Monster Drawing Rally

Today was really fun!  1708 Gallery here in Richmond had their First Annual Monster Drawing Rally.  Here's the press release if you want lots of information along with a cool drawing for it: link.  It was an event, a happening, an opportunity to see about 70 artists doing their thing in one place over the course of 5 hours.  AND a chance to buy some really good art for just 65 bucks a pop.  I couldn't believe it was so inexpensive.  Many of the artists who participated regularly sell their work for $300-400/drawing of the size that they were doing today.  Chris and I bought 4 pieces when I was done drawing cuz we loved what they were doing so much.  It was great to support 1708, terrific to make the artists feel good by buying their art, and, best of all, fantastic to get such wonderful artwork for such a great price.  I can only imagine that next year it will be much more crowded and the pieces will be that much harder to come by. 

Today Chris and I already had to compete for Mary Scurlock's drawing of a tree.  Another woman wanted it too, so the seller had a deck of cards - we each chose a card with the higher card winning.  Thank goodness Chris got an 8 to the woman's 3.  Sorry for her, but I was kinda excited that we got it!  It's quite a wonderful piece!  Mary had an exhibit at the Page Bond Gallery here in Richmond with many of her trees there.  It was a beautiful show and I was tempted to buy a piece there.  I think I like this one even better.  So delicate and beautiful.

We also bought a piece by Diego Sanchez.  He had the kids who were there participate in helping him spread the charcoal he used as a base.  They were enthralled then watching the rest of his process as he erased a spiny shell out of the blackness.  I was delighted by the piece so we snagged it too!  I have long wanted to own a piece of Diego's work because I admire it so much, so this is a double delight.

Then there was Jordan Roeder's piece, also out of compressed charcoal.  Watching her draw was like watching beautiful choreography.  She wore black; her hands were black; she had a lovely smile on her face the whole time and she shared beautifully about her work as she did it.  We talked to her about it afterwards and found out it was inspired by her recent travels in Peru - a lovely coincidence since Dylan spent the summer a year ago in Peru and loved it very much.  The piece is a series of concentric circles with mountains in the background.  I didn't know what it was when we bought it, but it's clear now that I know it.  I just like the strength of her drawing.

The fourth piece we bought was by Christine Gray who is an assistant professor at VCU.  When she began the piece, I couldn't get a sense of what it was going to be, but I kept walking by and watching it evolve.  I became more and more intrigued and interested.  By the end it became a beautiful almost ethereal enigmatic image that I still couldn't identify.  She told me she'd been doing a series of backyard paintings and had been finding nets interesting.  She said this piece is black moths in a net.  I find it hauntingly beautiful.

I apologize for the quality of the photographs of these beautiful works - they're still in plastic waiting for us to frame them, but I wanted to write about them while I was still feeling excited about the happening.

The other fun I had today, other than buying lots of wonderful art, was drawing at the rally also.  I was in the second round of artists who were drawing.  By that time the space was starting to get crowded.  There were probably 50 people watching us.  It was a little bit nervewracking at first to be observed by so many people.  Some would talk to me but not most.  Usually they stood quietly and watched.  I chose to draw an eggplant I'd gotten at the farmer's market this morning.  It is a very beautiful vegetable with gorgeous white striations on the lovely eggplant purple.  It has a pistachio green stem which offsets the purple beautifully.  I had a good time drawing it, so much so that I almost stopped thinking about all the people, though  my adrenaline was pumping - the sense of time passing and having too little of it overall.

I finished the eggplant in about 45 minutes.  Someone whisked it away to be photographed and catalogued, then it was hung on the wall to be bought. 

I began drawing an apple in the remaining 15 minutes.  I used my brand new brightly colors Diane Townsend pastels - I LOVE those pastels! - and rushed the colors on.  I had a great time swerving through the form, laying in the colors, careening across the surface of the fruit, then screeching to a halt at the stem before time was called!  It was very loose and fun before all was said and done.

I must admit I watched the wall to see if my pieces got bought.  I was pretty excited to see that both were bought, one by someone I knew, one by a couple I didn't.  It felt good to know the pieces will go to a good  home, and 1708 made $130 from my efforts (not to mention the other $260 they made from our purchases!)  There were LOTS of pieces sold - probably at least 70 by the time I left around 7, and the rest of the work will be for sale for a few more days.

If you live in Richmond and have time this weekend, you should do your best to get to the gallery before they take down the artwork.  It's remarkable to see the wide variety of pieces artists did - so many styles, media, subject matters.  It was really fun watching the artists create in so many different ways.  I've got some new ideas for fun things to play with in the studio this month! 

