On the walls for all to see...

Poster for the exhibition at Anne Kittrell Gallery, University of Arkansas

Hello! I've been busy being an artist this past week and I have a lot of exciting events coming up near and far. I like to keep you in the know, so here we go (pardon the third person).

Join artist Megan Chapman for the opening reception and American debut of her latest series, The Ghosts of the Past Exposed this Wednesday, February, 19th from 6-7:30pm at the Anne Kittrell Gallery on the fourth floor of the University of Arkansas Student Union. The exhibition will be on display from February 17th - March 7th. Regular gallery hours are Monday-Friday 10am-6pm.

Megan Chapman received crowdsourced funding in 2013 to visit Edinburgh, Scotland for six months. During this time she created a series of twenty new works that combine genealogy, poetry and painting, exploring many aspects of the Scottish diaspora in the United States. The first ten paintings of the series were on exhibition at Cross Street Arts in Greater Manchester, England in May and June. Two of those pieces were later featured in an exhibition at The Arts Complex, where Chapman kept a studio for four months in Edinburgh, Scotland. Once completed, the whole series was then shown at the Abbey Mount Centre in Edinburgh during the month of August and signaled the Scottish culmination of her project. The paintings have now returned to the United States with Megan, making a similar journey as her ancestors. This exhibition at the Anne Kittrell Gallery marks the series American debut.

If you are local to Northwest Arkansas I hope you will come out and say hello on Wednesday night and view these works. So many local people generously supported my project and I am looking forward to showing the work and saying thank you in person.

In overseas news, I have two pieces currently in Edinburgh that will be part of two separate exhibitions.

I am very pleased to have been asked to participate in the exhibition and sale during the first ever Royal Blind Week to benefit the brilliant work of Royal Blind. The exhibition will be held at Gallery Seventeen on Dundas street in Edinburgh with a special viewing on Thursday evening February 20th.

Regular gallery hours and viewing times are:

Friday 21 February: 10am - 6pm
Saturday 22 February: 10am - 6pm
Monday 24 February - Friday 28 February: 10am - 6pm
Saturday 1 March: 10am - 6pm

For those that can not attend in person you can visit the online auction here. 

Here is a short blurb about my involvement and thoughts from Royal Blind's website.

American artist, Megan Chapman, has created a special commissioned work for the exhibition which presents an abstract interpretation of the iconic Craigmillar campus of the Royal Blind School.

"I was thrilled to be asked to support Royal Blind as working with blind people has been important to me for a long while. Any time an organization can empower people to live full lives, be treated as equals and live beyond their perceived disability, is the highest achievement and is something I want to support and be part of."

At once we could see
My painting framed and ready for the Royal Blind exhibition

In other Edinburgh art news, I will have a small work on show at the Little Ox gallery on Candlemaker Row as part of the exhibition, Here We Are, putting the art in cartography, which opens February 28th at 7pm. It should be a great show!

Poster for "here we are" at Little Ox Gallery

So as you can see 2014 is off to a great and busy start! If you are an NWA local I do hope to see you Wednesday night and if you are a Edinburgh local I hope to see some photographs of my work alongside your smiling faces, while you enjoy a night out. I wish I could teleport and be both places.

Thanks for everyone who drops by this blog and to everyone that has supported me over the years. I can't do this without you and I am grateful to have you on my team.

Love,
Megan

PS. Until next week...PAINT, WRITE, DANCE, SING, PLAY MUSIC, DESIGN, ACT, whatever it is- do that art that makes your heart sing whether it is writing a perfect letter, making a pot of soup or making the perfect cup of tea. Please keep giving your passion to the world, it's the only way we are going to make it. x

Handmade love

This week was dominated by snow and I loved it. I like it when the town slows down, I feel more creative and I like it when everyone else is also inside and the cars stop rushing around and everyone is a bit more contemplative. I live a very quiet, inside life most of the time. I never know where everyone is going or why. I am pretty content with my music and my dreams. I also like the challenge of making something from nothing as is the case when one has been unable to get groceries for a while. Everything seems more creative.

So I took the time to create some cards. You could call them valentines even but they could be given at any time of year, I just happened to make them this month. I found a very icy playlist to go with the cold weather and got to writing and it seems I fell into a trance. It was lovely.

My art, when it is really good, comes from not just me but a place outside and above me. It comes from some pure light place of truth where things are quite clear and honest. To feel this kind of energy is a pure joy and I serve as the conduit and everything comes sharp and fast. That is what happened this week. I was reminded of how good it feels to be present and receiving and then out tumbled these fourteen cards.

secret words
sold

a deep breath
sold

glitter
sold

my favorite mittens
sold

yet to come
available

long time home
available

untold journeys
sold

golden light
available

first fire of winter
sold

sugar in my tea
available

frozen lake
available

the moment
sold

my favorite old book
available

under the swallows
available

The back of the cards are signed and dated in pencil. The insides are blank for your secrets.

