Watching artists work and seeing their thought process has always been interesting to me. I also think it is important for us to share with the public who we are as artist and where we get our inspiration from . The PUMP series, at my Blue Door Arts studio, is my way of highlighting this process. PUMP will feature a different artist for each of the monthly Cheyenne Artwalks. April 11th will be Cheyenne artist, Tara Pappas; "There are stories all around us—both those that have been told time and time again, and those that have yet to gain a voice. The focus of my artwork is on the latter." Tara is currently working on giving voice to her first illustrated children's book. She will be sharing the interesting way she is doing this through the Patreon crowd sourcing site and demonstrating how she creates her unique artwork. Blue Door Arts is located at 1608 Capitol Ave in the Historic Hynds building in the heart of downtown Cheyenne.. The Cheyenne Artwalk takes place every second Thursday of the month from 5-8pm.
0 Comments
Join me at my studio located at 1608 Capitol Ave in downtown Cheyenne for the next Cheyenne Artwalk on February 14th from 5-8pm.
Enter through Blue Door Arts gallery, enjoy the current landscape show and then head back to the studio to see how my piece for the Platte Valley Medical Center is coming along. If you are feeling crafty, sit down with Win Ratz and Dave Rowswell to learn how to make an origami heart and a Swedish Heart Basket. A special treat will be provided by Alchemy Catering. As always the Artwalk is free and family friendly. I look forward to seeing you from 5-8pm! I few months ago I received a commission through PS Art Consultants to make artwork for the Platte Valley Medical Center in Brighton CO., If you follow my work you will know that I use old clothing and other textiles to bring my ideas and concepts to life. Textiles are a joy for me to work with. The range of colors, textures, and patterns available are vast and so many stories are woven into every textile we touch. Stories known and unknown. Stories from people around the globe that where apart of bringing us the textiles we use everyday! The next time you get dressed check out where your clothes were made and you will see that we wear the world on our backs, ( stay tuned for future posts on my latest collaborative project that digs into global textile stories as well as our own). Back to the Medical Center....so I thought, why not invite the staff of the Medical Center to add a piece of their story to the art they will look at everyday. I requested some donations of textiles and to my delight the staff was on board with the idea. Last Friday I got a box of clothes and scarves which I have already begun to add to the piece. I hope they will be pleased with the result! PS-
AVA, Gillette Wyoming's community art center, has a yearly gala and art auction to raise money for the center. Two of my pieces were selected to be apart of this event. They have been carefully boxed up and shipped via FedEx to Gillette. It's always a bit tense when I send artwork through the mail even though I worked hard to make the boxes as sturdy as possible with lots of padding and a whole roll of silver duct tape. Not pretty but functional. Here's to hoping they get there on time, in good shape and bring in some support for AVA. Two weeks ago I packed the Prius to the gills with supplies for my residency in Conifer CO. My bedroom and studio view has been of pine and aspen covered hills but the work I had planned for this time was going to be about a much different landscape. I Can See for Miles, is a new series about the vast, open, sparsely treed and populated areas of Wyoming. The quiet and solitude during my MAP residency allowed me to get two landscapes finished. Each one took between 30 and 35 hours to complete so I think I did well to get two finished. They will be on display for the first time tonight, August 31st at the Next Gallery on W. Colfax in Denver CO. If you are in Denver stop Next Gallery from 6-10 for the opening reception which will also include the work of fellow residents, Betsy Rudolph, Sonja Lujan, and Karen Bennett. Across the nation for one week in October, American craft people shine! Every year the organization also puts out a themed challenge. This year the call was for artist who work with re-purposed materials so I entered. I was one of 27 artist across the USA that were chosen to be highlighted in Metamorphosis. Follow the link to view the artists and their process.
Its finally here! The Hidden Worlds show has been installed on the second floor of Cheyenne's beautiful Botanic Gardens. Opening night is tomorrow, June 14th from 5-8pm. Georgia will be there to talk about her work and her Life Rings workshop's student artwork. The show will be on display for the month of June and July.
."Come visit the grand centerpiece of Cheyenne," is the opening statement on the Garden's website and I couldn't agree more. I always say its the jewel in Cheyenne's crown. Not only do I love to bike to the gardens and hang out in the conservatory, I am proud to say they have now started an Artist-in-Residency program. Laramie WY artist Wendy Bredehoft, was their first artist to fill the upper floor with work based on microscopic images. The next artist will be......well ME! I'll be showing my Hidden Worlds and Life Rings series, both based on things that grow. The show will open June 14th during the Cheyenne Artwalk and will run till the end of July. I will also be teaching a Life Rings workshop at the Gardens in July.
I have been Spring cleaning and tidying up here and there in preparation for my daughter's wedding in July. Today I tackled my studio bulletin board and found some quotes from an article I read in American Craft about artist's Kate Cusack. Like me, Cusack works with unusual, overlooked materials. Here are four quotes that resonate with me as an artist;
" When I transform an everyday material into something elaborate, it reminds the viewer of the power of imagination and the joy of discovering a new view of something that would have otherwise been overlooked." "Whenever I see things in multiples, its exciting" "What's interesting to me is the use and transformation of materials." "There is something deeply liberating about working with expendable stuff." Old T-shirts and other discarded clothing are the "expendable stuff" I transform into art everyday. A liberation of material and self! The latest in my Hidden Worlds series is a Yew Tree cross-section. Being the curious person that I am, I had to do a little research on the Yew to see what it was all about. Turns out there is a lot of mythology surrounding this long-lived tree and there is actually a group called the Ancient Yew Group based in England. Its often found in churchyards in England and Wales, it was used to make longbows from the 13th to 16th century and the tree is quite poisonous! Who knew the Yew has such a colorful and interesting history.
|
AuthorGeorgia Rowswell is a mixed media artist living and working in Cheyenne WY. Archives
March 2024
Categories |