new, new and more new

Well, I ponied up and built an actual website! 

I'm moving the blog and my portfolio over there, so please come visit!

One more new piece- done for a fundraising event in early February. I got to work all day with five other fun artists ~ we each scrambled to finish a piece in eight hours, with the results being donated to an auction for a local arts center. Eight hours is not too outside the normal number of hours a piece takes for me, I guess, but I'm definitely used to stretching that time out over a few days, letting things dry and ideas percolate. In the end, the pressure and excitement, as well as artist camaraderie, must have been good for me: this is one of my favorite pieces in a long time!

homecoming

Here are a few quick shots of pieces I finished in the new Studio last month. Now that I'm all settled in, I'm working on trying to relax and just play a little. I find that I still want to express the same sorts of things: the layers of moments that make up our experiences - I'm just seeing the work evolve in slightly different, more abstract ways.

Group show at MOWA

Well, wow. I take myself out of circulation for over 18 months, then decide to rent a studio- and before I even get my feet in the water or brush in the paint, another favorite piece of mine has been accepted into a juried group show:

New Dream

This piece will be hanging at The Museum of Wisconsin Art, in the Cedarburg Artists Guild's group show in the State Gallery. I am so honored to be included- the Guild is made up of some amazingly talented artists, so the whole show is guaranteed to be stellar. If you're in the area, come check us out- the opening reception is Sunday, January 31st and the show hangs until March 29th. The whole Museum is so worth a visit if you haven't already been.

So the next post will be from my new studio. Super scary exciting!

revisiting

Well, yes, I've been gone for quite a while. For nearly the last two years I've been working in event planning, and I had a great time focusing on the 'project manager' parts of me that needed to exercise. It felt good, letting the art-making go fallow or a while…and now I am getting ready to come back and see what kinds of new things are ready to grow.

Kicking me off is the honor of having a piece accepted in a January group show at the Frank Juarez Gallery:

So glad to be showing with such a great group of artists. And honestly, I'm feeling for the very first time that I can comfortably call myself the same. Something about deciding to come back after this break. Something about turning 40, maybe. I've just decided that I am, indeed, an artist. Even possibly, a great one.

I am not, however, a great blogger. Nor do I want to be. Blogging, I found, made me look at every move I made under the lens of a very judgmental microscope. I've decided that this space will now just function as a spot to share work I want to share, and post events and shows in which I'll be participating. There: Just like that, no more microscope.

Show Opens Tomorrow!

Nothing like a last minute post, right?

I dropped off over 45 pieces at Anaba Tea Room last week, and they're hanging them right now! I'm very excited to see how they put the collection together...it's always cool to see how someone else sees your work. The show opens with a reception tomorrow evening (thursday, May 2) from 5-7pm, so if you're a local friend, please stop by and say hello!

Anaba Tea Room 

May 2- June 30

back to the birds

Here's a little work in progress shot. I'm getting the last few things ready for a solo show that has to be ready by April 26th. Eeek! It's really barreling down on me. I'll post more details soon, but if you're a local friend, mark Thursday, May 2 on your calendar and come visit me at The Anaba Tea Room during the opening!