Handmade Love : When an ordinary card just won't do...

These horizontal folded cards are 5x 6.5" on cream card stock and include an envelope. They are made from locally sourced vintage book paper, printed words, red stitches and are one of a kind, hand-crafted and blank inside. These would look good framed or in a shadow box after giving. The vintage paper and words are mounted with acid free mounting squares so that the paper floats a bit above the card stock.

I have been selling these from my facebook page currently, however I may put them in my Etsy shop eventually. Feel free to contact me or leave a comment to inquire about purchasing one. $15/card

Thanks for joining me today. Next week I will talk about the shows I have coming up, two in Edinburgh and one in Fayetteville and all of them kicking off later this month! It has been a very affirming time creatively, let's hope it continues and allows me to pay my bills as well.

You know what to do. Keep fighting!

Love,

Megan

and what a gift it was...

the piece as I thought it was done...but it had other ideas

I have been making art in one form or another my whole life and professionally for seventeen years or so and there are some days that being an artist almost feels routine. There are also days when the act of being an artist gets all shaken up and in the best possible way. That was my experience this past week as I was making a small piece of art for an upcoming exhibition inspired by maps. Just my cup of tea, where's the challenge in that you might even say?

Well, this piece threw me for a proper loop and not once but again and again. As many of you know I love the thrill of a challenge. I also love solving problems and I love when the problems inspire the next movements and changes to a piece. A small 6x6" work became a teacher this week, presenting me with a lesson of impermanence, perseverance, attention, acceptance and love. Can you imagine? I am just minding my business, trying to make a little piece of art and I get slapped in the face with all that? Well, it happened and what a gift it was. I'll break it down for you.

First, making the work seemed simple enough. I thought to myself, there will be a bit of map, some sewing, some words and probably some paint (since I am a painter after all). I got my sewing machine out, threaded the bobbin with uncharacteristic ease, did that bit and then found my words. Words from another piece long sold that I still liked with words that resonated. Good enough, I thought and I will put this here and that there and do this and that and bam, Art! Easy peasy! But it didn't have the right feeling exactly, it didn't have the depth I was after and why would it? However, I ignored those feelings, called it done and coated it in a gel medium and waited for it to dry. I walked away and busied myself with other important things (hello, facebook).

When I looked back over at my work table, the medium wasn't self leveling as it ought and what I was seeing was this lumpy, bumpy, gooey mess on the surface of the piece that I had once quite liked. This was a disaster! Perhaps I could scrape off the goo and save the piece. As I started scraping, I was relieved that the medium had not yet completely set and it was coming off with ease. However, I also noticed that the words I had put on the piece were coming off too! This is truly a disaster I thought again and then I remembered I hadn't really liked the way the words had covered the blonde wood with a plastic film, more opaque than I had hoped for. I kept scraping the film off the piece anyway even though now I considered it ruined. Next, I started using steel wool on the wood and of course then I saw bit of the map being roughed away into oblivion. Why had I used steel wool? Didn't I know that would happen? Lastly, I covered the ravaged piece with turpentine to "melt" off the rest of the sticky substance and then I walked away for the day disappointed. I vowed to just get up the next day and start again, reminding myself that I could virtually recreate the piece if I wanted.

The next morning I got up and I couldn't find the motivation for a long while to start again, I was still bummed out about the previous outcome and not trusting my skills or judgement. I went to get a cup of tea and walked past the piece in the kitchen by the sink where it had last been tortured. I picked it up and realized there was a lot about it that I still liked. Perhaps I could paint over the scoured bits or put some new words somewhere else to hide the damage? There were actually parts of the piece still covered in the waxy goo that had hardened especially around the stitching that I particularly liked. I also decided I liked the wounded map in the top left corner, maybe I didn't need to hide anything with paint after all. Now the piece seemed to have a care worn patina that made it seem real and not easy peasy or superficial, it had earned it's scars and was more beautiful for them.

I found a new printout of the same words as before and stuck them on the piece, I was determined to make it work. This time I would try to make the plastic backing transparent. As I was coating it with turpentine half the words rubbed off again. I couldn't believe it! This time though I gave into it and saw that I was quite pleased with the words that had remained and that they were transparent! I will, I will, I will was all that remained. I thought about how fitting it all was and that the new sentiment was even more meaningful than the original. Suddenly things were really coming together and this piece was finally heading where I had wanted it to in my heart all along. I decided I wanted to just coat the piece with walnut oil to bring out the warmth and to give it a slight sheen but nothing as heavy as before. I coated the work and watched it pop and come to life! I was so pleased that I put the piece in the sun and took a quick photo of it to share on facebook. We had been through so much together that I needed it to be seen. I couldn't wait to share the piece with Stewart when he got home! Look what I made! As well as the story behind the work, the ebb and flow of creation, the looking and learning, the lessons and the old work from the University of Oregon that was still playing a hand in what I was doing today, full circle thoughts, the materials I use out of necessity and what they give me in return, the feeling behind the work, there were so many thoughts that had rushed out to shake me during the making of this 6x6" piece that contained no painting. I was so excited!

