Monday, October 15, 2012

Shows and Demos

It's been a busy month so far, starting with the Paradise City Fine Arts show over Columbus Day weekend. This was my last Paradise City show because I will be moving to Chicago next year. 


The 3 day shows are exhausting and the day after coming home I had to begin setup for the next event... Yesterday was my solo show opening at Brush Strokes Gallery, a new local venue that has also invited me to teach encaustic workshops. 


The building once was a daycare center and Jon Corbino, the building owner, decided to convert the space into artist studios with a large, main gallery on the upper level.

Brush Strokes mission statement: "Our mission is to create meaningful connections between artists, collectors, curators and visitors. By establishing an environment that is open and unintimidating, we hope to enable reflection, to encourage passion and to provide a forum for the exploration of all media: painting, photography, sculpture, installation, video and more.  Our roster includes artists both emerging and established. What unifies them is our belief in their material and conceptual vision."


I have never had the opportunity to exhibit so many pieces of my work in such a large exhibit space and admit it was both exhilarating and challenging to make everything flow together. Both watercolor and encaustic paintings are on display, all of the work is inspired by the land and earth. 


I decided to hang awards I have received next to the corresponding pieces as visual endorsements of my work.





This show is my first introduction of the Outback Series, an abstract interpretation of Australian lands. The gallery offers wood display panels on wheels which allow for the room to change with the artist's needs. It was the perfect space to separate the representational landscapes from these new abstracts.

An hour into the reception, I demonstrated several encaustic techniques. I had prepared an 11 x 14 panel with many layers of wax that were then scraped, molded and reformed. I demonstrated inlay techniques, image transfers and oil pastel etched into wax medium. The interest and energy in the room was fantastic.


The first encaustic workshop starts this Sunday and hopefully I will have time to complete the demo piece started yesterday before the workshop, pictured below.


12 comments:

  1. Robin, I am so proud of you. The show looks wonderful. I am amazed that you had so many wonderful pieces to show. You are certainly a dedicated artist.Bravo!

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    1. I have over 20 years of paintings and even though I have had plenty of art sales of the years, I still have a huge body of work. I would love to generate sales from this show and end up with less to move cross country!

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  2. What a great gallery space. Your work looks wonderful--and so do you. So many shows and demos; take a deep breath-- and I think hanging the awards is a great idea.

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    1. I was a little concerned about if hanging the awards cheapened the work rather than enhanced it but local patrons would definitely be familiar with some of these awards (something that may not hold true when I am in Chicago). The demos are the fun part for me, I can hardly wait for my first workshop this Sunday.

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  3. So lovely to see all the arrangements and artworks, you took me to the place virtually literally! Keep rocking!

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    1. Having visual tools certainly allows people from far away places to feel closer to the real thing. :) And as you know, padmaja, one of my future projects is going to be putting a video together of my process.

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  4. Such wonderful things going on in your life, Robin. I love this latest showing of yours and wish I had just such a place of my own to do similarly as Mr. Corbino. Maybe some day!

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    1. If you want to show your work publicly, Sherry, a good starting point is by joining a local art association and participating in their shows. Something to think about, anyway.

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  5. The show looks incredible! Wow! Your paintings look so good the way you've arranged everything. Each one is beautiful and complements the one next to it. I am all inspired now to make more art and start getting out there and doing similar things as you. (any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated, by the way!)

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    1. Similar advice to what I just wrote above to Sherry - I am not sure if you show your work anywhere now Katherine but participating in local juried art associations is always a good starting point. Also local coffee shops, banks, especially libraries, often offer hanging space with selling options. You may want to google online places close to where you live to see whose showing and where they are selling.

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  6. Robin... Your work looks wonderful in both venues. Kudos on taking the scary leap of hanging in such a large gallery space. I'll bet it seemed intimidating at first, but you did an excellent job of tying everything together. I wish I could be there in person to get in front of each piece and just absorb them. Congrats on the teaching gig. I hope you have as great a turnout for your classes as you did for the demo. Too cool!

    You probably noticed my absence. I took some time off from e-surfing that lasted almost two full months. I've got a lot of catching up to do...

    -Don

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    1. There is definitely a time commitment required to keep up with blogs and various social networking sites. I sometimes think I shouldn't take the time but the benefits of free PR along with meeting wonderful artists like you make it all worth it. I am glad you checked in with me, Don.

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