Art Exchange

A few weeks ago I participated in an art exchange. I was excited to see what would come of it, as the idea of passing art out into the world to someone that I didn't know felt like a serendipitous act to me.

Today I received a thank you from the woman that I sent a print to, saying that she loved the art exchange so much that she wanted to send a "Thank You"...which turned out to be her own art response to my print!!! I loved it!

I had sent her a print of my painting Leap, she had photocopied the print and right on top she had written the amazing quote that you see above. The quote was so appropriate to the theme of the painting it is as if she read my mind as I was painting it. Talk about serendipity.

So, can I tell you how intrigued I was...I immediately googled Mary Anne Radmacher and found her inspirational website of beautiful art and quotes of her original writing. She has a line of greeting cards, posters, books and so much more. In fact, her work looks so familiar to me I swear I had a card by her on my wall in college.

I loved everything about this encounter. In her package she also included a piece of her original art with another of her fabulous quotes, this one about Leaves and Feathers:

Both of these pieces are going right into my studio, for inspiration and reflection, I know that they are pieces that will help me when I am in stuck places, I just know it!
Huge Thank You's Mary Anne!

an invitation

After enlightenment, the laundry.
~Zen proverb

This past week has felt a lot like this wise quote to me. The highs of enlightenment tempered by the mundane of doing laundry and keeping house. It seemed that each time I was close, oh so close, to have a good chunk of productive studio time, then I'd see a pile of clothes that needed folding, a dishwasher that needed to be emptied, toys to be picked up...you get the idea.
This has been one of the struggles that I have faced ever since I moved my studio into our home. It is so lovely to be able to run upstairs and jump into painting at a moments notice, but too often those moments are infringed upon by all of the obligations that call to me in my living space.
I have also been struggling to balance the business side of my art with the creative side, I know that all of us struggle with that. It is so exciting to have my hand in multiple pots, but then a few days this week were spent running around from a studio visit with an interested buyer, to replenishing the prints that had sold at Swallow (the gallery that carries my work here in Brooklyn), to sending prints for Etsy orders. I am not complaining about this abundance of opportunities to get my art out to the public, I only wish that my ability to successfully balance this part with my creative life would catch-up!
I was so inspired by this post over at Studio Enrouge yesterday. I felt a call to respond to Karla's ideas about this blogging world as an extended group studio space. I loved how she compared it to grad school, since I had a similar experience when I was at Parson's for my MFA. The studios there were like a rat maze of separate spaces, all opening upon a large common area where we would convene to talk and critique each other's work. I can't tell you how many times I'd walk into that space frustrated with a piece and walk back to my studio with a new direction or a fresh perspective.
Now when I have a creative block I go to your blogs, I visit your Etsy shops and websites, these are places that inspire me deeply and just like Karla says in her post....I would love to know more about process and working style of each artist that I know online. What a way to think of this community!
And so with that I'd like to extend an invitation to you, please, come into my studio. It's not very big anymore, but it's just the right size for what I'm working on these days. Don't be shy about sharing your mind. All ideas are welcome. All ideas are appreciated.
Come in.