Artists please keep doing your thing

Artists and all creative people need now more than ever to keep producing work. We as creatives are usually very empathetic and feel things very deeply, so it is an especially hard time for us, and a lot of us feel paralyzed. We need to start breaking out of that now. 

Our first few creations might not be pretty. They might be raw. But we need to make them. We are lucky. We have an outlet for our anger, fear and disappointment that doesn't hurt anybody. 

We need to start creating and doing what we do best. Our country needs us. No politician will be able to start the healing process. That's on us. What changes the world? Love. Art. Music. Dance. Written word. Poetry. Action. 

We need to come from a place of compassion. We need to listen to our brothers and sisters and learn from them. We need to use our voices and our art to speak our truth. 

“To bring about real change, our efforts must be collective and harmonious, based on love and respect for ourselves and each other, our ancestors and future generations. If anger at injustice is what we use as the source of our energy, we may do something harmful, something we will later regret. According to Buddhism, compassion is the only source of energy that is useful and safe. That is why love must always go together with understanding. Understanding and insight show us how to act.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

We have known for sometime that our country is broken because there is a lack of love. It's hard to show compassion to people who hate, but they need to heal from their negative ways of thinking. It's hard to show compassion to people that are doing so much to hurt people we care about. It's hard to be compassionate to those who put profit before our beautiful earth that we need to protect. Some of us, myself included, aren't there yet. But through the gifts of our creative practice we need to work towards compassion. We as artists have the ability to influence the collective consciousness in a positive way. We need to pay attention to the energy we are releasing. We need to tell the truth in our art and in our words and speak up. Even though it doesn't seem that way we can make a difference. 

Manifesto

The Toad in day retreat can easily "drink" a person. 

The price of progress and the overlap of the visual current flow

Can mean "whatever occupies space" is certainly part of our world. 

Next day, terrors of the imagination ocean wide eddies of circling waters gimcracks and quackery

and in the eye's prism a broad vista forms a basis for paintings

the artist used human vision as a search was made among the schoolyard milkweeds

Good mixers are making color by taking color away

Far from my home planet

When I'm feeling overwhelmed by political strife at home and abroad,  I seek escapism through my art. My new series of paintings takes me far, far away from all the craziness. With the dreaded HB2 here in NC, I have to pretend I'm somewhere else. Otherwise it's too embarrassing and sad. In my universe, no one would make a law out of hate for a whole group of people. I know that we will be able to defeat these evil forces on earth, that the powerful good energy will strike down all the negativity. In the meantime though, I'm hoping to create a peaceful, creative place for my mind to comprehend. 

Teen Center Workshop

I had the pleasure of doing an encaustic project last week at the Raleigh Boys and Girl's Club teen center, thanks to funding from Cary Visual Art. 

The idea was to do an abstract encaustic painting with colors acting as an emotional landscape. The final component was a transferred image of the artist. 

The teen center is a pretty cool place. It has a restaurant, pool tables, art room, library, media room with a recording studio, gym and even a place to style hair. The kids there are super creative and did a great job. 

I hope to do more workshops through Cary Visual Art. The organization partners with non profits to provide artist workshops for underserved communities. I like being able to share the creative process with people who may not otherwise get an opportunity. Everyone benefits from self expression! 

Orphan Kitty

There's so many reasons I like giving my daughter handmade presents. This kitty took me about 5 hours to sew and make clothes and backpack for. She also carries two mini handmade books in her pack. Keith did the packaging. She comes with adoption papers, like Build a Bear, but not cookie cutter. 

The rag tag look is because I restricted myself to just using supplies I already had.  

The awesome byproduct of me sequestering myself with this project is that it kept me out of Target during the time of year that I absolutely hate to shop. 

Here's wishing everyone a happy and creative holiday! Let's all do more handmade things in 2016!

Encaustic class- student work

For the past six weeks I've been teaching encaustic classes at both Pullen and Cary arts centers. The paintings my students created are so amazing- I'm so proud- I just had to share. 

In my beginning class, I focus on teaching different encaustic techniques. I rely on the students to bring their own ideas and art experience to create work that is uniquely personal to them. As they get further into the class, they work on combining several techniques in any way they like to express their visions. 

