happiness is a new painting rack

After hanging the Fragile Planets show, I crashed for a few days.  When I got up, I began a new series of paintings.

Above: first paint layers.

Below: a few subsequent paint layers.

Since moving into this studio about six months ago, I'd been dreaming of building a painting rack.  This week I finally built it and, in my own mind at least, it's a thing of beauty.  Simple, lightweight and strong, capable of  holding various sizes of work safely and efficiently.

The paintings, which had been precariously piled atop one another against the far wall of the studio, are now gently organized.  This sort of thing really does increase my happiness in the studio.

installing the Fragile Planets

Yesterday my husband and I drove down to Drumheller and installed my Fragile Planets exhibition in the Western GM Drumheller Art Gallery.  I have been working on this project since July 2016.

We arrived at the gallery, unloaded my gear, took stock of the space and then got to work.  First to go up was the Meditation Wheel.

I used electrical conduit to make a circle that we fastened to the lighting supports near the ceiling, then hung each string of painting + print from it.

It actually went up surprisingly fast.  My studio is maybe 1/4 the size of the gallery, and it was wonderful to see my theoretical logistics work out so well in real life.  

Adjusting the lighting as best I could, I was very happy with the end result.  I had envisioned the pieces to look like they are floating in space, et Voila, my vision was realized!

The shadows cast on the floor were not something I had envisioned.  That was a surprise: sweet icing on the cake.

The exhibition included some of my paintings and small framed prints as well.

Sound series, 20x20" each

Resonance series and Other Suns series, 12x12" each

Collagraph monoprints, 4x4, 5x5 and 6x6"

I was not sure how many paintings and prints to bring, but as it turned out I gauged perfectly.  The Meditation Wheel took up about 2/3 of the gallery, with my paintings and prints completing the balance beautifully.

A couple more installation shots attempting to show the work all together:

And a couple more shots of those sweet shadows:

This install took about 6 hours, pretty much what I had figured on.  I think I went up and down that ladder at least 100 times!  *laughs*  While we were working, several people stopped in to have a look and made some very positive comments on the work.  It was a good beginning.

At the very end, I made a couple of real quick portraits in my sketchbook of the person who organizes and curates the gallery:

paint marker, ink and gouache in my portrait sketchbook

130lb paper, 9x12"

The culmination of a new idea in my work which took several months to realize, combined with physical and mental exhaustion, and knowing that my exhibition achieved a really nice balance ... What an elation I felt as we drove home!

Along the way we went for a little walk on the slopes above Drumheller, where my husband found a tiny, beautiful rock to add to our collection.

A perfect finish to a wonderful day.