Here are some photos of my current solo exhibit, “Look Around,” which opened on Friday, January 9 at thegallery8680. It was a bitterly cold night (by Texas standards), but we still had a great turnout.
Robyn always has the most beautiful reception table — a work of art in itself.
Works on paper in the front gallery.
There will be a closing reception this Sunday, January 25 from 2-4pm.
I’ll be sad to take it down – I liked each piece in my studio, but hanging my art in the gallery really transformed the work into a cohesive unit. Here are some pieces that will have a new home after the show.
So, no joke, I’ve challenged myself to post on my blog every day this month. I thought it would be fun to show the day-to-day things that go on with my art life, from the creating, the marketing, the networking, etc.
Here’s what I’ve been up to the past few days.
Over the weekend, I was a part of the Arts in the Square here in Frisco. The weather was gorgeous, and there were tons of people that came out (thanks to all of my friends that stopped by). I got to meet a lot of new people, too, which is always fun. Here’s a shot of my booth – I had such a sweet setup on Saturday.
I did learn, however, that even though it was only 70 degrees, it’s not a good idea to put your encaustic art in direct Texas sun. Don’t worry, nothing was damaged, but I had to shuffle those pieces to the shady areas after lunch.
Sunday morning greeted us with crazy strong winds, so we had to adjust the booth layout a bit (we didn’t really have a choice). At one point that morning, all the walls were down, and there were about 5 volunteers helping us hold things down so it didn’t blow away. Not fun. But, thanks to my logistically gifted husband, we got it back together and had a good Sunday, too. I went to bed Sunday night feeling like I was still swaying in the wind.
Tonight I went to hang out with some friends at the Visual Arts Guild of Frisco. I took my youngest daughter and we had fun doing some printmaking. Thanks to Deborah Gallatin for her great demo. Here are some works in progress by a couple of artist friends of mine, Kelly Bartlett and Linda Brooks Alred. Looking good, gals.
I had the privilege of hosting a workshop yesterday for several art teachers here in Frisco. At the end of the day, I challenged them to go out and participate in “guerilla” art. (I was inspired by Keri Smith’s “The Guerilla Art Kit” — a great, easy-to-use book on how to get started making anonymous, public art). They divided into 6 different groups and each went out to make their mark on the world. Here’s what they did:
“hidden fortunes”
The guerilla group known as “Sam Itch“ left hidden fortunes about town for others to find. Wish I could have found one, or been a fly on the wall somewhere to see when someone came across each one. Hopefully, some unsuspecting passers-by made fortunate discoveries!
Another group, cleverly known as “notice the name of my group” left little notices in a local park — encouraging others to see the beauty around them.
“notice the pool of shade provided by this tree”“notice the fuschia flowers”“notice the view of the fountain from this distance”“notice the nice kick”
“Notice the Nice Kick” encourages viewers to examine a public sculpture that the viewer must look inside of and spin the wheel to view the football player kicking a football.
“wish tree”
The CMs made a Wish Tree. They created leaves and wrote their own wishes – then left blank ones on the tree for others to add to. (I got to add my own wish to this one).
“Big Pine”made ‘friendly’ notes out of simple circles.
“be a sweetie, wipe the seatie”“everybody loves clean hands”“it’s time to make a new friend”“i’m thirsting for a new friend.”“lock in a new friend today”
This is one of my favorites – I love the way adding the eyes makes the locker look like a face!
The “Rockerillas” transformed a rock garden into a work of art.
“rockin’ garden”
Very cool! And last — but definitely not least — is a work done with chalk.
Thanks to all of these artists for sharing their work! Keep up the creativity this summer!
I’m thrilled to announce that the wait is over, and I finally have a new art studio! I’ve had my sights set on this space for the last six months, and we were finally able to seal the deal this past week, purchasing our new home and studio-to-be.
