We built a nest of letters...

A few works from Hush at The Fayetteville Public Library

What a week!

Monday started with an interesting and exciting business meeting and some great views. Tuesday, there was a much needed get together with theatre maven Erika Wilhite. Wednesday I enjoyed a day off and some giving of time in honor of Nelson Mandela and then yesterday there was another good meeting and the installation of my latest exhibition, Hush, at the Fayetteville Public Library. Today, Stewart Bremner and I are being interviewed for a feature in the Free Weekly about our current exhibition, A place called home, which continues through July 27th at the Arts Center of the Ozarks.

Never a dull moment in my art world and for that I am grateful.

Yesterday after Hush was installed on the walls of the library, I do what I always do, I take a minute to absorb the new exhibition space and the work I have done. I viewed the familiar paintings with new eyes as a viewer and not the artist. I read each painting with words and I studied the pure abstracts and I marvel yet again how a space changes with art, how the blank room I entered was not the same and how even the paintings change as they take on their new surroundings.

I have to say I think the library is a particularly perfect fit for this body of work. As always, there is that quiet moment when I just look and a calm comes over me. I relish that fleeting moment of complete satisfaction after watching the work slide into place to fit the space. There is a zen to putting up an exhibition, less is always more as space is required so the work can breathe and truly be seen. I felt so serene as I was doing my walk through. At one point a young woman, who I know from many openings, looked up from her computer, smiled and whispered across the room, "Megan, your work looks really great in here..." Thinking about it now brings tears to my eyes. Her face was so wide open and she wasn't saying anything more or less. I smiled and I floated out of the room, Yes, my work looks really great in here...

Here is my statement for Hush.

Megan Chapman’s exhibition, Hush, brings together three recent bodies of work into one. In it viewers will find works from the artist’s popular series, Falling into sound, Sometimes I love you
and other stories and From across the ocean. All of these paintings are part of what the artist terms her White Series, that began in 2009 and continues today.

In Falling into sound, the artist began the transition into more minimalist work, using a near monochromatic palette. These paintings are quiet and meditative but also buzzing with layers
of subtle colors and texture. Two of these pieces are featured in this exhibition, Sometimes and Falling into sound.

Many of the paintings that make up both Sometimes I love you and other stories and From across the ocean, feature words written using an old manual typewriter and vintage paper. The words are
the artist’s own and reflect her thoughts while being in a new long distance relationship with Scottish artist, Stewart Bremner.

The small framed paper works, from the artist’s most recent series From across the ocean, document the artist’s first journey overseas, when she spent four months in Edinburgh, Scotland. The lines echo
the geology of the area, the sea and the atmosphere of the grey winter sky. Simple words and lines are used to stage these moments and hold them in a type of permanence.

Megan Chapman’s Hush brings all of these works together and into a new light. These works are not unlike chapters in a book, each a little different but very much connected in the telling of a story, not
only about the artist but also about the viewer.

Hush will be on display July 19th through September 4th in the Reading Room on the second floor of the Fayetteville Public Library. An artist's reception will be on August 4 from 3-5 in the Walker Community Room.

Some other future

A trace of the familiar
Mixed media on panel 12x12"
© 2012 Megan Chapman & Stewart Bremner

Oops! It's Sunday... This rarely happens, but I do apologize for not being here on Friday. It has been an extremely busy and exciting week in my art world and that is the only good reason to be a little late in writing my studio blog! Thanks for your patience.

As many of you know, Tuesday night was the opening for Stewart Bremner and my exhibition, A place called home. It was an intimate affair at the Arts Center of the Ozarks in Springdale with many of our dear friends from Northwest Arkansas in attendance. It was lovely to see their smiling faces and hear their encouraging words. The show looked great and the work was well received.