And I'm already looking forward to next year's Rally!  Hope you can make it too!

Talk20

Thanks so much to everyone who came to Talk20 last night at 1708 gallery!  I had a great time, and I loved seeing each and every one of you there, especially if I knew you were there ; ) !

We had tons of people there - it was standing room only - maybe 175 people.  There were 8 artists who spoke for about 4 1/2 minutes each then took time to answer questions if there were any.  It was fascinating hearing what each artist/designer was working on and what he/she was thinking during the process.  People are doing such cool stuff.  Brian Korte showed us the picture he made out of Legos which is now in the Guiness Book of World Records!  Tiffany Glass talked about geocaching "real small art" all around Richmond and about giving away small canvases as a way to make someone's day.  Shelia Gray paints bodies and creates costumes just for the heck of it, and gardens and house and pet sits out of the goodness of her heart.  Gordon Stettinius has done a series of photographs of himself with all different kinds of hair and in different styles of dress.  They are fascinating!  It's hard to recognize him in all of them.  There were two designers there who talked about their process of figuring out how to decorate a building - there's so much more thought that goes into it than I ever knew.  And an artist who does prints of maps of places friends and family live.  All so interesting! 

As the fourth presenter, I spoke about my fascination with the human form for the last ten years, beginning with pregnant nudes, continuing on to scars, then naked men, and now the female form.  I showed primarily pictures from this new series and talked about how blessed I am by my models and their generosity in allowing me to paint them, their authenticity, their vulnerability, and their power and grace.  Slash Coleman at the end asked me a question I'm so grateful for.  He asked what the experience tends to be like for the models.  I answered that in many cases it has brought about healing, helping the models feel more comfortable in their own skin and helping them see how beautiful they truly are.  I was so glad to be able to bring that into the talk.  That, the healing, is the primary reason I do this work.  I would so love it if my work influenced people to think about their common perceptions of the body and to perhaps consider if they are logical/reasonable/rational or not.

Why do we believe that it's not OK to be naked?  When do we start to feel ashamed of or embarassed by our bodies?  What causes that to happen?  Society has very, very strong messages about being naked and about how the body should look.  What makes us believe those messages?  When do we start to take them on?  What can we do about it?

I think becoming aware of the messages is the first step.  I hope that when people look at my art, they will begin to think about the body.  Perhaps they will feel uncomfortable.  I'm OK with that.  Maybe they'll go a little bit deeper and start to ask themselves what is wrong with the painting?  Why are they uncomfortable?  What seems so wrong about it?  There is so much to be learned from the questions.

I have a student who thinks I'm OK with all this weirdness because I lived in Europe.  That may have contributed to my acceptance that I have a body, and it's not perfect, and that's OK.  But I think what has brought me to this place is rather that I have continued to paint the nude and to look at all these bodies.  How could I help but recognize the vulnerability and humanity of each and every person - each person is doing her best to be her best self, to live a good life, to get along in the world with as little pain as possible.  I treasure their trust and authenticity and openness with me.  I find each woman I've painted to be indescribably beautiful and powerful.  It's not about their bodies.  It's about their souls.  It's really the essence I try to paint, but I have to describe it using paint and by re-creating an image of their body surrounded by their skin.  But hopefully it's the soul that shines though.  And those are sublime.

Talk 20 on February 10th

talk20 is Back at 1708 Gallery


With the success of the first talk20, 1708 Gallery and C3: the Creative Change Center are hosting the second talk20 event on Wednesday, February 10 at 6 p.m. at 1708 Gallery. The event is free and open to the public.

talk20 is based on a series of short presentations of 20 slides each. Each presenter has 20 seconds per slide to express his or her very own artistic voice. The event will feature a hybrid of educators and professionals working in some branch of the creative field.

Participants for the upcoming event include artist and founder of the Real Small Art Tiffany Glass Ferreira; innovative and sustainable architecture Tamara Van Meter; painter Susan Singer (best known for her portraiture of naked women); LEGO artist Brian Korte; visionary architect Peter Fraser; artistic director for Amaranth Contemporary Dance Scott Puttman; visual artist Rosemary Jesionowski, and photographer Gordon Stettinius.

talk20 is not simply a lecture, but it focuses more along the lines of a gathering, an open forum for the dissemination of ideas in art, architecture and design.

Doors for the event open at 5:30 p.m. Complimentary light food will be provided by F.W. Sullivan’s, and a cash bar will also be available. To register for the event, please click HERE.