Joan Eardley: A Sense of Place

Image from National Galleries Website

Today we took in the Joan Eardley exhibition, A Sense of Place at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Admittedly my experience of Ms. Eardley's work was rather limited until fairly recently. The artist makes a distinct impact once paths cross as she did when I first came across her painting Catterline in Winter as part of the Modern Scottish Women: Painters and Sculptors exhibition earlier in the year.

It was a rare treat to see so many of Eardley's paintings together, as the beautifully curated exhibition, Sense of Place guided us from her paintings of Glasgow tenements and children, to the seaside cottages and landscape of Catterline. I felt I was having a conversation with the artist as we walked from room to room through her exhibition.

She is a master colourist and her marks are energetic and powerful. I could almost sense her delight when the colours popped and worked together or when an expert smudge made an expression come to life or a broad stroke created an angry sea. She had such a strong and capable handling of her medium.

There is a fevered passion, dedication and a strength to her work that has left me in awe. Her work made me want to be a better painter and to immerse myself deeper in the craft. I sensed that her paintings and her time spent working on them were her everything and that she was still there somewhere deep within these papers and canvases.

While the artist sadly passed away from breast cancer at the age of 42 in 1963, her paintings feel as alive and vital as if someone had painted them yesterday. Not dated or lost in time in anyway, these works are classic and contemporary at the same time. Transcendent.

It felt as if Eardley was sometimes chiding me as I looked at her work, asking me what the hell I was doing with my time. As I left the exhibition, I felt the need to paint furiously for every day she hasn't been on the planet.

Thank you, Ms. Eardley. Message received.

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Joan Eardley | A Sense of Place
3rd December 2016 − 21st May 2017
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art | £9 (£7)

Re-entry : Support & Sales

Last Saturday's Open Studios at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall was a lovely event. I had my studio open from 11-5 p.m. and enjoyed chatting with friends and family who stopped by as well as potential patrons and passerby.

It was a bit slower than last year. The word on the street is that folks are being a bit more careful with their money right now and aren't spending quite as much or are waiting until the last minute for special deals to take the sting out of holiday shopping. #Brexit

I understand this and I appreciate your support during times like these especially. I am grateful for everyone who stopped by my studio and purchased art or had a kind word. I also appreciate the folks that bought paintings from my Arkansas archive while I was in back home visiting. #Trump

For folks that couldn't make it to the open studios or are further afield and are looking for the most value for your art buying pound or dollar, I do have a Studio Sale section in my Etsy shop currently.

These are the last available works from this 2012 series.
£5. Available in my studio sale section.

I am offering a small selection of older limited edition prints and original small works on paper at bargain prices with free shipping in the U.K. and only £5 shipping to anywhere else in the world!

These are the last available works from this 2013 series.
 £10. Available in my studio sale section.

These are the last available works from this 2014 series.
£20. Available in my studio sale section.

I have also changed some of my prices on the original small paintings throughout my Etsy shop to reflect the current market as well. These prices will not be changing again so please have another look if it has been awhile! For example, the remaining small paintings from A Wintering Heart series are £35 and you will find that the remaining small paintings from the series, Deliciously Lost Again, Return to Now and Little Meteors are £74.50. My newest small works are still £85 and my latest signed limited edition prints are still just £15. So as you can see, I am trying to offer a range of prices so that my small Etsy works remain accessible for as many as possible.

Folks don't always realize how much their small purchases add up and make a huge difference in the life of an artist, but they really do. Even just a £5-£20 purchase keeps me working, encouraged and moving forward on the path. Thanks for considering my work either for your own collection or to give as a gift this season. To all my collectors past, present and hopefully future, you have made a difference to me and my work. Thank you!

I believe in art and artists. I believe in creativity. I believe in music. I believe in giving of ourselves and sharing the communal secrets through our work. I believe in supporting other artists on the path. I believe art is the answer to most troubles, so please if you are feeling dark, make or participate with art. Share your work and stories. Put more light into the world through your art or your enjoyment of art. We need it now more than ever. 

