 We regret to inform you that your entry was not chosen. Blah, blah, blah......
I got my "skinny envelope" this week from Quilt National. Really? They didn't include it in their 2017 exhibit? Are they crazy? Many artists who submit to juried shows and don't get selected, make the mistake of thinking their work is not good enough. Not me. Since I've been a juror for many exhibits, and own my own art gallery, I know that selecting works that get into a show is an arbitrary decision, made by imperfect people. No artist should EVER judge their work based on whether it got into a specific show. My own experience shows me that my work gets into about 50% of the important art exhibits that I enter. The fact that my work was not selected into Quilt National will not make me change what I make. In fact, I will continue exploring words and text in my next series because that is the artistic path I am on at the moment.. The good news is that I will have all of my works in my new series (Conversations: Decades) available for my next exhibit at aBuzz Gallery. If you live in Denver, I hope you can come to my last show at aBuzz Gallery on October 29th from 5-8pm. Pictured above: Conversations: 1960's!
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 This weekend, the Crush happened in Denver. This is the largest independent street art festival in Colorado and has been going on since 2009. My art gallery/studio is in this art district so I couldn't resist scootering around today to see all the new art. And it was everywhere!
I have been loving watching RiNo evolve over the past 8 years and one of the trends I've seen is the evolution of the street art from graffiti to fine art, as shown in the image above. One of the most interesting aspects of this festival is the transient nature of it all. Murals are painted on walls of buildings that are slated for demolition (there are a lot of those in RiNo!) And the alleys, where Crush started and flourishes every year, are painted with a fresh coat of white before each event, giving the artist a clean substrate but erasing the art from the previous year. Makes me think about my own art. I want to create something that would live on, beyond my life, to connect with people I will never meet. That's why I love seeing my work in public places. But perhaps, almost all art is transient unless purchased and preserved in museums. But even there, it can be stored in vaults, never to be seen again. Seeing this event reinforces my belief that it is the process, rather than the outcome, that's important in making art.  I've know Jean for many years and have always admired her painterly approach to creating art that shows her vision of the world. Her new series of work draws me into a world of people. People hiking, gathering, sitting, talking, sharing, and just living together.
Lately, I've been obsessed with using words to talk about my feelings and emotions but Jean does this with just images. Check her out at her website and come visit aBuzz Gallery to see her work in person! |