Welcome 2015! After a jam-packed year, I closed out 2014 with a busy holiday season, full of friends, family and plenty of holiday cheer. The highlight of my artistic year was the opening of "Double Occupancy", my show in collaboration with Rebecca Buchanan. The show opened Tuesday December 2 to a good crowd at Walters Cultural Arts Center. The show stays up until January 26. It was an extremely rewarding collaboration. I grew creatively during the process, and gained a good friend in working with Rebecca.
I chronicled the creation of the work in several posts on my blog, if you missed any of that. The staff at Walters created a fabulous show, encompassing more than just our art. Illuminating quotes from Rebecca and me, and wonderful photographs by Rick Paulson, documenting our creative process complete the exhibition. The whole display is a work of art on its own, and I intend to preserve it by creating a book capturing it all. Look for announcement of the book towards the end of the winter.
- Untitled, Christmas 2014
I'm looking forward to continuing with exploring my voice with my personal work. Except for a fun little piece that was a gift in our family Christmas exchange, my art creation has been taking a break since I finished the last piece for Double Occupancy. It was only the time deadline that stopped me from making more work for that project! Rebecca made so many more paintings than I could make mosaics, that I would like to explore more with inspiration from Rebecca's vibrant color palette. And I've got inspiration for a new series just waiting for the time!
New Public Art Project Next up is a project for the McMinnville Public Library. I am partnering with my colleague Karen Rycheck of Talent, Oregon to create a mosaic "lily pond" for a cute little bronze sculpture of a frog to be installed on. This installation will be going in the entry courtyard of the library. They are undertaking a major renovation of the courtyard in the coming year. I'll post progress stories on the blog in the coming weeks.
Workshops Offered this Year I've got two workshops scheduled to teach this winter and spring at Sequoia Gallery + Studios in Hillsboro. The first one in February will have students working in the reverse method and learning the fundamentals of andamento. The second one in April will teach students how to make their own structural substrates for mosaics. For complete info and to register, go to the Class listings on Sequoia's website. Scroll to #114 and #115. The listings are in chronological order of the workshops, not the reference numbers.
I wish everyone a happy, healthy and creative 2015!