Homecoming

I made it to part of the reception for Homecoming Fluxus: and Visual Poetry by Regional Natives at the Regional Arts Commission last night. The show, curated by Keith Buccholz of Fluxus St. Louis, features artworks by John M. Bennett, Keith A. Buchholz, Larry Miller and Cecil Touchon and runs from May 28 - July 11.

The exhibition, performances and poetry readings were wonderful. It is a great reflection on some alternative artists, collaborations and processes happening throughout the city and on Fluxus itself. A wide range of artworks with appeal to a wide range of people are featured, from the lighthearted to the thought-provoking, the personal to the political, the humorous to the deeply conceptual... Many pieces encourage viewer interaction and creativity.

Reception attendees could register themselves as Original Humans in Larry Miller's Genetic Code Copyright program, declaring to "forever copyright [their] unique genome[s]." Registered persons are supplied with certificates of their registration. Keith Buccholz has yearly compilations of his Fluxkits available for perusal, the most recent of which includes information on my Penny Project from Fluxkit Quarterly. Numerous books are included to read and peruse, along with found object artworks galore.

Due to the nature of this exhibition, as there are a lot of things to pick up and interact with and even more things to read, make sure that you give yourself ample time to really immerse yourself in the show. This is not a show one can just fly by en route to something else - it needs time to be experienced.

Life Blood Exhibit Grand Opening

Life Blood Exhibit is gearing up for the grand opening at Florissant Valley Contemporary Art Gallery! After the preview party at Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts, this will be the first showing of the exhibition in its entirety and catalogs from the show will be offered for a suggested donation of $5. I will be sending out more reminders as the show nears, but please mark your calendars now to join in the conversation and help break the taboo surrounding menstruation.

Life Blood Exhibit
invitational group show organized by myself
STLCC-Florissant-Valley Art Gallery
3400 Pershall Rd., Florissant, MO
June 7 - July 1, 2010
reception: Thursday, June 10, 6 - 8 PM

This Week Off

Believe it or not, I'm taking the week off and have no show openings or receptions. In fact, many of the things I've been involved in lately are drawing to a close.

I will be taking a break over the rest of the month to work on some new pieces, get some paperwork and bureaucracy done, gear up for the Life Blood Exhibit opening at the Florissant Valley Contemporary Art Gallery (more info to come) and see some shows.

So hopefully you can look forward to more art of the week features and/or more reviews of local shows.

Provisions Show Update

I just wanted to let everyone know that my solo show at Provisions Gourmet Market was not extended for as long as originally thought and came down earlier today. I am very honored to have been able to show my work there again, and am glad that my show ran over by a week.

I'm sorry if you hoped to check out the show sometime this week and didn't get a chance to, but there will be other opportunities to see some of the paintings after I line up some more shows. And any future shows will likely include newer pieces from my recent trip to Augusta.

Art of the Week: Aluminum Casting

I did something new today, so I'm posting it as art of the week now at the beginning of the week rather than at the end.

A friend of mine invited me to her sculpture class today for a sand casting demo. We made bas-relief sculptural pieces so we could make impressions of them into the casting sand to then pour aluminum into. I created two pieces: one made by working directly into the sand to create texture (I had no idea what this would look like until after it was completely done), and another somewhat Cthulu-esque tentacled creature which I sculpted in positive and then made a negative impression of within a mold. After the aluminum was poured and cooled I went over my cast sculptures with a steel wire brush to clean them up some, but I didn't really work the surface as I rather like the rough, unpolished treatment.

I'd never done any sort of metal casting before, and it was very interesting and educational. I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to try it and grateful to have been included. It was a lot of fun and a totally new experience.

Website Updated

My website has been updated to include pictures from several more solo shows, among some other things, so please feel free to check it out. (Thank you so much Chuck for helping me on this.)
http://jenniferweigelart.com/

Among the newest additions are Cast Off, more City Life images & show info from awhile back, and some more recent plein air shows.

Art of the Week: Augusta plein air

I haven't posted much for art of the week lately as I've been busy. Here are some highlights from the 8th Annual Augusta plein air event.


