Last night the tornado sirens went off for a long time while I was in my basement studio of the Underground and I was not worried. I listened to the thunder, lightning, and sideways rain.
I had spent the day driving a sharp pencil line through the heavy pulp of paper and paint. Just making dark scratches and hard edged lines while painting over them again and again. I could not get the pencil lead black enough or get the lines to make any sense. I will probably make more lines today- a guttural gesture across the paper, over and over again. This is the only thing that feels good right now.
I hope you will enjoy my latest paintings that were created in my studio in the Fayetteville Underground over the past 3 and a half months. I am so pleased to have these documented so I can share them with you, but also so I can share them with myself. This enables me to step back and re-examine with fresh eyes, and also serves as proof to myself that I have been working. It is easy for an artist to downplay any success we may have and to discredit ourselves. I encourage you to gather up all the evidence of your creative life and allow yourself to feel good about it. Keep fighting and never give in. I know I have said this countless times, but every day we paint is a victory.
Thanks to the locals for another amazing first Thursday. It was wonderful to see you all and talk with you about art. Keep coming back.
On a side note I was asked this week to submit 7 of my favorite songs and write a short essay for each one as part of the Ozarks Unbound Song Book. A new song is released each day. Click here to check it out.
*the music in my video above is by Moby, the track is Ghost Return off his latest release Wait for me.
It has been a while since I just posted some things that are inspiring me at the moment. So here goes.
Thank you for checking in here, discovering this place, linking to it, telling your friends, and most of all, for your comments. I really appreciate any time you decide to spend with me, my art and words. Have a wonderful weekend. See you next week with a real story.
xx- Megan
Oh and here is an impromptu video I made of my studio...Enjoy!
My paintings are for sale. My work ranges in price from $275 to $2,200 and small original works on paper in my etsy shop are available from $25-$40. I will be adding more works there soon. Also I am always looking for additional gallery representation and exhibition opportunities. Thank you.
Find my paintings at these galleries and websites:
This week has gone by so amazingly fast; a blur of studio meetings at the Underground, a flurry of paintings being started and finished. Words, ideas, and art communicated over great distances. I started on Monday believing I was going to accomplish some serious art production and I am not sure what happened or what that even means. So many ideas, concepts and flashes cluttered my brain and I couldn't get to the place I needed, to accomplish what I wanted; at the same time, things were accomplished. I am talking around the edges of things.
I was hoping to have all my new summer works documented so I could show them all to you. I am a painter and this blog has turned into more of a photo blog of late, which was never my intention. Photography is such an immediate and easy share. There is such instant gratification in the process and the results. I love this, but I do fear that it is eclipsing my paintings currently.
Balance has always been a struggle for me and that is apparent in my creative life as well. I gave away this week in more ways than one; it turned into an offering of sorts.
Are you giving away your days and weeks? Your energy and time? Are you getting back what you put in? What am I talking about? Just the edges of things and the minds of strangers and the creative spark that has to be protected.
This week I had a thousand conversations and everyone seems to be on the verge of either epiphany or total collapse. I am exhausted yet entranced...
Oh what to discuss today... This week in the life of an artist:
I participated in a couple of interviews this week regarding theFayetteville Underground, where my studio is housed, as more and more people are becoming interested in what we are doing in the basement downtown. I also watched the galleries for a couple of hours this week and showed patrons around the facilities and my studio.
On Tuesday I lead an intuitive drawing workshop in an upper level Architecture course at the University. It was a 3 hour course, and I had never offered a workshop of that nature and was honored to be asked by my friend and fellow artist Laura Terry who is a professor of Architecture at the University of Arkansas. It was a very interesting experience, first going over some of my paintings via my website projected on a screen before the class. I also passed around some of my Etsy paintings, so they could see those small works in person and as they contain more drawing and marks they seemed more appropriate for the class. I lead them in a relaxation exercise and then we listened to music and got to it. Intuitively painting and drawing; we asked and answered questions all the while. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. It is interesting to think about the marks I make and the questions I ask myself while I work, but then to vocalize those to the students and get them to think intuitively while solving the problems that come up within their own work, was a unique experience. I left the class with a better understanding that art making is comprised of a backlog of skills learned, along with the intuition to know how to put those skills to use. I also learned that for many people intuition is this mysterious force that they have not yet tapped into. I can't imagine. I left feeling confident that I had stepped out of my comfort zone and did a good job. I have given two art talks this year, and I have really enjoyed each opportunity I have had to speak with people about art. I think speaking about art is becoming one of my favorite things.
Then on Wednesday, I went on a photo shoot with my friend and fellow underground artist Maggie Ivy. There is a wonderful piece of land nearby that I like to photograph and I had envisioned it as a great place to attempt to recreate Andrew Wyeth's famous painting "Christina's world". I knew that Maggie would be the perfect model, so off we went to the land in the morning, out in the rain and mud but we got the shot! I am so pleased with the results that you can see at the top of the post. I felt elated all day over that photograph. I wasn't sure if I could pull it off and then I did. I guess the same thing goes with the drawing class- perhaps that is why this week has been such a good one. Challenges arose that I managed to pull off, I exceeded my expectations; I managed to do that by not having any expectations in the first place. I wish all my weeks were like this.
