a new hot spot? Retreating to the calm of Mt. Sequoyah and hoping that the patrons will follow?

I love these big plans and big dreams. One of my big dreams came true when I rented my studio at the Underground in April of 2009.

From my Journal:  

Monday 20 April 2009: Studio 19  
I have just returned from the leasing agent's office and I now have a key to my very own studio space downtown. I can't wait to move in and paint. This is so much more than just a key to me...
 
I guess it is time to wake up now. I have some boxes to pack and a studio door to close one last time and soon.

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.

The day after...

We will sink to the bottom of the ocean together
30x24" Mixed Media on Canvas
$800

As most of you know, last night was the opening of Falling into Sound at the Fayetteville Underground in the Hive Gallery. It was an interesting day. I had mixed emotions as I was preparing to attend the opening. If I am honest a wave of sadness washed over me. So, I took a long walk around my favorite park and I lay in the sun supported by the warm grass. I just listened to the voices in my head, the worried self talk, doubt, pride, hope, all those different voices coming at me. Then I spent the rest of my day cleaning my house and listening to music, just going about my regular routine as if nothing in particular was happening later that day. Soon enough it was time to head to the show. I cued up a special Interpol song for the short drive to the studio and I was ready.

The crowds were great, and it was lovely to see so many friends and patrons out enjoying all the exhibitions at the Underground. The sadness I had felt earlier in the day seemed to wash away. I think the sadness was a mix of fear and just the release of giving up this body of work to the world. I have been enveloped by these pieces practically all year. There is a letting go, a realization that the work is now done and that there is nothing left to work on.

I wonder what my work will look like after this exhibition. I wonder how it will feel to paint again after the show. I know there will be a lull and then I will work again. Will it be a continuation? Perhaps, but I think I may ease back into it by painting some smaller quicker works to finally restock my etsy shop. That is my goal for the next month (it has been my goal for awhile now) to get my shop stocked and ready for Christmas, and then to prepare for some holiday small works shows as well.

Right now, I feel like I just need some time off to absorb what I have just accomplished. This was my eighteenth solo show in the fifteen years I have been showing my art. I am very proud of this body of work, this show, and how all the pieces fit together.

It was a wonderful opening night. I hope more people will come during the quieter gallery hours to absorb the works and join me in falling into sound...

Thank you for your friendship and support.

Falling into Sound: Hive Gallery from Megan Chapman on Vimeo.

Falling into Sound
Megan Chapman
Hive Gallery
Nov. 3-27th
Fayetteville Underground
1 East Center
Fayetteville Arkansas
Gallery Hours: W-F 12-7 and Sat 10-5

In other news: I was interviewed by my local National Public Radio station KUAF about the Underground and my exhibition along with another studio mate. Click on the link to listen.

4 a.m. and I was there...

After last week's blog I was inspired to attempt to work in my studio, early in the morning just like the old days. I am very happy to report that I did and it was great! It was a cool, dark morning as I drove through the sleepy town streets and then entered the massive old bank building that houses my studio at the Fayetteville Underground. I thought I might get creeped out being in such a large space alone, but I really wasn't. I made some tea, turned up my music loud, shut the door and I was off. I was so happy, I was jumping up and down in victory, singing and having fun. I started two new paintings that I am pleased with and took pictures of my studio again (see slide show above). I don't know how many pictures I now have of my studio. I guess it is a sort of proof that it exists and of course a record for the future. Sometimes it feels like a set and I just go there to play artist, but then when I look around at all the paintings and look at my blocks project on the table and everything else I am working on that is art related, I know I am not playing anything. This is my life and I am fully engaged in being an artist. I have proof all around me and in photographs, for when I lose my way, and I will lose my way...

Did I ever get back to my studio at 3 or 4am the rest of the week? No, I did not. Did I work on the paintings I had started that wonderful morning? No, I did not. Did I get angry and down on myself? Yes, I did. But I am still celebrating the day I worked and the day I triumphed at 4a.m.

Everyday we paint is a victory. Everyday that we dream, think, read, and write about art creates the important background noise that make those victories possible and they count just the same.

Here is a sneak peak of one of the new works in progress.
Thanks for reading my blog, for commenting, for thinking and dreaming with me. Onwards and upwards...


