Inside color and line

Illuminate
Acrylic on canvas
© 2016 Megan Chapman
6x8.5"/15x21cm

Hello Readers!
Here we are again, three weeks in a row at good ol' blogger! I have to say I am feeling very good about returning to this ritual. Thanks to those who have read, commented or expressed their happiness for my blog's return on other forums.

Breathe and listen
Acrylic on canvas
© 2016 Megan Chapman
6x8.5"/15x21cm

I am also feeling really pleased with what is happening in my studio currently and how I am approaching the work at this moment. I am working on several small pieces and alternating between them and a rather large canvas. I go back and forth, usually working on the small works first, adding new layers of color each day. As I work, I enjoy the colors and the way the paint moves on the surface. I've been meditating and writing daily and I feel these new works in progress and my handling of them, reflect that.

Large painting in progress

I am returning to a flow that has been missing for a while. This is a good place to be. For me "the flow" is conjured by certain behaviors inside and outside of the studio. As I mentioned above, two things that help me find this flow and create the work I really want to make, are meditation and writing. I find that showing up to work around the same time each day and maintaining my schedule is extremely important as well. The work responds to dedication and routine. When I am in the flow, I am a type of conduit and I must be prepared to receive the work. It sounds like a spiritual or otherworldly practice and at these flow times, it is.

Small works in progress

The music I listen to also factors in heavily. I have been listening to wordless compositions, modern icy classical tunes of a very expansive nature. All of these things fit together in the studio and I am no longer trying to achieve something with the work, I am only trying to express it and let it be actualized. I add layers of color, lines, and form. I note the balance, space, and how the colors buzz off each other. I make adjustments and then I leave it for another day. The painting needs rest and I need clarity for when I return.

Detail from large painting in progress

As I work on a painting, I continually face the fears of the work as they come up. A part of the painting is fighting to survive and looking all kinds of precious but I can't be swayed by that. I can't be taken in by good enough or complacency. It is only paint. It is only canvas. It is only time. Keep going, take a risk and see what happens. This is a joyful way to work. Almost everything can be taken away or added again or born into another painting if needed. These lines and colors like to play on the surface, don't let them be afraid of change. It's just art. It's just my soul coming home. Let it wander and make mistakes, it's so much more forgiving in a painting than in life. What an honor to have the opportunity to explore in this way.

I am inside color and line and I am free...

Looking back to look forward

Happy New Year! I hope 2016 is off to a good start for you. If you are a regular reader of my blog you may remember I usually ended the year with a year in review, a lengthy post mostly to remind myself what I had accomplished and experienced in my art world during the past year. That is my plan for this week's blog as well but hopefully slightly more abbreviated as I am keen to start living in the now. So here we go, let's do a wee bit of looking back so as to look forward and then to simply be.

The Out of the Blue Drill Hall where my studio is located

January - February: I moved into studio G23 at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall with it's own sink (I can't stress enough how exciting having a sink is for a painter!). It's a large space and right around the corner from the flat. I am grateful for the space. It's been a long time since having a studio outside my house or flat since the old Fayetteville Underground from 2009-2012. I am not quite sure what to do or how to start but I am determined. I am using old unused canvases of Stewart's as well as his paint and trying to make art with this on hand palette and size of canvas. I like the challenge of using what is on hand. It takes me a good while to make the space seem less empty and cold and to fill it with art. I am also getting used to the routine of going somewhere to work. By late January I have several large pieces on the go. I am telling myself I am not making a series yet, that I am just experimenting but things do seem to be forming into something more cohesive than I imagined at this stage.

My studio office area, feeling more settled.

March - April: By March the studio is feeling better and more like my space. I move things around to make the studio feel more bright and cheery. I am starting to feel more connected and trusting of things. I keep working on large paintings which are definitely turning into a series at this point. Red features prominently. In April I pass the 6 month mark of having lived here in Edinburgh, not as a temporary visitor but as I resident. I am starting to relax a bit more into this new life with it's challenges. I become more accepting of the difficulty of it all. It's even a struggle to order art supplies like the ones I am used to. However, I start making progress with this and order 5 large square canvases from an online shop to add to the ones Stewart has given me for the series. I find myself missing my art community and supporters back in the states. I am not sure if I will break into the art scene here or if there is even an art scene for me to break into. I slowly but surely create more work.

