Work it : A review of months

Springtime flowers

Hello all!

Sorry for my delay in posting my blog. I have had about six different blog topics swimming around in my head and I couldn't land on just one.

I feel the need for a little gathering of the evidence time for myself. This is purely a selfish exercise and if you read this blog often enough you will know I do this everyone once in awhile. I don't always know if I have been productive enough for my standards unless I read what I have done. The days are shooting past and I am just not sure what happened to them. Such a blur. What have I been doing with my art since January? I must examine the time.

January:

I completed my commission for Royal Blind as part of their first ever Royal Blind Week aiming to raise awareness and vital funds for the services they offer for the blind and partially sighted. My work was also featured on the Royal Blind's website alongside an interview with me as well. I really enjoyed creating the painting and so glad I was able to participate in the exhibition in Edinburgh, Scotland.

In publishing news, I was notified that Pocket full of live wires from my 2010 series, Falling into Sound would be published alongside a poem written by New Hampshire's state poet laureate Alice B. Fogel entitled Full of Life. Ms. Fogel's poem was written in response to my painting and will be published in the journal LETTERS produced by students from Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School. After receiving that great news, I was contacted again by the editor of the journal and asked if I would be interested in having two of my Ghosts of the past series of works published as well.

I also offered one of my Ghosts of the past paintings as a reproduction to the Creative Action Network in partnership with Obama's Organizing For Action. United for Reform crowdsources artwork for immigration reform, a cause near to my heart.

It was during this time that it was confirmed that the American debut of my Ghosts of the Past Exposed series had been picked up by a gallery. I had a lovely exhibition at the Anne Kittrell Gallery at the University of Arkansas. The exhibition was on display February 17th - March 7th. There was an article about the exhibition in the University's newspaper and on their website as well.

In other creation news, at the end of January I completed a small complicated work that gave me all kinds of wonderful trouble, called I will. This piece was sent to Scotland for an exhibition at Little Ox Gallery in Edinburgh.

February:

I started off the month making fourteen cards from a new series called handmade love. The cards were initially created because of Valentine's Day. I wanted to create the kind of card that I would like to receive or give. They were a joy to make. 

By the middle to late February all the paintings in exhibitions were up and on display, whether it was the Ghosts of the past exhibition at the University of Arkansas or the larger painting in the Royal Blind Exhibition or the small work in the Little Ox gallery exhibition, Here We Are. It was a joy to be participating in two internationally group shows and one local solo exhibition. 

Towards the end of the month I painted four more new works in a continuation of my abstract landscape works on paper inspired by Scotland. I was very pleased with the reception of this popular series.

March:

At the beginning of the month, I found myself wanting to use my studio space more and try to feel comfortable and at home in the space as I have been more or less nomadic ever since the old underground closed. It was good to spend time in my attic studio and get ready to work again on larger works.

It was also at this time that I started planning a series of four, two hour workshops on the business aspect of art. I was hoping to teach this locally but for now I am looking forward to marketing this online as a subscription service in the near future. 

Also during this month, I had an impromptu spring sale of some of my older color works from 2004/5 and one that remained from 2009. I found 4 out of the 5 paintings new homes! It was lovely to connect with folks that were excited to get a larger piece of mine for a great price. I was so pleased. 

Later in March, with the exhibitions now complete there was time for some contemplation about making art, why I do it, my identity as an artist and feasibility of it all. It was a bit of doubtful time. Even with the successes in my career it just felt a bit like it was all slipping away and that perhaps I should give up. But, I didn't. I started painting in my studio again and getting more comfortable up there all the while. First working on a older color piece and then leaving it behind to start a new series.

I also decided to offer a selection of some of my older color works from 2008's Evidence of the Disappearance series as archival reproductions over on Society6.

At the end of the month the Spring 2014 issue of LETTERS was published. I was honored to have my work featured on the cover and three of my paintings within the journal from YALE as well.

