18 February 2020

Planets of the Moon

A few days ago I went with a friend to an art gallery created in the building of the old Planetarium.

We saw a lot of art!  I particularly liked Luke Jeram's Museum of the Moon and spent quite awhile lying on the floor under it.  I would like to say that gazing up at the Moon inspired profound thoughts about the universe, but really I just lay there and enjoyed the sounds, the light and colour relationships, some of which were very subtle, and let my mind relax.  It was lovely.

Below, a little project from months ago, which could relate to the moon.  Paper collaged onto old business cards - all this human business, transformed.  Heehee.

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Right, so... "business success" story:

A few years ago I decided to stop searching for further gallery representation.  I would continue to make art, and simply post on social media without grasping at anything.  If I'm meant to have another gallery, it will happen, and if not that's okay.

Well, my work is now being represented at Grant Berg Gallery.  The owner saw my paintings on instagram and contacted me.  Writing to a few of their other artists, I received detailed, positive responses, and there were other good indications too, so I went with it and last week shipped 6 paintings to them.  I'm feeling pretty happy about this.

Acrylic on canvas and hardboard, approx 15x17"
Grant Berg Gallery has a few of these now, plus some larger works.


Another thing:

At last month's opening reception of my exhibition Fragile Planets at the Okotoks Art Gallery, I met artist Debbie Lee Miszaniec and learned of her Sunflower Project.  What a beautiful practice, what a beautiful person!

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Many of my days begin with breakfast and small artworking at the kitchen table.  Since meeting Debbie and recieving one of her Sunflower paintings, I've been thinking about unconditional love.

Rumi wrote:

Today, like every other day,
we wake up empty and frightened.
Don't open the door to the study and begin reading.
Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.


One other thing:

I've been playing around with framing my paintings.  It has taken me a couple of decades to believe I might be capable of building my own frames.  *laughs* funny how perception works, isn't it.  And perception determines so much.  More about framing in a future post, perhaps.  I'm still working this out.  :)

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#steelskywoman @steelskywoman

Sometimes I am just flat-out amazed at my life.  The expectations of my childhood did not indicate anything like this.  I'll be 50 years old this year, and here I am, still exploring the wild, wonderful, worlds of possibility in creating art, and even showing my work from time to time!!  It really is quite amazing.  Planets of the Moon, indeed.

Thank you as always for your interest, dear Reader.  Until next time...