HIDDEN TREASURES

Last year, I was approached to create a large, contemporary art piece based on a family’s travels abroad . I knew the family was open to my style of art, but was unsure as to how I could recreate their experiences in a compelling way. This was my first challenge. Well luck have it, I had asked them to save every ticket, map, receipt, pamphlet, visitor guide, card, etc. that they came across in their travels. The original plan was to recycle them into my art, when they proved useful for a certain piece; but now I had a clear purpose. I would use them to document the trip in a less conventional way. The result was the piece below:

#OnTheGo

The next challenge was integrating the items into a design that represented my style. I often use many layers of collaged items and paint to get to a finished piece . I primarily work on wood panels so that I can sand into the hidden layers, and reveal parts of the piece’s history. I approached this work the same way, using multiple layers of collage and transparent/opaque paint. My goal was to complete a piece which from a distance showed off it’s design but close up, revealed hidden treasures from this family’s travels.

Some critics may ask how one can feel inspired to create art from someone else’s experience, but it wasn’t an issue for me. I mapped their travel agenda, scoured through travel photos, felt the joy, envisioned myself in their adventures and expressed them through color, markings, paint and of course the hidden treasures.

It truly was a pleasure working on this piece. If you happen upon this blog and have something you wish to memorialize into a work of art, please use the “contact” link above. I am always open to commissions and challenges.

2018 Art2Life Academy Online Exhibition

I recently participated in my first juried exhibition, the 2018 Art2Life Academy Exhibition, juried by Donna Seager of Seager Gray Gallery. I have to confess I went into this a little blind, with no experience participating in art competitions and zero expectations. I selected what I felt was my strongest painting, wrote a brief statement on what it was about, uploaded my image, and crossed my fingers. I was honored (and a bit excited) to learn that my painting Re-District was chosen to be shown in the exhibition; but this lead me to ask the question, how would I have felt, had I not been selected? Being an emerging artist, would I have considered this a step back for me in my career as an artist? I would like to say no, because this was one exhibition, juried by one person, looking for a specific thing; but in the end, no one likes to be rejected.

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Re-District

I am not sure if future juried art competitions are the path forward for me; but I have learned quite a bit from participating in one . Here are my take aways:

1) Art is subjective and the show you apply for makes a difference. One should know their audience and feel like they are a good fit with what the juror(s) values in a piece of art or what they are looking for in a particular exhibition.

2) Take a good, digital photograph of your art. Use a tripod if necessary, make sure the lighting is strong and crop out any distractions that spill over (i.e., wall, counter) .

3) if you can only submit one image for consideration and are undecided, photograph all your pieces and choose the one that best translates into the image. I think this sealed the deal for me. Two of the pieces I was considering did not look as strong in the image, as they did in person.

4) Words (and to some degree titles) matter. You want your art to connect with the viewer. Sometimes a digital image doesn’t do the trick. A juror could be fatigued looking through hundreds and hundreds of images, and it’s that little title or description that grabs hold of their attention, and forces them to take a second look.