A word about quiet
Mixed media on panel 12x12"
© 2012 Megan Chapman & Stewart Bremner

 If you are local to Northwest Arkansas and have not yet made it to Arts Center of the Ozarks to see our exhibition, please do. A place called home, will be on display until July 27th. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9-5pm and Saturday 9-3pm. The Arts Center of the Ozarks in located at 214 S. Main St. in Springdale, Arkansas.

In other news, the day after our reception we headed down to Hot Springs and Little Rock with fellow artist Jennifer Libby Fay. I had gallery business to attend to in Hot Springs. Jennifer just took all new work to the Justus Gallery and I collected my remaining works from the Blue Moon Gallery so that I can use them in some upcoming exhibitions and bring them some fresh work later this fall. I also discovered I sold a piece from the Blue Moon as well. Sales are always needed and appreciated and remain a thrill.

Some other future
Mixed media on panel 12x12"
© 2012 Megan Chapman & Stewart Bremner

After our Hot Springs excursion, we headed to Little Rock, where I had a lovely meeting with Kyle Boswell of Boswell-Mourot Fine Art. After a successful meeting, I am thrilled to now be represented by Boswell-Mourot Fine Art! They also have galleries in Miami and one is planned for Berlin! Of course I hope my work makes an appearance in all their galleries. I am very ready to expand my reach. It feels like it will be a good fit. I really liked the work showing in the gallery and the aesthetic of the spaced flowed and the attitude of the gallery owner seemed to match mine in regards to the purpose and need of art with the artist's best interests in mind. We will see what happens!

This week I will be hanging my work at the beautiful and award winning Fayetteville Public Library. My exhibition will be in the reading room on the second floor. It is a beautiful light filled space and I am looking forward to putting that exhibition together for the community. I will let you all know the dates of the exhibition and when a reception is scheduled... stay tuned.

We live between hills
Mixed media on panel 12x12"
© 2012 Megan Chapman & Stewart Bremner

There are some other exciting developments happening currently in my art career, but I need to learn a little more before I can report on them in my blog. Let's just say, I am full of hope and excited and grateful for the opportunities that are coming my way. This has been an exciting but financially stressful year and it looks like it may turn around here soon...

Of course in the back of my mind is always that fact that Stewart will return to Scotland soon, July 31st to be exact. This fact clouds things but if I view it in the right light, it is another opportunity to work hard and learn more about myself and organize and prepare for the next time we are together whether in America or in Scotland and one day, we might actually find a place called home...

Make a list: six months in review

Oh July... you are already here?

It was just January, yesterday. I was just getting ready for my trip, for my adventure in Edinburgh. Where has the time gone? The first six months of the year seemed to vanish in a blink and it is so easy to forget what was accomplished and experienced. I need to remember for myself. I need to inspire myself for the next half of the year. We have six more months to really make this year shine bright and make things happen.

So, bear with me as I have a personal and professional recap.

The first four months of the year were spent in Scotland. That is still a huge thing for me and still something that doesn't seem quite real. I look forward to getting nostalgic about it one day soon, I simply haven't had the time to look back lately. The first four months of the year were spent soaking up another culture, a ton of art, people, being with Stewart in his flat and seeing him work on his amazing body of work, Worlds Apart, and getting to spend time and meet his family, and of course making art! Another highlight was meeting all my artist friends in Scotland and England and just solidifying the bonds and making my global art community more human and real. It was an amazing four months. I documented it all through art, words, and photographs.

During that time in Edinburgh, I had four canvas pieces from my series Sometimes I love you and other stories on display as part of the Winter Wonderland group exhibition at Union Gallery. It was a wonderful thing to be able to see my work on the wall in such a lovely gallery so far from home. Also in January but back home in Arkansas, the second month of my solo exhibition, A Certain Trajectory continued at the Blue Moon Gallery in Hot Springs. Also happening in Arkansas was Stewart Bremner's and my combined exhibition I thought I would find you here at the Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville in March and April.

Besides touristy stuff I also created forty-four new small works while I was in Scotland which became my From Across the Ocean series that was then on exhibition in March at Embo in Edinburgh. My first solo international exhibition the same week as I turned forty. Not a bad way to celebrate.

