First Solo Show... then a second one!

It's been a while since I updated this blog, but the time spent away was due to life stuff. We had to move, so we went from living in a duplex near the airport to living in an old house in a really nice neighborhood. There are a lot of positives to this move, like being way closer to campus (and therefore my work), being down the street from an elementary school (which Lilah will start attending in August), and finally having an actual front and back yard! Good stuff.

There are a lot of other neat things happening, too. I was approached by two different people about having a solo show in two different venues - in the Arc gallery on campus and in a Café D'arte. At first I figured I would have to choose one or the other, but then realized that I have way more than enough art to have two.

Last Thursday we hung up my watercolor pieces in the Arc gallery. I have never done anything like this before, and the manager for the gallery, Ellen, was more than helpful. My friend Kiara also helped out. Ellen guided us through the process and it took almost four hours! The majority of that time was spent doing the measurements. It was a lot more complicated than I imagined it would be, but everything looks great. I will definitely post pictures soon.

I was pretty stumped about coming up with a title to the show, but I impulsively ended up choosing the word Obscurascope, which is also the name of my Etsy shop. I think it fits well!

Here is the artist statement that I wrote for it...

Obscurascope is a word that I assembled which means to “investigate the unseen”. I think a lot about the transience of life, the permanence of death, and enjoy the mysteriousness of it all. The eye is a symbol that I use to represent my fascination with this mystery.

My drive to create has been with me from a young age, and I spent countless hours drawing and writing as a child and as a teenager. As an adult, I was in an abusive relationship for over three years. I spent the majority of that time in seclusion and without access to my family or  friends. Drawing in my sketchbook and exploring my imagination helped me get through those dark times, and made me feel free. Creating still holds this power for me, and it also acts as a meditation for helping me through my anxieties and depression.

I started drawing with ballpoint pen many years ago, but didn’t start using watercolor paint until I took Beginning Watercolor at UAA with Professor Garry Mealor back in early 2013. At first the medium frustrated me and I was sure that I would never get the hang of it. With each assignment I felt like I was improving, and have since worked primarily with watercolor paint. It wasn’t until the past year that I thought to combine my love of both ballpoint pen and watercolor. Since the ink in the ballpoint pens I use is oil-based, the water based paint does not smear it.

I will be applying to the BFA program at UAA this Fall.

I will write again soon about the Café D'arte show once I get that hung up.