Abstract Art

Abstract Art at the Cayuga Museum: New Video

I finally edited a video of the art exhibit I had last year at The Cayuga Museum of History and Art in Auburn, NY, titled Abstract Patterns.  I had a lot of trouble using iMovie, maybe because I only use it once a year or so.  I need to practice more, make more videos.  And make them better!

 

Donating Visual Art to Worthy Causes: Part Two

The Cayuga Museum has an auction every spring.  Last year I donated a small giclee print:

   What They Meant

This year I'm donating another print:

   Summer Traveler

Why am I being so generous with the Cayuga Museum?  One reason is that they have been generous to me.  I had a two-month show there recently, and during that time they arranged for the sale of a 5 foot by 5 foot painting.  Their staff was easy to work with, and the whole experience was worthwhile (except for not being able to get the truck with 25 paintings in it up the snow-covered private road to my studio). 

But the real reason to donate to any charity is because we believe in the work  that institution is doing.  I think that giving from a generous heart is much more rewarding than expecting some promotional or other return on the investment.  There's no reason for an artist to feel guilty if they can't afford to give away their art, but I think most of us have some pieces we can donate without suffering financially.

Charities that want to attract artists' donations should make it as beneficial a proposition as possible, since most artists are not wealthy and are more likely to give if there's an added benefit. 

If you are an artist, what is your position on donating to charities?

Gave My Art Talk at The Cayuga Museum

Well, days of anxiety are over.  I gave my art talk at The Cayuga Museum in Auburn this past Saturday to an appreciative, if small, audience.  A reporter from the Auburn Citizen was there, and already posted her article on the paper's website: "Loud music fuels painter's abstract art."

While I talked, my print maker, Jim Kirsner, videotaped it.  Then he talked about printmaking and I videotaped him.  Now I need to relearn/learn iMovie software to edit it.  

What I would have done differently:  picked the room with best lighting to give my talk in.  With light shining in from windows, the video quality wasn't always very good.  Also, while talking, stand in front of a painting I'd like to have in the background of the video.  But we took half an hour's worth, and I did move from room to room, painting to painting, so we should get at least a good short video in the end. 

I took an extra video of my 60" x 60" painting, Galaxy, which the museum has sold.  I said a fond goodbye to it. 

   Galaxy, 60" x 60"

Preparing Art Talk for "Patterns in Abstract Art" Show at The Cayuga Museum

This Saturday I'll be giving an art talk at my "Patterns in Abstract Art" show at The Cayuga Museum in Auburn, NY.  There have been times in the past that I was so anxious, I had to read a prepared script for my art talk.  Hopefully, those days are long gone. 

There are so many ways to talk about art:

•  We can talk about the materials we use and explain the steps we take from start to finish.
•  We can talk about our early influences and education.
•  We can talk about motivation, what moves us to paint or draw.
•  We can tell a story around a painting, even a non-objective one.  
•  We can talk about the evolution of our art over our life-time.

If you're an artist, what do you talk about when you talk about your art?  If you are an art lover, what do you like to hear an artist talk about?

"Patterns In Abstract Art" - More Pics from Museum Exhibit

Here are more photos from "Patterns in Abstract Art" at The Cayuga Museum:

Entry hall to the exhibit, with Culmination and Choose Life One and Two.

In this photo:  Push, Curiouser and Curiouser, and Abstract Expressionism Two.

If you celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving!  I am cooking for seven today.  There is a shortage on pumpkin here, but my daughter Blixy had some in her freezer and will make the pie. 

"Patterns In Abstract Art" - Pics from Museum Exhibit

We are back from our trip to California and slowly getting over jet-lag.  Yesterday my brother-in-law Jim Kirsner gave me a cd of the photos he took of my exhibit, "Patterns in Abstract Art" at the Cayuga Museum.  Here are a couple:

   Modern Art series & In Field on right.

   Abstract Patterns series and Sound and Fury Two

Patterns in Abstract Art Opening Tonight

Tonight is the opening reception for my show at The Cayuga Museum:  Patterns in Abstract Art. Yesterday my sister Laura reviewed my wardrobe (slim pickings) to find something for me to wear that met her standards.  I don't think we quite got there, but I'll look good enough to be comfortable.  Getting dressed up is high on my list of "Things I consider to be torture." 

In any case, they'll be looking at the art, not me. 

Meanwhile, here is the "line" painting after my latest work session:

   Canvas 79, 48" x 48"

Instead of drawing more lines directly from tubes of paint, I used some thin washes of dull greens, browns and blacks to help soften the glare of intense color. 

Opening Reception Friday for "Patterns in Abstract Art" at Cayuga Museum

My exhibition, "Patterns in Abstract Art," is hung, invitations are out, and all I have to do now is show up at the reception this Friday and enjoy the limelight.  Yet I'm still anxious.  I think my social anxiety is getting worse as I get older, but I am attempting to listen to Pema Chodron and soften around the feeling, giving it space to breathe.

Here are a couple of paintings from the show:

Abstract Patterns Two, 40" x 30"

Abstract Expressionism Three, 30" x 30"

There are also several pieces that are 5 feet by 5 feet.  Here's one:

   Galaxy, 60" x 60"

Trucking 31 Abstract Paintings to The Cayuga Museum

Yesterday my brother-in-law and I rented a 16 foot (they didn't have the 10 foot we ordered) truck, loaded it with 31 abstract paintings, and took them to The Cayuga Museum, about an hour away.  It was an adventure! 

Thanks to Jim, who is also my printmaker, we loaded the truck in record time.  On the way there, we had a little glitch when the GPS took us down a narrow curving road, so that we wrecked a tire and rim.  We didn't stop, but saw the damage when we arrived at the museum.

The next step was to carry each painting (some of them 5 ft by 5 ft) down the truck ramp, up the front steps of the museum, and then up a long curved carpeted staircase.  As I made my way up these steps with two of the smaller paintings, I wasn't sure I'd make it.  But Lauren, the curator, helped us and found another staff person to assist as well.

When we returned to Budget rent-a-truck we were a bit smug about the tire damage because we had taken out a $10 insurance policy with no deductible (the low rate was a glitch in their computer system that day).  That's when they informed us that damage from "curbing tires" was not covered, though the rim was.  So it only cost $225 instead of $500. 

I was still happy to have completed our task so easily and successfully, thanks to Jim. And then I came home and crashed.

Anxiety and Sleepless Nights before Museum Exhibit of My Abstract Art

No matter how much I try to meditate and to live in the moment, my brain is always focused on future obligations and worrying about them.  It's a lifetime condition: bipolar mood swings and anxiety, though at this point in my life I manage them better than I did when I was younger.

Having a major exhibition of my abstract art in the Cayuga Museum--my very first solo museum show--has triggered the anxious part of my brain once again.  Last night I could not fall asleep, and I guess I'll be relying on sleeping pills the night before hanging, the opening reception, and the art talk.  I try to limit the use of sleeping pills as much as possible, but there are times when it's the right decision to use them.

I did begin painting a new canvas, however.  Here's stage one of Canvas #78:

   Canvas #78, 48" x 48"