Reconstruction series on exhibition at the ACO in Arkansas 

May - June: Meanwhile back in Arkansas 8 of my pieces are in a traveling group show and in May the show opens at the Art Center of the Ozarks in Springdale, Arkansas. I am glad my work can be there and be seen by my friends and family in the area. It was important to be reminded that I am still connected through my art. Towards the end of May I start recording podcasts about my work in the studio. It is a way for me to talk about the work and to form relationships with potential listeners. I know I need to express myself, share my work and create these type of relationships in my life. I hope the podcasts will encourage this and I enjoy recording them. All the while I keep painting on my series and I am starting to think it is almost done.

A delicate balance
Acrylic and Charcoal on Canvas
© 2015 Megan Chapman
30x30x1.5"

July - August: I keep recording the podcast series sometimes with guest commentators, namely Stewart Bremner and Philip Dickson. I also take questions from my facebook art page and twitter and try to make the podcast interactive. I also decide that my new series of paintings is complete and I craft an artist's statement to go with them. The series is called A Delicate Balance and without a doubt is about my move and immigration here and the challenges involved. Art always reflects life, one can't really escape it. As the large series of paintings have wound down, I find myself painting small works on canvas as a quick release. Many are abstract but some also contain landscape elements. I list these small works in my Etsy shop. I give these three distinct series names such as Little Meteors (pure color abstracts) A Wintering Heart (abstract landscapes) and my last complete small works series of the year, The New Botanics (abstract flower forms).

The large painting in progress, The Only Constant 

September - October: After all the small works, I want to work large again and properly so. I start an abstract painting on a 100cm by 150cm linen canvas (again another canvas graciously given to me by Stewart that he had kicking around- under the bed!). I relish the chance to work big and differently as so much of 2015 was spent just trying to get work done and to rediscover my seemingly dormant voice. The painting I create is for us, it will go on the wall over the bed. A house gift to mark 1 year of my living here on September 25th. I call it, The only constant. It is a study in knowing when to stop. Often I can work a painting until it is gets too tight and orderly but I wanted to keep this loose and painterly. I think I am successful. I finally feel like I am figuring things out. I even order two more large canvases of the same size because I am so excited, not linen this time but lovely nonetheless.

The New Botanics

November - December: During these months I start applying for upcoming juried exhibitions. As now I have the large body of work ready for show as well as the 3 smaller bodies and the one properly large painting. I am putting myself out there by entering these shows to remind myself that this is what one does and for the experience of doing it. I submitted my work to three of the major art societies here in Scotland but none of my paintings were selected for inclusion. I was disappointed but more proud of my act of doing it and trying.

However, there were two gleaming moments of outward success that happened at this time and I choose to focus on them. I submitted 5 of my small works from the New Botanics series to Cupola Contemporary Art, a lovely gallery in Sheffield England for a juried holiday exhibition. All 5 of my paintings were accepted! The exhibition runs from the 28 November - 10 January. I was so pleased to be included.

Around this time, I also participated in my first open studio event at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall. I had my studio looking sharp and open to the public with all of my work on display from floor to ceiling. It was a lovely busy day and I enjoyed meeting people and talking about my art. I made some sales as well which was thrilling to say the least! This event got me excited for the coming year.

At the end of the year the studio is buzzing with new work

The rest of December was busy with the holidays of course but I spent some good time working in the studio regardless and worked on 2 medium sized pieces and more small works as well as another large painting. It felt good to be consistently working and enjoying the process. I also decided to return to my studio blog here and committed to writing again each Friday. I feel all of this is a good strong ending to what has been a very challenging year.

And here we are, it's January 1st. 2016. I am writing my blog on Friday as I said I would and I plan to work in my studio for a bit later in the day. I have a new small work in my studio that just recently sold and will be shipped to a new collector in London later this week.

