Sunday, April 24, 2011

Art of the Week: Living Statuary



I have been enjoying participating in the annual plein air event in Augusta, Missouri again this year. As I'd mentioned in my last post, I decided to shake things up a bit by doing some performance art this Saturday, now featured here as Art of the Week.

I will continue to paint during the Augusta plein air event from Tuesday - Thursday, weather-permitting, and will have the fruits of my labors offered during the the sale Saturday, April 30, so please feel free to come and check it out.

9th Augusta Plein Air Event
organized through the Greater Augusta Chamber of Commerce
Augusta, MO and surrounding region
April 2011
Sale: Mount Pleasant Winery, Saturday, April 2, 2011, 12 - 6 PM

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

This Week & Next

I am in Augusta for the plein air event this week and next. I plan to do as many of the events as possible, weather permitting. (If there's a chance of rain, I don't plan to be out.) I am also going to embark on my first plein air performance art piece during the Saturday event this week. Feel free to check it out - you can follow the event link to download the calendar. All of the events will culminate in a sale on Saturday, April 30.

9th Augusta Plein Air Event
organized through the Greater Augusta Chamber of Commerce
Augusta, MO and surrounding region
April 2011

I also have a piece from my City Life series included in the Red show at Columbia Art League.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Self Struggles

I'd hinted at some of my recent struggles and need to get back in my studio awhile ago in January. I've still unfortunately been struggling with personal issues and haven't been very productive lately, nor have I felt very sociable in regards to either exhibiting my own art or in showing my support for other artists by attending their shows. I've just withdrawn from life overall.

I have never overcome adversity or dealt with criticism well, which is part of why I've learned to detach in my work. But that detachment is not serving me as well right now, and I am finding myself drawn to making more personal work again. I feel like I'm just on the brink of emerging out from under everything that has gotten me down, and I have actually started to work on art for the first time in months. Nothing big, though some hefty ideas are brewing and in the works, but mostly things I'd left unfinished or little things to get my feet wet again for right now.

I'm planning to participate in the plein air event in Augusta again this year (weather permitting) and I think this will help me get back into the swing of production again. I feel it will do me a lot of good to get away and focus on painting for the next couple weeks, for all that the things I plan to pursue after Augusta are of a totally different nature than my decorative little plein air paintings.

I am starting to formulate some of my thoughts and struggles from the fall into my art, as seen in the recent Barbie project. I think that my resulting work will be much more personal for all that it will still have strong social undertones and be rather direct. (That is just my nature regardless of what I'm making.) So keep an eye out after I get back from Augusta. I hope to make some new work and to be more involved in my art and life again and to overcome the self doubts and insecurities that have plagued me since fall.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Art of the Week: WaterLife



I am participating in Art for the Earth at The Gardens at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville again this year with a piece called Water:Life. Water:Life incorporates plastic water bottles with water and food coloring in a found metal trundle bed frame. It was installed yesterday as the first sculpture to appear for the 2011 show, which will officially open at the end of the month. (More sculptures will be coming between now and the end of the month.)

Here are some preview pictures of my piece before it is mulched in, which groundskeeping will do later this week sometime. (I plan to shoot more photos of it later on afterwards.) The colored water has a stained glass effect as seen in the detail.

Monday, April 11, 2011

More Updates

In addition to writing a review, over the weekend I also updated a couple of other things online.

I posted some photos to the Art Is Everywhere blog from the Women's Caucus for Art, St. Louis' Art: Agent for Change show that opened at Gya on Saturday.

Chuck also added some new features to my website, including my new bio video which had premiered here awhile ago and my Death Sentence installation as seen in the recent showing of Life Blood Exhibit at Gallery Visio. We also added my finished Fashion Zombies piece as seen in progress in Art of the Week.

I will be installing a new outdoor sculpture for Art for the Earth at The Gardens, Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville tomorrow, so check back here later this week to see some photos of my work on display and learn more about the show.

Growing with Scars Review

I just wrote a review of Diane Kim's Growing with Scars at the Thomas Jefferson School Gallery, so please be sure to check it out here.

I had written a few reviews for the Art Saint Louis' Art Dialogue blog previously, focusing primarily on local artists and shows that I thought may not get the attention they deserved from the press. Unfortunately I haven't had the time to write much since last April, although I have written some short reviews and responses to shows here on my own blog in the interim. I am hoping to become more active in art in St. Louis once again, to attend more shows and possibly even write more as I'm inspired to do so, so keep an eye out. (That is, after I embark on my annual two-week trip for the Augusta plein air painting event through the end of this month.)

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

This Week & Art of the Week: Muertos

Muertos is one of seven customized Barbie dolls that will be included in Art: Agent for Change opening this week at Gya. I will also have my remaining Art Is Everywhere signs and menstruation bracelets on display, while supplies last. Please come and check it out.

Art: Agent for Change
St. Louis Chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art
Gya
2700 Locust
St. Louis, MO
April 2011

Reception: Saturday, April 9, 6 - 8 PM

Art: Agent for Change is a Women's Caucus for Art, St. Louis, exhibit that explores change as it relates to art, whether personal, technical, social/political, or economical.