Clearly I'm not a prolific blogger having not written anything here since last October but I thought now may be a good time to break the silence to let folks know that I'm still here and share some good news (Covid willing).  When I was a kid walking home from the bus I'd play a game called kick the can.  Yes, I know, the can was litter and I should have properly recycled it, but this was the 70's in rural Western PA.  (Acid rain, nuclear fall-out scares, and the now abandoned EPA clean up site of the former Arco chemical plant was the environment I was reared in.  You can watch the movie Dark Waters for an overview of Western PA's toxic environmental problems.  It sits adjacent to West Virginia after all.)  Anyway, I digress...  I bring up kick the can because it reminds me of the efforts put in towards chasing after a dream or trying to sell art or get invited to a gallery or museum show.  I'm not discounting hard work and long hours spent towards one's craft, but I firmly believe John Lennon was right when he said, "Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans." 

In January I finished up a small body of work that had been underway for nearly 18 months.  The series remained unnamed until Fresh Paint La Jolla gallery owner Deborah Williams hit it on the head with her assessment that the works "lay it bare" and I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be showing some of this work along side artist Walter Redondo.  Covid willing the show will open on August 1st.

The story doesn't just begin here.  Back in 2014 when I first began my work as a serious artist I discovered the work of Walter at a local art fair.  I was immediately in love with the spaciousness in his handling of surface, his bravery in color choice, and his passion.  I was determined that I would be like Walter when I grew up (as my art matured).  I continued to follow Walter in his successes and attend his shows and develop my own unique approach to art but I never lost sight of spaciousness, bravery and passion.  These three tenants I so admired in Walter's work remained with me.

How does this tie back to kick the can?  Well, if I had chased after arranging a show with Walter it simply would have ended in disappointment.  (Ask me sometime about my meeting of Linda McCartney's sister for a kick the can ending.)  Instead this arose without me trying to arrange anything.  I remained true to myself and keep my secrets to myself and then one day the email was waiting for me in the inbox.  When I truly ponder this and allow myself time to remember who I was in 2014 and how far I have come in my journey it is truly a miracle that brings tears to my eyes.  This is life.  This wasn't a plan I was chasing down a dirt road for years.

I hope you will join us when the show opens in August.  It will require a reservation and the interactions with the artists will be intimate. 

Our work is intimate and raw and I am happy for this opportunity to share the experiences in this face-masks required setting.

Fresh Paint Gallery

1020-B Prospect Street

La Jolla, CA 92037

https://www.freshpaintgallery.com/

Please join us at a reception on Saturday October 12 from 3 pm to 5 pm at the City Hall Gallery 635 South 101 Solana Beach for Women on the Verge.

This show brings together the vision of two artists whose work vibrates with the energy of explorers on the verge of discovery.

Linda Frueh and Amanda Saint Claire work from a deep connection with texture and color, bringing their abstract styles to wax-based encaustic and velvety oil painting.  Both women left corporate careers to pursue their creative passions as professional artists and have since discovered a shared love for exploration and play in the their work.

Each blank canvas is a threshold; each fresh panel an invitation to new expressive discoveries.  As we prepare to enter a new decade and as each artist enters a new decade of their own life, we bring you a celebration of new beginnings.  This exhibition presents the power of art to evoke both calm and euphoria, as the artists express their individual styles in this coordinated body of work.  This work will be available for viewing during the City of Solana Beach City Hall normal business hours until November 15th.

"Perhaps the imagination is on the verge of recovering its rights" - Andre Breton.

"I discover myself on the verge of a usual mistake." - Walt Whitman.

Have you ever taken time to notice when you are most creative or feeling your best?  It is tied to the cycles of the moon or a season?  In today's world most of us enjoy a roof over our heads and we aren't as in tune with nature, but her influence does impact the earth's ecology and our biology so I find it worth noticing the cycles and honoring them.  For me, I'm more creative and productive during a new moon cycle and autumn has always been my favorite season.  I have more fresh ideas and energy in the fall that carry me through until the lazier days of summer arrive. 

I've been easing into the idea of Autumn.  I'm spending the last days of summer reading books about artists, updating my website,  digesting everything I experienced on my amazing trip to Japan.  Just taking it easy and not stressing too much.  As I reflect back on some amazing pieces I finished up earlier this year, I'm exciting to reenter the studio this fall to continue working on my Maybe I'm Amazed Series honoring the work of the late photographer Linda Eastman McCartney, my Dead Artist Heads series, and continuing on with the Penises and Pizza series that flips the tables on the usual objectification of women in art.  I'm also excited to continue my Ambient Radiation collaboration with LA artist and friend Jimmy Yandell.  Look for more exciting postings about this in the future.

Finally, I'm incredibly grateful for the support and love of family, friends, and collectors, old, new, (and yet to manifest) of my art.  I sold four pieces this summer and it's because of those sales that I can purchase supplies and pay the rent at my studio.  Being able to work as a creative is truly a gift and it's only with support that we can continue to make color and lines dance.

Introducing the Encinitas series. Special for April 2019
All 36” x 48” and each under $400 with a portion of the proceeds going towards the wonderful programming supported by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

The language of visual art is universal.  It does not require a translation to be understood and while some art contains cultural references understood by the culture in which it references, it still can convey meaning to the the observer that is beyond even what the intention of the artist may have been.  In other words, the language of the piece becomes  expansive as it engages with a wider audience. To me, art is similar to music in this way as anyone with eyesight and hearing can be moved to tears by a work of music or by a great piece of art, such as is often reported to be the case by Rothko's Chapel in Texas.  An artist can express in line, color, and texture that what cannot be spoken.  In other words, the artist can express mystery.

The physical act of making a piece of art requires kinetic energy and contains the wisdom of the body beyond the limitations of the mind.  Often that energy is emotional that the artist puts into the paint handling, the choice of color, and the texture of the materials in the case of pottery or sculpture.  Often these choices are made unintentionally and the transference of the energy is subconsciously conveyed but those willing to spend time contemplating a piece are capable of having a relationship with it, especially if they are willing to allow their mind to step aside.  Many artists have spoken of their meditative process and this is something that I, as a visual artist can relate to as my art making is very much a spiritual practice as I engage with what it means to be human.  It is that exploration that makes work universal and transcendent of traditional language.  To me, powerful and therefore, successful work that transcends culture and language,  is work that which contains a bit of mystery so that the mind is a bit de-centered by the visual experience.  This de-centering creates a disorientation that allows other senses and intelligences to engage so we can meet the work of art without trying to analysis or "understand" it.  Instead, the viewer can be in communion with the art and perhaps have something awakened inside of them.  It is this experience that transcends traditional language and contains a wisdom far greater than that which we can comprehend.