Stewart and I returned to Fayetteville Arkansas in the beginning of May and hit the ground running. Besides reconnecting with many of our friends and my family here, we participated in the Block St. Block party and had such a cute little art booth. I loved the cardboard letters that spelled out our names that Stewart meticulously cut. After Block street I put my attic studio back together after moving move it from the old underground right before I left town in January. I was pretty pleased with how my studio came together and rejoiced at having windows and even a tiny patch of view! I got busy and ordered supplies for, a place called home. As soon as I had our panels by Perrodin Supply Co. we started to work on our new series. During this same time and with Stewart's help, I finally launched A Manual for Living as a set of limited edition prints to sell in my etsy shop.

Stewart Bremner, Jennifer Libby Fay and I also organized the eastprospect exhibition and put on a wonderful international exhibition of ten artists for two days only. It was a great event and something for all the artists that participated in to feel proud of. After this Stewart and I had to regain focus on our own personal work and really get serious about A place called home. We created fifteen all new paintings that we are extremely proud of.

Besides all this I have applied for grants, additional gallery representation, been published in art/literary journals and revamped my etsy shop and have an exhibition scheduled at the Fayetteville Public Library later in July.

I want to be very clear for myself here: Since the new year I have been in or have scheduled: five solo or featured exhibitions and have been in three group shows. I have made forty-four new small works and have created fifteen new collaborative paintings with Stewart Bremner. In the first six months of the year I have sold thirty-three pieces of original art (albeit mostly small works on paper) and fourteen prints.

Times have been hard financially and my sales are down considerably from the past two years due to gallery/studio closures, but when I look at this I can clearly see that I am working hard and that I am producing the work I need to produce and in this economy it just takes a little more careful planning and creative thinking to make it all come together. I am lucky to be an artist, to have the studio I do and to have the support network and patrons that I do. I am grateful. The first six months of 2012 has been a challenging, thrilling, exhausting, productive and comfort zone stretching time but no matter what, I wouldn't trade it in for anything. Thanks for being a part of it. You are instrumental to my progress on the path. Thanks and love to all my friends, family, patrons and supporters and especially to Stewart for helping me along the way.

Dear Artists... now please go make your own lists. What have you been up to? Leave no stone unturned, count it up, validate yourself in the process and share and inspire us all. You have had a better year than you think! Feel free to share your first six month lists in the comments or post a blog link about it. Until next week keep fighting...

And locals... Join us!
A place called home
New paintings by Megan Chapman and Stewart Bremner
Tuesday June 10^th from 6-8pm
Arts Center of the Ozarks
Springdale, Arkansas

After the work, we finally see

waiting to be varnished, our paintings ©2012 Megan Chapman

Dear Readers,

It's been a busy week as artist Stewart Bremner and I have been doing last minute touches on our work and we are happy to report that we have completed our new series of collaborative paintings for our "A place called home" exhibition.

We have created fifteen 12x12" mixed media paintings on panel. Fifteen seemed a bit spare at first, but I always listen to a body of work, especially when it tells me it is finished. These fifteen pieces while being entirely abstract hold fragments of land, sky and the colors of Stewart's country and mine. They represent us both and yet they become something completely singular and new. While looking at them on the walls and in the studio as we varnished them, I felt a sense of pride at what we had created together. These works are again so different from what I would paint alone. They are related to what I paint but they would never have been born this way without Stewart's hand and vision, without his experience of living and I think he would say the same thing about my influence in the work as well. The paintings become bigger than ourselves, and that is a true accomplishment.