And then everything changed. Again. The walnut oil had crept through the fibers of the map paper changing the shape and colors within the piece. I was crest fallen. I had already shared it with those close to me, facebook and even the gallery where it was being shipped! Oh no! Finally, I would have to accept defeat but I didn't. I coated the piece with baking soda to soak up the excess oil to stop the spread, I blotted it with paper and I let it rest to see if the creeping oil lines would creep further. They did not. I looked at the piece again and again as it told me more secrets and let me discover and accept it's changed beauty. I varnished the piece and let it rest again for the night before I documented it, this time satisfied and complete. The beauty was in the change, the decay, the layers, the scars, the struggle, the lessons and in my loyalty to the work.

I will
I will
I will

I will

mixed media 

6x6" wood panel

©2014 Megan Chapman

This is the finished piece and will be flying to Scotland soon to be part of an exhibition inspired by old maps at Little Ox gallery in Edinburgh. Stay tuned for more details...

In between secrets

Whoa... this week flew by too fast for my liking or maybe the faster it goes the better. I felt busier than I actually like to be and then slower at the same time. Really, I feel like I was trapped in some sort of energy sucking vortex if I am honest. I wish I had been more productive in the now and less attentive to the yesterday's of living but sometimes it is just a back and forth game. After last week's exciting news and productivity, this week was a bit of a let down but I have been around this block enough to know that this is how the machine works.

There are contracts to sign and return, emails to return, things to frame or not and an exhibition to prepare for in terms of promotion and display but not in the creating of the work. There is anxiety around in the air but at the same time things are chugging along and it always works out in the end (this is what I tell myself).

I reconnected with several of my friends (all artists) this week, with dinner and drinks this past Saturday, an artist meeting on Tuesday paired with a little art making, a tea date on Wednesday paired with the monthly grocery shopping and then a lunch date on Thursday paired with a patron meeting at my home studio later in the day and then with an added flu shot even later. The week was punctuated with evening and afternoon Skype chats with Stewart and several others in between. A lot of talking happened this week and if you pair a lot of talking with grocery shopping and a flu shot, it is no wonder that personally I am feeling a bit tired. I am not complaining, just trying to make sense of where the week went.

As far as inspiration this week (besides my amazing friends) I received Armistead Maupin's last "tales of the city" book, it is a lovely book so far and I have been enjoying reading it to Stewart over Skype. I also received the latest Yeah Yeah Yeahs album of which I am sure I will be listening to when I create some future works. I also saw the film about the all girl band,  The Runaways, that I found great power and inspiration in as well.

I have some new art business ideas brewing that I will put out there very soon but not quite yet. I have some other things to take care of first. Tonight, I will look over my to do list one more time and get ready for another full tilt work week ahead, focusing not only on the business side of things but on the making of things. It is a cruel punishment towards myself when I am not making.

“Art attracts us only by what it reveals of our most secret self.” ~Jean-Luc Godard

I am feeling like it might be time to tell some more secrets...

What a week!

Hello dear readers!

2014 is not fooling around! Last week, I told you that I had just received word that three of my paintings would be published in Yale's journal "letters." I have sent the image files and my bio to the editor and I will keep you posted when issue # 2 Spring 2014 comes out featuring my work. If you are interested in visiting their website and reading their latest issue please go here. 

As I mentioned recently, I created a special piece for the Royal Blind in Edinburgh, Scotland for their first ever Royal Blind Week. I am so relieved to report that I shipped the large painting to them on Tuesday and it had made it safely to Scotland by Thursday afternoon, always a relief to get things shipped out and to have them arrive safely. I was also happily featured on Royal Blind's website on Tuesday! To learn more about me, why I support the important work of Royal Blind and what my secret special power would be if I could have one, please read the feature article here. I am so pleased to be able to help such an important institution and have my work in the company of such top Scottish artists such as Peter Howson, Jolomo and Marion Drummond among others.

In other news, I am very pleased to be working with the Creative Action Network in partnership with Obama's Organizing For Action, United for Reform is crowdsourcing artwork for immigration reform, a cause near to my heart.  I believe it doesn't stop when your candidate wins the election or the calls have been made and the donations have been sent. There is always more to do and I am pleased I can use one of my recent Ghosts of the past paintings for this important cause. Click here to buy a museum quality poster print of my painting, "Remain a stranger" while supporting immigration reform as well as myself. It's a win-win for all involved.