The studio is still a diamond in the rough, but it has so much potential to be a wonderful work space. Formerly used as a detached 2-car garage, it also has a screened-in porch and a 10×10′ storage area. As you can see from the photo, there are lots of mature trees on the property, and a meandering path to the studio from our kitchen. The interior needs quite a lot of TLC to become a functioning studio, but it does have electricity and running water, so that’s a great start.
Keep checking back — I will post my studio renovation progress here on the Fresh Paint blog.
Welcome to my new blog! After much deliberation, I’ve decided to start a new blog- new title and everything- to contain my latest news, updates, artwork, and ideas. My old blog was ok, but due to the fact that it was linked thru my yahoo account, I was having a hard time updating and posting as easily as I wanted to. Blogs really shouldn’t be that difficult! So I decided to start fresh.
With this blog I hope to post more often, add more photos, and let you know a little bit more about myself. I also have a lot of new ideas and artwork to show you. So, check back often!
My next big adventure is the artseen studio tour, coming this October 15 & 16. I will open my studio for visitors, and I hope you can stop by. In addition to participating in the tour, I’m also coordinating it. It’s quite a lot of work, but I’m very excited to start an art tour here in Frisco. There are so many really talented artists here. Hope to see you at the studio tour!
When I moved to Frisco, TX almost five years ago, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect on a personal level. I knew it had great schools, so that appealed to my maternal need to give my kids “the best.” It has a pretty good city plan, as far as suburbs go. And we found a good little house in a nice neighborhood at a great price. Plus, it had a studio for me! But I wondered what would be in store for me career wise– you know, artistically. At the time, I was doing a lot of decorative painting, which included murals and faux finishes, and Frisco was (and still is) one of the fastest-growing cities in the US. There were lots of possibilities for those kinds of jobs here. I kept pretty busy.
On the side, I was making my art when I could, and I was eager to meet other artists. I was hoping that the art scene reflected the progressive attitude I saw in the rest of the city. I joined the local art guild, and soon started meeting some great artists — many artists around my age who were making some really great work. It really inspired me to keep making more art and to keep showing it. Over the past couple of years, the art guild has grown into a really cool group (www.vagf.org), and it looks like the rest of the city is catching up.
Visual Arts Guild of Frisco art show
This past weekend, we hosted the reception for our first show of 2011, “Resolutions,” to a crowd of well over 100 people. We had a great time hanging out at the new Discovery Center– Frisco’s new visual and performing arts venue. Awards were given, artwork was sold, new connections were made. I had several conversations with other Friscoans (non-artists) that had been longing for art events to attend within the city limits. They could actually have a classy date-night right here in town.
The previous weekend, thegallery8680 held their first opening of the year, and I am privileged to be a part of that show. Director Robyn Parker Feehan is the visionary behind thegallery8680; she started the space last year to promote contemporary artists in the region. This show, “Celebrating Women Artists” includes photography, drawing, painting and mixed media works from nine female artists from Texas. The reception was a great success, again with over 100 people in attendance. More proof that Frisco is becoming a hot spot for the visual arts in North Texas!
thegallery8680 reception
I really believe that moving to Frisco was the right move for me as an artist. We’ve got a core group of artists who are working to create an active arts community. It’s still in the formative stage, but we’re definitely headed in the right direction. It will be interesting to see what the next few years bring.
If you’re in town, check out these exhibits:
The “Resolutions” VAGF Member Show will be on display at Frisco Discovery Center through Saturday, February 26. Frisco Discovery Center is located at 8004 N. Dallas Parkway, Frisco 75034. Hours are M-F 10-5, Sat. 10-6 and Sun. noon-6pm. Admission is free. Information on the Visual Arts Guild of Frisco can be found at www.vagf.org.
thegallery8680
“Celebrating Women Artists” runs through March 12 at thegallery8680, located at 8680 Main Street, Frisco 75034. There will be a daytime reception/luncheon on Wednesday, March 9, from 11:30am – 3:00pm. Visit thegallery8680 blog at www.thegallery8680.blogspot.com. Call Robyn for an appointment to see the artwork at 214.585.8175.
fresh paint studio 