Looking at them and thinking about how they were created, feels a bit like an out of body experience. I know time was spent laboring in the studio and I know that there are many underpaintings, layers, pencil marks, mistakes and hidden stories within each piece. They are infused with memories of the summer heat, the music we listened to, the chocolate, the wine and silliness and the tense reality of painting with a tight deadline. Despite the fullness of them they feel open and clean, direct and honest and a coolness can be felt. I feel Scotland, the view from a train, a plane and the lines and trails that thread through Stewart's city and the red clay earth and the verdant green of Arkansas. We created the body of work we wanted and now that we can step away and see it, we can also start to let go as we prepare to show it at the Art Center of the Ozarks in July. We will be hanging our show on Monday.

Here is our statement: A place called home

Home is an everyday part of our lives. It is both a place and a state of mind. Some might think of home as family, friends, familiarity, comfort and ease. Others might think of opportunities, connections and a place to work. Still others may think of it simply as a place to live. Yet what happens to the definition of home when one is in a relationship that spans an ocean? For artists Megan Chapman and Stewart Bremner, who live four thousand miles apart, home became a question and something to search for.

Chapman, from Fayetteville, Arkansas and Bremner from Edinburgh, Scotland, live and work together as best as they are able. Currently, no single place is their home and there is uncertainty about where in the future home may be. However, no matter where in the world they are, a sense of home can be felt when they paint.

As artists, it seemed only natural that their latest series of works should reflect both this search for home and the distance that separates them. In their paintings, the two artists reconcile not only their different backgrounds but also their individual voices in this search. The cool colors of Scotland are balanced by the warmer ones of Arkansas. Graphite lines reflect the geology of both regions, as well as the trajectory of planes slicing through space and hint at the sense of being pulled in two different directions.

While the artists float between two locations on two continents, they paint, they live and they continue their journey to find a place called home.

**********************
If you are local to the Northwest Arkansas area we hope you can visit our exhibition and join us at our opening.

A place called home 
Megan Chapman and Stewart Bremner
July 3-27 
Reception: Tuesday July 10th 6-8pm
Art Center of the Ozarks
Springdale, Arkansas
Learn more about our work: chapmanbremner.blogspot.com

P.S. Thanks to everyone who tuned in and read and shared last week's blog. Your support and feedback mean a lot to me. I think it is good for us to tackle the hard questions and the bigger picture as a community. We all come from different places on the path, but we are in this together. Until next week keep fighting, the world needs your art!

The soldiers of culture

Making art is like tight rope walking (but we'll keep doing it anyway)

I have been thinking a lot about making art and why I do it. Why my artist friends do it. Why many of us live in poverty for the love of art.

Distance becomes us
Mixed media on panel 12x12"
© 2012 Megan Chapman & Stewart Bremner

It is happening all over the world, I hear my artist friends say they won't be able to afford health insurance, travel, or take the risk of creating a new body of work this year due to their finances and lack of sales. Due to the economic down turn, we are beginning to wonder if it is time to admit defeat and get a “real” job. We are amassing stacks of good paintings in our cupboards and closets, so why paint more? We turn to teaching classes, workshops, and weekend yard sales to scrape by. We take the odd job here and there, anything to mostly keep working on our true calling of art. We borrow money from friends and family and of course the food stamp application is always a possibility and let's not forget kickstarter or some other type of fundraiser. These extra jobs and fundraisers take us further away from what we need to be doing, which is spending time in the studio making our art and fulfilling all the other managerial tasks that come with being a full time artist.

We hear buzz words such as “creative economy” and “cultural commodity” used by city officials and others across the country and world, wanting yet another draw for tourists and transplants to come visit and eat, drink and spend in the hotels, restaurants and bars. The creative economy idea works and the revelers come in droves, they drink, they spend, but are they buying the art? Sadly we as artists begin to feel used, just another cog in the wheel that benefits others but not us. We give so much to the culture and feel of our communities yet we are left empty and depressed. As artists, we aren't just looking for inclusive feel good opportunities, we are looking for sales.

We have trained, we know how to sell our work, how to network, and we create quality art and are working as hard as we can but sadly it is just not enough. We know about pricing, watching the market, and saying yes to every opportunity that comes our way. We show our work near and far, thinking outside of the box and creating our own opportunities but again it is not enough. Even after periods of success, we find ourselves walking the tight rope again.

