I am sorry I am not at the Bentonville Art Walk. I set up my tent too early for the weather’s liking and it was destroyed in the storm. Fortunately no artwork was lost or damaged. I have been through far worse at shows. In another time I would have immediately shelled out more money for a new tent and walls or taken a last minute $100. rental to make it work. Yesterday, I decided I needed to cut my losses and head home grateful no one and nothing was injured by my flying tent.
I want to apologize to everyone who is letting me know they are at the show looking for my booth. I apologize to my fellow artists for leaving a hole where my spot should be and wish them the best of luck on this sunny day. Most of all, I apologize to Downtown Bentonville Inc and Becky McCoy for failing to fulfill my commitment to exhibit work at this event. I felt grateful to be included in the show and loved participating in it the last time. They put on a fabulous and professional show with great communication, beautiful promotional materials, and all the best artist amenities.
And I am sorry I do not have a photo of the destroyed tent, the cicrular sky, the foot of water in the street , or all the wonderful, generous, and kind artists who stepped in to offer their help and support.
My godson loves animals, always has. One of his favorite places to spend time is at the Dinner Bell Ranch. Here is about to ride up the mountain on Speck. When they returned, I was surprised to see he was in the lead. This weekend he went out to give Geralyn a hand on a busy day and I know he is hoping that he will learn how to care for the horses. I hope it works out well for both of them.
I had good news yesterday. This painting has been chosen for inclusion in the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion Association Arkansas Artist Exhibit. It will be on display at the mansion July 1 through September 25, 2009. I have been invited to attend a reception in honor of the artists and am hoping to rework my teaching schedule so that I can attend. The last reception I attended at the governor’s Mansion was a blast!
There is a fun new art destination just outside Eureka Springs. Head toward Holiday Island any Thursday-Sunday and right across from Bear Creek Nursery, you will find the Clay House Project. The owner of this 50 acre piece of property has been working with local artists Nancy Paddock, a potter, and Ralph Wilson aka Mr.Shrine, to create a studio and retail space with a festival atmosphere. There will be guest artists demonstrating, workshops in clay and other media, and performance by musicians. When I stopped by their Grand Opening event, Chris Bradley was playing the violin and you know I love that!
Margo, our favorite clown, had a new costume during the May Festival of the Arts parade this year. This summer she is headed to clown camp. I can’t wait to hear all about that.
The right hand glove of the sandblaster at EureKan Art is first home to some of our smallest new Eurekans. Here is their dutiful and protective mother.
I’m continuing my preparations for the Bentonville Art Walk. I have made new sets of notecards of the big eyed girls that are very colorful. My prints are almost done and I continue work on a new painting and on deciding how I want my booth set up. I’ll post more on that another day. There is plenty of work to be done, but for now, the sun shines and I have my wonderful godson to cook for and play with.
I picked up a copy of the 2009 Arkansas Tour Guide at Petit Jean State Park last week and had a good surprise.
On the page about Eureka Springs, the photo is of the Artery’s original installation and those huge kiwis are my painting. My godson and I were tickled by that and I mentioned it to our waitress at Mather Lodge who exclaimed, “I didn’t know you were an artist!” I thought that was cute since the only thing she did know about me was that I like coffee. Ryan looked through the events calendar and found that next weekend many of the state parks are hosting fishing derbys for kids and we made a plan to go to Withrow Springs Saturday morning so he can compete and bring home some trout. Flipping through the Tour Guide again later revealed that another painting of mine is in the photo on the page about arts.
That photo was taken at the Art Colony last summer during the Abrya Studio show, “The Big-Eyed Girls Take on the Glamourpusses”. I’m feeling pretty good about the fact that both the Eureka Springs page and the Arts page feature photos of my artwork. The big eyed girls are now quite recognizably my work and I know that familiarity is good for business. It is also a good indicator to me that there is an audience for my work. Even as I tell others how important it is to find and express one’s voice there are moments in the studio alone when I wonder what could conceivably matter about making another painting! Well, we usually teach best that which we wish to learn most. To get your copy of the 2009 Arkansas Tour Guide as well as several other guidebooks detailing the wonders available in the Natural State visit Arkansas.com .