What happened on Thursday? Nothing much to be honest, I talked about art and life with friends and it was a long and good day, still pleased with the happenings of early in the week. I kind of took a pass on the day. I listened to music, went for a walk, took a photo. I will admit I was a bit crippled as I knew yesterday's photo wasn't going to be as special, but it didn't need to be. Today, I will take another photograph and I have no idea what it will be. Oh yeah, painting and 100 flashes of memory; I will be returning to those soon as well.
All I know today: I am happy to be an artist. I am happy to listen to the music, read the books, enjoy the films and art that I do. I am happy to enjoy photography on a daily basis. I am happy when I take risks and I am rewarded. I am happy and grateful to be part of a global arts community that feeds my soul.
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.
I am awake at 4am to bring you the Friday Studio Blog. I was pulled here by the strong winds of my dream, anotherTornado dream (I have always had tornado dreams). Thanks to everyone who commented last week and joined the conversation about the "job" of an artist and the mystery of the world. I really appreciated the response and it always gives me new hope for this blog.
Today's entry will be a little more free flowing, with less of a theme. Perhaps some pictures of my studio in a truer state than you have ever seen; an homage to the hopes of Fall, or to the talented soul of Paul Banks who always seems to plug into my head in the most perfect way to shake me up in all the right ways... Let's see what happens.
1. Studio. As some of you know, I moved into a studio outside of my house and downtown this past May. This idea thrilled me to no end. Thoughts of being free of the clutter and personal traps of home, being around other artists, being a bit more professional with a "real" studio to meet potential patrons, and a steady downtown presence for my work along with the ddp gallery (across the street gallery that represents me). However, I am going to just admit that I have a love/hate relationship with my new studio. I have painted and rearranged it twice, bought more and more lights for it, a new flash studio stereo (we know how I am about my music). Anything to make it better, brighter, and more enticing.
The main problem is the way I started to create a little over a year ago, and that was at 3am. I loved waking up at 3am like a bolt ( there are so many of my old posts that allude to the power of 3am) and stumbling up my steep stairs to my attic studio to paint. Something so appealing about being up at the wrong time, watching the dawn come to life slowly and seeing the lights come on in houses, and knowing I had already worked. I can't talk to people and then work, I can't think about business and then work, I can't worry about you and then work (well, maybe some of you). Anyway- my creative brain just won't stand for any interference from outside sources. It will, but the results never feel as good or strike as hot and fast as they do when I am undisturbed. I use this serene dream/wake time to really let go on the canvas, or even the time spent with my camera. Speaking of my camera, at least I have that- and I do take the majority of my photographs first thing in the morning and this practice has relieved some of the loss I feel from not painting in the wee hours. Maybe someday I will be comfortable enough to roll out of bed and drive to the studio in my pajamas to listen to blaring music, sing and paint at 3am.
Successful art making for me comes right from the edge of sleep, with loud music, singing and dancing. I miss those 3am days. I am determined to make it work somehow... I would love to know where your successful art making comes from? Do you have a set of variables that come together to help you dive into that creative magic time?
2. The Fall. The Fall is fast approaching, and it is to me the most inspiring, melancholic, and hopeful time of the year. I find it very transporting. A couple years ago I wrote a post about Fall before anyone really read this blog... I think some of my feelings about the Fall and how much it means to me are still valid and worth a revisit. Click here to go back in time. Feel free to share your season of inspiration and passion.
3. Paul Banks (aka Julian Plenti). If you have been reading this blog long enough or if you know me, you know I love the band Interpol, as they have been a constant source of inspiration for my work for the last 4 or more years. Their three albums, assorted b sides and bonus tracks, videos, and the 4 times I saw them live woke me up from a dull sleep. They got me interested in music again, and in going to see live music again. Music has always been one of the most important things in my life, and it has always taken me away to new places and provided the atmosphere and soundtrack to my life, dreams, and art. Anyway, Paul Bank's is the lead singer of Interpol, and he just released a solo album under the name "Julian Plenti" earlier this month, and I am so excited and inspired! I had been waiting for Interpol to release their 4th album, and I will continue to wait as the 4 of them together create my soul's music, but having a new offering by Mr. Julian Plenti will certainly tide me over in the meantime. As I type, one of his songs is on repeat and I am caught in between the lush wall of noise and his melodic voice. I can't tell you how excited I am to paint, photograph, write, do anything to this album. I have the wind in my sails again. When I discovered his new album, I was shaking as I gave it the first listen through. Oh yes. Julian Plenti...Is Skyscraper will be the soundtrack of my fall. Do you have bands or musicians that have such a strong effect on you?
Here are some samples from the Talented Mr. Plenti ( his album is available on itunes for less than $8.00 or even cheaper directly from Matador)
