sneak peek!

A few pictures of my and Deanna's collaborative drawings, and a detail shot of a watercolor I finished last night.
We've been working on these drawings by sitting down together with two at a time, and switching drawings every two minutes. Although I've had exercises in drawing class where people briefly trade drawings, this is the first time I've tried to create entire pieces this way. I think they're turning out really well, and I'm sure that's helped by the fact that we have a similar aesthetic vision and had no trouble agreeing on the use of fine-line marker. It would be much harder to do this with someone who had a really different style or wanted to use oil pastels or paint.
As we've done these, I've tried hard to notice what Deanna is doing to the paper during her two minutes, and then incorporate and be inspired by her aesthetic and her markmaking, rather than just try to wedge my own marks in between hers.

pile of pigeons and a reindeer

Getting down to business for my and Deanna's show in November. The first picture is a detail shot of a collaborative drawing (one of many).

If that last one looks familiar, it might be because you've seen the ancestors of that passenger pigeon pile here. These ones are newly minted and destined for a different piece.

amazing inspiration!

This artist is, to say the least, several steps ahead of me. Check out this wonderful piece:

Polly Morgan, fine art taxidermy

brain gobbedlygook: reworking the artist statement

Artist's Statement
In the museum, we re-interpret the natural world through the lens of human culture. Desiccated and dusty, its skins, bones, husks, and eggs are collected, sorted, and boxed in the pursuit of understanding the world outside of humanity. Inspired by the museum environment, I use the techniques of the curator and the printmaker to examine my own reactions to nature and how we define it.

redux ad addendum...

The museum is a "lens" of human culture through which we interpret the abstract concept of nature.

The act of observing, sampling, and classifying "nature" changes it. Furthermore, humans have a limited ability to conceive of a world outside of their own understanding. Ostensibly, understanding the idea of "nature" in a context other than how it is defined by humanity may be difficult or impossible.

I think we search for order and meaning in the universe to help us understand the chaos, pain, and mystery that is part of the human experience. We search for signs, messages, and explanations, and the truth. The search is manifested in religion, and in art, and philosophy, but also in science, and in boxes and boxes of birds and eggs and stuffed specimens stacked in museums.

What is scientific truth? Nature according to the proven empirical and theoretical laws of physics and chemistry? Is it limited in helping us understand the metaphysical, the mysterious? The painful and unjust?

--

I have always struggled with having an "elevator statement" for an artist statement. Brevity is not my strong suit, and at times I feel only a longer statement will do. I understand that, to some degree, at least, my work should speak for itself, but sometimes the easiest way to get ideas out is to write it. I wonder a lot if my entire approach to concept within my work alienates people who don't have a love for the academic and words.

some thoughts on work

I've been gone a long time. In summation, most of what's happened since May:

I started a new job at the Mattress Factory, a museum of contemporary installation art where I'd worked in the past as an intern and installer. Now I'm the Visitor Services Assistant/Volunteer Coordinator.

I participated in the Three Rivers Arts Festival in downtown Pittsburgh as a first-time vendor; happily, I was also honored with the Best in Show award for the first week of the festival. Happily-er, the second week's Best in Show honoree is a fellow artist and friend of mine named Deanna Mance, and we're collaborating on an upcoming show! Check out her beautiful art here.

In late June I had my trial-by-fire at my new job when I organized 50-some volunteers for our annual Garden Party, a huge party and fundraiser, celebrated in a way that only the Mattress Factory can.

I also joined the executive committee of Group A, a local guild and one of the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts guilds.

My husband and I finally bought the house we've been living in since 2006. Yay homebuyer tax credit!

My new job, and all the administrative work in the arts I've been focusing on since June, is great. But as August unfolds before me, I've noticed that I haven't really focused much on my own art this summer. Even the work for TRAF was prepping what I already had finished; I haven't had the chance to create new work since my "kapliczek" pieces for the Responding show this past spring. Also, one of the most important (and sad) decisions I had to make this year was to not return to Chautauqua, because I've committed to a job here. Without the facilities and time made available to me by being there, I've spent pitifully little time working on my own art since the spring.

Part of my dip in creativity is surely due to working - for the first time since college, I have what is essentially a full-time job that is not working on my art. Although my schedule is far more regular than it was at my previous job, I'm still learning how to manage my time. Buying the house, learning the ropes at a new job, and feeling somewhat creatively lost without the presence of Chautauqua's print studio all contributed to a pretty low artistic output for the summer. Additionally, sometimes when you get home and your list of things to do is so large and complicated, the easiest thing is to do nothing at all.

There are good things about being home for my first Pittsburgh summer since 2007, despite the dreadful heat; the biggest of which is finally being around my husband during his somewhat relaxed summer schedule. There's also barbecues, neighbors, the garden, the joys/pains of home improvement, and BikeFest, which is still to come.

The summer's not over yet! And even beyond that, art is over the horizon.

marketing myself

It's been a while since my last post, and I've been quite busy!
Back in February I applied for a scholarship with the Three Rivers Arts Festival; they run a program for emerging artists that covers booth fees and other costs related to participating in the festival. Fortunately, I was one of the ones selected, and I'll be showing my prints this coming weekend as part of the Artists' Market! I'll also be participating in the New Juried Visual Art Exhibition, which showcases talent from Pittsburgh and the surrounding counties.

Here are all the details:

Three Rivers Arts Festival
Gateway Center & the Point, Pittsburgh, PA
June 4 - 12

you can find me at:
Gateway Center Plaza, Booth 87
June 4 - 8, from noon to 8pm

New Juried Visual Art Exhibition
Trust Arts Education Center
June 4 - 12

You can also check out some of the other artists participating in the emerging artist program here. I hope to see you there!

website for new piece!

I've constructed a sister-blog to this one for my new art piece, kapliczek (shrines). Please check it out! New photos will be added as more shrines are installed.