Only nine out of eighteen sculptures are left. But you can see twelve of them together in a beautiful inviting good-energy place by visiting the Wheatgrass Saloon in Livingston. The opportunity to have an exhibit in my own lovely town is a rare treat
First dog-less ride
Zaydee hasn’t been on every mountain bike ride since some are simply too long, hot and arduous for a dog but for twelve years she has been my enthusiastic faithful companion on most rides. She gets excited when I pull on padded shorts. She flips out at the trailhead when I gear up to go. Together we have covered hundreds of miles of single track. But at something around 14 years old (she is adopted) – she is showing her age. She can’t even keep up with me when I go for a run (and I am hardly a “runner”). We are coming to grips with this transition. I find myself full of gratitude for what we have shared and guilt for leaving her behind.
Carhartt photoshoot
Carhartt photographer Jennifer just left my studio after a sawdusty shoot – a sweet gal with a cool job hopping about the country photographing women for the blog “Crafted in Carhartt” about “women who do amazing things.” Carhartt sponsored me nearly two decades ago – before they made clothes for women – in fact my studio work clothes closet is full of Carhartt bib overalls (which are hard to wear out despite the gazillion hours I work in them. I added a “vintage” Carhartt cap from my closet to the photo shoot ensemble. Pretty fun to get some new “girlie” duds and turn Carhartt onto two other awesome Carhartt women; Stephanie Revennaugh and Ona Magaro. Jennifer was totally “wowed” by my studio – said it was absolutely the best studio she has visited during her year+ photographing for Carhartt. Will share photos when I have them…
Pure Oxygen
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/g2PkphVSJQQ" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen> Someone from the Oprah network contacted me about a show called, “Fearless Women.” I laughed and admitted that I am anything but fearless. I told them they should name their show “Gals with Gumption” to honor those of us who pursue our passions despite our fears. The result is this five-minute segment about my life and work.
Rain Takes Off her Clothes
I love hearing from collectors after one of my artworks enters their collection. "Rain Takes Off Her Clothes" - one of the recent Neruda Series sculptures was celebrated with a bottle of wine when it arrived at the home of collectors according to the email art-love-note. Sweet.
Taking the plunge
A week ago I skipped away for the better part of a day to enjoy my own “backyard” – the Crazy Mountains.
Fiesta of Sunset
Last week two sculptures left “the flock” for their new homes. Several more are sold and waiting for delivery since the collectors were kind enough to allow me to show their sculptures in Jackson last month. The “Neruda Series” of mini reliquaries – a total of 18 sculptures – were created during an especially challenging spell of severe insomnia. Each week for several months I averaged between 20-22 hours of sleep; deprivation that taxed my body and soul til I felt like pummeled pieces except when I was creating.I left the business part of art behind and focused on the new creations and sought help from various professionals to find my way back to sleep. All of the sculptures have titles inspired by Pablo Neruda's love poems.
“Fiesta of Sunset” is a bright flaming-with-feathers sculpture and would be hard to give up so quickly except it went to the fabulous creative art-filled home belonging to one of my collectors. Together we celebrated with drinks and chocolate after I arrived with the sculpture. The opportunity to personally deliver and know the people who “adopt” my creations means much to me. The Neruda Series fueled me with the inspiration I needed to survive an especially difficult chapter and spawned a zillion new ideas for future series.
I can't wait to get back to the mess-making soul-feeding creative part of my life!
Magical Mountaintop Mediation
I heard wings above my head - right after I closed my eyes - three breaths into a mediation on top of my mountain. Zaydee and I were on the edge of the canyon next to the "Sound of Music" meadow. A hawk. Large. Close. Gracefully soaring around and around Zaydee and I. Crazy beautiful close. Then another - two raptors chortled and swooped. Magic. Then another and another and another joined - like Sunday church service - dipping and calling, circling the canyon above and below me. Wing sounds in air. Swish. Sunlight through feathers stretched impressively long. The original hawk hovered close, its beak dipped each time the bird looked directly at Zaydee or me. I half expected it to dive-bomb Zaydee; so close it dropped each time it circled. The raptors seemed to want attention, revel in currents as Zaydee and I watched. I thought to meditate beneath their shadows but they left when I dropped my gaze and closed my eyes. Blessed.
Museum Shindig
After spending much of the week wearing Carhartts at the National Wildlife Art Museum as the Artist in Action, it was a nice change to put on a dress and heels to attend the gala event "Rise of the Fenix" hosted by Amy Ringholz (the following week’s Artist in Action).
Artist in Action at the National Museum of Wildlife Art
What a trip for me to leave the solitude of my studio at the end of the road near the top of a mountain for a week of sharing tools and inspiration with people of all ages! Jackson is a magical place nestled in the well-muscled arms of Momma Nature on steroids. The National Museum of Wildlife Art is a grand stone castle-like animal art dream world. My days began with early morning mountain bike rides up Cache Creek near my dear friend Leslie’s house (she hosted Zaydee and I for the week). The museum hosted a special event artist’s talk with an impressive turn out and so much fun!!!
The best part of my work at the museum was connecting with, inspiring and empowering people. I love to see a light go on when people handle a power tool for the first time! Hard to pick a favorite moment but one of my many enduring memories was with a matronly southern belle decked out in broad brimmed hat and bling who had never had a power tool in her hand but took after it with all the gumption of a baseball pro hitting a home run. I didn’t think she was going to leave a significant chunk of wood uncarved – she kept at it with gusto.
What a fine fun opportunity and a grand week spent in the shadow of the Tetons.
Uninvited Guest (life in the woods)
Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.The sound of munching came from behind the fridge; obviously an uninvited guest. While the disturbing sound of a critter enjoying a picnic in my cabin is in itself not exactly unusual, the fact that it was mid-morning, thus broad daylight did add a level of ballsy-ness that warranted investigation.
