Going in to the Miller Annual Juried Exhibition-2011

On Being Accepted and learning to paint the night

At the beginning of summer I entered a juried show at The Hardy art gallery in Ephraim WI and the painting did not make the cut. It was a big painting of my plymouth barred rocks and leghorns chickens in a cluster of chattering feeding. Now, several months later I entered 2 new paintings in the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay WI, Annual juried fall show which includes artists from surrounding counties. Entrants are not aware of the identity of the jurors prior to entering the Miller exhibit but I found out later that one of the jurors at the Miller had also been a juror at the Hardy when I was rejected. I received notice late in August that both of my entries were accepted in the Miller show, leaving me a bit surprised. Once again this illustrates how subjective things can be when it comes to jurors' choices, one panel of experts will never see the same thing the same way twice anyway. Context is considered, what other work was I up against? How many entries were there? So many things influence the outcome when the words Juried Exhibition are applied to an exhibition of diverse media, ability and subject. Still I was happy to have another opportunity at a little exposure. Painting new things is a challenge and a reward, regardless of the outcome or if someone deems it important enough to make the cut. I was tackling an alla prima landscape, start to finish in two hours, and the other painting, also a landscape, was the opposite, a laborious execution of greens, and a silver loaf of bread in the middle, our Airstream trailer planted firmly in the Wisconsin landscape. My next challenge is interior depth, I am painting the space where I now sit, french doors and striped floors, and the painting is at a stand still for moment while I go take a night time class painting en plein air in the setting sun with Bonnie Paruch next week, turns out she was one of the jurors also.

Painting for the Public

The Door County Land Trust held their 25th anniversary picnic for about 500 people yesterday. They asked 8 artists to do plein air painting of the property while the members were able to saunter the paths and view the spectacular property, and have a great sit-down meal provided by a local restaurant; the day was stellar, with amazing cloud formations against a brilliant sky, the meadow lined with stone fence and the flora typical of Door County. The food was great, the music was lively, people were in good moods, and even though I was very apprehensive about my own performance, and the wind which eventually blew down the top part of my french easel, I approached the day as a fun opportunity to do something new and necessary for my own sense of purpose. I was included with the 8 artists and had spent the last several months building up a cloud of my own, being prone to withdraw from public eyes, I paint alone 99% of the time. This was something new for me, painting for the fundraising audience. Since I am somewhat challenged by the physical requirements, I take a chair, I don't venture too far into the bush, and I try to travel light. After talking with fellow artist and friend Bonnie Paruch, I opted to throw in a few more variations of green, packed my chair and hat and arrived at the site around 2p.m. Some artists had come earlier and had a nearly finished work when I was just starting at 2:15. This added to my angst. So I managed to get something done quickly, and guess what? I didn't hate it-- but if given opportunity to return to that lovely spot, I would no doubt work it differently the next time. I considered this opportunity a gift, the day was so gorgeous after all. But then, a volunteer came around with buckets, each artist was given a bucket in which the members could place their purchased raffle tickets, I had a new thing to think about, what if no one placed a ticket in my bucket. As it turned out I had more than a few tickets and the person who got the painting was outwardly gracious and happy to receive it.

The Land Trust folks work very hard, the members and volunteers deserve our encouragement and our participation. I owe them a thanks as well for getting me out there and providing me a chance to paint with 7 other artists who all did an amazing job. I won't forget the day.

This painting is only 6" x 6", and is part of the community mosaic project fundraiser held at the Francis Hardy Gallery in Ephraim WI. I participated for the first time last year, doing a collage of a doodle of chickens and rooster, this year I whipped out a bromeliad plant and tropical bird, in oils. I have painted bromeliads a lot and managed to do this little painting in a few hours. I like the square format and the intimacy of it. Over 250 artists paint, draw, collage, in any media to create a wall of art at the Hardy. People then purchase a lottery ticket for $25 that will result in them winning a painting, that will be a totally random thing. All the art sells by the end of the season and people get a surprise art package in the mail.

This is plein air festival at the Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek WI. I am trying to decide if I can get up at 7 a.m. on saturday and go paint their dockside quick paint with about 40 other people, I have no confidence in doing this, painting in public, not sure I can handle that. BUT I have been asked to help sell wine tickets at the Saturday night reception, which, i think, i can handle... and will hope to see some of the activity throughout the week, though its really hot and humid, summer is fully on right now. I should be out there painting, having watched Shelby Keefe do an amazing demo yesterday at Edgewood Orchard Gallery, I only feel somewhat inept and disgusted with the paintings I have sitting in my studio right now, not really done but they are dry and not very thrilling to behold. Anyway they moved her demo inside because it was too hot in the court yard, no one complained about the move. This heat reminds me of Australia, those January days when it was so hot and humid, you could break a sweat just thinking, while sitting still. I have great admiration for the plein air painters who have come from all over the planet to paint here this week. We are living in a world of abundance right now. These people who come and paint for the entire week in all manner of heat, bugs, and crowds are to be commended. Its a great opportunity to see some amazing and talented people in action.