Here is a silly polymer clay piece that I made from the distorted remnants of a face cane. Polymer clay is so much fun to work with and so forgiving that it is an equally great medium for people who are new to art and artists looking for inspiration to loosen up. I will be teaching a week long Intro to Polymer Clay course this month at Eureka Springs School of the Arts.The class begins Monday June 15th and ends that Friday evening. The school announced a new bring a friend discount today. If you bring a friend - a new student who signs up for a class via your recommendation between June 1 and June 15, ESSA will give you a 25% discount on your tuition. Beginners and professional artists are all welcome, but I can take a maximum of six students in this class, so please reserve your spot today.
The Arts In the Air exhibit at the Rockefeller Institute ended last week and the trip to pick up my paintings was the perfect opportunity for my godson and I to enjoy Petit Jean State Park. First stop was the overlook near the grave of Petit Jean. It provided tremendous views of the Arkansas River Valley and mountains beyond. Ryan, who is prone to car sickness, jumped from rock to rock, took it all in, and then announced, “I do not regret coming. This is beautiful.” We took a lot of photos and climbed around all sides of the promontory (don’t believe I’ve ever used that word before, tee hee!) and then headed over to the Institute to retrieve the art. While there we ran to the little lake, played on the swings, played catch with pine cones, and rolled down the hill. Okay, truth be told, I rolled down the hill alone, laughing hysterically and dizzy as ever. We looked at some of the interesting landscaping like foot bridges made of half of a huge tree as Ryan told me about mud puppies, and then we quickly went through the gift shop and the exhibit on Governor Rockefeller.
From the Institute we drove to the Rock House Cave trail head. The trail had stone steps at the beginning and Ryan was curious about a lot of the older structures and trails we have seen around the country. I told him about the CCC and WPA and PWAP as we climbed over the turtle rocks.
When we got the cave, there were some friendly people there who had spotted a snake slithering around the wall and tucking into this little alcove. One of them snapped this photo for us.
The cave has some petroglyphs which showed up much better in the photos than to the naked eye.
I enjoyed looking at them but what was best about this place for me is the way it felt to be there. I could easily imagine a joyful, communal life centered in the cool shelter within earshot of the creek. I wanted to stay there a while myself. No camping allowed here, so we headed out of the cave for the next part of our adventure.
I am getting ready for the Bentonville Art Walk and have lots to do in the studio, as well as, sunshine to soak in so this story ends mid-trail. Go to Petit Jean State Park and check out the rest for yourself! You won’t regret it.
Old worn out running shoes is a 12″ x 12″ painting in acrylic on canvas. The image is my godson’s last pair of shoes, before he became a runner. He wears one pair of shoes every day until they are completely worn out. I made step by step photos of this painting which you can see here, at Studio Kathryn Semolic on facebook. You can also read about the Women’s Expressive Painting Group while you are there. I’ll post more about that on this blog later.
After rain and grey skies 18 out of 21 days, it finally feels like spring. I have done a thorough spring cleaning and if the view through the sparkiling windows doesn’t quite get me into the spirit of the season, my godson does. He has recently taken up running and his joyfulness after a run is contagious and long-lived. Yesterday I took him and two of his friends to Beaver Lake, which is so high that part of the picnic area is underwater. It’s a bit too cold for me to jump in but watching them play outdoors and enjoy their good company warmed my insides. I altered this photo to reflect the intensity of their delight and the warmth I feel for my godson. A little computer fun for me before I head back into the studio. I’m painting some old running shoes. More on that later.
One extra session later, these cheerful and hard-working girls completed their paintings. I am very happy with their ability to develop an idea and see it through to the finished work. Both Sam and Sabrina tried new techniques and found great success in carrying off what they sought to acheive. I like watching them make decisions about how closely to follow their reference photos while maintaining their ideas about what made each piece as fun as it is. I often felt more like a jester rather than a teacher encouraging one of them to go ahead and mess up the canvas. As Scott likes to point out, I tell them every week that the hour and half with them is my favorite time of the week. Now that these two have completed their paintings I am missing my weekly classes with the kids. The studio is completely crowded with painting projects and display stuff for the Bentonville Art Walk. My next class will be taught at Eureka Springs School of the Arts in June. That is a polymer clay class for adults which is inspiring and fun for people with no art experience as well as for artists seeking to stretch themselves by playing with a new medium. I will also have a painting class for 12-17 year olds at ESSA in July. The next studio workshop will be expressive painting for women and I will announce the schedule for that soon.
a work in progress