Nature Morph

pre-turkey mega post

Well, it sure looks like I'm thisclose to letting the ole blog fall by the wayside.  I don't know why I'm so busy, or why I can't keep up, or, or, or...???

To say I've been stumped and slumping in the studio would be an understatement.  In the past month, I've had a couple of hard core studio visits, and they led me to feel like I couldn't go on as I had been, and yet I've been paralyzed by the idea of moving forward.  Ugh.

So I decided to re-work some pieces that have been in my studio and never felt completely finished.  I probably had deadlines that I was up against, and I had no choice but to throw the work out there before it was ready.  Case in point:

 

I added a hawk, and now it's this:

 

Much better.

 

And then there was this she-wolf piece:

 

It always felt to me that the branches needed to be teeming with birds or something...  So I did a mock-up with collaged birds, and it was still no good.

 

So I was reminded of an Amy Cutler interview that I read a while back, wherein she said that she sometimes makes a large painting that just doesn't work, so she chops it up into smaller pieces.

 

 

 

I think they're better like this, as little wolf paintings, just 12x9 inches each, as opposed to the 22x30 inch size of the original painting.

Going back in time, did I ever post photos from the Transmission opening?  I don't think so.  I guess posting the opening photos on the eve of the show closing is better than nothing!  Here I am with Ryan McLennan:

 

And the two of us with the gallery director, Bret Payne:

   

And random shots from the outside looking in:

 

 

And so forth.  It was incredibly crowded the whole time, which was great.  But it means I didn't get good pictures of the installation.

 

And finally, one of Ryan's amazing pieces:

 

So now I'm taking off for a few days, then I'll move to a new studio space December 1st, and I hope my new digs will be the impetus for a new batch of work to spring forth.  I am trying very hard not to be depressed about missing out on going to Miami this year for the art fairs, but I can't quite justify such a trip in this economic climate.

Happy turkey to you all!

flying south

Check out the postcard image from my Transmission show!

 

I love the pairing of Ryan McLennan's Ceremony painting with my Woodpeckershrooms collage.  I'll be heading down to Richmond tomorrow to go to the opening and squeeze in a family visit, too.  More soon from VA!

election day

 

GObama!

Enough said.

what's cookin'

Well, this was a long time coming!  Where oh where did October go? 

This Friday, November 7, my 2-person show with the hugely talented Ryan McLennan opens at Transmission in Richmond, VA.  I'll be down there for the opening and will post pictures of the show next weekend, but in the meantime, here is a duck magnolia diptych that will be in the show. 

 

I had been wanting to make a companion piece for the one on the right that I had painted a few months ago, and this show was the kick in the pants I needed to get it done.  Here's a detail of the new duck piece:

The other exciting news is that I am in a group show called The Animal Kingdom at the North Dakota Museum of Art!  It will be up from November 2 through January 5.  You can read a bit more about it here.

I will have two prints available online at Keep Calm soon...  Here's a sneak peek of a little section of one of them:

It's hard to believe the Miami art fairs are right around the corner.  San Francisco dealer Jack Fischer will be taking my work to the Aqua art fair, which is my absolute favorite fair in all of Miami.  I don't think I'll be going there this year (damn economy!) but I'm glad my work will be making an appearance.  (And, as a sad sign of the times, THREE of the galleries that had my work in Miami last year closed up shop and are no longer doing business.  I have since convinced myself that I did not jinx them all!)

I am going to try my best to post more often here...  And for those of you who know me well, you know that many evenings this past month were spent watching baseball, and I even made it to Fenway Park for a playoff game!

  

Have a great weekend, and I'll be back soon.

xoAmy