Art and Meaning

She Found Her Voice by Gail Crum
from the exhibition 
Uncovered Stories

  If you are a member of the viewing public as opposed to being an   artist,   you may not know that one of the many beautiful things   that art does   is bring meaning to the times. Artists have a way of   looking at the world differently than most people. That quirky way   of   seeing gets   combined with the tools of expression, and the     end   result, the piece of  art, is what you see when you visit an   exhibition like my current   one, Uncovered Stories. 

 In this three-woman exhibition, the fourth one presented by Gail   Crum, Jill Milenski, and me in as many years, much of the work   presented was made during the pandemic last year. Artworks, such   as our trio of altered books made to keep us going and connected,   reflect what was happening just as a contemporaneous journal   written during the Civil War would. You just need to open your   heart to connect to the artwork.

The artists created altered books, which they shared in a 
round robin during the pandemic, to stay connected with 
each other when they couldn't meet.

 

Gail's piece, shown above, finds meaning in  uncovering the beauty in a cast-off cloth doll, which she placed in a glass case she lined with delicate handmade paper. She recasts the broken-down figure, ennobling it with beauty and grace. Indeed, she found her voice.

In her piece, below, Jill combines drawing, painting and  collage to create Doorways Into the Past, a piece that contemplates the joys and perils of raising a teenager during the pandemic. It's both fraught and wistful at the same time, and certainly something any parent can relate to.

Doorways Into the Past by Jill Milenski, as
seen in Uncovered Stories.

    Jill has made nearly two dozen pieces in this series,   exploring the rabbit hole of feelings, finding new   expressions every time. This is another beautiful aspect of   art, this time reserved for the maker of art. Yes, the viewer   reaps the benefits of the rabbit hole journeys, but for the   artist, long series such as this one, lead not only to deep   personal meaning, they create breakthroughs in one's   work  that forge new paths and create new challenges. It's   an exciting place to be.

  One of my own series relates to home and houses. I   started both drawing and constructing them as   assemblages about five years ago, when we were working   on an exhibition entitled Memories Evoked: Circling   Back  Home. In addition to teensy little oil pastel   drawings  of houses on top of boxes, I added sticks   stitched in place. I even created one large piece from an   old dresser drawer. Called Pink House, it was almost a     3-D  diorama of my childhood home. I put legs from an   old television on the bottom and an old rabbit ears   antennae on the top. I love that piece, which I still have.

Traveler by Gayle Pritchard, as seen in 
Uncovered Stories.

As I was preparing for my current exhibition, I started working on several new house drawings for my series, including Traveler, left. The two-dimensional wooden house is mounted on another piece of wood replete with my ubiquitous marks. A sort of map is nailed to the bottom, the "ground" area, and a beach stick is attached at the bottom. My oldest brother died as I was completing it, so I decided to dedicate the piece to him. I added the word cut from an old dictionary, traveler, as a sort of send-off for his soul. The map will help him find his way. Traveler is also a metaphor for his Irish blood; he had even more Irish DNA than the rest of his siblings, and one of our Irish surnames is a "traveler" name. Rest in peace, my brother.

So, these are just a few of the ways that artists both find and create meaning for the rest of the world to contemplate. I am grateful for the task.

New Year, New Art, New Opening

In Our Studio

   Spring has arrived, along with vaccines, we have a new studio       space, new artwork, and a new exhibition.  

   The opportunity to exhibit our new work, and some made just       at the beginning of the pandemic, came about suddenly. In the       past three weeks, we have been working like crazy to finish up       pieces and install the show. It opens this Friday. Here's the             information:

Uncovered Stories

featuring the artwork of Gail Crum, Jill Milenski and Gayle Pritchard

BAYarts, Playhouse Gallery

28795 Lake Rd., Bay Village, Ohio 44140

Hope to see you there! Masks are required, and the number of people in the gallery at once is limited. So, grab your mask, and enjoy the beautiful patio and firepit after you see the show.

It's Here: Women in Conversation Opens This Friday

Detail, Spring Revisited by Gayle Pritchard

Such an exciting week lies ahead, culminating with the opening of our three-woman Women's History Month exhibition, Women in Conversation, on Friday night.

On Saturday, we unloaded six carloads of artwork into the gallery and carefully unwrapped all of the pieces for the gallery director. The space looks beautiful, and we cannot wait to see the show installed.

We all worked until the very end finishing work, wiring for hanging, adding titles to the artworks, sometimes the most difficult part. There is such a broad array of work from paintings and drawings to art quilts, assemblages, hybrid books and so much more. We created educational displays to illustrate our processes and highlight some of the materials we love to use. We even made a scavenger hunt game. Come to the opening at the Stocker Center Art Gallery Friday, February 28, 4 - 7 p.m. to play! Enjoy the art, live music and refreshments, as well. If you can't be there Friday, join us Saturday, February 29, 6 - 7 p.m. We'll be in the gallery then before the Mardi Gras concert with Terrance Simien begins.

One of the new pieces I created for this exhibition is called Target Family. Here are some images showing my process.

I wanted to create a diverse sense of  the
people who come to this country, so I
looked for eyes of all sorts. Detail, Target
Family by Gayle Pritchard

Here are some of the images I found. I really like how it adds
an edginess to the collage. Detail, Target Family by Gayle
Pritchard

Here is the final piece. My mixed media painting backs the
collage of an official NRA target, an old photograph
that has been altered as shown above. I mounted all on a
painted board, then added the assemblage elements.
Target Family by Gayle Pritchard. 

