My piece in the current exhibition at the Oak Park Art League, “Intersection: Art & Word” is one I thought I finished in 2017, but I had it hanging on my studio wall and every time I walked past it something would make me stop and think, “It’s not quite there yet.” So I finished it last month, or at least I think I did this time. ; )
I rarely revisit paintings once I’ve decided they are finished. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve ever done that. Not as a general policy or anything, it just never really occurs to me to do that. However, I think in 2020-21 I have learned to slow down and process things differently, and certainly with more patience. I think this is related.
I also have a collage piece in the World Collage Day Pop-Up show in front of the gallery.
Both shows are up until May 28.
This painting is at the Oak Park Country Club for the next couple of months. It’s an older one but one that I loved making just after a summer road trip from here to Virginia with my dear friend Karen in 2015. We took country roads and stopped at thrift stores and took detours to explore farmland and little towns along the way. This particular scene reminds me of going from Indiana into Ohio.
My work is still up at Kettlestrings Tavern as well, and will also be up until mid-July.
My mixed media class on Tuesday afternoons will go until Tuesday, May 25, the end of the Spring 2 Session, and I have a Farmer’s Market Workshop on Saturday, June 5, from 10-2:00. Register here if you are interested. That’s always a fun workshop. I’ve been offering it annually for about five or six years now and students can work in watercolor or mixed media. I go to the Oak Park Farmers Market first thing in the morning and buy the most interesting/pretty/colorful selection of things I can find for us to paint, and donuts from the Pilgrim Church for everyone to snack on. I do a couple of demos in composition and color, and we spend three hours+ painting studies of lovely fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers.
I also have a few more Open Studio Saturdays scheduled for June and August, and I will be taking a break from my Tuesday mixed media classes until Fall. I’ll be visiting my parents and then working on new paintings and working with a totally new medium, clay! I’ve dabbled in it a few times over the years and am curious again. I should take some time to update this website to an improved format as well. I will also have work in upcoming shows at the art league, Contemporary Prairie, Small Works, and Intersection: Art & Music.