Beginning Encaustics at Cary Arts Center-

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Beginning Encaustics at the Pullen Arts Center-

Cary Arts Center Summer Encaustic Workshop (high school age)-

Quiet and Creative Space

An artist friend once told me that her bookshelves are a metaphor for mental availability. When they are cram packed with books, there is no room to take in anything new. She and her son regularly pass on the books they are done with so that they can be more open to new ideas or any new thing that comes along. 

Sometimes I feel that way about noise. Actual noise and mental static. Sometimes a new idea will creep up on you and if it's not quiet, it will slip by. 

Perceiving the Whole

“If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.”

— William Blake

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Now that I've painted all the visible parts of this city I am starting to imagine what might be invisible, what energies may be there, and what form they could take. Having been so closely involved with this piece since June on a micro scale I am coming to the point that I need to alter my perceptions of it. I am trying to see it now for its whole.

It's my first city with houseboats. If each house is a portrait of someone, the houseboats would be the travelers, the free spirits and the more rootless. Though each houseboat offers a sanctuary of its own. 

I like to do "art within art". I love to paint paintings on the walls and include sculptures in the gardens. That's going to happen more in this piece. 

Also more animal ideas are coming to me. 

 A few nights ago I dreamt of dolphins. According to my book of symbols dolphins "can be relied upon to buoy us up and carry us back to shore, protect us from marine marauders, keep us company in our lone passages through treacherous channels and, if we're lucky, escort our ships out of trouble before they founder in the first place." I will be putting a dolphin in this piece somewhere, not sure where yet. 

I have been relieving stress by drawing in books these days. These drawings always show me that the bigger picture is quite clear and all my nervous worries are not what my life is about. I'm trying so hard to let them go. 

Shopping for art supplies intuitively at Askew- Taylor's

My best shopping experiences are at places that allow for creative and intuitive browsing. The kind of places you can spend a few hours in wandering into nooks and crannies. Art supply shopping is an intuitive process for me. The materials themselves each represent infinite possibility. They suggest ideas. It's entirely possible to end up on a different path with a project that I hadn't thought of before.

The floorboards creak, the wallpaper is at least 70 years old. Peeling paint and a worn staircase are just another dimension in a multi faceted experience. Finding materials at Askew Taylors feels like discovery. It's inspiring. 

The store is quiet. Not creepy quiet, but warmly quiet like a bookstore. Since it's an art supply store there are rainbow color spectrums of pastels, pencils, pens and paint tubes. There's a room full of every type of paper:  colorful and patterned, lacy, fancy, plain. 

Askew Taylor's has been in business for a LONG time. It's a family run art store. Kirk, the owner, is a great person to have a conversation with, and always super helpful and generous with artists, letting us try supplies out. He has passed the baton to his daughter Helen who is equally friendly and helpful. 

Being Raleigh, and somewhat of a smallish city, you can count on running into an artist friend or two when you visit the store. It's the kind of place that you can be in and out of in five minutes or linger for hours. 

I like that it's not slick or made of shiny plastic. I like that it's not a "big box" though they carry everything a "big box" would. It's friendly and personable. It's a place with a soul. 

Sketchbook Installation

For the month of August, Keith and I will have our total collection of sketchbooks available in the studio for perusal. Together we have almost 40 completed skecthbooks, dating from our time at SCAD until present. Keeping a visual journal has been a way to connect our everyday lives to our artistic practice. It's a place to try out an idea or scribble when the need strikes. 

Gallery Espresso, Savannah GA 1999 slightly flood damaged from when our studio flooded 3 years ago.

The sketchbook habit started for me in college. Art nerds that we were, Keith and I carried our sketchbooks everywhere with us and diligently drew everything that was worth drawing. We weren't the only ones, there were lots of art nerds in Savannah. From apartments to coffee houses to homework parties, art nerds abounded. 

Savannah Sketchbook, 2000

My collage experimentation traces back to Savannah. I developed a thirst for national geographic and vintage time life series books.  After creating lots of sketchbook collages, Claire Stringer and I founded "Pinch Underneit". Inspired equally by the dada movement and religious propaganda so prevalent in Georgia, we created images and found poetry and issued our own manifesto. 

Savannah 2000 Self portrait as a skeleton, Jackson Pollock

The sketchbook was a format I could use to process information and fill countless hours, sometimes taking notes or writing down bits of conversation. Trading sketchbooks with an artist friend and seeing what they've been thinking about, and adding a little drawing for them.