PS. Last night was First Thursday art walk on the Fayetteville Square from 5-8pm. I just want to say it was another wonderful event; what my town has done in a few short months to create a cohesive and powerful art scene is nothing short of amazing and inspires me no end. I enjoyed talking with all the folks that came to the Underground as well as walked through my studio. Thank you to ddp gallery, The Fayetteville Underground, Mayor Lioneld Jordan and the city of Fayetteville for making this all come together. Thanks to all the wonderful patrons of the arts that come to enjoy, encourage, and support the artists working in the community. We are grateful.

John Hughes : Some kind of wonderful

Last night, I was busy running around being an artist at another successful first Thursday opening for the Fayetteville Underground and the ddp gallery. Once it all settled down and I was sitting down, I was told the very sad news that director John Hughes had died. I was stunned. Today, this blog is dedicated to the man who helped to make the 1980's a great decade in which to be a teenager.

John Hughes seemed to show a more artful and more interesting side of teenage life. He had the jocks and geeks, parents and teachers but then he also had those unique and off beat characters, and I could see and understand myself just a little better through them.

John Hughes films were a constant in my early teenage years. I am lucky I was alive during his heyday and was able to see them when they came out in the theatres. Being a teenager is hard work, John Hughes made it seem more manageable and even at times glamorous. I would not be the person or artist I am today without the films written, directed, or produced by John Hughes.

Thank you Mr. Hughes.

Kelly Price-Colston : Thursday July 2nd!

Kelly Price-Colston

New Works

"You Could Have Been Home By Now"

Artist Reception: Thursday July 2 at 5pm-8pm.
The Vault Gallery, Fayetteville Underground
One East Square Plaza
Show runs through July 30, 2009

Kelly Price-Colston is an award winning collage artist residing in the ozark mountains. Her work is characterized by the energetic splats, drips and grime that accompany a diverse cast of vintage black and white photographs. Her use of sewing and graffiti collage on paper has been recognized by art collectors and galleries across the country, and internationally.

Come and see these amazing works in person and meet the artist only at the Fayetteville Underground. You do not want to miss this exhibition!

For more information about this exciting and prolific artist please visit http://paperballet.com and www.fayettevilleunderground.com

Fayetteville Underground
Gallery hours
W-F 12-7pm
Saturday 8am -2pm.
4 Galleries
Open studios

Pictured Above:
Letting Go
Mixed Media 11x14"
© 2009 Kelly Price-Colston
Image courtesy of the artist

Every now and then I will be promoting my fellow Underground studio mates and their upcoming exhibitions here on my blog. I hope you will enjoy learning about these artists and their work by clicking on their links. If you are local, I hope you will make every effort to attend First Thursday Art Walk on the Fayetteville Square from 5-8pm.

Thanks for all for the great comments I received on last week's post, it got me very excited about this blog again and really makes me appreciate this blog as a place for artists to exchange ideas and encourage each other. I certainly don't have all the answers and I love learning and hearing your ideas and your artistic experiences. Next week, I will share some new paintings, and also discuss my latest project.

Dull life.... Ha!

Dear Readers.

Fresh off my adventure to Atlanta and back last week, I decided (spur of the moment style) to head to Kansas City this past Wednesday to see the amazing band the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.While waiting for the show to start I spent the day at the Nelson Atkins museum, and tooling around the Crossroads arts district. I also visited my favorite letter press shop HAMMERPRESS. The show was intense, and great art was seen and enjoyed as well.

Lastnight was first Thursday art walk on the Fayetteville, Arkansas square, and we had a wonderful time debuting our two newest underground artists. Dana Idlet and Gregg Moore. The rest of the represented underground artists put on a wonderful exhibition, and all the studio artists had their studios open as well so we can share our process and talk with the art patrons and community members who came out to support the arts. The fayetteville underground's gallery hours are W-Friday 12-7pm and Saturday 8-2pm. With first Thursday receptions from 5-8pm each month. If you are a local and have not checked out the underground yet- please do.

Tonight I head to Hot Springs to attend the first Friday gallery walk from 5-9pm. I will be at the Blue Moon gallery for most of the night when I am not out trying to see all the other wonderful art there. I have posted this video of gallery walk before but I think it is worth a repeat.



oh and I am painting, and planning a new body of work that I am very excited about. I will be talking about that process in future weeks.

I hope everyone is well and happy. Thanks to all the folks that still check in and read my studio blog. I appreciate each and everyone of you.

Take care-
Megan

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.