PAINTING PORTRAITS

We opened the 2nd Annual Door Prize for Portraiture at Chez Cheryl on June 30 with a bash for the 18 artists and their friends. I thought it would be hard to top last year's initial launching of DOOR PRIZE, but the weather held nicely, a great and happy crowd attended, the art work is once again a best representation of each artist, and the show looks good, though it is a very different presentation from last year. Can't put my finger on it but it seems more subdued, still diverse in media, with photography, ink drawing, pastel, oil and acrylic. BEST IN SHOW was awarded to Lori Beringer of Plymouth WI, Honorable Mention went to Rick Risch of Fish Creek and Suzanne Rose of Kohlburg, WI. I did a painting of Joanna Lavell, of Melbourne Australia. She is my step daughter and a very talented and lovely person, the painting is titled FRANGIPANI BLUES and recalls my first time meeting her in Lismore New South Wales, with the huge frangipani bushes surrounding her place, I had never experienced them, and now when I think of Joanna I think of her wonderful singing and her frangipani.

I entered the Francis Hardy Art Center's annual spring salon this year, and I didn't get in to the final cut. It felt odd to not be IN after having reasonable success over the eight years that I have been painting full time, though this is not my first rejection and probably won't be my last. I take pride in the fact that I had the energy to bother entering. Along with about 59 others -my entry was juried out. I celebrate all my friends who win awards, get cash prizes, blue ribbons and great solo shows, it takes a lot of work to get there, energy and passion fuel the success, but the rejections and doubts can take hold and multiply, so I celebrate the act of just showing up, sometimes that is as important as getting first prize.

This year a chicken- inspired whimsy of a painting entitled Pick a Little Talk a Little was my entry, I got these chickens from a wonderful artist and friend, Bonnie Paruch who paints like a dream, she gave up her chickens for personal reasons and I happily accepted them as a source of entertainment, and joy, which I sought to convey in my painting. Those chickens have been a great source for study and observation, they are somewhat creatures of habit, they are not totally stupid and they are in their special God-given way, beautiful birds. I love my chickens, and maybe I didn't do them justice with the oil paint. Maybe the background was wrong, maybe their legs weren't articulated enough to please those who strive for anatomical correctness. But I called in to the Hardy, got the jurors verdict and within an hour the chickens were back home on a wall, happily keeping company with my Australian Magpie Family and another Winter Wren. Birds of a Feather, they have come to roost in my house on the farm on High Plateau and I am happy. Now on to other things, I just finished my 6" painting for the Hardy's fundraiser, last year it was chickens and roosters, this year its a bromeliad plant and a tropical bird. I have to admit, I feel better about it all.

I had a chance to sell this painting this weekend. I decided to hang on to it a while longer though. Its a great reminder of why I don't use a clothes dryer, clothes lines have character, and provide opportunity to hear the birds, smell the air, assess the morning on a purely sensual level and you can dry your clothes at no expense, the sunshine and air is free, at least for now. It is a prayer flag that is seldom witnessed these days, I am trying to avoid sounding nostalgic but the clothesline has gotten a bad rap in some communities, meanwhile, my own line that was here when we bought this place has drawn comments of admiration from many visitors so I am inclined to keep it, and the painting, for awhile longer.

I pick up old plastic horses at thrift shops and for a year this one was stashed in a closet, waiting for a visit from a grand nephew - never know when you might need a toy in the house. I also had a bundle of old paintings from graduate school, stained canvases rendered on the kitchen floor of my apartment back in Ames, Iowa, that bundle wasn't doing anything in the closet either. I was into wrapping as an art form back in the 1990's - I wrapped a powder room chair, I wrapped a giant ceramic egg, why not wrap a plastic horse. I had need of diversion one day during the second or third blizzard of the winter, Steve was in Australia, I was alone in my cocoon, just me and the chickens and 20 inches of snow. Since that exercise I have received about 8 plastic horses of varying size from friends, and have been wrapping ever since.

Growth Spurt- 2011

This is a detail of three panels from my garden series. I spend a lot of time staring into the garden bed and by September the debris and left over tomatoes, oversized zukes and vines from cucumber and butternut squash have claimed victory over my efforts to maintain order. So grab the camera and shoot, see what evolves and start painting. I focus on movement of form and new color arrangements. Each panel is 18"x18", and this piece will be at Charlenes' Gallery Ten in Gills Rock, Door County Wisconsin this summer.(2011)

This painting was done last summer, for an invitational exhibition at the Miller Art Museum Sturgeon Bay Past and Present... It is the backside view of THE RED ROOM an historic pub in town where you can get a great burger. The front of the building is tarted up a bit, the back side seems more authentic in some ways, I wasn't around 40 years ago but the interior probably was. I did an earlier version of this painting complete with pick up trucks parked in back, but decided to do this painting without the trucks, the completed painting has more cracks in the pavement, a weed or two. I loved the little neon sign above the door, and the blue and white awnings. Someone loved the painting - it sold to a local. That made me happy knowing that this painting titled GETTING THE RED ROOM made it to someone else's wall. It was one of two paintings I sold last year. I am not breaking new records but I feel some pleasure in doing the painting my way, and then having someone get it their way. Doing art affords me the opportunity to learn about the world in my own personal approach. I know more about the Red Room now, having studied it for several months. It may seem like a humble thing, and in many ways it is, but its a great thing to be able to do this.

Winter in 2011 starts with some amount of rude adjustment and great sorrow on a national level. A shooting in Arizona, a little girl is dead and now a household word, images of a flood in Australia prompt a higher than average number of questions from casual acquaintances at the Y, is the flooding affecting Steve and your property over there? And "Benign" was a word I welcomed today, and I realize I don't blog more than once or twice a year. Because its enough just to look out at the sky and snow falling gently and just feel like getting on with it, another day in the north.