It's that time... Birds in Art and Project Postcard

 September approaches, and with it comes the annual delight that is the Birds in Art exhibition at the Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin. 

Birds in Art is the museum's flagship show, and a touchstone exhibition for wildlife artists around the world. It is always such an honor to have one's work selected, and indeed one of my pieces will be included in the show when it opens on September 11. 

But before the show begins, there's always the fun task of creating a couple of new little pieces for the Project Postcard event that accompanies the opening. Birds in Art artists create and donate 4 x 6-inch artworks which are then sold for a flat amount. Funds raised through Project Postcard are used to purchase work from the exhibition for the museum's permanent collection.

I am always happy to participate in the event, particularly since my own work has been purchased via the Project on more than one occasion. Of course I can't show you what I've submitted before the sale happens... but I can give you a hint. Any guesses?

Project Postcard in the time of pandemic...

'Way back in March, when everything started to go pear-shaped, many organizations with big annual events on the horizon were obliged to peer into the murky future and make decisions about the rest of the year. Each change or cancellation was painful, but one of the toughest ones for me was the weekend shenanigans events at the Woodson Art Museum's annual Birds in Art exhibition. 

Birds in Art is one of the most prestigious wildlife art exhibitions in the world, and I have been lucky enough to have my work selected again this year. The exhibition is always a beautiful celebration of all things avian, and the gathering of artists from around the globe for the September opening is a highlight of every year.

This year the exhibition will open to the public on schedule (with precautions in place, of course) on September 12. But there will be no "Artrageous Weekend" festivities... no gathering of the tribe. (Insert sad face emoji of your choice here.)

But some activities will still go on, albeit in a different format. Each year Birds in Art artists donate 4 x 6-inch art "postcards," which are mounted on the walls of a secret room. Anyone who wants to play pays $50 for a chance to go in to the room for 1 minute and select a piece that appeals to them. Signatures are all on the back, so there's no way to know for certain if a piece is by a particular favorite artist. 

Funds raised through Project Postcard are used to buy work from the exhibition for the museum's permanent collection, so it's win-win-win! Buyers get a little artwork gem, several artists get their work purchased, and the museum gets new work for their collection. Full disclosure, I myself have had work purchased for the Woodson Museum's collection through Project Postcard, so I am always happy to contribute. This year the museum is having to forego the "secret room" aspect, but the clever staff have worked out a "contactless" system. Hooray! 

Here are my two submissions for this year; distorted, of course, to keep them at least a semi-secret for a few more days until they're winging their way to new homes. 

Wow? What just happened?

My submissions for this year's Project Postcard event at the Woodson Art Museum.

It's a cloudy and cool-ish day here in midcoast Maine, with a few rain showers moving through. Sure, we're still having days of heat and humidity, but yesterday when I drove to town I noticed two large maple trees with a distinctly orange tinge to their outermost leaves.

Summer is winding down.

While I know some people try to avoid thoughts of summer's end, this year I feel inclined to embrace it. I gave myself a rather ridiculous schedule these last three months and by golly I'm tired.

There's still plenty to do... and I'm even starting to put things into place in my 2020 schedule already... but the pace seems more reasonable. I should probably emphasize the word seems, since I know looks can be deceiving.

But I've managed to squeak out some hours in the studio the last couple of weeks. Both projects were "secrets," however, so I don't have much to show at the moment. The photo here is a distorted view of my linocut submissions for this year's Project Postcard event at the opening of Birds in Art at the Woodson Art Museum.

Birds in Art artists donate small (4x6 inch) artworks which are installed in a secret location. Patrons pay $50 for the opportunity to spend one minute (!!) in the company of the many lovely (and anonymous) pieces and to choose one to take home. The museum uses the Project Postcard funds to purchase works from the exhibition for its permanent collection... a win-win-win for museum, artists, and collectors.

In addition to small print projects I have finally managed to ship the last of my works to major fall exhibitions, so whew! I can check that off the to-do list, also.

So what's next? Oooooh! A big, not-so-secret project! I've been asked to be the poster artist for the 2020 World Migratory Bird Day events! It's an exciting opportunity, although a little bit daunting due to the short production timeline. But I had my first design conference with the organizer yesterday, and I'll be jumping in to some rough sketches the rest of this week.

And of course I've got linos on my mind... I'd like to get some smaller works going before the end of the year... although right now my brain seems stuck in ideas that demand a larger scale. Hopefully my creativity will start cooperating in more practical ways soon.

So stay with me as I switch gears and head back into the studio season. Make sure your wood pile is well-stacked and your tea supplies ready to go before the cold arrives! We've got some linos to make...