She is an imaginary girl

This girl from Arkansas was influenced by David Lynch

Dear Readers, Art Lovers, and Friends,

It was fitting that the soundtrack to last week's post was "Dark Night of the Soul" featuring David Lynch.

I was so shocked to hear of his death that I actually gasped out loud when I read the news in a message from my brother Sean. I wrote a few friends in particular who I knew would be upset and then I shed a few tears myself. I started watching old clips and reliving memories that revolved around David Lynch's work and art.

Like many others, I took to the internet to share my feelings:

"I'm so sad about this loss. David Lynch gave us so much vision and new ways to see. He offered up validation and permission. Meditations on darkness and love. Twin Peaks beaming into the house when I was in high school was as important to me as witnessing the dawn of MTV when I was child. Style, colour, art, mystery - everything was suddenly available to me. I could understand my own sensibilities and appreciate them even in Arkansas."

Looking back, I realise how much he had influenced me in the 80s and 90s and how he continues to influence me today. How often I quote his work. He was and will forever remain a true artist and an original. We are so lucky for all he gave us. 

Thank you, David Lynch for sharing your vision.

Two Sad Clouds, mixed media on paper, Megan Chapman, 2024

Temptation, mixed media on paper, Megan Chapman, 2024

How can we best show up in this crushing world with our own singular visions? How can we support each other and ourselves in our purest most expansive forms? How can we bring more delight, humour, wonder, and understanding into this world?

Let's catch some ideas.

Take that dive

I SHOULD write about all the exciting exhibitions that I am participating in or that are coming up or about the paintings that are on the go in the studio. Some weeks it is more complicated than others to separate it all out and get quiet and reflect on what I am doing in the studio. 

Some weeks I just want to break script, tell a story, spin a yarn, or just dream out loud. I get frustrated and it holds me back from writing at all. I hope you enjoyed last week's origin story. It felt good to look back and tell a bit of a story rather than just reporting. 

This internet world is extraordinary in so many ways but it also drives and molds us in ways that I don't think are so great. I don't want to learn a formula for selling my art or how to find the perfect clients or whatever Instagram and the like are selling these days. 

I want to paint and the older I get the more I want to protect my right to work as an artist. I don't always understand this calling or even always value it as I should. As you read last week art is always just something I have done, but these last 20 plus years I have done it with dedication, perseverance, and reverence. I didn't wake up one morning and decide to be a painter. It was decided for me and I resent trying to fit it into society's ideas of work, worth, and value. I have beaten myself up for years because I can't seem to make being a painter fit. Fuck that. I want to stop that. All I want to do is preserve my right to work as it is in my true nature. I'll figure it out. We will figure it out. 

This is not a hobby, a gimmick, a thing you turn off and on when you have a free weekend. This is constant, it's the way I see, feel, hear, it's the way I process information, it's the way I use language, it's also about the values I have, not to mention the skill, experience, and practice. It's about what is important to me and what I feel is important to the larger society. To dive into sound, art, words, a film: to dive in and swim away in the story of it all but to come back to this world knowing yourself and your fellow humans better, richer, deeper - that is what it is all about for me. This is what I am fighting for, to be able to take that dive and resurface here and still feel safe in this society. 

Thanks for joining me, the world needs us and our work. 

**********

And as always find my work currently at the following galleries and sites. 

Solo Gallery

Innerleithen, Scottish Borders
Scotland

I currently have seven pieces in the gallery.

The Velvet Easel Gallery
Portobello, Edinburgh
Scotland
You can catch my work in the Of Night and Light Exhibition until the 1st of March and in the upcoming exhibition, Where the Shadows Come to Play that will open on Saturday 7th March, 2020.

Fenix Gallery
Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA
Ask to see my available small works and limited edition prints

Small works shop:
https://meganchapmanart.wixsite.com/shop

On all your favourite channels!
Web: www.meganchapman.com
IG: instagram.com/ethermaven
FB: facebook.com/megan.chapman.artist
Twitter: twitter.com/ethermaven

Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfrjufVJH-K49QhqOz4Rlmw (I am in the process of transferring my Tuesday Studio Video Visits over to Youtube)

And of course, at my studio G23, located at 36 Dalmeny Street Leith, Edinburgh EH6 8RG. I will gladly open by appointment. Next Open Studio March 1 from 12-5pm as part of the Makers Marque! Make plans to attend.

Walls too crowded, budget tight? You can still support my work. Click the link to buy me a coffee. Consider becoming a one-off or monthly supporter for exclusive content. Thanks! Support Me on Ko-fi