Yay for colorful art!

Yay for colorful art! 

 I read this sweet article about the impact of colorful art on our well-being. I was immediately pulled in to it because it featured artwork by Jessica Poundstone, whose colorful artwork I've long admired. 

Colorful artwork can trigger the release of dopamine, 
a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward,
leading to feelings of happiness and well-being
- Dr. Shivani Khetan

If you want to make some colorful art to improve your well-being… Come to my virtual art making session! Every Thursday I host a (free!) virtual art making session called Studio Time!  If you're in need of accountability and creative community - this is a great place to find it. We are a friendly bunch and everyone is welcome! Drop a comment if you want to be added to the weekly reminder list, or visit this link for more info. It would be fun to see you there!

What is Art? (A love story)

I figure most of you are here because you know me, or love art, or love my art. So, here is a story about love, and art!

Aaron and I met in the first period of our first class our freshman year of art school. It was called Methods and Concepts, a foundations of art class, Monday morning at 8am. A short time into that Monday morning class we were divided up into groups to discuss the question – what is art? Our little group of 5 or so went back and forth for a few minutes tossing out things that might be, or might not be art. It can be hard to define art. Is a painting on a wall in a museum art? What about a photograph? Are the marks the cavemen scrawled in the caves art? Is my couch art? What about music or dance? Do they count as art? 

The groups dispersed and the teacher opened up the conversation to the class. What is art? One person thought that art was indeed a painting on the wall of a museum. Others thought it was more inclusive and roped in dance and music, sculpture and words. And some of us thought it was concept or intention that made art. Really, anything could be art if it was imagined to be so. A desk could be art. An idea could be art. A life could be lived as art.

Two kids nearing art school graduation, and same kids last month at the Carnegie International exhibition

Aaron and I were very much aligned in the anything can be art camp and that started our friendship. And that friendship grew into a love and that love still grows. And so does our drive to keep exploring art – it is the way we try to make sense of the world around us.

I've found the phrase “blur the lines between life and art” written in several notebooks and sketchbooks over the years. I recently went to a virtual artist talk with two artists who I deeply admire Deborah Roberts and Vanessa German – and that phrase came up in their conversation as well. Let's live life as the ultimate artistic practice and fill our lives with the love and magic of art! 

What is art to you? I would love to hear.

A Year of Play – half way mile marker

Things have been busy around here – I have been carving out time to play in the studio and in the garden. Both are an investment of energy with unknown destinations – a leap of faith that something beautiful will grow in time. I am finally on the other side of a long creative drought (yay!) and am feeling like my creative well is sloshing around with ideas that have me excited to be spending time in the studio.

When I started this year of play, I thought that sounds so fun! But I'll tell you… play can be work. It is hard to play. We don't live in a culture that really values play. We are so primed to be constantly productive and playing feels like a frivolous luxury that someone in their forties shouldn't prioritize. It seems so ironic that I'm putting in effort – working – to make time for play and allowing my mind to wander. The reward is huge. I feel more relaxed. I feel energized. I feel more at ease with the uncertainty which is the most certain element of this life we are living. My creative well is expanding, growing deeper and more fulfilling, and that feels exciting and worthwhile.

I wrote in a journal a few years ago that I was allergic to words. I felt that way for a long time – those imprinted memories from childhood can really be impactful! Most of my life I have found it easy to communicate with images and impossible to find the words to round out the visuals. Over the course of the past few years, through the help of journaling, writing regular newsletters and attending a weekly writing group called Show Up and Write – I'm getting over my word aversion! Writing privately has given me the capacity to consider sharing more openly.

This month I am going to start writing out some of the building blocks to my story and sharing them here with you. I remember my grandma critiquing a coloring page that I made as a kid (in the most well meaning way) that really kind of pissed me off at the time, but recently sparked a series of sketchy patterns that have been growing over the past few years (see below!) I have deep memories of spending time after school in the sample room of my dad's architectural firm playing with color swatches and building little worlds of my own. I had a jewelry business with my mom when I was in elementary school and that sparked my interest in creating and selling things.

