My exhibition “A Place of Leaves and Earth” is up at the Art Gallery at Congdon Yards in High Point, NC January 25 – April 19, 2024. Here’s a walk-through of the exhibit that features paintings, sculpture, video, sound, and installation. The work is available for purchase from the gallery.
About the work:
Making my work and moving my body outside have always been the ways that I process things. The work in this exhibit is deeply personal, generated by time I spend in nature alone and with family and friends. It is also born from the range of emotions I feel as I read the news and I make my way through the world as a human. My grief and anger and fear over our changing environment and socio-political upheaval are filtered through the quiet meditative space I find when I’m moving through nature and is sublimated into the artwork.
This grouping is comprised of paintings, video, sound, sculpture, and installation made in the last 5 years, a time that coincided with my son’s time in elementary school. Now that he is older and more independent, I have more uninterrupted time in the studio. I have space to meander, and to sit back and observe and to play. This body of work is a culmination of ideas that have percolated over the last two decades, and of giving myself the grace to learn new techniques and ways to engage the senses.
I hope you’ll experience this work through a poetic lens and allow yourself to be flooded with the sensations and memories this work evokes.
“Before we can save this world we are losing, we must first learn how to savor what remains. This is more than an ecological crisis or a political crisis — it is a spiritual one.” — Terry Tempest Williams
Earlier this week The U.S. Department of State sent an art shipper to my studio to pack up “Field and Forest with pink.” Through the Art in Embassies program, this painting is headed to the Kyrgyz Republic to live with the U.S. Ambassador there on their tour of duty.
Field And Forest With Pink, acrylic on wood, 18 x 24 inches
The U.S. Department of State has run Art in Embassies since 1963 to create cross-cultural dialogue and foster mutual understanding through the visual arts. I love the idea that one of my paintings is headed to a country I haven’t visited.
As part of the Art in Embassies program, the U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic selected my painting for the official residence in Bishkek.
Writer Scott Sexton wrote a great piece about it in today’s Winston Salem Journal and you can read it here.
A few weeks ago I had a chance to sit with Tyler Nail, the Winston-Salem song writer and music producer, on his Red House podcast. In our wide-ranging conversation we compare notes on making visual art and music, discuss why taking care of your health is a rebellious act as an artist, being purposeful in life and in your creative practice, making tough decisions as a parent and when to let go, the resurgence of tradition and technique in art and music and many other ideas on life and art. Thanks Tyler for the excellent conversation!
You can watch it on YouTube or listen to it on any of the platforms below. And give Tyler a listen if you haven’t already. You can find his music here. Enjoy!
This Sunday at the Millennium Center in Winston-Salem, come see some artwork and listen to live jazz. I’ll be there along with a group of Artfolios artists, and all artwork there will be available for purchase. The center is at 101 W 5th St, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, and the event is from 2:00 – 5:00 PM. You can find all the details here.
The Spring Studio Refresh is still open if you haven’t had a chance to check out some of these artworks. These are pieces I’ve made to try out ideas, to hone my craft, to demonstrate technique to students and for fun. You’ll find that work here.
And lastly, I’m headed to France soon to visit family and friends and for some hiking in the Alps. I’m closing my shop while I’m away, so if you have your eye on something you’d like to get your hands on soon, now’s the time!
Last day to order a painting for delivery or pick up this month is Monday June 6th.
High up in its windy nest, oil and acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40 inchesField and forest with turquoise, acrylic on panel, 5 x 7 inches
On Saturday, I ran a trail marathon on Pilot Mountain in North Carolina, a state park 30 minutes from Winston-Salem. These are typical East Coast technical trails with plenty of rocks and roots to navigate and 4,500 feet of climbing. This mountain has inspired much of my work, both paintings and installation, notably Paper Mountain. I’ve also spent countless hours hiking and running and camping here, so it felt pretty special to have the chance to run this event. Here’s my race report for anyone who cares about the nitty gritty details.
The race approaches the mountain on the Pilot Creek Trail, heads up the mountain on Grindstone, then Ledge Spring trail, goes around the Jomeoke trail at the top, back down Grindstone, around the Mountain trail, then back up Grindstone, Ledge Springs, Jomeoke, down Grindstone, around the Mountain trail again, and back out on Pilot Creek trail. Here’s a map of these trails if you’d like to take a look for yourself.
Pilot Mountain 11, acrylic and oil on panel, 12 x 12 inches. One of the paintings I’ve made inspired by my time on this mountain, specifically hiking along the Mountain trail
It was a little above freezing at the race start and got up into the mid forties by the end. I carried a hydration pack with 1.5 liters of water, a small first aid kit, a little baggie of potato chips and gummy bears, and planned to grab most of my food and additional drink at the aid stations along the way.
The morning of, I had my typical “race breakfast” of oatmeal, scrambled eggs and coffee, and I did my physical therapy exercises to help make sure I didn’t hurt myself. I drove the 35 minutes to race start and after picking up my bib, I did my usual dynamic warmup, ate a banana and drank a bottle of water.
