This was another busy week getting ready for First Thursday at the Fayetteville Underground. The week leading up to the openings is always exciting and this week was no exception. I am pleased to report First Thursday went off without a hitch and all the exhibitions were well received. It really was wonderful to have visiting Scottish artist Stewart Bremner present at his and Craig Munro's exhibition, iteration/span. I know he enjoyed talking with people about their work last night. Luckily for those local folks who might have missed First Thursday, Stewart will be giving an artist talk at the Fayetteville Underground tomorrow, Saturday May 7th from 11am-12noon.
In other news, I did manage to paint this week and I am grateful. I worked on some more flashcards. When time is tight and inspiration is low it is still better to paint than not, and it is even more of a victory. I am glad I was reminded of this. Perhaps, it was having Stewart working in my studio. He was busy painting while also preparing for iteration/span and I thought if he can paint during this chaotic time, then perhaps I can to! Here is a link to his recent paintings.
And here are the newest selections from my affordable flashcard series. The paper isn't perfect, there are some rough bits where the tape masked the borders. These works are about the process, the immediacy and the action of making. These are flashcards and the paintings are the answer. You provide the questions. For more information on how you can reserve and purchase one of these small works please email me at megancha@gmail.com and stay tuned, more flashcards to come...
Here we are again, and I am going to pretend that I wrote this on Friday but the hardcore readers will know the truth. Things got away from me this week as I have been hosting visiting U.K. artist Stewart Bremner who is preparing for his joint exhibition iteration/spanwith Craig Munro to be held in the Hive Gallery at the Fayetteville Underground during the month of May. It has been interesting watching Stewart prepare for this exhibition, reminding me of all the small details and expense that goes into a show.
If you are local or regional please come out to the Fayetteville Underground Thursday May 5th during first Thursday from 5-8pm and say hello to Stewart who has traveled a long way from Edinburgh, Scotland to share his and Craig's combined photographic images. Stewart will also be giving an artist talk on Saturday May 7th from 11- 12 about the process and inspiration behind the exhibition as well as answer your questions. It is always a rare treat when we get to hear directly from the artist so please be sure to attend so you can get the inside scoop. As always our exhibitions and art talks at the Fayetteville Underground are free and open to the public.
In other news, I have been enjoying being a tour guide and trying to stay dry during this excessively rainy spring we've been having lately. I would love to say I am bursting with new inspiration at the moment, but sadly I can not. I will just have to accept that I am in a bit of a lull at the moment and hope that the art will materialize again soon.
The following affordable and original works from the maps of the night and flashcard series are still available. If you are interested in one of these works on paper please email me at megancha@gmail.com to reserve your piece. I really appreciate everyone who supports me and my work by buying a flashcard or a painting. You keep me going and you make me work harder. Thank you.
What a busy week it was and Friday came upon me slowly and quickly at the same time. I was simply drawing a blank for my blog this week but I like to maintain my routine so I asked my friends over on facebook to submit questions for this week's post. Here are their questions and my answers.
Amy asked : Do you think there is a difference in the art communities in Fayetteville (where I live) vs. Springdale? (the neighboring town) If so, how and why?
Amy: I have a rather limited experience with the art community in Springdale, but I have participated in several exhibitions at the Art Center of the Ozarks in Springdale, including several 5x5 benefits, many Artists of Northwest Arkansas juried exhibitions, some group shows and had my own solo show there in 2004. Yes, I do think there is a difference in the art communities in the two towns. Some of the events at the Art Center of the Ozarks are well attended and some less so. It seems that even though Northwest Arkansas is a considered a metro area, that people don't seem to move out of their comfort zones that easily. Fayetteville people don't seem as likely to attend art openings in Springdale and vice versa. However, I think this is changing. I am sure that not having a University impacts the art scene in Springdale as well as the fact that they don't have as many art galleries. Remember though, that Fayetteville's art scene has always gone in waves and in fits and starts and it really wasn't until the last several years that we have developed a more cohesive art community.
Lorel asked: What's the most popular subject for an artist?
Lorel : This is a tough question. Self portraits have always been popular as have landscapes. But then again for an artist like me, neither of those apply since I work in the abstract. I think most art references the artist either directly or indirectly. I believe many times that the artist is trying to show you something that is either important to them personally, culturally or historically significant, or something of beauty.
Ginna asked: What's your favorite color?
Ginna: My favorite color is orange. Orange feels good to me, I love that deep burnt orange and rusty orange oxide is my favorite. I have used it in my work for years, even my kitchen is orange and you can see the titles on my blog are orange. It is happy pure color that has many layers. On the surface orange is simple, but there is so much more to this color. Second choice (not that you asked) is phtalo blue mixed with burnt umber a third choice would be Alizarin Crimson. I love black, grey, and white too!!! I love color. But orange is my top choice.
Robert asked: Music seems to be an important part of your studio life and art life. What do you think are the differences and similarities in music as an art and 2-D visual works as an art? Robert: This is a fantastic question. You are right music is a huge part of my life in general and always has been. I think there are many similarities in music and art and I think that is why they go so well together and why I use one medium to inspire another in my studio. As in 2-D works I think music paints pictures and presents a space for the viewer/listener to wander in and out of. Good music and good art take you somewhere and change your mood or alter your experience of a space and your life. Art challenges, soothes, prods, and can inspire real change in the viewer. I think music does the same thing for the listener. Art can be a type of visual record of your life just as music can be a soundtrack. I think of the two almost as interchangeable.