This latest small work will be headed to it's new home in London soon. 

Thanks 2015 for the lesson in perseverance and for allowing me to go at my own scattered pace. Special thanks to all my friends near and far who have stayed in touch, reached out and encouraged me and reminded me to be more compassionate with myself during this transition. I can't say thank you enough. Thanks to all patrons of my work in this past year, you have no idea how your support encouraged me during this uncertain time. Thanks also to my patrons of the past that helped me get this far.

All my thanks and love go to Stewart Bremner for providing me the tools, space and time to create. Thanks for all your help and support and for believing in my work and for witnessing the process. I honestly could not have done this without you.

And with that, I have blackeyed peas, greens and cornbread (a southern tradition) to make and I have art to create in the now. It's 2016 and I am still an artist. I am still here and I am more grateful than ever.

Thank you.

Is this thing on? I'm back!

Hello Dear Readers! Or hello dear self as I suspect this will be a solitary adventure for awhile as I regain focus. Just like that I have logged into my dormant blog and clicked "new post" and here I am writing after a tremendous break.

Rest assured I have written other places. I tried to keep a blog on my website for a while, "A cup of tea and a blether." I liked the idea of keeping everything together in one place, especially as a website can be a bit stagnant. I was trying to flow with the tide of being a one stop shop and move away from the older and perhaps outmoded blogger format. I even created a Tumblr to track my first year of art in Scotland. These new formats just didn't stick with me though. They always seemed like some other hurdle to jump, simply to write. Sadly over time the routine was broken and I stopped writing regularly.

My studio in Leith

So now here we are at the end of 2015 and I realized that I really missed writing about art each week. I really missed the routine and the way it kept me grounded to my art practice. I missed the way I could express myself here, in regards to my art, my experience of being an artist and the way I could share my triumphs and disappointments.

I think when I first moved to Scotland I wanted to completely start over, a tabula rasa on life, however as the months ticked by I realized that some basic foundations are essential. My weekly studio blog was one of my foundations. I think I also got disheartened over the years. My mind ran with the thought that "no one reads blogs anymore." We all have our facebook , twitter and our instagram. "We now like short, sweet and to the point and blogs are too much work."

Yet, I realized that while I wanted to communicate with artists and patrons out in the ether that the practice of writing weekly was more for me than for anyone else. It became part of my life and identity, it also became my record and history. I need all of those things now more than ever. The past five years of my life and especially since moving to Scotland at the end of September 2014 has been a bit like performing an exploratory surgery into a new world. I need a record to keep me grounded and I need a place to settle into again. It seemed like returning to my home blog, that straddles both the past and present might be a good place to return.

Work in progress in the studio

So here I am again. I will be writing here every Friday on my studio blog about art, the creative process, inspirations and everything the header says since I started this blog in 2007. If you are an old reader, thank you for being a witness to my creative life over the years. I am so glad you are here. If you are a new reader, welcome, I am glad you have found me.

Work in progress

Everyday we paint is a victory...

The other side of six months

Here we are on the other side. I have never stayed here this long. I would have been on a plane on March 26th and back in Arkansas if I didn’t have my visa. It feels like an important threshold to cross. Everything that happens now is new in a way. I visited Edinburgh for 4 months in 2012 and six months in 2013 and now I live here and I am passed the six month mark.

I have now witnessed every month and season in Edinburgh. In 2012 I was here from mid January to the start of May, in 2013 I was here from mid March to the start of September. This time I arrived at the end of September and I witnessed October, November and December and I made it. The dark months conquered, perhaps with the help of too much beer and cake but conquered none the less. Holidays were also observed, my first Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and Easter. This marks the second time I have celebrated my birthday here and this time with friends! There have been ocassions marked with my Scottish family and my Scottish friends over these past months, even a beautiful wedding was attended.

I witnessed the clocks change and the first days of Spring.

The art studio is not temporary this time and it has started to feel more like home in the days on the other side. This feels like the first studio I can count on since the old studio on the sqaure in Fayetteville. This space has a sink and is only a four minute walk from the flat in a beautiful old building. I feel so fortunate.