I have also had a few big earth shaking life events that have drastically shaped who I am and the reasons I make the work that I do. I am finally feeling ready to open up and connect in this space on a much deeper level with some of these stories. It is easy to share the bright and colorful artwork that comes out of my creative practice, but the stories that have shaped my perspective and allowed me to see the rainbows have come after a few intense storms. So, I am going make an effort to write and I'm sure in the process, I will learn some things. :)

Rainbow Connection Mural Update

The day after I sent my last newsletter, I found out that a mural design I submitted was open for public voting. I got an outpouring of love (and votes!) from you all… Thank you so much!!

The building owners ultimately decided to go with another artist. I really appreciate your support and encouragement – It means the world to me! I really love creating artwork in public spaces and finally added some examples of these projects to my website. You can check out my mural page on my website.

In case you missed it, the design is below… The site specific piece was titled Rainbow Connection, and filled a passageway between two buildings leading to a parking lot. The artwork shows a network of playful designs inspired by nature including flowers, paths and raindrops, flowing around the Erie canal and waterways that surround the area. I had hoped the design bringing a sense of optimism and wonder to the business district and spark a sense of joy for all ages. I had fun with the concept and will keep playing with it until it finds a home :)

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Year One of My LLC

We just wrapped up an end of summer getaway and I snapped a pic of this sweetest heart in the sky... I wanted to share it with you, along with a rainbow doodle made during a recent studio session.

In other news, August 20th marked the one year anniversary of my LLC. This year has not gone how I would have dreamed it would go (I know I am not alone there!). However, I was able to paint 3+ murals this summer, I started journaling and sending regular newsletters. I took the Making Art Work class – giving me tools to level up across the creative board, and also met a group of lovely women through the course who inspire, support and encourage me. I joined the Art Brand Alliance – another amazing resource helping and supporting me as I work to bring my creativity into the world in a sustainable way. I started carving out time for the studio weekly and have a foundation from which I can grow... so lots of good things! I'm excited to see how the rest of this year will unfold.

Thanks so much for following along with my journey. Big virtual hugs from me to you. Stay well!

Yay for Birthdays

In 2013, I started to make art again after a 12 year hiatus. I started small, with 5 small pieces of art, every week for one year ­— and that became The 5/52 Project. Later that year, I purchased my domain name. It was a birthday gift to myself and an investment in my creative future. So, today I turn 42 and my website turns 8! (cue the confetti!)

week 40 colored pencil and acrylic on vintage photographs, 2014

It is amazing to look back and see how many of these elements that started my practice are still rooted in the work that I make now. I am still in love with color and its ability to conjure emotion and heart. I am still fascinated by photography and all the ways it shows us a point in time from a unique perspective. I still love projects and parameters to help shape my creative energy, and also enjoy a sense of playful experimentation in my practice. I am in awe of the creativity and endless beauty in nature and often seek its guidance in trusting the cycles of the earth.

Pick Me Up, mural Buffalo, NY, 2019

This past year, I have been tending to my literal and figurative garden – planting things, tending the soil, watering, and patiently waiting. I would never have imagined that the brushes I bought to learn painting and color theory in college would be used to paint giant murals 20 years later. Or that I would be following in the steps of many of my family members, embracing entrepreneurship and learning about the business that makes the art I love work.

I spend a lot of time thinking about an art filled future and planning what technique or strategy I want to learn next... What can I do better? I rarely take the time to look back at how far I have come. I've taken the scenic route or been detoured many times along this creative path, but have always found my way back to the road that calls me to create and share the wonders that I see.

Sending lots of love from me to you. I hope that the work I create brightens your days and offers a sense of optimism in this crazy world. I'm feeling so grateful for another trip around the sun and the ability to watch the seeds I am planting bloom in due time.

Thank you for supporting me in this artistic adventure – it is a gift and means so much to me!

160' – My Latest Mural!

This month was consumed by painting a 160 foot long mural – my biggest mural yet!

The project is a "Welcome to the Hydraulics District" mural located at 550 Seneca Street in Buffalo, NY. I was awarded the project by applying to an open call through Arts Services Initiative. The project was originally scheduled for installation in 2020, but was postponed last summer due to Covid. My concept was to create a welcoming wall with patterns and lettering stemming directly from a publication historically published by the Larkin Soap Company, The Larkin Idea.

