we are leaving…
for the Land of Enchantment…
for a reunion with dear friends,
a show opening
AND honeymoon,
all wrapped up in one.
The laundry is done…
and folded…
and the packing has begun. My artist’s eye is excited to experience new colors on the horizon, and my hard working fingers are looking forward to letting the brushes cool down for a bit.
A personal word of thanks to all who have sent such kind words to acknowledge our wedding announcement. It is just that sort of support which has brought us all forward and I have a deeper appreciation of the meaning of friendship because of you.
It’s been an exciting venture to work with gallery owners Michael and Christie Sugarman, and their enthusiasm feeds the creative spirit. They have been representing my work in Santa Fe for a year now and, to celebrate the anniversary of our collaboration, we are putting on a show !
Master Carver’s Tea Oil on Panel 24 x 30
Spurned on, artistically speaking, by John O’Hern’s words, in this summer’s cover article in AAC magazine, I took the challenge to explore the “Figurative” muses which have been nudging just over my shoulder for a while now.
The Bogcutter Oil on Panel 28 x 34
The blog entry from June explains the origin of the nudge…Click Here to Read
And here we are, after an intensive period of weeks of complete immersion at the easel, I’ve begun the journey… which has been patiently waiting for me all along.
Bringing in the Sheets Oil on Panel 24 x 18
The other part of this adventure is that Herself and I will get to tag along with these paintings and hitch a ride out to New Mexico. Our bestest pals D and S are going to introduce us to their new wild west homestead and escort us to the Santa Fe opening, which will be Friday, October 3rd from 5-7:30 at the Sugarman Peterson Gallery. If, by chance, you find yourself in the high desert please stop by and say hello. We will be eager to meet new faces and seasoned patrons alike.
There are two more paintings which are drying in the wings…I’ll put them up here soon.
Stay tuned and stay frosty my friends…the winds of change are freshening out there !
See, you never know…I was surprised, when I had to search my own blog to jog the memory banks, that it was four years ago when the hubcap arrived at my studio door.
If you click on the images below it will take you on the journey which that dear Chevy disc traveled, from side of the road, where the imagination of Ken Marquis picked it, and about a thousand other hubcaps, up…and had an idea, The Landfill Art Project.
Then,
to the hands of this artist,
and the whims of the muses,
to … a MUSEUM ?
Yes, that’s right. That thoughtful, coffee swilling mechanic was tagged to be in select group of hubcaps, which were chosen to represent the Landfill Project …Over a thousand hubcaps which were painted and welded and sandblasted and otherwise tweaked by hundreds of different artists from around the world.
The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is the opening venue for this touring show.
Here’s a link to their website page… Click Here
Second Time Around: The Hubcap as Art will Open this coming weekend, September 7th with an opening party on the 6th.
They have a video trailer for the exhibition and I’m posting the link here… Hubcap Art Video
As Ted would say… ” that’s sorta fun”
and I’m honored to be included in the launch of this very “green” and groovy project. There are some wild and crazy, and thought provoking, interpretations on the theme which were well worth putting down the wrench, pouring a cup of coffee and sitting down at the computer for a restful purusal between oil changes.
The exhibition of summer shows at the Granary Gallery opens tomorrow night…and I’m sending all manner of good art vibes to my pals who will start the season off with a bang…
Ken Vincent – Morning Has Broken 24 x 8 Oil on Panel
David Wallis – Morgan Whaleboat 28 x 39 Watercolor
Alison Shaw – Whaleboat, Gannon & Benjamin Boat Yard 2013
Dan West – Kingfisher 12×10 x 7 Sculpture
And a nod to our fellow art night pal John Hagen whose work is on display at the Granary and who will hopefully be ready to show new work very soon…
John Hagen – Plein Air Path to Edgartown Light 14 x 11 Oil on Canvas
As in, my painting of The Captains, is on the Cover of this month’s American Art Collector Magazine…
Blog readers will remember the recent entry about my pals Ted and Pete leaving the planet this winter. Being left here without them was not an option, so I took a couple days off from the gallery work I was producing to do a painting of them, on the bluff, looking out over the ocean, on a distant afternoon, when we all shared some sweet simple time together.
Thanks to gallery owner Micheal Sugarman (Sugarman Peterson Gallery in Santa Fe), the magazine tasked John O’Hern to write an article on my work. In talking with Micheal, and then John, interesting questions arose about what an artist paints “just for themselves”.
I have been working up to taking the challenge of figurative paintings, and when I looked around the studio it turns out that I have already begun that process. The ones which John features in the article are all very personal studies. My Captains leans just to the left of my easel where those two can continue to keep me on my toes.