Thank you for being part of this experience with me.

Return to Edinburgh!

We're back in Edinburgh and it feels a bit surreal. The past few days have blended together and I am not quite sure where I am. I suppose that's jet lag for you. We were scheduled to arrive very early yesterday morning but our flight got rerouted through Brussels and we ended up arriving about 4 hours later and without our checked luggage. It arrived later today though so all is well in the end. Today is mostly about trying not to fall asleep in the morning and staying up late enough into the night to get our sleep patterns back to normal.

Today is also a very busy day of last minute preparation for open studios at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall on Dalmeny Street in Leith where I work. Tomorrow, Saturday December 3rd from 11-5 pm I will be in my studio G23 with the door wide open and a smile on my face in order to share my work and studio space with patrons and the simply curious. I enjoy talking about my art and practice to interested folks so I hope there will be a good turn out. I will have limited edition prints as well as some special sale items and many of my large scale paintings available.

If for any reason you can't attend the open studios please visit my Etsy shop where I have a studio sale section. You will find some oldies but goodies from several different series at reduced prices.

I must say I feel like I have been caught in a dream of sorts. I am sure I will have more to say next Friday so please tune in then!

The perfect day after

I couldn't possibly write another post about my hometown of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Or could I? It's the day after Thanksgiving and I'm awake in my parent's house in the country.

Today we will scan more old family photos for my winter genealogy project and eat Thanksgiving leftovers. The cornbread dressing will be even more flavorful and the pumpkin pie will taste even better under a new fresh mound of sweet whipped topping.

Falling into Sound 

Later we will go back into town and explore the bars of downtown and Dickson street with my brother Ben and stay up late in a borrowed house taking turns playing music and impressing each other with our good taste. It's the perfect day after. I will sell my brother an older painting and will be very happy that it will be staying in the family. I will ship it to Atlanta in the coming days.

I know the holiday is winding down and I can start to feel the toll of different time zones and mattresses but I am not ready to go back just yet. We have just over one more week left with the bright red leaves, open roads, nature sounds and family stories. I want to slow down time and breathe it all in.

All I know is that time travel is wonderful.

Foundations of work

I am sitting in a borrowed kitchen writing this blog once again from Fayetteville, Arkansas. This time I am not jet lagged. It is 1:30 in the afternoon on a glorious fall day. Chet Baker plays from my computer as I sit next to an open window and the sun casts shadows across the table. I can hear the wind in the tops of the trees. This is paradise. The temperature has dropped and more leaves have fallen, brisk, earthy, fresh and clean.

This is my hometown. I breathe it all in.

There is so much wrong with America but within my friends, family and community here, there is the best of America. There is culture, innovation, humor, intellect, creativity, empathy and sharing. The hospitality shown to us on this holiday has been nothing short of extraordinary.

The light dances across walls, the wooden floor creaks under foot and the stars shine bright in the country sky. The laughter is easy and the hushed whisper stories are contagious. The beans and cornbread my mom makes are still the best.

The birds are singing sweetly outside and I recognize their calls. They ground me here and now. In someone else's house, I am home.

Blue skies, trains whistles and open hearts

It's 3:30 in the morning. I am awake and writing this blog in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the place of my birth and my old stomping grounds. I have jet lag, so I thought I would use this wakefulness to write here before I try to get some more sleep. I used to always wake up in Fayetteville at 3 a.m. so this feels about right anyway.



I hear the old train in the distance and there is a chill in the air. The punchy autumn leaves are beautiful whether still in the trees or scattered on the lawns and sidewalks. The air is thinner here, smells of grass and is a bit sweet. The sky was the most amazing shade of blue yesterday.

