Each month our newsletter subscribers are receiving news and pictures of the progress being made on Audrey’s latest big project. The project that we have affectionately named “The Mural Project” coincides with the Mural Festival to take place throughout the county in September of this year and Audrey’s contribution to the festival.
If you would love to receive the early updates about the project that we are so excited about please add your email!
Always Learning
One would think that having been an active, selling, artist who works in all kinds of mediums for 50+ years, creating a new artwork would be a simple process by now: sketch out the inspiration and paint it. Then add the found materials and viola! A new work is created.
Alas, that is far from the process with this one!
Of course, we have already touched on the search for found objects which definitely took some time and thought. Even more time was spent researching and learning new things!
We have to give a giant shout out to the people at Golden Artist Colors. They provided a wealth of information and support that was above and beyond anything Audrey had ever expected. In fact, they covered all and more of the things that needed researching! Talk about top notch customer support!
The plan began with the intention to use marine grade plywood as a substrate for durability and weatherization during our harsh winters. Makes sense, right? Evidently not! During her many conversations with customer support at Golden Artist Colors, Audrey learned that they recommended NOT using plywood of any kind. Instead, the best substrate of choice is MDO sign painter's board in combination with a gripping primer as an added precaution. In retrospect those seem like common sense, but as a first time muralist, it was all new to Audrey.
Initially, Audrey had intended to use spray paint in combination with Golden artist's acrylic paints but she knew that she needed to research how they would bond together. Once again the people at Golden came through and recommended that she use an airbrush, the acrylic paints she had intended to use with a brush and Golden Airbrush medium for the elements that she wished to spray paint.
Audrey often uses an airbrush with her clay work, but not in her actual paintings. The past week has been spent learning how to switch from her clay glaze airbrush to the acrylic airbrush, mixing the paint and finding her own techniques using it. The new airbrush alone resulted in some quality time spent with the "university of YouTube." The new brush was completely different and far more complicated than that which she used for her ceramic work.
If you happen to stop into the gallery, be sure to ask about the mural project. We are so excited about this project and would love to show you the progress!
Funding is made possible for this project through Arts Services Inc.’s Creative Impact Fund thanks to a New York StateSenate Initiative supported by the NYS Legislature and the Office of the Governor, and administered by the New York State Council on the Arts.
Artist In Residence
Life has many twists and turns!
When the time came where I was reaching the point of starting to apply for Artist in Residency Programs at various wonderful places across the globe, it coincided with a time when I came to realize that leaving my husband of 50 years to fend for himself with our poodle for a week or two of painting was not realistic. He was starting to have mobility issues and needed my help on a daily basis. However, the appeal of focusing solely on my art, without the everyday cares of keeping the house and gallery running, rested in my mind.
Donald and I have always traveled and still enjoy it to this day. After a bit of creative thought process, I decided to give myself my very own generated Artist in Residencies by combining both our love of travel and beautiful scenery. We began to rent VRBO's or Air B&B's with beautiful scenes out of the windows and water feature backyards. Inspiring places to continue my practice of plein air painting on-location.
The only difference was that I would not have the input of other artists working nearby. Having been an active artist for over 50 years, and pretty much knowing my own art path made me realize that don’t actually need that input as much as I might have several years ago. I simply needed the time to be freely creative.
So, off we have gone! Donald reads (his favorite R&R activity), I paint, and Sunny, our high-energy, playful dog/kangaroo has fun!
To the Adirondacks, Lake Winnisquam in NH, and to Maine last year we have travelled. The land of waterfalls, waves, sunshine, tides, and water patterns inspire me and these trips proved to be better than any residency I could have participated in.
Next we are thinking about the midwest. There are always ways to explore and grow artistically! Maybe the next inspiration will be wind farms and sweeping agricultural fields folding into each other!
I'll know when I get there!
Audrey and Donald enjoying their R&R