8th Annual Plein Air Art Event
hosted by the Greater Augusta Chamber of Commerce
Augusta, MO
April 21 - May 1, 2010

This Week

I decided at the last minute to participate in the Paint Webster Plein Air Event in Webster Groves on Saturday. I wasn't having a good painting day at first, but I later decided to start over and worked on a picture of the giant neon guitar on the side of the Highway 61 Roadhouse & Kitchen restaurant, which I am happy with. Paintings will be on display this week only at the Old Orchard Gallery.

Paint Webster Exhibition
Old Orchard Gallery
37 S. Old Orchard
Webster Groves, MO
May 10 - 17, 2010

I also have work in a couple of other shows with receptions this week as well:

Fibers Exhibition
Capital Arts Gallery
1203 Missouri Blvd.
Jefferson City, MO
April 17 - May 26, 2010
Gallery Crawl Reception: Friday, May 14, 4 - 9 PM
Some of my small wire baskets are included in this exhibition in Jefferson City.

Seeing Red
Art Saint Louis
555 Washington, Ste. 150
St. Louis, MO
May - June 2010
Reception: Saturday, May 15, 6 - 8 PM

Negativity

I've noticed recently that a lot of artists seem to be down in the dumps. There has been a lot more hostility on some of the listservs to which I belong with a few artists even commenting negatively on one anothers' shows, successes and ideas. And it seems that a lot of people who wouldn't normally take up issues with things or complain are doing so. Essentially, I think the economy and resulting lack of funding & sales in recent years is really getting everyone down, artists & non-artists alike. And all of this energy seems to be feeding on itself.

I myself have personally been rather bummed out lately, feeling very unsupported. I've been trying not to get depressed, for all that I can't help but look at where I am and question why I haven't gotten further (and it's not for lack of motivation). Sometimes I feel like just stepping away from all of it and giving up on the whole thing, like trying to pursue my dreams as an artist just isn't worth the trouble and heartache. But giving up on myself isn't a solution.

Now, I'm not going to try to get all positive and tell myself and everyone to cheer up and be optimistic - that doesn't tend to work all that well. Especially since, although I do firmly believe in the idea of mind over matter, I recognize that artists as a whole tend to be very sensitive and attuned to one another and the world around them, and so keeping a sunny disposition can be even harder when encountering hardship and when others are frustrated and burnt out as well.

And I'm not trying to be depressing so much as to try and focus my own energies on making something of all this. So it is my goal to lay low for awhile, take the opportunity to be more introspective, and make work addressing how I feel at this precise moment rather than worrying so much about what I'm showing, selling or involved with in the art world. Don't get me wrong - I still plan to be active, but I plan to take a much needed hiatus and focus on spending more time in my studio. Right now, it seems the most productive thing that I can do.

D&D 4e Druid & Bard Classes Rock!

I've raved before about how the Wizard Class rocks in D&D 4e, but I've since become enamored of some of the other classes as well, so I thought I'd revisit that theme. I'll keep it short for all you non-gamers out there.

The Bard Class has to be one of my new favorites. Truthfully, I'd always liked the Bard Class before, but I was recently running a Gnome Bard and there's just a lot to be said for Vicious Mockery. Best power ever... :)

And now I'm running a Dwarven Druid. Weird I know, but there are a lot of great synergies there. And I like the Controller role, so the Druid Class is great. I think I even prefer it to Wizard, though I've been gaming longer in 4e so now I have a better idea of how the game plays out and thus it's hard to say.

In other gaming news, I am among the artists who are creating illustrations for the 2nd RPG blogger anthology, so keep an eye out for that later this year.

Provisions Show Extended

My solo show of my landscape paintings at Provisions Gourmet Market has been extended through May 20! So if you haven't yet had an opportunity, please feel free to check it out.
En Plein Air
solo show
Provisions Gourmet Market
11615 Olive Blvd.
St. Louis, MO
Apr. - May 2010

I also have some drawings newly available for sale through Framations website here.

And I won Third Place in Mixed Media at the Augusta plein air event this year for my pattern paintings. This was a big surprise as the event typically honors much more traditional forms of expression.
8th Annual Plein Air Art Event
hosted by the Greater Augusta Chamber of Commerce
Augusta, MO
April 21 - May 1, 2010