The insects and birds sing their songs which are instantly relaxing, familiar and old fashioned. Even though my town has changed and grown it feels delightfully empty to me now. One can still walk down the middle of the streets and have all the personal space you want as walkers are few and far between. It looks like a movie set. An old friend now owns the perfect little music shop filled with beautiful instruments and another one owns a record store of dreams, seemingly from a time when record stores were the epicenter of everything. Old friends can still be met on the street for conversation, consolation, laughs and hugs. One can see and hear from everyone you are meant to without too much arrangement or formality. It's so easy and sweet, still.

At lunch, a waitress brings an extra fork when only one desert is ordered and says "That's for you darlin'- this stuff is good for the soul..." Hospitality is everywhere and people are effusive even in this dark time for America and the world. I realize that my open heart and my resilience were created here on the streets and wild spaces and with the people of this sweet town. I am grateful for this comfort and knowledge.

This blog is not about art but at the same time it is. The spirit of this town is in every piece I make.

Mural by Alexis Diaz

Sogo Magazine!

I needed to buy some varnish this past weekend so off we went to Greyfriar's art supply on Dundas street and there it was... Sogo Magazine!

I was so excited to see the magazine in a rack by the counter with Alasdair Gray's cover drawing. I grabbed a copy to purchase along with my varnish and then decided I better grab two. As soon as I hit the pavement outside the shop, I had a good flip through this beautiful and elegant publication. The reproductions were stunning and the paper was wonderful. Truly a top notch publication, well designed and filled with great art and artists and brilliantly written articles. 

I excitedly read bits of Brian McFie's article, The Beautiful Mind Laid Open, about my work outside on the street to Stewart as we walked on to a nearby pub to celebrate. Stewart took these mobile photos around the corner against a wall on Circus Lane to capture the moment. I was giddy.

I took to social media and shared a quote from the article soon after. I will share it again here along with a few others but truly I hope if you are in Scotland that you will find a copy of the magazine locally or go online and subscribe. It is obvious how hard everyone involved works on Sogo from how much energy, talent and passion is contained within the pages.

This article means more to me than I can properly articulate but simply put, it is what I have been working for all these years and what I will continue to work for. To have my art seen, understood and appreciated in this way is balm for my soul. To have my art written about in this manner in my adopted home of Scotland is just the right kind of fuel for my fire and inspires me to keep going and assures me that I am in the right place, doing the right work. This validation is beyond compare and I am grateful. Thank you to Brian McFie for taking the time to see and engage with my work in this way and for articulating his experience in print.

So here are a few select quotes from Brian McFie's piece that brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face. 

"I ventured downstairs and was delighted when confronted by three works on canvas by Megan. Much bolder in real life and just as dynamic as I hoped they would be. The handling of the media employed had a thoroughly informed power behind it."

"The composition was dynamic, the approach searching, it's creator pushing limits and tussling with philosophical, poetic and metaphysical questions and ideas."

"This is difficult territory. One has to be brave to go there. To my mind the name Megan Chapman will eventually be held in as high esteem as Mitchell, Frankenthaler, and De Kooning. (Elaine that is, her work should be held in as high esteem as Willem's). These artists should in turn be revered as much as their male counterparts, Twombly, Motherwell, Rauschenberg and Pollock."

"It is clear to me that this artist, an American, far from home embarked on a journey, which is traveled to this day both inwardly and outwardly. The work speaks to the heart of the heart from the heart. It is a profoundly enriching body of work. As with earth, water and air. Essential."

I held my breath the first time I read a rough draft of this piece. My face turned red. I closed my eyes and blinked to make sure of what I was reading. My work had been seen and understood and the evidence of this was in print. I was understandably floored. 

I have given my life to this calling. It is a hard path at times and doesn't always make that much sense to some (including myself). Sometimes though, something like this article happens and then everything makes sense. I smile to myself and for a little while, I know exactly what I am doing and why. I breathe in this victory, put my headphones back on and get back to work.

"...to the heart, of the heart, from the heart."