April:

I was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Scottish Society of Northwest Arkansas. I gave a talk about my project, my research and my time in Scotland. It was a lovely meeting and really the highlight of the month. I showed my entire Ghosts of the past body of work to the attentive audience and loved the intimate setting of the event. It was a lovely opportunity that I fully enjoyed.

I kept working on my new series in the studio, they were evolving in a way I never really imagined but then at the same time it was perfect. I love it when art becomes serendipitous and teaches me while I create it. This new series is all about this life and the rebuilding process; a process that I know all too well from recent years. 

Then suddenly in mid April I was having amazing conversations about art and was brought back to life. I know that sounds dramatic but it was so good to be back in the thick of it, making the art I needed to make, writing the blogs that needed writing and having these deep conversations and feeling understood and in my element. It had been such a long time since I had felt this way. I produced 8 new paintings that knocked my socks off. These paintings, I believe represent a shift in my thinking, my beliefs, my self esteem and my worth as a woman and as an artist. They are strong at the same time fragile, they are beautiful at the same time raw, they are as much about rebuilding as they are tearing down. I will be good to these works as they have been good to me. 

This month I also started a group on facebook called Women's Work. I wanted a place where women artists could share their art, inspirations, ideas and struggles. A place to celebrate all the art that women create and to learn about new artists and ideas. It's just getting started but so far it seems like a good space. I would like to curate exhibitions out of the group eventually and do more with it as it unfolds. We have to create the change we want to see.

May (early days yet, have a lot of time to do good things)

I have been working in my studio on some more new 12x12" works on panel from the series I revealed last week. I am currently researching potential exhibitions and galleries in which to show these new works. I also recently completed a 9x12" commission on paper. I have a large commission that I am looking forward to starting in the near future. But first I must finish the rest of this series. I would like to paint on larger panels. We will see if it is in the cards. And yes, I do commissions, so if you are in the market please contact me!

4 months (and a touch of May) have come and gone. I have participated in two international group exhibitions, had a solo exhibition, supported two causes near to my heart through my art, was published, enjoyed a public speaking engagement and created thirty-three works this year so far.

I'll be honest, this is a hard gig. I keep going but it keeps getting harder to maintain a life lived in honor of my true calling and my passion. In the past I wondered if I even had a right to live my life in this way. I have come to a conclusion. I do. I have the right to make and create my art, write my truth and sing my songs. It doesn't always pay but I am going to do it. You know this about me.

Donating = Loving

Tell it like it is- I can take it...

Part 1: Thanks: and the hanging of a new shingle

Thank you to everyone who viewed "Gathering the Evidence" as I write this my little film has been viewed 262 times, and that is pretty sweet. The feedback I received was very helpful and inspiring.Thank you to new friend and talented photographer Craig Nelson who also viewed the video and was moved enough to want to come over and see the paintings in person.We had a wonderful visit, and he took a lovely photograph of my studio. I love making these connections, and creating this community. Craig and I share many of the same ideas about sharing information as artists, so be sure to check out his blog- Shutter to Think, and his wonderful photographs. I was thrilled to find myself featured in his blog as well. Speaking of being featured in blogs, it was a two blog week for me, as I also found myself mentioned and some of my work featured in artist Stephanie Mallicotte's blog. Check it out. It is always exciting to be thought of and included in people's blogs. Thanks for the publicity and support!

I want to mention a brand new service I am offering. I am now available for online portfolio review/consultation. I get approached quite often on MySpace for this kind of service. Send me an email or message with a link to your painting portfolio or questions about your art, and for a $25.00 suggested donation sent to my paypal button here on my blog, I will spend an hour poring over your work( up to 20 pieces) and then give you a list of positives, cautions, and then specifics about each piece. I am very detailed and efficient at this, and I promise as an artist myself, I will be encouraging but you will also get some honest feedback. Once I email the review to you, if you have a few short follow up questions in regards to things I mentioned that is also included in the $25.00 donation. I also encourage folks to read back through my blog, as there is a lot of free helpful information available, you just have to dig for it a bit.

