studio views

Here's a preview of some of the work I'll be exhibiting in my two fall shows--opening October 2nd at Darnell Fine Art (solo show) in Santa Fe, NM; and October 10th at Perlow-Stevens Gallery in Columbia, MO (a group show, but I have 25 feet of wall space to fill.) The proximity of the two openings in time but not in location means that unfortunately I will miss the reception in Missouri (although I'm working on a plan to visit midway through the show, which goes on through December 27th.)

Besides the work for these two shows, I'm also submitting ten paintings for the Wisconsin Arts Board Percent for Art program, and naturally, the dates and requirements for this overlap with my two exhibits...meaning that over the next few weeks I need to have on hand three separate bodies of work, a total of about 30 paintings.

The work in the top photo is mostly finished, as are the pieces on the wall in the bottom photo (the two in the foreground are in progress.) There are also some other paintings not shown in the photos...I'm actually pretty close to having enough work finished, and now I need to sort through to decide what goes where, as well as take care of the final steps of final touches, bolting and in some cases, framing.

It's been a huge push all summer, and I'm feeling happy to be this close, though of course, it's not done yet. Something sticks in my mind that I read recently on Facebook, and my apologies to whoever posted it since I am not able to acknowledge the source. But it was about "completing" a work of art as opposed to "finishing" it...to me it was about the contrast between having the time to seek out the most satisfying conclusion for a painting, and the pressure to get it done for a deadline. In my current reality, there seem to be a lot of deadlines, and I just hope that my "finishes" are close to what my "completions" would be given more time. It helps that my personal standards are high--it doesn't leave my studio unless I'm really very happy with it. But as I joked to a friend last week, coming up with 30 paintings that I'm really very happy with is a recipe for stress. (See last post...) So far, though, it's going well, and although the studio hours have been long, I have to say there aren't many better ways to spend time.  ¶ 11:41 AM