I’m still shaking my head at the certainty that Ted and Pete had everything to do with nudging the painting on to the cover. It’s a very big deal for any artist and I am completely humbled, but oh how I shake my head in wonder each time I walk by the mag (which I have perched on a weaver’s chair in front of the other painting I did of Ted, The Teacozy)…just shake my head and smile from ear to ear at the folly of those pals working their magic from beyond.
The magazine should hit the newsstands soon. Here’s a link to their website, AAC Magazine.
Here’s an excerpt of John’s writing for the piece, Neill’s paintings of props, fishermen’s shacks and the landscape are finely rendered and often full of humor and subtle associations that enrich the viewer’s experience. She paint’s her emotional response to her subjects. Full figures and portraits, however, have only appeared recently in paintings that she painted “just for me,” paintings that are “very personal and straight from the heart.” Her partner Pat Lackey has been urging her to show the paintings. When her Santa Fe dealer Michael Sugarman asked her about the paintings she is most proud of she replied, “I have rarely taken the time to do work that is just for me. It is interesting because if I had to answer honestly, these portraits are the ones I am most proud of because they are all about love at the deepest part of my soul.” Aren’t we aging well is a carefully composed double portrait of the artist and her partner. They vacation on Martha’s Vineyard every summer. The bluff overlooking the ocean has always been a favorite spot. It has eroded away but remains significant in their memories.
John O’Hern
We will be up there soon. And I know it won’t be the same. There are many friends from that island who have gone on to other shores of late. But holding them close is part of growing up and growing old and we are doing both.
Here’s shout out to my peeps in the Boston area for…tomorrow !
The Follansbee, who is getting so famous now that I will have to do extra time in PT to achieve the appropriate bow of respect, is going to be at the MFA …yes, that venerable institution of all things fine and art, to give a demonstration and talk about his unique speciality…17th Century Joinery.
Wish I could be there but we were grateful for a stop over visit the other week on his way to yet another lecture. We are a couple of aging artisans, but the friendship has a patina that the antiques roadshow collectors would envy.
So proud of this guy…
I’ll be at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston this Wednesday afternoon/eveing, doing a demonstration much like my usual day job. Just a snappier venue…
Peter Follansbee will be demonstrating some of the techniques he uses in making reproductions of 17th-century joiner’s work. Usually done in oak split or riven from the log, this furniture most often includes carved decoration. The carvings combine geometric, floral and architectural patterns, often in combination. Mr. Follansbee has studied New England furniture in the MFA collections for almost 20 years, and will show how these designs are laid out and carved with a compass, several carving gouges and a wooden mallet. He will have examples of his reproduction furniture for visitors to examine up close, as well as resource materials to explain the complete process. Peter Follansbee began his woodworking career in 1978, learning traditional methods to build ladder back chairs. His study of 17th-century joiner’s work has led to numerous articles in the scholarly journal American Furniture, Popular Woodworking Magazine, as well as several instructional videos with Lie-Nielsen Toolworks. In 2011, Lost Art Press published a book, co-authored by Mr. Follansbee, called Make a Joint Stool from a Tree: An Introduction to Seventeenth-Century Joinery. Since 1994, Mr. Follansbee has worked as the joiner at Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Presented by Peter Follansbee, Master joiner from the Plimoth Plantation
Made Possible by The Lowell Institute
WHEN
October 30, 2013 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
WHERE
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Druker Classroom 465 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA 02115 USA
Debbie reports that early Macintosh Apples are for sale today at the orchard…State Road, Martha’s Vineyard.
This is exciting news since last year there was almost no apple crop due to early spring weather. I sure wish we could stop over and pick a few, they’re some of the best flavors on the island. The orchard is just a stone’s throw down the lane from where the Obama family will be staying this week and they are due to arrive this afternoon. Might want to leave a basket by the road for the secret service Debbie !
I just got off the phone with Ted, who modeled for this series of paintings a few years back, and he reports that the Chilmark Road Race runners had perfect weather for the annual run up Middle Road. This month is the busiest on the island and, though I often wish we could be there to share in the fun…I’m quite happy to be home enjoying some “quiet” summertime days.
Here in the Pennsylvania studio I am catching up on chores and getting ready for another Follansbee drive by as he heads south to lead a workshop at Drew and Louise Langsner’s Country Workshops. You will know him by the spoon shavings that appear in his wake…and the ones that gather shortly thereafter under my sky chair.
Some new work is…in the works… and I’ll give you a sneak peak next time. Til then, take a big bite out of what’s left of the summer and say hi to the Magnuson’s for me if you stop by for some of their Macs !
I’m thrilled to announce that my paintings will now be exhibited in the Sugarman Peterson Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico… Here’s a link to their website…Click Here
It is fitting therefore that, among the first group of paintings, they will be showing Bucket List. Thanks to gallery owners Michael and Christie Peterson I can now cross one more thing off of my….bucket list !
