only love can bring the rain, 2015, acrylic on canvas panel, 6×6
As the year comes to an end, I choose to focus on the positive things that happened this year. There were so many! Because I love a good list, here’s a wrap up–
It has been an amazing year despite the stress, the worrying, the painful loss. I am ready to get a new year underway as I prepare for my March show at Art & Light Gallery and can’t wait to see what else 2016 brings!
Hiya artsies! I’ve been super sick this week with a horrible cold– that always seems to happen around the holidays, doesn’t it? But I just had to pop in and tell you about this amazing show opening at Voltage Coffee and Arttonight!
The show, Jealously Curated, is the brainchild of artists Jenny Brown, Jessica Brilli, and Anna Jensen. Jealously Curated is a collection of work by East Coast artists who all have one thing in common: they have all been featured on Danielle Krysa’s wildly popular blog, The Jealous Curator. For the first time on the East Coast, alums of the blog have organized a show at Voltage Art and Coffee to share their latest work—and to celebrate the blog that inspired and brought them together.
Artists and art bloggers are an incredibly supportive community and I absolutely loved this idea when I heard about it! If you’re in the Cambridge area, be sure and check it out! You can find more info on the show on the Voltage website.
I’ve featured several of these artists here, if you’d like to check out their Forager features– Jenny Brown, Jessica Brilli, Leah Giberson, Jeremy Miranda. And of course, check out the websites of all these amazingly talented artists!
I’m trying really hard not to be one of those artists who never has their latest work on the website. So, new work has been added to my artist site!
above us only sky I & II ( diptych ), 2015, acrylic on masonite panel, 12×24 overall
As I prepare for my solo show, LATITUDE, at Art & Light Gallery in March and waiting for my Ashland studio to be ready for me to use, I’ve been working on small works on panel at the kitchen table. Not ideal, but creating these smaller pieces helps me work out composition ideas and palettes. Some I love, some I don’t. OK, there’s only one I don’t love. I’ll leave you to guess which one.
**Updated 12.26.2018 scroll to the bottom of this post for an update after 3 years of using Genie Canvas.
Our gypsy life can put a serious damper on my studio practice. Not the actual practice of creating but finding space to store my work and the high cost of shipping to galleries and clients. Until recently, I’ve been working on paper and small panels, though I’ve always worked larger and was itching to break into painting BIG again. But there was the problem of storage and shipping. Then I discovered Genie Canvas.
These collapsible canvases seemed like they just might be the answer to my go bigger dilemma. So I reached out to Genie Canvas and they graciously offered to send me one to try. As it’s been a while since I painted a large canvas, I went with one of the smaller sizes they offer, a 36×36 ( sizes range from 24×36 up to 60×96 ). The collapsible canvas arrived neatly packed in a 50x6x6 tube, including 1 1/2″ outside stretcher bars, inner stabilizer bar, and heavy gessoed cotton canvas.
Easy to follow detailed instructions for both assembly and repacking for shipment were included, but being a visual learner, I opted to follow the instructional video on their website. The canvas arrives with two of the stretchers pre-attached, so all you have to do is fold over the other sides, attach the installed velcro, fold the corners, slide in the hinged support and voila, you have a tightly stretched canvas ready for paint!
I wasn’t sure about the velcro but I’ve worked on the canvas for five days, moved it around, on and off the easel and it remains as tight and firmly in place as it was when it was first assembled. I haven’t had the need to ship this canvas out yet ( though we’re leaving Idaho Falls sooner than we thought, so I’ll be packing it up in a few weeks! ), but I’ll post an update to let you know how it went.**
**Update! The 36×36 painting shipped easily across the country from Idaho to South Carolina for only $45 including insurance. It arrived safely with no damage to the painting and was reassembled and ready to hang in minutes! I’ve ordered 4 more Genie Canvases. 😉
In the meantime, I’ll share the finished work I created on my Genie Canvas—
This 36×36 painting is a sneak peek of the body of work I’m creating for my solo show at Art & Light Gallery in March, Latitude. I’ll be sharing more sneak peeks and info on the Latitude show and series over the next few months. Stay tuned!
**Update: originally I enthusiastically recommended this product and after this initial experience, over the next 3 years I purchased over 24 canvases in various sizes from Genie Canvas. At first, I was happy with the product as it made shipping affordable but as time went on, I began to notice slips in quality– canvases were arriving with dirty edges and one of the art consultants I worked with told me there was an issue with the canvases not being square (which caused an issue with framing for her client). I brought this to the attention of the owner of Genie Canvas in an email, to which I didn’t get a response. We are all busy so I didn’t think much of the lack of response and I continued to purchase canvases from him until two incidents happened which brought to the forefront for me that these were no longer a reliable product– A canvas ordered for a commission came in with a very large flaw on the surface of the canvas and the stretchers were noticeably bowed when the center structural support was added. Then, a finished canvas was sent to a gallery and one of the canvas stretchers broke in two– again caused by the center support placing too much torque on the other stretchers. I debated whether to update this review, not wanting to seem petty or mean spirited but I cannot in good conscience allow this review to be on my site without an update of my experience with this product.
All I can say is buyer beware. –Lesley
Genie Canvas sent me one of their products free of charge for review. All opinions are my own.
We aren’t all outdoorsy and it can truly be a challenge to give up the luxuries of beds and showers for a few days. But if you’ve never strapped on a pack and walked into the wilderness, as an artist, I can tell you the benefits will far outweigh the short term sacrifices. I have a love/hate relationship with backpacking. The whole no toilet/no shower thing isn’t my fave. Neither is carrying a big pack while hiking. However, I love the feeling of being on the trail, sleeping under the stars.