There are paint splatters on the wall and drips on the floor and there is plenty of space to move and work. I’ve got big headphones again and I am remembering to dance when I paint. The canvases are getting big and people say the work is getting bold. I say it is returning to bold, just like me. There is color, gesture and movement. I think I am making some of the most painterly work I have made in probably almost five years. I feel like a painter again. Not a catch all artist but a painter. There is a rembering and a returning to self in the process of making this new work. There are thirteen large works in the series currently, most in various states of progress but at least five are finished. To be able to make work like this again makes my heart sing. I am free again.

Stewart and I are also on the other side of six months of marriage and learning how to be together in this space without a leaving date looming over us. Just like my paintings, it’s a work in progress and I hope it will always be. As I get more comfortable with this new life we get more comfortable together and the dynamic ebs and flows. We are two artists supporting each other, taking turns, fighting, crying, loving and moving ever forward, growing together as we create what we are on the planet to make.

As I write this, Theo, our cat sits in his favorite cardboard box looking out one of the windows lovingly cut for him by Stewart. He is the most beautiful creature, he has not yet crossed this threshold with us but he certainly has helped me get here. His soft fur, wide eyes, loud purr and spirit have been a wonderful addition to our lives. He too is feeling more and more comfortable as he learns to trust and relax into his new surroundings. This is not going anywhere, Theo. This is your house. We are your people. This is your life and you get to have all of this.


This is not going anywhere, Megan. This is your house. These are your people. This is your life and you get to have all of this, on the other side of six months…

This is what I know

If I don’t just start writing again, I never will. I had my big review of 2014 and then I don’t know what happened. Life got in the way, the practice was disrupted or perhaps I didn’t have anything to say.

I have to remember what makes me. Writing helps make me so I want to keep doing it. I can’t catch up, I can’t go back and remember or fill in the gaps. I just have to start where I am and keep moving forward.

This moving stuff is tricky. To fit into someone else’s organized life and scheme seemed perhaps easy on the surface but it’s hard. I wish I had brought more things with me when I arrived to make it feel more like my home. I wish I had looked for a job or volunteer opportunity in the community right away rather than wait. There is no point in looking back and trying to figure out what would have made this move easier or the transistion smoother. I don’t think it is meant to be easy or smooth. It’s been a challenge and I’ve been a little lost, floating through the days not sure what makes me or who I am here. Not sure how to be an artist here, how to be comfortable here.

This is what I know.

Edinburgh is a beautiful city with much to explore. Keeping exploring it. With Stewart, alone and with friends. Keep trying new things, going to new places, ordering new foods and drinks. This reminds me of who I am and inspires me.

I have a wonderful studio around the corner. Embrace it. Stop worrying about the money. Make the space your own, use it, hide out in there, sing songs, listen to music, dance, drink tea and just PAINT.Have people over there, talk about your work. Make eye contact with those in the building. You deserve to be there.

Write your thoughts. Explore your fears, celebrate your triumphs, tell the world your visions. It’s too much trouble keeping it all inside. I know when I don’t express things it manifests as pain and tension in my body. Don’t censor yourself.

Explore opportunites. Revamp your Etsy shop. Paint a small body of work and submit it to a gallery. Show some art in a coffee shop. Volunteer in a gallery or somewhere else. Join a group, a club, make something happen that is bigger than yourself. This is when I am truly happy.

Walk in nature. Get away from the traffic and loud sounds of the city and explore the gardens, the sea, the cycle paths. Listen to the wind, bird songs and smell the flowers. If it is sunny, I need to be out in it.

Ask for help. Tell your friends and family when it is hard. Cut yourself a break more often. You left everything you knew behind in September and moved with just two bags to a foreign country at the age of 42 to start again. Celebrate your courage, the beauty and love that surrounds you but acknowledge the difficulties. I feel better already…

2014 in review

At the end of each year I like to take stock and gather the evidence of my life and work around me. I like to contemplate what I have accomplished, what I haven’t and what comes next. I haven’t been writing as regularly for a while now and especially since I moved my blog over here to my site. I could have easily blown this exercise off this year but when I really thought about it I knew I had to write.