I could say I have saved the best for last but I feel pretty equally pleased and excited about all the opportunities that have come to me in recent days. This week it was also confirmed that I had secured a venue for the American debut of my Ghosts of the Past Exposed series! I can't tell you how pleased I am to announce that I will be having an exhibition at the Anne Kittrell Gallery at the University of Arkansas. The exhibition will be on display February 17th - March 7th, Gallery hours are, Monday - Friday 10 am - 6 pm with a special opening reception Wednesday Feb. 19th 6-7:30 pm. The Anne Kittrell Art Gallery is located on the 4th Floor Student Union Bldg. at the Univeristy of Arkansas Campus in Fayetteville. If you are near Northwest Arkansas I hope you will be able to make it. I am so thrilled to finally be able to share this work that so many in the community helped me create! If you are on Facebook you can view the event page here. I hope to see as many of my friends, patrons and supporters of the project there as possible!

What a week! There are a few more irons in the fire but I think I will save those until next time. It feels good to be reconnecting with my work, getting it out there in the world to have it be seen, appreciated and used for good. I feel positive and driven when the wheels start turning again and all this action makes me want to paint more and dream even bigger.

Thanks for being part of my art world and sharing it all with me. I have such amazing support in my life and I am forever grateful. Thank you. Until next week, you know what to do...

Love,

Megan

Making it happen...

A photo of the top of one of my blank books

Underneath the orange line in the photo above is a list of things I have done the past few days for my art career. They include among other things a long string of emails sent out to venues, publications, assorted online places, local haunts and to movers and shakers. Because as you see it says "making it happen in 2014" and "it" isn't going to happen unless I put in the work. So that is what I am doing and as soon as I started the process, "things" started happening...

I am so pleased to report that my painting, "Pocket full of live wires" from my 2010 series, Falling into Sound will 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. I am grateful to Alice B. Fogel for being inspired by my work so that we can share this publication together.

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. Well, yes please! I would be delighted! 

This is another reminder of how much I love being part of an artistic community and of the collaborations that occur within. If poet Alice B. Fogel hadn't found my work and been inspired by it and then submitted her work to the journal, my work might never have been seen by them and published alongside hers nor would these other works be picked up for publication as well. The connections made through the art world are priceless and also help me feel part of something bigger than myself and that is always a good thing.

There are other irons in the fire right now as well (because of the list you can't see under that orange line) and I am looking forward to telling you all about them as soon as I know more.

What are you making happen in 2014? Are you going to live your dreams or your fears?

Choose dreams and join me for the ride. We can do anything we put our minds to. I am sure of it.

Until next week, keep fighting.

Love,

Megan

PS. If you see Stewart Bremner in Scotland give him a hug for me, he left yesterday to go back home and I miss him terribly.

and at once we could see...

Christmas has come and gone as has New Year's Day. Welcome to 2014!

What do you have in store for 2014? Do you make resolutions? A list of goals? Do you make new plans of action? Or do you just go with the flow?

I don't make resolutions as such but I do like the clean slate a new year provides. I find it hard not to get somewhat optimist about the future or changing a few little habits that are perhaps not serving me as well as they could. I like to think that anything is possible in the new year but if I am honest, I like to wake up believing something good is right around the corner everyday.

There is something a little bit different about this time of year, the cool crispness, the light and the snow. Things move a little slower and I feel a little more quiet within myself. I feel just a little more up to a challenge in the new year, a little more "what's next?"

This is the beginning of the 8th year of my studio blog and it was 19 years ago that I was in my first proper art exhibition in Eugene, Oregon which ultimately changed the course of my life. So what is next? More of course! More of the same with some tweaks and changes with added focus and drive. Is that possible? Yes, I am sure it is.

I will leave you with my first painting completed in 2014 and the words that go with it. Until next week, you know what to do...

At once we could see
mixed media on paper 30x22"
© 2014 Megan Chapman

I have just completed this painting for Royal Blind in Edinburgh, Scotland. This painting will be 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. The exhibition will be held at Gallery Seventeen in Edinburgh in late February and early March. A number of top Scottish artists such as Jolomo, Peter Howson and Marion Drummond among others will be participating in this exhibition as well. I am honored to have my work in such brilliant company and to be able help such an important institution.

In this mixed media painting on paper by American artist Megan Chapman, the silhouettes of several of the early students to benefit from the teachings of the Royal Blind float across the painted page and radiate out from a vintage map of Edinburgh and the Forth. Red lines connect the figures to each other and to the Royal Blind School which rises up behind them providing a sturdy foundation as the students open to the possibilities of the world. The painting reads, "we talked and told stories we would never forget and at once we could see."