SWLA's "The Natural Eye" at the Mall Galleries, London

 Um... so this happened:

What's that big red dot next to my chickadees?

I have two linocuts on exhibit at The Natural Eye, the annual exhibition of the Society of Wildlife Artists at the Mall Galleries in London. Just getting into the exhibition was a thrill, as it's the biggest wildlife show in the UK and beyond. 

And then last night I received a text message from an artist friend who lives in New York and also participates in this exhibition. He happened to be hiking in Montana and sent me a photo of the mountains with the comment, "Congratulations on your award at the SWLA show." 

Um. What? 

He had apparently been in touch with another artist colleague who was at the preview and awards reception last night, and she told him I'd won an award. 

I thought surely there was some mistake. But, nope. It's on their website, and today the director of exhibitions at the Mall Galleries sent me an official congratulatory email for receiving the The Head & Heart Award

Over time, the natural world has become more absorbing, astonishing and important to us. It’s a place apart from the noise of daily life and somewhere to reflect and recharge. So we give this award to the artist whose work most reflects these feelings and thoughts, moving our hearts and our heads, and allowing us to see the familiar in a fresh and unfamiliar way. 

The appropriate Britishism to use here is "gobsmacked." With so much outstanding work in the exhibition it seemed impossible that my little chickadee, "Rainy Days and Mondays," would receive such important notice. But there you have it. I'm honored and grateful. Thank you to all the show organizers and sponsors. And thanks to Amie Haslen at Hare and Tortoise who did my framing for the exhibition and provided this photo of the installation!

What's Happening? Exhibitions Everywhere!

You've still got about a month to see my linocut show Field, Forest, and Feathers at the Walden Pond Visitor Center in Concord, Massachusetts. (Yes, THAT Walden Pond.) 

The visitor center at Walden Pond, Massachusetts

The Society of Animal Artists 66th Annual Exhibition, Art & the Animal, continues at the Elliott Museum in Stuart, Florida until January 2027.

I have three works included in Wildlife in Art at the Monument Arts & Cultural Center in Bennington. Vermont. Show opened August 7 and continues through the end of the year. 

"Rainy Days and Mondays" is on exhibit at The Natural Eye in London

And for the first time, I am thrilled to have work included in the Society of Wildlife Artists annual exhibtion, The Natural Eye, on display at the Mall Galleries, London, October 1-10. If you can't get to London, the show is available to view online.

Coming up: The Rockport Art Association & Museum's RAA&M National. Show opens with a gala reception on November 13. 

Opening this weekend! SAGA 89th Annual Members Exhibition

In the Shallows
reduction linocut © Sherrie York
12" x 12" - Edition of 20

If you are in New York City this weekend, why not head out to the beautiful galleries at Governors Island for the Society of American Graphic Artists' 89th Annual Members Exhibition, featuring over 150 hand pulled prints by brilliant SAGA printmakers from across the country. (Including In the Shallows, by... me!)

The opening reception will be held on Saturday, October 26, 3 - 5 pm at The Arts Center at Governors Island, next to the ferry landing. The Trust for Governors Island operates year-round ferry service to Governors Island.

Ferries will also run from Brooklyn, this weekend only. There may be delays and more visitors riding the ferry due to the annual harvest festival on October 26 and 27; please plan your visit accordingly.

SAGA's exhibition is free and open to the public from October 22 to November 3, Thursday to Sunday from 9 am to 6 pm or by appointment.

Upcoming Exhibitions!

I've got another new piece underway, although I'm not doing a great job of documentation. I'll put something together eventually, but in the meantime....hey! There are some shows underway and coming up soon!

Birds in Art

The flagship exhibition of the Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin is the highlight of every year. I'm delighted that "A Certain Light" was selected for the show and will subsequently be accessioned into the museum's permanent collection. Birds in Art opened September 1 and continues through December 1.

"A Certain Light," reduction linocut © Sherrie York

Society of Animal Artists

The SAA's 64th juried annual members exhibition, Art and the Animal, opened September 1 at the Sioux City Public Museum, Iowa. The show continues through November 30. And... hmmm... look what's on the cover of the exhibition catalog. (Catalogs can be ordered online at the SAA website.)