Hideaway
Mixed media on panel 12x12"
© 2012 Megan Chapman & Stewart Bremner

In our meetings with our community members and leaders we continually fight the stereotypes of the dreamy flamboyant artist and the slacker. We keep the feeling of loss and struggle to ourselves, we maintain a positive attitude when we promote ourselves and our work, never admitting defeat or struggle until we can no longer deny it. Well meaning friends and family tell us that it might just be time to again get that “job.” We then turn to the buzz word using community members and leaders but are surprisingly told to try to another style or medium or just move on to something else to make a buck. The lack of true understanding and acceptance of what it means to be an artist fuels our growing distress.

When we as artists are struggling, our work struggles as well. It is hard to get to the place one needs to be to make the good art when one is thinking about the bills, shut off notices or the empty fridge. It is a stressful time for the artist when on the one hand we are celebrated for our gifts to the community and yet are rarely paid for the enjoyment of them.

What can we do as artists and as art lovers about this situation? How can we better understand and support each other?

Some other future
Mixed media on panel 12x12"
© 2012 Megan Chapman & Stewart Bremner

We can all acknowledge that it is tough all over and that people are struggling to get by right now whether as an artist, a teacher or an office worker. In order to better support ourselves in this economy many artists offer small affordable works, have turned to making prints and have special sales to help meet most budgets. Many artists accept payment plans and some are even willing to barter and trade for things they need. Perhaps it is up to all of us to think about art as a necessity rather than a frivolity. To paraphrase one of my recent clients, you have to put money aside for art just like you do for a utility bill, a new shirt, or a night out on the town.

If you truly cannot buy art from an artist right now then how about supporting their work through sharing their website, etsy shop, or facebook art page with your friends? How about writing a note to an artist and expressing your love of their work. Sometimes a few words of encouragement are all it takes to keep an artist from falling off the path. Acknowledge that being an artist is hard work and that it is valuable and necessary. Acknowledge an artist as a worker with a career like any other. The first time someone told me they understood how hard it was to be an artist, I burst into tears for the relief of finally being understood.

We are nomads
Mixed media on panel 12x12"
© 2012 Megan Chapman & Stewart Bremner

Being an artist is not a choice for many of us, this is not a hobby, a phase or a passing fancy. This is in our life's blood, this is our purpose, this is our soul's work and it is heart breaking when people dismiss what we know is true to our core.

We are artists. We work. We give. We make the culture a more exciting place for you to live. We ask for little and we tread lightly. We will keep making our art but wouldn't it be a lovely thing if we could also be paid a living wage? We are not some magical class of citizens that thrive under dire conditions just because we know how to shop for second hand clothes and eat well on little.

 We are artists and we do it because we have to and for the most part we will continue on with our smiles and our can do attitudes. We are the soldiers of culture and we must keep fighting not only for ourselves but for you.

News and the first few works...

Dear Readers,

We have been riding the high of last week's successful east prospect exhibition. We are so glad that after our Thursday night exhibition we decided to do it again on the following Saturday. We had a smaller crowd on Saturday but it was lovely to enjoy the people who came and it allowed us all to have a more intimate appreciation of the art. Another perk of our encore was that the Sun Boxes were singing with out interruption all day long. It was a real thrill opening up the house to the public for this special two day exhibition. We wanted the show to be a success for everyone involved and we feel it was. Works were viewed, connections were made and many pieces of art found new homes! What more can anyone want from an art exhibition? Thanks again to all the east prospect exhibition artists and team members that helped us put on such a beautiful and diverse show.

In other news, I have decided to list all my remaining available works that I have in my possession in my Etsy shop, ArtMaven. It just seems to make sense. People often want to know where and how to buy my work and this makes it easier for all involved. Currently my small works on paper, my newly released limited edition prints, and works from my Falling into Sound series as well as some pieces from my more recent Sometimes I love you and other stories are now featured in my Etsy shop. I have even included the last four color works from the 2007-2009 season in my color super sale section.

