Calling up the warriors...

The Man Who Fell to Earth. Starring David Bowie. 1976.
Meme from the internet. 

I woke up at 4 a.m. with ideas that needed writing down. I had big plans for this blog too, but then other things kept getting in the way. So here I am at the end of the day, finally sitting down to write and I know I won't share everything I am thinking. My thoughts are coming too fast and some of the things I think are no one's business but my own. 

Last week, I was calling forth creativity and the unborn art at our fingertips. Tonight, I am calling forth my warriors and you don't need to know exactly what that means. I alluded to the idea on last week's Tuesday Studio Video Visit. I am sitting in the middle of great change or desire to change as many of us are since the pandemic began - this requires new ways of thinking but more importantly doing. 

I want to do this differently. I want to think about this differently. This meaning, art, specifically my art. I know I have said this before in different guises but I mean it. Time is of the essence. I have to change my thinking about all of this. The way I think about it no longer serves me or anyone else. 

So, I will need to call forth my warriors and lists will be made, and I will remember opportunities that went before and connections forged over years and years, and the new ones here in Scotland as well. I will be vulnerable to some degree and I will be scared and I won't know what I am doing and it will be hard. I think that is how art and a life of growth might have to be. 

I have given myself so much grief over this calling. I have limited myself, my experience, and my art because I have been ashamed that this is my path. I am ashamed that this path leaves me vulnerable to living on a shaky foundation. I often feel like an alien in this world. A high functioning alien that needs a lot of time to just look out the window and notice all the beauty.

I don't want what you want. I don't want to live how you want to live. I don't need what you need. I don't value you what you value. I don't strive for what you strive for. I am not motivated by what you are motivated by. I am my own person and I have the right to live this way even when it is often misunderstood, judged, and questioned. 

you = societal values at large/the capitalist machine. 

I think you and I, dear reader, have a lot in common and share many values. The warriors (and thankfully there are many) who read my posts, follow me on social media, support me, and have collected my art over the decades can thankfully see, read, or hear something in the work that resonates. I am forever grateful. You will be hearing from me soon... 

Until next week, keep fighting. 

With love and gratitude, 

Megan

Detail of the first drawing of the year 2022

 

And if you missed the latest Tuesday Studio Video Visit, here it is. Notice the better lighting! That's thanks to you warriors. ❤

Something Electric...

The Holidays are almost over now. Family and friends are soon departing and getting back to the work a day world. The holidays come on so fast and strong and just as they start they are over again. I am left wondering if I saw everyone I needed to and if I had the quality conversations I had intended. Overall I think this holiday was a success. I hope yours was too.

I like the in between time, when Christmas fades but the New Year has not yet begun. There is a stillness that comes at this time. A hopeful break, where a myriad of intentions run through my mind for the new year. I am excited by the opportunity to begin again, try one more time, and devise a new plan of action.

I have been taking some time off from painting to rest, visit with friends and family, and regroup and hopefully come up with some new ideas about where my work will head in the coming months. In 2007 I had so many opportunities come up spontaneously that, I did not have this luxury of planning. I seemed more to be painting to fulfill commitments and paint for specific exhibits. I am excited that in this new year I can slow down a bit and think about the direction I want to go, this is both exciting and terrifying. I am one of those people that works well under deadlines and under pressure. The exciting thing is I will get to create my own pressure and new challenges and push myself to reach my own set of new goals. There is still new work to send to the galleries that already represent me, there are relationships in those galleries to strengthen, there are new galleries and publications to submit my work to, and hopefully new clients to thank. New exhibits to schedule, and new opportunities to weigh. There will be paper work to file, blogs to write, websites to update and even redesign, photos of my work to take. So in many ways I know what to expect, and I will keep on the path I have set, and simply kick it up a notch.

However, I feel ( and maybe just because of the time of year again) that there is something electric around me, that something big may happen in my artistic life 2008. I also feel more and more connected to a network of artists and art lovers all over the world, and I feel the support and encouragement of those people. This support is instrumental in helping me break through and be the painter and person that I want most to be.

So, I write this with great excitement and anticipation- with a whimsical hope for all of us. Let this be my year, and your year too. I am eager to return to the studio, where I will put on my headphones, go within and paint for us all.

Happy New Year! I wish you all the best in 2008...


I was recently interviewed by Tim Lane for his MySpace blog "Artist Interviewing Artist." If you haven't read it yet you might enjoy it.
Click here for the interview

See my painting "Two Lovelies" at Remy Fine Art
720 Garrison Ave. Ft. Smith, Arkansas
Open: T-F 12-5
and by appointment.

"Secrets Revealed" Works by Megan Chapman and Steve and P.J. Robowski
December 6-January 18th