Society of American Graphic Artists

SAGA's 89th Annual Members Exhibition will run October 22 to November 3 at the Arts Center on Governors Island, New York. 

"In the Shallows," reduction linocut © Sherrie York

Also.... I've a solo exhibition coming up at Blue Sage Center for the Arts in Paonia, Colorado, opening at the end of October. More details on this soon!

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.

Art at the Grill / Damariscotta, Maine

 

Things are starting to ramp up for the summer season in Maine, starting with an exhibition at the Damariscotta River Grill. Rather than the usual art opening, DRG is offering a special Prix Fixe Dinner on May 19, with a portion of the proceeds funding a scholarship for a local student who will pursue an education in the arts. 

Reservations are required, contact the Damariscotta River Grill (207) 563-2992. (A click on the image above will embiggen it for better readability. Honest.)

The Concord Museum is Alive With Birds

The Concord Museum, in collaboration with the Museum of American Bird Art at Mass Audubon, has just opened a lovely new exhibition that explores some of the life and legacy of William Brewster (1851-1919). Brewster spent more than 30 years studying natural history on his farm in Concord, was one of the earliest advocates for bird protection in America, and was the first president of Mass Audubon.

The exhibition Alive With Birds: William Brewster in Concord includes paintings, sculptures, and a linocut (mine!) from the MABA collections, as well as artifacts from the Concord Museum, Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the Chesterwood Archives at Williams College. Excitingly, some of Brewster's field journals are on display, and the exhibition touchingly pairs excerpts from his observations with artwork from contemporary and historical bird artists, including John James Audubon, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Charley Harper, and Lanford Monroe. 

"Trunk Show," reduction linocut by Sherrie York, paired with 
Brewster's observations of the behavior of downy woodpeckers at his farm in Concord.

"Alive With Birds" is open now until September 2022, so if you find yourself in the Concord area this spring or summer, do stop in to take a look. The museum also has some lovely historical exhibits and artifacts... including one of the very lanterns used to signal Paul Revere to begin his famous ride! 

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.

Beyond Artworks: Artists & Their Stories at the Woodson Art Museum

Long time readers of Brush and Baren have no doubt heard (read) me wax poetic about the delights of the Woodson Art Museum. I have been fortunate to have my work juried in to the Woodson's flagship international exhibition, Birds in Art, a dozen times, and honored to have several pieces later accessioned to the museum's permanent collection. It's probably easiest to tell you about the breadth of the collection by quoting from the museum's website: 

The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum collection began with birds and then took flight to encompass and embrace the art of the natural world. The 1976 inaugural exhibition, Birds of the Lakes, Fields and Forests, set the stage. Today, more than 14,000 works of art, including paintings, drawings and field sketches, graphics, photographs, and sculpture, celebrate the essence and spirit of birds from around the world. The collection also includes decorative arts: more than 125 Victorian glass baskets, early twentieth-century utilitarian and decorative glassware and porcelains, nearly 100 Royal Worcester porcelain bird figurines designed by Dorothy Doughty, and a survey collection of historic and contemporary glass vessel forms and sculptural objects.

Like most public institutions around the world, the Woodson spent several months of the last year closed to visitors. They are delightedly welcoming the community through their doors again, and doing so with a new exhibition curated from their collection. Beyond Artworks: Artists & Their Stories celebrates the paths of artworks from creation to acquisition.... and includes sculptures, paintings (and two linocuts!) by past and present masters of wildlife art (and me!). Although I'm not able to be at the show in person, the museum sent along installation photos and, OH! if you are at all in the neighborhood I think you need to check it out. It looks beautiful. 

Show continues through June 6, 2021. 

Observations in the Clearing at Ann Korologos Gallery

 

It is with great pleasure that I announce my work is currently featured in the exhibition "Observations in the Clearing" at Ann Korologos Gallery in Basalt, Colorado. I am delighted to be showing my work alongside that of Ewoud de Groot, Paula Schuette Kramer, and Mike Weber, who share my love for wild (and domestic!) creatures great and small.

The show opened March 11 and continues through May 15. The Korologos Gallery is open for in-person viewing or you can see the show online here. 