Last weekend, Mr. F and I took off into the Grand Tetons for a night and it got me thinking of all the ways backpacking can benefit us as artists.
A literal change of scene.
Artists tend to be solitary creatures. We toil away in our studios, sometimes forgetting to go out, eat, even talk to other human beings. We can get so wrapped up in what is going on within those four walls that we begin to overthink, overwork. Backpacking is a fantastic way to get a change of scene, to physically and psychologically distance yourself from the work. You’ll go back to it with a refreshed vision.
Quiet your mind.
No iMac. No iPad. No iPhone. The only I is you. Getting out and leaving technology and distractions behind, allows your mind time to calm. As your feet take you down the trail, your mind is free to wander, to look up, look down, look around and notice the beauty in the three dimensional world around you. You may even find new ideas flowing fast and furious thanks to a bit of peace and quiet.
Find room to breathe.
Those four walls I mentioned earlier? They can be suffocating. Especially when tied to pressure, responsibility, deadlines, all that adult stuff that goes along with being an artist. The longer you hike, the farther you go into the wild, the farther away from those four walls, the more air you’ll feel going into your lungs. Despite the weight of a pack, you feel lighter than air, your only concern is one foot in front of the other. There is finally room to breathe.
For the inspiration.
This one seems obvious, especially if like me, you are an artist for whom nature is your muse. But even if what you do isn’t remotely involved with nature, there are still mountains of inspiration to be attained. Watch the changing light, notice the textures and shapes at play, the juxtapositions of color. I dare you to come away uninspired.
For the adventure.
How often do we get to go on adventures? Our grown up days are usually filled with the monotony of errands and responsibilities. Backpacking will get you back in touch with your inner Huck Finn. There is adventure and possibility around every bend in the trail. Tackling a grocery store run with kids in tow will seem like a piece of cake once you’ve climbed steep switchbacks with a pack on your back.
If you get the chance, take to the trail. Your legs might hate you but your mind, your spirit, and your work will thank you.
All images by Lesley Frenz. Images from the Top of the World trail to Marion Lake and Granite Canyon, Grand Teton National Park.
Every person’s cage is of a different sort. We may feel trapped by our jobs, our circumstances, even the things that we own. Even the most opulent and luxurious of places can seem like a prison. As I begin contemplating a new body of work, I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of freedom, of space to move. A feeling of space doesn’t necessarily correlate to a large building– depending on our state of mind, we can feel more free in a tiny studio than an extravagant mansion.
For us, feeling confined correlates with traffic and overpopulation. We feel most free surrounded only by trees and mountains. But for you, it might be different. The thought of being out in the wide open wild might seem incredibly imprisoning. The important thing is to be able to identify what it is that makes you feel free and then run headlong straight for it.
Paintings above by artist Bradley Wood. To see more of his work, please visit his website.
We know that we have at least three months here in Southeastern Idaho. But we are now into Autumn and the season can be short lived at the higher elevations where we most want to explore. So Mr. F and I have been up before the sun each Saturday to drive up to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, to seize the opportunity to explore before the snows set in.
In each new place we find ourselves, there is a sense of urgency to see as much of the area as possible, for we never know if or when we’ll be back that way again. It creates in us a habit of seeking out the best in each place, of seizing every opportunity. Every time we are surprised by the locals who hardly ever venture out, who’ve never even heard of places we’ve been in their own backyard. I hope that even when we settle down, this sense of urgency to explore will never wane.
In his work, Georgia based artist Benjamin Britton is “making paintings which foreground an experience of the senses, and where moments of adventure and wonder are privileged over other moments.” May they always be so.
Now that we are settled in for the next three months in Idaho Falls, we’ve been exploring the surrounding area every weekend. This part of Idaho is a close neighbor to Wyoming and Montana, Big Sky country. That hemmed in feeling that we’d been experiencing in the Bay Area seems like a far away memory when standing in the middle of a Yellowstone valley, with only the bison for company.
These paintings by Irish painter Tom Climent “reminds us of how our spatial ability becomes spatial knowledge as we navigate our world and with this knowledge we create a place for ourselves.” Most of us have it within our control to decide what our place in this world looks like. The places we occupy, whether permanently or just for a time, effect our psyche, offering chaos or peace.
Today may officially mark the last day of summer, but for weeks now, summer’s glow has been slowly fading. The hots days have grown weary and we’ve rejoiced in a new, cooler breeze. It is always an interesting time, this changing of seasons. But if you’re like me, you enjoy the shift. Each season brings its own joys, its own rewards and embracing them each for what they are helps to usher in the new.
The beginning of a new season offers the hope of a fresh canvas, a new start. I’ve been thinking very seriously along those lines where this little blog is concerned. This Fall will be a season of transitioning in many ways, including here on the blog. I’m excited to share with you a new vision! Some things will remain, while others will fade like the leaves. New seasons bring new opportunities and we must embrace the transition in order to reap the rewards. Stay tuned for details next week!
Images above are photographs by multi-disciplinary artist Sarah Illenberger. To see more of Sarah’s work, please visit her website.
For centuries, women have been defined as the “fairer”, even the “weaker” sex. Daintiness, extreme ideas of femininity were valued and celebrated. Yet it is in exactly what defines us as feminine in which our greatest strengths lie.
Praised for their curvaceous beauty, our bodies are capable of growing another human being, they expand and do miraculous things for the sake of giving another life. That same body nurtures, arms provide a loving embrace, feet stand for long hours at work, and at home. Sometimes, what makes us female becomes our enemy, as women who have suffered through breast, ovarian, and uterine cancer will tell you. Yet in that feminine weakness, is still found their greatest strength.
Paintings above by Los Angeles artist Courtney Murphy. To see more of the artist’s work, please visit her website.
