I write this almost a month after my first solo exhibition opening and I am still truly stunned by the immense support of friends and strangers who stopped by and sent well wishes. The process of creating the works for this show began last September and carried me through to finishing pieces up until the week before the show.
The painting series began when I was in a different studio and had just returned from a spontaneous trip to the Netherlands. I felt so captivated by the charm that an outsider may feel towards the abundant cycling culture in the Netherlands, so I included 3 large pieces of ladies cycling in this show. I’ve visited a handful of times to always find myself intrigued with the idea that the Dutch have multiple bicycles (and bicycle attachments) for different occasions. My favorite visual to date is seeing a mother cycling with 5 children on a her bicycle all secured in different places…. 1 on the back, one in front and 3 in a little cart attached to the back. Talk about carpool! I’m sure this woman had some incredible leg strength to boot.
Flash forward to January I returned from spending the holidays in South Africa and moved to a new studio space with bright plans for my first solo show to be held late March. We all well know how this story line goes, the show was postponed to late June and eventually late July. This postponement ended up sparing all the more time and energy I needed to truly stretch in size, scale and quantity for the gorgeous space that the Medicine Factory afforded.
I delighted in filling the space with large scale abstract landscapes inspired by my time spent driving along the Western Cape of South Africa. For the first time I invested in painting on my largest surfaces to date, including four pieces in the series that were 4x5 feet. While accelerating through the mental growth that came with stretching into the size of these works, I felt at ease.
Flash forward yet again to early July, I’ve toured the gorgeous gallery space at the Medicine Factory, and I’m road tripping West Texas for July 4th (because how else does one have a socially distanced getaway?) While traveling we stopped several times to enjoy the desert-scape and snap photos. One photo in particular I snapped of a canyon in Big Bend National Park I knew I had to get back to the studio and paint, BIG. I ordered the panels while I was still on the road and came home to sling together a dytptic totaling 5x8 feet. These two pieces, completed the week before the show ended up being some of the stars in the collection!
The brushwork in this show cultivated a depth of movement that I have experienced over the past year while traveling. I hope to continue to share the ways in which travel has the power to terrify and delight while expanding the heart and mind, so!
P.S. The magic of this show was all made possible by the curator extraordinaire and ever fervent encouraging soul, Ken Hall of Intrepid Arts.
Much love! xx