And speaking of migration... Birds in Art 2020!

"A Tern of the Tide," reduction linocut © Sherrie York

It's been a season of disappointment, as workshops and exhibitions everywhere have been cancelled. But this past week brought a spark of delight as I learned that "A Tern of the Tide" has been accepted for the 2020 edition of the Woodson Art Museum's annual Birds in Art exhibition.

Birds in Art is the one of the most prestigious exhibitions of wildlife art worldwide, and I am always humbled and honored when my work is selected. 

The show opens September 12 and will run through November 29.

Birds in Art 2019!

One of the highlights of any year (but especially of those years in which I have a piece in the show) is the annual Birds in Art exhibition at the Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin. Birds in Art is the museum's flagship juried show, highlighting work by some of the world's best wildlife artists.

Of the approximately 130 artists with work in this year's exhibition, 73 attended the opening. Some travelled from as far away as Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

The opening weekend is always a stellar event, and a fun opportunity to visit with friends, colleagues, and the amazingly supportive and enthusiastic citizens of Wausau and its surrounding communities. In addition, colored-pencil artist Alan Woollett of England was named this year's Master Wildlife Artist. Birds in Art includes a mini show-within-the-show of fifteen of Alan's pieces, and Saturday visitors were treated to his presentation under the big tent in the museum's sculpture garden.

At the Saturday morning public opening. Find the linocut on the wall in this picture!

Funny thing about trying to shoot a panorama when people are moving around.
One tends to get some funny camera effects. Anyway... there are actually TWO
linocuts on the opposite wall... mine in the corner and Sue Medaris's by the door.

A better look at that corner, except missing Sue Medaris's piece.
To my left, Chris Maynard, to the right Paul Rhymer.

Patron dinner... only half of us in this room!

Alan Woollett's Saturday morning talk.

An added bonus for me (and hopefully for exhibition visitors) is a short video put together about the process for my piece, Four on the Fence, which is included in the show. The video can be seen on the Woodson Art Museum's YouTube channel, or on the museum's app. Or right here:

Birds in Art continues at the Woodson Art Museum until December 1, so don't miss it!

The September Shows: Linocuts everywhere!

I've enjoyed a little respite from the crazy pace of the summer, catching up with some of the myriad tasks that were neglected when my schedule hit Mach 10.

Some of what was happening in all the summer craziness was the framing and shipping of work for three major exhibitions, all happening in September. Which is almost now!

"Four on the Fence," reduction linocut © Sherrie York

The Woodson Art Museum's flagship exhibition is one of the highlights of the wildlife art year. Birds in Art 2019 includes the work of 114 international artists, and will honor British colored pencil artist Alan Woollett as this year's Master Wildlife Artist. Show opens to the public on Saturday, September 7 and will continue through December 1.

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It's my great honor to have been invited to participate in the Susan K. Black Foundation's exhibition "In the Audubon Tradition," opening at the Cincinnati Museum Center on September 12 and continuing through January 5, 2020. The show includes work by 80 of the top artists in the wildlife art field...  whew!

(This list embiggenable with a click)

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The Society of Animal Artist's 59th "Art and the Animal" exhibition opens this year at the Briscoe Western Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas on September 20. Show continues through January 5, 2020. Selections from the show (including my piece, Chasing Daylight) will go on national tour following the event's close at the Briscoe.

"Chasing Daylight," reduction linocut © Sherrie York

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Also, don't forget it's your last chance to see "Under Pressure: Birds in the Printed Landscape" at the Museum of American Bird Art in Canton, Massachusetts. Show closes September 15, so don't delay!

"Dinner Party," reduction linocut © Sherrie York

"Under Pressure" is underway!

Whew!

It was a busy but lovely day today here at the Museum of American Bird Art in Canton, Massachusetts. This morning started with a gallery talk and luncheon for museum patrons, a quick little printing demo, and then the afternoon public opening of my exhibition, Under Pressure: Birds in the Printed Landscape.

Talking prints with museum patrons

The show looks so lovely in this beautiful venue. It's the first opportunity I've had to mount 50 pieces of my work in one place, which was exciting and a bit unnerving.