Speaking of Etsy, I am really pleased with the response of my limited edition prints of A manual for living. I had been thinking about releasing those for a long time and I am glad I finally got around to doing that. So far nine prints have flown overseas and three have stayed local since I released them two weeks ago. I am grateful that the works are finally being seen, appreciated and purchased in print form. Besides my Etsy shop you can find even more of my work at the Blue Moon Gallery in Hot Springs, Arkansas. You can click here to see which works of mine they have. Currently eleven of the works listed on their website are still available.

While I have been busy processing and paying the east prospect artists for their work, thinking about putting on another show and updating my etsy shop I am very happy to report that Stewart Bremner and I have been back to work in the studio! It has been hard work... really hard work, like pulling teeth actually. However, despite all of that we have eighteen pieces in progress for our upcoming exhibition, A place called home, next month at the Art Center of the Ozarks. I am excited to share the first three pieces from our upcoming exhibition with you here. I like how I can see hints of our series from last year but I can also see the blues from Stewart's last individual series and I can see the coolness of the white paint I adore from my recent series as well. I can feel the land of both our homes and I can feel the sky as we cut through it all to try to be together and perhaps find a place called home. I hope to have more new work to share with you next week.

Until then, please enjoy our new paintings and keep fighting! The world needs your art!

Sleeping on planes
Mixed media on panel 12x12"
© 2012 Megan Chapman & Stewart Bremner.

Departure
Mixed media on panel 12x12"
© 2012 Megan Chapman & Stewart Bremner.

We live between hills
Mixed media on panel 12x12"
© 2012 Megan Chapman & Stewart Bremner.

Home is where the art is

 just add sun boxes...

Dear Readers,

I am pleased to report that east prospect exhibition was a smashing success! We had a lovely crowd and everyone's art looked beautifully installed in all the rooms on the main floor of the house. We had the Sun Boxes singing in the back yard and happy art patrons nibbling on snacks, drinking wine and enjoying art. It was a lovely evening. It is kind of fun temporarily living in an art gallery.

We had worked so hard to bring the exhibition together that suddenly at the end of the night, we realized right away that we had to do this again and soon! Due to popular demand east prospect exhibition has been held over for one more day! If you are local to Northwest Arkansas please stop by 545 E. Prospect in Fayetteville, Saturday June 9th from 11-4 to enjoy our world class art and of course to hear the brilliant Sun Boxes.

There are more than one hundred works of art that make up the exhibition, from original paintings to photographs, multimedia installations to wearable art. The work flows throughout the house in this intimate setting. Stewart Bremner, Craig Colorusso and myself will be present during the exhibition on Saturday. The talented Jennifer Libby Fay had to return to her studio in Kansas City but her work remains with us for just a while longer so please come and enjoy it and so much more!

There is a lot of art to look at on the walls but there are also some hidden gems in the exhibition. My recently released prints of A Manual for Living are available as are my new small works created while I was recently in Scotland. Stewart Bremner's has his new camera illustrations, Animal and Edinburgh greeting cards and his small abstract works on paper and Thomas Petillo has two boxes of intriguing and beautiful photographic test prints for you to rummage through and purchase for a song! These test prints are the result of preparing for two recently published books of his work. There is so much art to enjoy and discover and many great deals to be found as well. There truly is something for everyone's taste.

So that has been this week. Nails, hammers, levels, design and formatting, inventorying all the art, placing and hanging the work to maximize it and the space and then the big event that went from one night only to a Saturday encore.

Thanks to all the east prospect artists. I wish you all could be here to see your work in this space and have a chance to meet each other and all the lovely patrons. I am lucky to be part of such a talented world wide community of artists and fortunate to be able to share this work with my local community.


Sun Boxes at East Prospect from stewart bremner on Vimeo.