The Larkin Soap Company, was a company founded in 1875 in Buffalo, NY as a small soap factory. It grew tremendously throughout the late 1800s and into the first quarter of the 1900s with an approach called The Larkin Idea that transformed the company into a mail-order conglomerate that employed 2,000 people and had annual sales of $28.6 million (equivalent to $369,472,000 in 2020) in 1920. The company's success allowed them to hire Frank Lloyd Wright to design the iconic Larkin Administration Building which stood as a symbol of Larkin prosperity until the company's demise in the 1940s. (Adapted from Wikipedia)

This area of Buffalo has changed drastically since we moved here in 2014 and my mural adds a bright pop of color to the industrial neighborhood. Here are a few photo highlights of from my eight days of painting. I learned to drive a big boom lift, which felt pretty awesome and Silas gave me a tiny felt cat that he made as a good luck charm while I was working.

I wrapped this up last week and still need to get back to shoot some images of the finished piece, but it was fun to see people using the wall as a backdrop for fun photos as I was finishing up. It was two years ago that I painted my first mural, and since that time the leap from small works on paper made in my studio to painting big walls out in public has felt massive. Big murals are a ton of work, but bring me such a sense of joy and fulfillment. I am so grateful that I can do this work!

Studio Sale 🎉

It is a crazy milestone to think that we have been in this pandemic for a whole year. Last March, I spent 7 days at a residency at Drop Forge & Tool – time that I used to dream for the year ahead. Things were getting very uneasy (and the toilet paper was disappearing off of the shelves) as I drove back from Hudson to Buffalo. Thankfully, we seem to be headed in the right direction with vaccines. Spring is in the air, and the bulbs I planted last year are about to start blooming. I'm hopeful that we will be able to get together again in person very soon!

The one year anniversary of this pandemic feels like such an appropriate time to let some of the Wish You Were Here series find new homes. The series was born in my Mother-in-law's kitchen and are rooted in connection, curiosity and wonder. I've also included many sketches from past collections that are all tied to themes of growth and renewal.

Check out the updated shop – there is a painterly sunset in Hot Springs, Arkansas; a rainbow in Glacier National Park; a dreamy river nestled in the Columbia River Highway in Oregon, and a solid as a rock giant rainbow in Yellowstone National Park. See if any special places resonate with you. Each piece includes a neutral frame, so they are ready to hang on the wall. They are like mini vacations you can visit anytime!

I also have one single pair of beautiful earrings that were alternates to the ones I made for the holidays. Take a look and see what treasures are waiting for you. Thanks as always for supporting me on this creative journey. I can't wait to dive into some new works in the coming months.

Family Promise Mural

Happy New Year and Happy Friday! I hope this finds you well. As we move forward from last year, with all its uncertainties and the time apart, I've been thinking a lot about the space between... the calm and the clouds, the light and the dark. This is the place where (when conditions are just right) the rainbow happens and where we gain new perspectives and rays of colorful wisdom.

I'm entering 2021 feeling even more grateful for all I have... the big and the small. For each breath and hug. For the ability to be creative and make things. The year ended with the beautiful opportunity to create an optimistic mural at Family Promise of WNY. I loved the time I was able to spend with the kids there and I'm so thankful that this organization exists in our community. The little girl below decided she was my supervisor on the project and encouraged me each day. So sweet! ❤️

I spent much of last year working on my creative business... way more time doing the left brain work than creative work! Those steps, like establishing an LLC, have laid the groundwork for me to focus on making this year and I’m very excited about that! We are spending the Buffalo winter hibernating and I am happily diving in to the studio to play. I have a big list of projects that I can't wait to dig in to. I also have two mural projects lined up for this year and am interested in adding a few more... reach out if you have a wall to paint!

Still TBD if I will jump on board for this year's 100 Day Project, which starts at the end of January. I'm planning to reach out a little more frequently and send a monthly newsletter in 2021 so I'll let you know in a few weeks! I'll be posting about it on instagram, I'm sure.