Upstairs in the mezzanine my inner educator got to have fun creating an area all about the reduction printing process.

All about reduction prints!

The table case on the left has tools and lino and registration jigs... the panel just to the right of the table has photos of me at work in the studio and a description of each step of the process. Across the center are four prints from which I pulled one sheet at each stage... so viewers can see the print develop. And on the TV at right, a short film produced by Drew Fulton, which I will post here shortly.

The show is now up through September 15. MABA is open Tuesday through Sunday, 1-5pm, so if you're in the Boston area, do stop on in. (Bonus: Museum admission is free to MassAudubon members.) The museum sits on 120 wooded acres, with walking trails and plenty of wildlife to enjoy, too!

I expect you'll read more about this show later, but for now I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the MABA staff, who have been so supportive of me and my work, and who pulled out all the stops to make the exhibition look fabulous. Thank you all!

Under Pressure: Birds in the Printed Landscape at the Museum of American Bird Art

"Dinner Party," reduction linocut, 24 x 24, © Sherrie York

In less than a week I'll be loading up almost 50 framed linocuts and heading south to the Boston area, where I will install a solo exhibition at the Museum of American Bird Art in Canton.

The show, which opens June 15, will include work from across my printmaking career, including some early pieces made in the 1990s! (Practically ancient. Certainly vintage.) The brand-new harlequin duck piece, "Fourteen at Two Lights," was dry enough to frame yesterday, so this will be its first public debut! (As well as the first view of "Spring Calling," the new red-winged blackbird piece.)

Please join me Saturday, June 15, from 1:00-5:00, for the opening celebration. Show continues through mid-September.

59th Art and the Animal

Last week I was in Chicago (or thereabouts) for the twice-yearly board meeting of the Society of Animal Artists. At the same time, the jury committee met to select the works that will be included in the 59th Annual Art and the Animal exhibition, which will open in September at the Briscoe Western Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas. 

It's no small thing to have work included in this prestigious show, so I am of course delighted to share that "Chasing Daylight" got the nod. 

"Chasing Daylight," reduction linocut, 12 x 18" © Sherrie York

Watch for more details about the show at the end of the summer. In the meantime... wahoo!

The Printmaker's Day (including a new Linocut-in-Progress)

It's been a rainy, foggy, blustery day here in midcoast Maine, not unexpected for this time of year and certainly not unexpected for... my birthday! How many times have I had a birthday blizzard? A lot. Today's rain, by comparison, is no big deal.

Luckily the weather held off last night for my opening at the Green Lion Gallery in Bath, and I was surprised by a number of friends who came out to see the show and then help me celebrate with a birthday-eve dinner. (You know who you are... thank you!)

When I woke this morning to rain lashing the windows I was delighted! My plans for a perfect birthday? A fire in the woodstove and ink on the table.

I had two new linos drawn and paper prepped. One of the images requires a lot of white space, which I have carved away already, but it's going to be a larger format than I've printed before and I have a little trepidation about it. When in doubt, start the smaller one!

One good reason for starting the smaller one is that the first color pass required only a spot-inking of yellow with a mask to contain it.

Linocut in progress, Step 1

Step 1 printed

An exciting start, eh?

Of course the carving for this step took about 5 minutes, and then I was ready for the second color. I mixed a transparent gray...

Step 2 printed

Not significantly more interesting than the first step, I know. But hey! Can you tell what it's going to be yet?

Carving for the third pass took at least four times the amount of effort as the previous color! (Snort. You do the math.) With things moving along so quickly I decided to go ahead and print a third color.

Step 3 printed

If the first yellow blob didn't immediately solve the mystery of subject matter for you, perhaps the state of things after the blue pass will start to provide some focus.....

Carving for Step 4 now will take a bit more time, and two full layers of ink (the first one hardly counts) will take a day or two to dry in our rainy weather, so I don't expect to print again for a couple of days. I have some small linos to hand-paint, frame, pack, and ship to Colorado this week, so probably I'll fit those tasks in between carving sessions.

It's been a fine day to begin my next trip around the sun. (Which I know is out there, even if I can't see it for the clouds.) Onward!