A small group of us gathered at the start and it started to rain freezing rain. There were many more people racing the 20km course, and they stood nearby. The mood seemed fairly calm and relaxed. The race officially started and those of us doing the marathon ran into the woods. I could hear the freezing rain, but the tree canopy kept us dry. The ground was muddy – as expected since it rained most of the previous week.
I passed some people and was passed by others as we all established our rhythm, and within 15 minutes or so I was basically on my own in the woods. The first section, Pilot Creek trail, is a 3.3 mile section that brings you to the base of the mountain.
I stopped at the first aid station about 30min in, grabbed a cup of water and some Oreos and was on my way to start the first of 2 laps up and around the mountain. I ate an Oreo on the way up Ledge Springs trail, one of the big climbs, and was shocked by how sweet it tasted. I had a hard time getting 2 cookies down, but knew I needed the calories. My belly felt a little off after that, so at the 2nd aid station at the top of the mountain, I drank some Coke which thankfully helped. I grabbed 1/2 a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and ran down the mountain.
Of Stones and Earth and Air, oil on canvas, 60 x 72 inches. One of the paintings I made inspired by hiking at the top of the Grindstone trail
About halfway down the Grindstone trail, I took a wrong turn (100% my fault). Luckily I realized I was on the wrong trail fairly quickly, turned around and headed back to rejoin the right trail down the mountain. I lost a few minutes there and laughed it off to keep my heart rate from spiking due to the adrenaline.
One my way around the base of the mountain, as I stuffed my gloves into my pack, I twisted my ankle hard, but quickly recovered. To me this stretch is mentally the toughest of the race because it’s long and feels never-ending, but I felt pretty good. I ate my 1/2 PBJ sandwich and passed the water aid station, a gallon of water along the side of the trail, and opted not to stop there.
Pilot Mountain 7, acrylic on panel, 20 x 20 inches. One of the paintings I made inspired by hiking along the Mountain trail
I passed the fourth aid station at the start of my second loop up the mountain, had some coke again since it worked well to keep my stomach settled and grabbed a half banana to eat up on the steep Ledge Spring climb. Just after starting that stretch of trail which is a series of steep rock “steps” for almost a mile, my left inner thigh threatened to cramp, so I tried climbing leading with my right leg each time. After a few steps, I realized I’d quickly fry that leg too, so I went back to alternating legs up each step, but focused on engaging other muscles. It worked and I was able to very gingerly make it up the climb without fully cramping.
Another coke from the aid station at the top and I took a gel with me for the loop around the base of the mountain. On the loop, my right inner thigh threatened to cramp, so I resorted to taking very small steps as I climbed and hopped around the rock gardens along the trail. I ate some of the chips I had brought with me, hoping the salt would help. It didn’t help fast enough, so I quickly downed the gel and that did the trick. My pace felt pretty good on the flats and descents and I eventually made it to the last aid station just before heading back on the Pilot Creek Trail. I walked to drink a cup of water and had another gel to make sure I didn’t “hit the wall” on the last few miles. Other than stiff legs, I felt ok, so I decided to pick up the pace on this last home stretch. I caught and passed a group of 3 men about a mile from the finish and happily kept them at bay. They were chatting as they ran, so I think I was working a lot harder than they were, but I’ll take it!
As soon as I popped out of the woods I saw and heard my husband and our son cheering for me, and felt a surge of emotion as I ran up the grass to the finish. I did it! I was greeted with a finisher’s medal (and I’ve never been so proud to receive one of those) and a bowl of chili and cornbread which I ate as I walked around in a daze.
The race promoters put on a great event, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a challenging trail marathon. I’d also like to take a second to thank my husband for supporting all my training and for being generally awesome. Thanks Tim!
Pilot Mountain 10, acrylic and oil on panel, 12 x 12 inches. One of the Pilot Mountain paintings I made over the years, this one specifically hiking along the Mountain trail
It’s been a strange couple of weeks. We got a bunch of snow a few days ago – AND IT’S STILL HERE. If you’ve spent any time in the South, you might know how weird it is to get snow and for it to actually stick for a while rather than turn into a grey mess. While my classes at UNCSA started last week, I still haven’t had a chance to see my students in person because all our classes have been online. My son has been off school all week due to the winter weather. And I ran 23 miles last Friday – on a mountain. Yeah, you heard that right. I ran 23 miles and I’m still kicking.
If you’ve been following along on my journey, you might remember that I’ve been training for a trail marathon in my favorite place, Pilot Mountain. It’s been almost half a year of training so far and I have one more long run to go before the big day. But back to last Friday.