Raleigh 2001

The move to Raleigh was a radical shift in sketchbook usage. I was drawing more than ever. In a new town not knowing very many people, and being removed from an art nerd culture, my sketchbook was a commentary, diary and refuge. 

Raleigh 2003

Raleigh 2013

Once my daughter was big enough to hold a drawing implement, my sketchbook became a place for us to collaborate. 

2015

One of my saddest sketchbook moments was loosing a whole book at Lowes. Maybe one day it will come back to me. 

2015

A physical manifestation of the flow of ideas and visions. Staying current in my sketchbook means taking time out from projects I'm working on to let my thoughts free. 

2015

Head in Cloud, Wood's edge, City under pale moonlight, plus show at the Express Library

"Painting is an illusion, a piece of magic, so what you see is not what you see."- Philip Guston

 I am making a gradual shift to working larger and working more with oils again. Here are three cityscapes I completed this month, two oils and an encaustic. 

"Head in Cloud"

I dream of an urban setting alive with culture and nuance.  Each one of us has several coexisting narratives in us. This city is a multi-faceted jewel with concurrent narratives playing out. 

"Wood's Edge"

I wanted a cozy neighborhood at the wood's edge. Having one foot in the wilderness, the inhabitants were rather diverse. A peaceable kingdom to be sure.

"City in the Pale Moonlight"

The patina on the surface of an old building is the microcosm of this city's soul. All the linework is carved in, so in person you see a lot more texture.Cities are all about visual and cultural texture. 

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My show at the express library on Fayetteville st. will be up for all of June.  

It's funny how well my work shows around books, since I'm such a book nerd, I appreciate that. 

Chamblin Bookmine Art Show

Chamblin's bookmine (used, rare and nonexistent books) is located in Jacksonville, Florida, the city I grew up in. There are two locations- one in Riverside/Lakeshore, and Chamblin's uptown, in downtown Jax by Hemming plaza. I have followed Chamblin's through 3 moves/expansions. I think I started going there right when I learned how to read. I even worked there briefly as a teen.

Chamblin's is the best bookstore on the planet. You need about 3 hours to really go through all the books. The Riverside location is larger and easy to get lost in. Especially in the annex. They buy and trade books too, so every trip to Jax, I bring my books to trade. 

It's such a quirky place, and really appeals to my sensibilities, just like Askew Taylor art supplies here in Raleigh. You can be happy wandering for hours, stopping to read at one of the tables, adding to your pile of books. I love to shop for my daughter's books there too. I've found so many great vintage kids books there! There are lots of hidden gems to be found for any book lover. I highly recommend it. 

My show is in their newer Uptown location, across from Hemming plaza. I love this area of downtown Jax because the JMOMA is there, the downtown Library- which boasts 3 stories and two outdoor reading porches, plus a huge OWL STATUE on the front of the building and lots of beautiful murals inside. I really wish Raleigh would build a library here like the one in Jacksonville. Le Sigh. 

But anyway... If you are in Jacksonville do yourself a favor and go to Chamblin's! But set aside a few hours because it's a rabbit hole! 

Sprout by Slowboil collective. March- April 2015

Slowboil is a collective of artists formed to do themed shows together. Besides that, we meet to discuss themes, bounce ideas off each other and create together. We started the Sprout collaboration by pouring paint all over the floor of member Adam Peele's studio. We created individual work and collaborated to create a multimedia rite of spring experience. Participating artists- Anna Podris, Keith Norval, Jenn Hales, Jeehyn Hoke, Adam Peele, Greg Carter, Tim Lee and Sherry DePhilipo. The show will be up for a month, so go by during Adam's business hours- 400 Capitol Bvld. in Raleigh. 

Anna's encaustic paintings flanked by Jee and Jenn's.

Jenn Hale's oil paintings flanked by Anna and Sherry's. 

Greg's creatures caged. 

Floor detail.

Greg Carter's totemic sculpture. 

Adam Peele's boxes and floor detail. 

Mural and wax installation by Anna.

Jenna's tree. 

Jee's watercolor paintings flanked by Keith and Anna's. 

Keith Norval's paintings. 

Adam Peele's stenciled creations made from some group drawings we did. 

Sherry's puppet.

Deer mural by Jenn Hales. 

Keith Norval's sprout mural.