What a year this has been, with it’s ups and downs, twists and turns. Like a long sit in a waiting room for days at a time and then like a rocket speeding through the others. So much was done and so much wasn’t and when I sit here at the table on Iona Street in Edinburgh, Scotland listening to music on my headphones on the last day of 2014, I know that so much has changed. I am changed. I am a rocket and I am a waiting room and this is life.

So now for the evidence: 2014 Snippets from old journals and blogs.

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.

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 Society 6.

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

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.

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.

Towards the middle of May, I was having a bit of hard time, I was missing Stewart and my other far away friends desperately. I was broke and I didn’t know how I was ever going to get back to Edinburgh again. It was a very lonely and depressing time. I felt like I was doing everything “right” (meditation, writing, relaxation exercises, exercising regularly etc.) but to no avail. I took a six week break from blog writing and art making and started seeing a brilliant counselor.

June

And then something amazing happened. Stewart asked me to marry him and I said yes!
What a beautiful thing and yes it really was a bit of a surprise.
We got married June 14th. It was a beautiful day. Soon after our wedding, we started the U.K. Visa process which is arduous, expensive and required a lot of time and energy. The finished application was received in England on July 4th (happy independence day!) and we should find out if it was approved in the next 3-4 weeks. If approved, I will be moving to Scotland! With a marriage proposal on June 4th, a wedding ten days later and then a visa to apply for it was a busy time

July

My visa was approved by the middle of the month. Now was the time to buy a ticket, sell my stuff and start over in a new country.

August - September

I wrote one more blog over at the old studio blog and in the Arkansas heat I started slowly selling off my possessions and available art and getting my affairs in order. It was harder than I thought it would be.I am grateful that I had the support of my brilliant counselor, Stewart, and my dear friends that listened to me, drank with me and helped me through my tears and helped me pack, sell and deal with everything during this time. Thinking about this time now seems like a dream, it was so hard and I was moving in slow motion. However, it was also at this time due to selling most of my possessions that I was able to pay of my credit card debt and build a small nest egg to sustain me for the first few months of living in Edinburgh.

My art found many lovely homes during my pack up and moving time and that helped to give me strength and remind me of my purpose in this life which helped build my confidence to get it all done. Also during this time I shipped off the 8 works I had created earlier in the year for a traveling group show called Abstract Arkansas that I was thrilled to be part of. It was a crazy time to be packing and shipping art all over the country but again it made me happy and anything that made me happy helped in the last minute details and allowed me to hug my dear friend Sarah good bye at the airport with tears in my eyes and get on that plane. To everyone that helped and loved me during this time, thank you.

On Sept 26th, I arrived in Edinburgh! It was momentous in so many ways and so lovely to return to Stewart without a leaving date hanging over us (well at least until the next visa application in two and a half years). The past 3 months have been all about settling in here and taking care of the business of my making Edinburgh my home and getting the official documents lined up to help in the visa process in the future. It has been so lovely to see my friends here, Stewart’s family and many of my favorite places. I feel at home.

I have also managed to meet new people, explore new places and make art as well. I have created 12 small works on paper for my Etsy shop and 4 12x12” works so far in a very small bedroom studio space. I have shown two of the 12x12” at the lovely Union Gallery and the two others at the Sit in/Take Away exhibition as part of the Society of Scottish Artists exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy. I joined the Society as well which enabled me to take part in the exhibition.

We recently rented a studio space at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall that we are in the process of moving into right now. I can’t wait to see what happens in there in 2015 for not only me but for Stewart and his work. We also just adopted a lovely tabby cat fellow named Theo and are getting to the know his sweet soul. It is so wonderful to have a cat again. We had dreamed of future cat for a long time and he is now here. So everything is fitting into place, everything I imagined when I meditated, wrote in my journals or spoke about with my therapist is forming into a sweet reality after a lot of hard work.