It was a pretty terrible run. Nothing felt right for most of the 5.5 hours I spent up on the mountain. But worse than the physical discomfort was the mental anguish (not exaggerating). I just couldn’t get it together and dealt with self doubt/pity for most of the run. It’s normal to have a particularly bad training session at some point, so it wasn’t totally unexpected. There were some bright spots during the run though: I got to use my first aid kit and save my foot from an impending giant blister for example.
After this experience, I have a good idea of what to improve on for my next long run. And as my husband Tim said, “Look at it this way: on a bad day, you still ran 23 miles.” ‘Nuff said.
In the studio, I’m in my usual winter routine of digging into fundamentals and studying color. I’ve been working on color studies and playing with ideas for a new project involving Legos. I’m not sure this project will amount to anything big, but it’s keeping my momentum going and may lead to other ideas.
My show at Charlotte Russell Contemporary is up until February 16th and we’ve scheduled a closing reception on Friday February 11th 5:30-7:30pm. Find more details on the gallery website here.
Living in the Sky, oil and acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40 inches
Come with me as I take a walk through my exhibition Of Stones and Earth and Air at the Sechrest Gallery of Art at High Point University, NC. The show is up until December 15th, 2021.
Watch a timelapse video showing the 40 hours it took to install this show here.
It’s heating up here in the studio and I’m pleased to share with you a few events where you’ll find me and my work this month.
This Saturday December 4th I’ll be at the Artfolios Holiday Bazaar with artwork available for purchase. You’ll find artwork from 17 other artists there and live music, coffee and snacks from 1-4pm at Current Coworking in Winston-Salem. Find all details here.
The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) is featuring my work along with others from a small group of artists in their Holiday Gift Shop. Proceeds support the museum’s programming. Details are here.
As always, I’m happy to chat with you over the phone or email if you have any questions about an artwork, installment plans, lighting or shipping. Email or call me at (336) 283-0185.
PIlot Mountain 1 and 7, each 20×20 on wood panel – Click the image above to find them
Last week, with the help of a whole team, I installed my latest exhibition at the Sechrest Gallery of Art at High Point University. The show includes a 19-foot tall painting installation as well as a 19-foot tall mountain of paper cranes with an approximately 12-foot square foot print. There is also a monumental video projection and a collection of paintings. Below is the video showing all 40 hours of the installation process. Read on for a breakdown of what happened during that time.
Day 1:
Measure/Cut/Attach the wire mesh to steel beams about 25-feet up
Tie fishing line to the mesh
Prep wall with masking tape to install 63 sky paintings in a grid
Day 2:
Tie fishing line to mesh
Prep wall with masking tape for 63 paintings grid
Lay out all sky paintings on the ground to arrange them for installation
Rebox paintings in order they’ll be installed
Start installing sky painting grid
Start attaching paper cranes to fishing line
Day 3:
Finish tying last remaining fishing line
Attach paper cranes
Interns start on this day: explain the work and each person’s job
Finish installing sky painting grid
Day 4:
Attach paper cranes
Hang all other paintings in the exhibit
Begin lighting mountain
Day 5:
Attach paper cranes and refine shape of mountain
Finish lighting mountain
Install largest painting in exhibit
Trim fishing line
Light all other paintings
I shot 1 photo per minute over the course of about 40 hours over 5 days, using a GoPro Hero 3+.
This exhibition is at the Sechrest Gallery of Art at High Point University, NC October 25, 2021 – December 17, 2021 Opening Reception: October 28, 5:00-7:00 PM Gallery Hours: Monday through Friday, 10am – 5pm
To see more details about each artwork or for purchasing, visit the gallery shop page.
THANK YOU to my partner Tim Bowman, the team of interns, Emily Gerhold and High Point University for supporting this exhibition.
Big skies… this is the working title for a new project I’m working on. I announced last week that Sechrest Gallery at High Point University invited me to show Paper Mountain, Sky Project and a group of paintings for a solo exhibit in the fall, and installation for the show starts exactly 90 days from today. Because I want to make a lot A LOT of paintings between now and then, I decided what this exhibit needs is a wall-full of paintings – sky paintings to be specific.
So I am making 50 sky paintings that will literally cover one of the gallery walls.
The paintings will be hung in a grid 19ft tall and 17ft wide.
I’ve decided to use acrylic on Yupo, a polypropylene paper. The acrylic dries relatively fast compared to oil paint, so I can easily stack finished paintings as I work. As for the Yupo paper, I like how slick it is to paint on, and I know that it will sit against the wall rather than buckle.
Why am I using paper rather than wood or canvas to make these paintings? I want the images to sit flat on the wall rather than jut out into space like a panel does. I don’t want the objectness of a panel.
I’ll share with you progress on this project as I go, so stay tuned for images as I figure things out.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with an image of a sky I particularly like. This is Field and forest with red, one of the paintings from my Tiny Landscapes collection. I enjoy being able to see some of the underpainting of the sky… bits of pink and gold glimpsing through layers of sky and cloud. This little painting is acrylic on wood panel and measures 6×6 inches.