Part 2- Studio News: The Evidence

The work in the studio is going well. I have been hard at work on 2 24x30's and 2 30x24's this week. Moving on to the larger works for the exhibition, things will start to slow down now. Some titles have emerged such as Chatter on the Lines, Caught Between the Disconnect, We talked like Dancing Feet and These are not my Secrets. I hope to create another short film as the work for the Evidence of the Disappearance continues. If you are in Arkansas or close by save the date and come to the Blue Moon Gallery in Hot Springs for the opening reception on Friday, June 6 from 5-9pm

Part 3- What you came here for: A good story

The following quote was written in a moment of clarity 1/4/06 ( yep- we are briefly going back in time again)

"I am a painter. So deeply I am a painter. It makes me want to cry. How can I forget so easily? How can I let myself go without working? Not much brings me more pleasure or happiness. It is earned as this is not easy, no matter how many times I pretend or let myself think it is."

Occasionally, I have to remind myself. I needed to write this down a little over two years ago, and in the future I will write it down again, and it will be like a brand new discovery. I am a painter, yet I know I will forget. Do you forget sometimes? Do you push it aside, burying it under practicalities and the time frames of your life? Do you get discouraged and veer off course?

Some perspective for us both; my first solo show was in a popular local hippie "health food" restaurant in Eugene Oregon, in 1997 just a bit over 10 years ago. I want to share my statement from that show. ( Click on the picture to make it bigger) At the time, as you can see I was just going for my BA at the University. I remember the BFA seemed out of my league at the time. I am so glad I changed my tune, as once in the program I soon learned the F stood for FUN, and I experienced a new side of the art department, and explored all aspects of my creativity. If you read my statement, my main goals were to simply finish school, show and sell my art and move back home to open a "junk store"( it was to be called Finders Keepers- and sadly that hasn't happened, yet...) Looking at this statement, I can't believe I would show a body of work without any titles, as titles are so important to me now. I was so jazzed about this series of work ( my heart pod series) It was in creating this body of work that I became an oil painter and learned a lot about color and texture.

I tied a small spiral notebook to a hook in the wood paneled wall of the restaurant to gather comments about my work. In the front of the book I wrote among other things..."Tell it like it is, I can take it"

So, they told me... You can read a few of the comments for yourself.There were a few positive ones, if you count " Jesus loves you- Megan, " and "Demon painting is the best- I love it" Needless to say I did not sell a single painting from this series of self proclaimed masterpieces, during this show or ever.

My first solo show would basically be considered by many a flop. For me it was the experience that mattered- or at least that is what I told myself.

The show ended and I collected my work and my sad little comment book of scribbles, from the restaurant.I guess you could say, I had some things to consider.

I could've become sad and apparently even more depressed and quit right there.

I could've decided to fulfill the basic requirements for my degree, considered myself a hack and gotten the hell out of there.

Or, I could laugh at it all, chalk it up to experience, resume building and keep looking for other opportunities to show. I am sure you know what I did. If I hadn't, I wouldn't be writing you this blog, preparing for a show, have gallery representation, not to mention collectors across the country.

Time line (a little more perspective)

• 1995 first group show
• 1997 first solo show in restaurant
• 1999 BFA awarded: terminal books project
• 2002 received cash prize at juried art show
• 2003 first major sale
• 2004 first gallery representation
• check my resume at www.meganchapman.com for what happens next...
  

This is not an easy career path- especially when many artists have other jobs, families, and real world responsibilities but if you know that somewhere inside you, your art brings something to your life that nothing else quite does, then I encourage you to stick with it no matter what. Keep building your resume, keep putting yourself out there, keep working on your art, and then don't forget to look back and remind yourself how far you've come.

Remember, "I am a painter. So deeply I am a painter. It makes me want to cry. How can I forget so easily? How can I let myself go without working? Not much brings me more pleasure or happiness. It is earned as this is not easy, no matter how many times I pretend or let myself think it is."

Onward and upward and good luck!