I didn’t paint hundreds of paintings this year as I usually do, I think I managed 49 or so and I am okay with that. I need to focus on what I accomplished. I had one solo exhibition (it must be noted that the gallery paid me good money just to show my work- thank you, I lived off that money for longer than most could) and I had work in five group (4 were in Edinburgh) shows as well. I was published in a Yale journal. I gave an art talk to the Scottish Society on Northwest Arkansas. I got married, I sold my things, got myself out of debt and I got on a plane to start a new beautiful life with a fabulous man (who did amazing things all year with the Scottish YES campaign). Stewart blew me away everyday with his talent and dedication to the cause and yet he still showed up to support and love me all the while through the distance of 4000 miles.

What a year. If you have read all of this… you are amazing. Thank you. If you are part of my tribe and have had a kind word or ear for me and supported me over the years, thank you. If you came to our wedding or wedding reception, thank you. If you came to my moving sales or showed up and bought things and art after the sales, thank you. If you are one of my Edinburgh friends, thanks for making me feel so comfortable here. I am nothing with out my people in this world and I am lucky to have found you all. This year was a test and a triumph. Thank you for sharing it with me.

I am ready to welcome 2015.

Don’t forget the world needs you and your art (whatever it may be). Keep fighting!

Love,

Megan

A life with purpose

I have waited longer than I intended, I meant to write here sooner than this. I’ve been a little busy working, a little lazy and perhaps a bit dreamy. I think I have just been getting on with living.

Last time, I mentioned I had carved out a small studio space and it is really tiny but I am loving it more and more. There are many things to appreciate about it. I love the big window and enjoy observing the light on the chimney’s and buildings that make up my view. I like seeing the leaves thinning out on the big tree as Autumn turns to Winter. This window helps me connect to nature. I like watching the magpies hopping on the roof lines and the black cat that sits in the window of a neighbor’s flat. I like watching the light as it changes and the clouds as they roll by. If anything the older I get the more I realize how in tune I am with my environment and especially nature and how much I need it to ground and inspire me.

Another benefit of my studio is that it is so small I must work cleanly.I also just like the challenge. I want to see how much I can create in this 30 square feet of space. As my life is starting over in many ways, I feel like it is a good time for my studio practice to change as well and the work will change accordingly. I am very excited by where it is going. I have always struggled with “enough.” What is enough when it comes to art? What if I just like how this paper meets this edge and how this line crosses it? If it makes my heart sing, can it be enough? Do I really have to put paint on it or draw something else there or add another layer? I also struggle with what is enough in my life.This is what I am finding again and again too. Art doesn’t lie. Art shows me what I am working on inside and what I am hiding from (I will leave this topic for another post).

So last time I mentioned I had just started two new 12x12” pieces on panel. Well I finished those just in time for them to be included in the Christmas Exhibition at Union Gallery on Broughton Street in Edinburgh. The exhibition opened on Friday, November 7th and it was lovely to have work in the exhibition and chat with folks at the opening. I was in the same exhibition in 2011/2012. Union Gallery is a great space to show work and it was a special treat to have my work on a gallery wall near Stewart’s. He had three pieces in the exhibition as well. It is a great exhibition and if you are in Edinburgh it will be up through January 31st. We also had a lovely opportunity to watch the gallery the day after the opening on that following Saturday. It was great to be surrounded by art and to really get to know the art by the other stellar artists a little better. It was lovely to see people come into the gallery and really engage with the work. As many of my friends know, there isn’t much I like more than talking with people about art and engaging folks with work so it was a very welcomed way to spend a day.

The following Sunday I was off for an adventure with Stewart’s mom, Pat and her friend Terry. We went to check out the New Lanark Wold Heritage site that was hosting The Great Scottish Tapestry. It was my first time to New Lanark and my second time to view the inspiring tapestry. It was a lovely day trip, the view of the River Clyde was very impressive and the yellow and gold of the leaves around the site were beautiful too. It was a lovely weekend.

** I am so behind in my writing. I am trying to not be bothered about this and slowly catch up or just let it go and live in the moment. I do know I feel better when I write.