The September Rollercoaster

It's been too long since I've shared anything here at Brush and Baren, but, ooph. What a rollercoaster of a September I had! Put your hands in the air and ride along with me....

The UP: 

I was able to attend the opening of Birds in Art at the Woodson Art Museum for the first time since 2019. I knew it would be good to be at this superb venue with the tribe of bird artists gathered once again, but I don't think I realized just how good it would be. My poor pandemic-weary heart got a much-needed energy boost. 

Woodson Art Museum entrance

Visitors taking in the view at Birds in Art

The DOWN:

Unfortunately, the day after I returned home I realized I felt a bit... odd. Achy and congested. Sure enough, That Wretched Virus had caught up with me. My symptoms were never terrible... I've certainly had much more difficult respiratory/sinus infections in my life. But holy cow, the fatigue! I couldn't do much more than sleep for the first week, and it was four weeks before I really felt myself again. 

The UP:

Luckily I was feeling probably 80% by the end of September, just in time for the reception for my solo exhibition, "Moments & Reflections," on view now at the Wendell Gilley Museum in Southwest Harbor, Maine. The next day I also enjoyed getting together with some enthusiastic participants in an introductory relief printing workshop. 

Exhibition views at the Wendell Gilley Museum

The DOWN:

I intended to dawdle a bit around Mount Desert Island before I headed back home the following day, but unfortunately the weather turned quite windy. There was also a known issue with my car that was scheduled for repair the next day, but of course it decided to act up again and I decided the best plan was to just bolt back down the coast. (Plus I still wasn't feeling entirely up to par.)

The UP:

This week I am finally feeling more or less myself again... just in time to enjoy some spectacular autumn color here on the Pemaquid Peninsula. The manic nature of summer is finally giving way to a more measured pace (although somehow my calendar isn't getting any less busy) and I am looking forward to some good time in the studio over the next few months. 

Autumn color on the Pemaquid River.

Printmaking workshop and presentation at the Wendell Gilley Museum, Maine

The 2020 edition of the Woodson Art Museum's flagship Birds in Art exhibition is on national tour, and hooray! It's in Maine at the Wendell Gilley Museum in Southwest Harbor. My linocut, A Tern of the Tide, is included in the exhibition, so I am delighted to be presenting some workshops and a talk about my process at the Gilley on July 16 and 17.

July 16: Single color intro to relief printing workshops. Choose either 9:00-noon or 1:00-4:00. 

July 17: A live presentation about my process that will also be streamed via Zoom. 7:00pm

Details and registration information available on the Gilley Museum's website.

Three crazy weeks, and then back to the studio

Alright... where the heck were we before I started running all over the universe again?

Yes. Duck linocut in progress. Hm. Howzabout I share a little about where I've been the last couple of weeks, and then we'll get back to work, okay?

First: Birds in Art!!!! This is not just a legitimate excuse for being out of the studio, it's the best reason of the year for packing a bag and a rubber duck* and heading for Wisconsin.

My linocut, "Watching + Waiting," hanging in august company at
Birds in Art. (Yes, that's a Robert Bateman oil on the wall to the left.)

If you've never been to the Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, all I can say is that you've been missing out on some of the most inspiring exhibitions and community-minded events to be found. Anywhere. Trust me. Just go there.

And if you go in the autumn you will find the walls filled with their flagship exhibition, Birds in Art. It's one of the most prestigious wildlife art shows in the world, and it's always an honor to have work juried in to this exhibition. And, wow! I was surprised and touched to have work included in two other exhibits currently on view there: Regal Bearing: Bird Portraiture (from the museum's permanent collection), and a fun little collection of pages from the museum's guest books... including two I created during my residencies in 2018 and 2013.

I was barely home from Birds in Art when I turned around and headed downeast to Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park and the Wendell Gilley Museum. The Gilley is a tiny gem of a museum, centered around a large collection of Wendell Gilley's bird carvings, but which also presents exhibitions of related work in paint, print, and sculpture.

I visited the Gilley to open conversations about upcoming collaborations... I'm excited to share what we're cooking up, but that will have to wait just a bit.

The day after I returned from the Gilley Museum I was up to my elbows in framing for another show, which I installed yesterday at the Gilsland Farm Audubon Center in Falmouth, Maine. It's a challenging space to photograph... a long, narrow gallery with floor-to-ceiling windows along one wall, so you'll just have to go there to see it for yourself. Show runs through October 28.

Whew! This morning I was finally back in the studio slinging ink, so you can expect an update from there in the next day or two.

*Oh. I suppose the rubber duck reference deserves an explanation. A few years ago the Woodson Museum staff gave Birds in Art artists a rubber duck and asked us to include it in social media posts. My ducky still travels... in fact this year our unfortunate travel delays enroute to Wausau had a silver lining: Ducky met our airline captain and got his Junior Pilot wings. You just never know where he'll turn up next. Kinda like a certain printmaker.  #birdsinartducky