Cary Arts Center

I am showing a small group of my paintings at the Cary Arts Center. It will be up through April. I am also teaching a beginning encaustic class there. For more info see the events page on my website. 

Feral no more

Seamus's existential dellimma as a housecat - although the spoils of indoor living appeal to him, part of him will always be wild. Rain and cold  weather may keep a sensible cat at home by the fireside, but not Seamus. We're not sure where he goes in foul weather. Maybe a storm drain or a crawl space apartment..... Wherever he is, he is at one with his inner feral. 

Relaxing at home, always wild at heart. 

Seamus the art lover. Seamus has been a muse his whole life. Below: Seamus patrolling the neighborhood. 

Seamus- never forget your roots

Seamus has so many facets to his personality. He has a mystique that is hard to capture. I would love to attach a camera to him so I couls see where his adventures take him. He may not be the most friendly or empathetic cat I've owned, but he's definitely the most dynamic. 

Seamus the Prodigal Cat Returns

My cat Seamus was feral when we adopted him. We tried to make him an indoor cat but he was clearly miserable. With reservations, we allowed him to keep his own indoor/outdoor schedule. Once he became king of the block, we got used to not seeing him as much. Every few days he would come home for a bite and maybe rest a few hours before going back to his life. We imagined he had an apartment somewhere, and maybe another family or two to check in with. We might see him around the neighborhood while walking our dog and he would always say hi. 

As he grew older, Seamus seemed to show signs of wanting to settle down as a house cat at but he didn't know how. We tried to cuddle him but he would scratch. My brother came to visit and sent some time working with Seamus on his issues. Seamus drastically changed his personality once he found some understanding in David. He began sleeping inside and hanging out closer to home. He even let us pet him some and would snuggle a bit. It had been over a year of life with the new Seamus when he disappeared again. After four days we were pretty worried, though the old Seamus had frequently disappeared for longer. I was resigned to go the next day to the pound to look for him, when I heard his squeak at the backdroor. He was home! And pretty dirty. It seems he missed his feral life.

Transfer experimentation

I'm starting a series of small encaustic paintings referencing the collage work I've been doing in my sketchbook lately. I like using found imagery because of the response it evokes. 

In the painting below, the found imagery is more of another textured layer in an abstract background. The grid with superimposed architectural geometry-this painting is still waiting for its narrative.

Here is one recently completed. 

A transfer of space that also awaits a narrative.

Drawing challenge discoveries

I've been doing a drawing every day starting at he beginning of 2014. It's a challenge I set for myself to invite new directions into my work. The drawings started as line drawings of things in my house or surroundings. Slowly I began adding collage elements and working with ink or gesso. The challenge has been really important to me daily. Coming to my sketchbook is such a reward. Sketchbook art is more spontaneous and free. It's a no judgement zone. Now my challenge is carrying over this feeling into my encaustic paintings. 

Encaustic is the perfect medium for collage because it seals the paper and preserves it. However in the painting above that I'm working on, I chose to do a photocopy transfer of the image. This means that the ink on the photocopy transfers onto the wax and there is no paper, lending to a smoother surface and a translucent image. 

This one is another I'm working on. It's inspired by the sea collages and imagery that appears in some of the drawings. 

Wether I have lots of time to draw or just a few minutes, it's been great to express myself everyday on paper, and I feel like I am building a new visual vocabulary that I can draw fromin my new work. 

Larks, Starlings, and Red Wing Blackbirds.

I am preparing for my upcoming show at the Museum of natural history with Keith. My idea for the show is to do some paintings of my favorite birds. I am painting them fairly realistically. Their environments are more abstracted, allowing me to play with colors, mark making, and pattern. The background in the piece above is painted in oils, I will paint the bird in encaustic, as soon as I figure out which bird to put.

I am still working on this flycatcher- the first few layers are oil and now I'm painting the rest in encaustic.

The cedar waxwing has such a striking look I was inspired to make it into a repeat pattern. This was all done in oils, and will add finishing details in encaustic. 

Working on a red wing blackbird family and a horned lark. 

These are starlings. This one is done. Almost all the background is oils, and the birds and tree are encaustic. This painting has a lot of layers, and a depth that is hard to capture in a photo. This body of work has been a great culmination of many interests for me. Combining oils and encaustics has been really fun, and creating these energetic spaces for the birds to live. The show will open in March.