A chipmunk.
Bold bugger. Cute. Maybe it relied on its cuteness to excuse its obvious lack of manners. Too small for the live trap. Too fast for me. Maya (the cat) was still digesting most of a mouse from dining out in her nightly forest foray. Oblivious.
With duct tape and scissors I began to fashion a contraption to help me catch the chipmunk but after one prodding poke with my zebra-stripe broom handle I realized stupidly that the bugger possessed a Cirque du Soliel skill set that would make any attempts at catch-and-release impossible. I sent an intention to the Universe to spare the cutie-pie from my cat, opened two screenless windows and left the chipmunk alone. I hoped the chipmunk wouldn't make an appearance later that afternoon while entertaining a few visiting collectors, or worse - a bloody battle once Maya slept off her mouse hangover. A swift blur zipped past me now and then, fluffy tail fluttering and more-than-once I heard a knick knack crash to the wood floor but luckily the guest parted for greener pastures on its own leaving only a few little tiny turds behind.
Join me at the National Museum of Wildlife Art...!
Sip and Zip Party...!
Next week the sculptures will be going to the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, WY where I am an artist in residence from July 7-11.
Thursday, June 26th I want to celebrate with you...! (5-8 pm)
Many of you have followed my journey creating the large reliquary sculptures. The most recent series “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” was featured in my TEDx talk and is currently installed at the Cancer Center in the Billings Clinic. The idea of creating healing sanctuaries within public places such as hospitals resonates as part of my calling as an artist. But what you might not know is that for years I have been experimenting with the challenge to create meaningful small-scale reliquaries - intimate sculptures that pack the same punch. Nothing I created captivated me until this year when at last the puzzle pieces fell together.
A whole new series and scale kept me sequestered in the studio for months.
I am sooooo excited about the new works….!
Influenced by Native American feather baskets I saw in the Denver Art Museum a few winters ago, the niches are “feathered.” My recent obsession with old barbwire continues to weave itself into the art along with a life-long fascination with animal skulls. The result is a new series of eighteen sculptures titled with lines from Pablo Neruda’s prose.
Feather Fun
Big switch from sawdust - sweeping up feathers is a comedy - vivid elusive and joyful.
Of course they can be vacuumed up but that kinda kills the fun of spinning in my Carhartts with swirling confetti fluff-ness...
Springtime in the Rockies
Cold mornings. Cold nights. Dramatic storms. Fire in the studio stove each day. Rain patters or pours on the metal roof of either my studio or cabin. The forest floor gushes green-ness and pushes wildflowers skyward. The aroma doesn't just tickle your nose - it swooshes in and fills lungs, heart and soul with a hint of heaven all wrapped up in earth. I LOVE springtime in the Rockies!!!
I encourage you to visit Doug Loneman's photography
Facing Fear
Fear is something I face inside and outside the studio every day. Big fear. Little fear. Unfounded unreasonable fear. Understandable perfectly sensible fear. Loud obnoxious screaming fear and almost imperceptible but nudging fear. The best creative work takes me to places where I scare myself and face the fear of failure by pushing my comfort zone.
While Momma Nature was carrying on with storm after impressive storm this morning on the mountain, poor Zaydee suffered. She shivered and quivered her way through thunder, hail and the dramatic racket of rain on my metal roof. Zaydee crawled under my legs up and under my armpit and squeezed herself behind me on the couch. Poor thing.
Last year about this time my nieces, Zaydee and I weathered similar storms while exposed on a ridge in the Crazy Mountains. I had reason to be concerned in our situation. We did what we could to minimize the potential for danger while we huddled and laughed our way through the storms before scooting back down the trail and sliding down snow slopes to better shelter.
Zaydee was in the comfort and shelter of my cabin today while the storms raged outside, yet she shook as much as she did on the mountain top last summer. Her reaction made me think of how much drama and energy I can lose at times in the studio when really the “danger” is in my own mind.
"Little Birds" are flocking...
Inspired Artist Adonna Khare
Blown away by the psychological depth, sensuous surface, drawing mastery and creative vision of artist Adonna Khare – I was especially tickled to meet her a few months ago at the opening of the exceptional exhibit “Face to Face; Wall to Wall” at the Yellowstone Art Museum. Adonna was hunkered down on a bench in front of her work – sick. She had spent the night before in ER with pneumonia. Poor gal. I was suffering from acute bronchitis – we were a sorry pair on antibiotics but our challenged health didn’t dent the spark and instant good energy we shared. Turns out she had seen my installation "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" during her untimely hospital visit the night before. I insisted Adonna come back to visit so I could share more of Montana with her - luckily she was already scheduled to return to work on the special installation of her awesome Art Prize winning piece in the spring.
Super tickled to have Adonna and her family stay in my humble home earlier this week. Her sweet husband grilled steaks on my deck, s'mores were roasted, the zip line enjoyed, we hiked with her mom. Adonna and I sat out on my deck under a thick slice of moon long after everyone turned in for the night to talk art, art world and studio lives.
I highly encourage you to check out her work: Adonna Khare
Chihuly and Flamenco Music
One bright sunny morning two weeks ago I was inspired by the following Chihuly image:
Season's First Ride
Hyalite LakeTwo weeks ago on a splendid sunny afternoon, the talented artist Stephanie Revennaugh and I left our studios,pulled on padded shorts and peddled up Hyalite Canyon to the reservoir. Felt good to move. Felt glorious to feel the heat of the sun. Felt refreshing to leave a snow angel behind... [embed]https://youtu.be/TlJ3BNF4bkk[/embed]