Happy belated New Year, though we’re only 61 days in, so I’m not THAT late ; )
After a rough end to 2018, I am happy to report that 2019 is off to a promising start. I’ve got some artwork in exhibits in Chicago (coming soon) and Evanston (an extended stay), a lot of work in progress, and as of later this month I will be starting a new job!
I will be working full-time as an art instructor for the residents of Misericordia! I was not looking but when I saw the posting for this job online I knew I had to pursue it wholeheartedly. My art and work life has always been cyclical, and for most of my professional life I have had a separate full-time or part-time job while maintaining my art practice in my studio. The last few years I worked in my studio full-time and taught at the Oak Park Art League, but after last year I felt big changes on the horizon, and here they are! I am so excited and honored to teach at Misericordia and eagerly look forward to getting started later this month!
Meanwhile, I’ve got a couple of artwork happenings around the area in March. First, my show, Lore, at Gather, has been extended through the end of the month. If you find yourself downtown Evanston stop by 602 Davis Street to check it out. It is mostly the same work I had in my show at the Oak Park Public Library last April, but with a couple of pieces I finished later in the year.
The second happening is for the launch party for an exciting new business a couple of my friends have started, called Curated Home + Office, in which they match businesses and individuals with regional and local art. Their launch party will be next Sunday at Relic Furniture Gallery in Chicago, from 3-5:00 pm. I will have a piece at the launch exhibition, among pieces by a dozen or so other artists.
I’ve also got quite a bit of work in progress; a huge painting (48″ x 36″) I started back in 2017 (here it is in every iteration since day one), and then four little paintings (8″ x 8″) in the begining of a series of ancestry-inspired work. I started them last January when I was visiting my parents in PA for a couple of weeks.
I’m calling this one, “Forget Me Not.” It is acrylic, collage, image transfer, and oil pastel on canvas.
Here are bits and pieces of the small family history pieces so far:
Lastly, though I’ve stopped teaching regular classes at the Oak Park Art League, I hope to offer workshops and private classes in mixed media and watercolor once I get settled in at Misericordia. THANK YOU to people who have taken my classes at OPAL over the years, and to those who supported the program there. I miss you already and hope to see you soon. XO
My Dad, a beautiful soul who will be so missed.
Early in the morning on October 11 my father took his last breath before passing away peacefully with me, my mom and my brother right there with him. He had been at home in hospice after being hospitalized and diagnosed with acute leukemia just a few weeks prior. For...
Winding down, and getting going again
On Saturday I participated in a neighborhood festival in Chicago, and it was the first outdoor art tent I've set up in probably a decade. It was something that caught me a bit by surprise, when my friend and former student Satish asked me to do it with him and another...
Uncorked at the Oak Park Conservatory
Coming up on Friday, June 24, I will be participating as a Plein Air artist in the annual Uncorked event from 6:00-8:00 pm at the Oak Park Conservatory! Every few years I paint at one of the properties on the Garden Walk, and this year I will be doing this instead. As...
A Sweet Commission & Spring Blossoms
To start off, I got GREAT news from Scotland! Eight of the eleven commissioned paintings I sent over in March sold at Kate Durran's piano concerts, along with a pile of notecards! She will have more concerts of the Bach Toccatas, so I am leaving the remaining three...
Paintings for a Scottish Pianist’s Concert Series
I just finished a series of eleven paintings for the Scottish pianist Kate Durran so she can have them at her 2022 concert series in Scotland and England. I first encountered Kate in 2009 for the Ruckert Lieder series, as I explained in my last post. That time I just...
Winter 2 Classes & Painting to Music
The Winter 2 Session of classes is open for registration, and I've gotten a couple of reports of OPAL's registration website being a little buggy. The bugs have been fixed, but if you attempt to register and you get a notice that classes are closed, please email me or...
Finding Good, No Matter What
I had a phone conversation the other day with one of my mixed media students, and what I thought was going to be an informal art consultation sort of phone call, took a sharp turn almost immediately. He had just returned from a long trip overseas to spend a month with...
Wishing you a peaceful & happy Christmas
I came downstairs to get coffee at 6:30 this morning, and caught this peaceful scene of Mango hanging out by the Christmas tree and couldn't resist taking a photo. Serene is not I word I normally associate with this cat, and the tree does not have any ornaments on it...
Ornaments & Cards
Last Saturday I had an ornament and card workshop at the Oak Park Art League and it was a lot of fun. I knew all of the students from previous classes and workshops, so I had a good idea of the skill levels and a bit about each artist's style. There were a few people...
Fall 2021
I currently have a piece in the Oak Park Art League's 100th Anniversary Members Show, up until the first week of December, and this past week wrapped up the Fall 2 Session of Mixed Media classes! The week after Thanksgiving begins the Holiday Short Session (3 weeks...