As far as differences, I love the words in music- the lyrics. I love the ability that the words have to refine the atmosphere and take a person more quickly to where that artist intends for them to go. Sometimes with 2-D work you have much less control over the viewer and where they go within your work. However many artists use words in their works to achieve this. The adoration of musicians and artists is certainly different. Can you imagine unveiling your latest body of paintings to screaming fans? And going on tour with them? I wish folks could sing along with paintings. It would really change things. I think music has a more clear and easily accessible connection than the visual arts. Everyone knows what you do with music, but not everyone knows what you do with art.
Thanks again everyone for your questions. One of you will win a small art thing... and rather than make you wait for it, I will just announce it now! The random number generator picked lucky number 3! Ginna you win one of my latest flashcards. Go here and let me know which one you would like! Congrats.
As always keep fighting, the world needsyour art.
PS. Go out and do something that scares you this week. Live a little and grow a lot. You can do it.
Today is a day where anything seems possible. The sky is grey and the leaves are brilliant green. Flowers are blooming and bees are buzzing around. The air is cool and everything is a verdant paradise. Spring is here, no doubt about it. I love these days. It stormed in the night, bringing with it this cooler weather. It feels like something magical is about to happen just around the corner, the air feels charged and the music sounds even sweeter. I hope your Friday is treating you well.
Besides all this flowery talk of Spring, I managed to paint again this week! I am slowly but surely getting back on track. I told you I would have eight new miniature flashcard series pieces to share with you and I do! If you are interested in any of these pieces just email me at megancha@gmail.com to reserve your painting.
The "flashcard" series is a new selection of affordable miniature works on paper. The paper isn't perfect, there are some rough bits where the tape masked the borders. These works are about the process, the immediacy, the action of making. These are flashcards and the paintings are the answer. You provide the questions.
In other news, I also have a new 16x20" painting to share with you as well! This is just a quick studio snap shot. I am very excited to have worked on canvas again, this is the first canvas painting I have worked on since my Falling into Sound exhibition in November 2010.
I keep feeling like I am not painting enough, but when I look back I know that it is not true. Since January, I have painted twenty Maps of the night, and sold all but two of them. I have also painted these sixteen flashcard series paintings and have sold ten of them so far. I also painted the above 16x 20" work. Not to mention I completed the huge seven foot by five and a half foot painting commission as seen below.
All this was created while working and helping with the Fayetteville Underground, writing about art and beyond, maintaining my photography, and selling other works. I also happen to have a life outside of art (I do - I really do!!). I am writing this to remember. It is so important to remember, because it is so easy to forget and discredit. I would say that this has been a very productive three and a half months. Let's see what happens next!
As always keep fighting. The world needs your art.
I am happy to report that all the miniature flashcard series works that I posted last week on my blog have now sold! I made two more flashcards at the beginning of the week. I have posted them above for your enjoyment, one of them has sold already as well. I plan to create many more in this series. I like the miniature scale, the format of the work, and the spontaneity.
In other news, we had a wonderful first Thursday at the Fayetteville Underground last night. I sold two canvas paintings, Implosion and Behind the Whispers, from my last color series that I created at the end of 2009 before I switched over to the White Series. I know these paintings went to the perfect home as well, which is just such a wonderful feeling. I also sold another Map of the Night, as well as three of the miniature flashcards. It is always a thrill when my work finds a home in the world. The moment someone chooses my work for their home or office is such an amazing feeling, like nothing else I have ever experienced. I still jump up and down as giddy as a school girl with each sale, I hope I never lose this.
Again, it must be said that every purchase of my art no matter how small or great impacts me the same way, it helps me live and work as an artist. It keeps me on the path, it encourages me and gives me validation that I am on the right track. I am grateful to all of my patrons over the years, your numbers are adding up and you are spread all over the world. I hope you will continue to enjoy your paintings of mine for many years to come. Thank you all.
Next week more flash cards; at least eight new ones and that is a promise!
P.S. I love making, marketing, and talking about art as much as the next person (no, I probably love it just a tiny bit more...) but don't forget to get outside, soak up the spring sun, smell the lilacs, listen to songs drifting from open windows, rest in the grass and live.
This is the beginning of the "flashcard" series. A new selection of affordable miniature works on paper. The paper isn't perfect, there are some rough bits where the tape masked the borders. These works are about the process, the immediacy and the action of making. These are flashcards and the paintings are the answer. You provide the questions.
For more information on how you can reserve and purchase one of these small works please email me at megancha@gmail.com and stay tuned, more flashcards to come...
spring time in the dirt, sometimes it is hard to work
I am happy to report I have completed the massive 5.5x7ft commission I have been working on since January. I am just waiting for the painting to be delivered to the client. I might show it to you sometime. I am still waiting to begin the next batch of work, the next series. I have some tiny ideas, some grand ones and some false starts. We will see what happens.
I have been enjoying photography in the meantime and walking in the spring weather and listening to all the music lovely people give me. I have been talking a lot lately. I have been having wild dreams. All of this is tumbling around in my head and as soon as it reaches that critical point it will come out in the form of a painting or twenty. I have been productive just not in ways that are clearly seen or easily shared.
Here are a couple of links to photography things that I find inspiring. Mugshots Pinhole
Here is a song that I have been listening to a lot lately as well.
Oh and I sold three paintings this week. That was an exciting surprise. I was also rejected by a gallery. Oh well. That is how it goes. Life is basically good, actually life is magical and most things are possible in this world if you want them and can dream them.
Write your story and make it happen. I believe in you.
this is where I hide
the textures of you
the hope that lives undercover
patterns from the past
If wishes were stitches
Assembly in darkness