Making Marks is the Start

"Mexico" by Gayle Pritchard, oil pastel with collage and
image transfers on mat board

I have never met a kid who, at a certain age, did not like to draw. Somewhere along the line, most of them end up abandoning the skill, because they are taught, often by an untrained "art" teacher, that their drawings aren't up to snuff. They aren't taught that drawing is a lifelong skill and one that, no matter how good you naturally are at it, can become rusty or greatly improved, depending on how often you practice.

So, making marks: It's the key to it all, and my hands long to create them. Whenever I travel, even if for a few days away from home, I always bring along a little travel kit which includes drawing supplies. I especially love the marks that soft pastels or conte crayons make, but I adore using the less messy oil pastels.

I am fortunate to have two women artists in my life with whom I meet almost weekly: my art group. When we have play days, Jill, the experienced sketcher and painter in the group, often creates opportunities for us to sketch and draw in new ways. Her massive stack of filled sketchbooks regularly inspires us to keep drawing. As further incentive, she even gave both of us a set of Prismacolor pencils and a brand new sketchbook for Christmas. Get crackin', ladies!

Landscape drawing on two pages, oil pastel, by Jill Milenski

Inspired by both Jill Milenski and Gail Crum and their drawing practice, I have returned to a drawing series I started several years ago. For one of our groups' two major shows over the past two years, I began making house drawings that went along with the theme of our show, Circling Back Home.

Two of my house drawings in oil pastel, bottom,
along with Gail Crum's framed collage, top. From
our Circling Back Home exhibition.

I have also been inspired for many years by two other landscape painters: Wolf Kahn and Sheep Jones. Their use of marks and color combined create a deep longing in me, and I absolutely love their paintings. I am especially moved by Jones' imagery, the evocative houses standing in landscapes that she captures in her marks. 

Now that the New Year is well underway, I am happy to have entered back into my art studio routine. This month began with the need to clear off my work space, which always leads to the discovery of some forgotten sketch, background painting, or fabric or collage snippet. I found all of these, and since several were already in progress, still in the thrall of the original idea, I just picked them up to finish them.

House Drawing #3, Gayle Pritchard, 4 x 6

House Drawing #3 was made on a background painting I had made with a marked gesso surface painted with various acrylics, including interference paint. It creates a nice shimmer behind the oil pastels. It's attached with brass brads to one of a giant stash of vintage boxes that I have. It's a good use for the boxes, and a nice way to finish an artwork, especially these little 4" x 6" ones.

House Drawing #4 isn't finished yet. It is larger, and I am going to mount it on the piece of wood shown. It has also turned into an assemblage, with a shelf at the bottom and found wood, metal and glass pieces added. The wood background, salvaged from an old dresser drawer, has oil pastel marks, and I will probably add some more. The house drawing, just started, is also being created on a background prepared with gesso that has been drawn into before being left to dry. When the oil pastels are added to the surface, they can be pushed down into the grooves in the gesso, creating an interesting, textured surface.

House Drawing #4 by Gayle Pritchard, in progress. Found wooden blocks, beach sticks,
altered photographs, glass and metal will be attached to a piece of wood
salvaged from an old dresser drawer.

Making marks is the start of creating for me. I use a mark to "open" a surface, even if I'm working in fiber. Making marks gives a start. It's a beginning of a new idea about to come to life.

Loose Ends, New Beginnings

From the book, I Hope You Dance, by
Mark Sanders and Tia Sillers.

It's that funny time between Christmas and the New Year. Today, against all odds in northern Ohio, the sun is brilliant in the sky; even though I slept in, it's the kind of sunshine that makes you want to jump out of bed on a winters' day and greet the world. It makes you want to dance.

I haven't put the Christmas tree ornaments away yet. In fact, I just finished clearing off the dining room table yesterday, finally removing the soiled tablecloth and taking it outside for a good shake before putting it in the laundry pile. I haven't done much in the way of "necessary" work this week: laundry, grocery shopping and the like. I'm on vacation.

Thanksgiving builds its' crescendo to Christmas Eve dinner, the big day at our house, I rise to the occasion, making plans, decorating, preparing pies and special dishes, shopping in local boutiques, trying to find just the right gift at the right price. After the family dinner on Christmas Eve, everyone opens their sleigh gift, and the night dissolves into family stories over dessert, talks, conversations in the corner, and mellow holiday punch. After that, my vacation begins.

I used the time this past week to tie up loose ends. This gets me ready for the new year. I like to start out with a clean slate, or at least a good start on one. I worked on my genealogy piles, scanning pictures and documents, following up on correspondences that have winked at me for weeks when I was too busy to form a reply. I got a good start on thank you notes, returned phone calls, organized my recipe books, returning the loose pages pulled out for the holidays. I gathered stacks of cardboard boxes for the next recycling truck, made a bag of donations, scanned my pile of new books into Goodreads to add to my "want to read" list. I even started reading one of my new books, Michelle Obama's "Becoming."

May Queen, a collage in progress by
Gayle Pritchard

There are plenty of loose ends in my studio, as well. Because my attic access is through the closet in that room, it gets piled up with Christmas boxes, wrapping paper, gift bags and the like. When I'm not working, the table gets covered with piles of collage papers I haven't put away yet, mending projects, and large pieces of artwork that have been moved to make room for a visiting guest or two. I didn't get the table cleared off completely, but I did pull out a few things to finish up.

This collage, I call it May Queen, was started back in July in a play-day with my art group. I made several pieces that day, but I really liked this one. I pulled it out this week and finished gluing the three dimensional elements in place. I plan to darken the blue botanical drawing in the bottom right corner, and maybe add a line of nice blue oil pastel, melted to a lip-sticky consistency, along the curve of the woman's back on the left. I think that will do it. The collage was created on stretched canvas, so I will either frame it with found wood pieces, or find a box or frame to pop it into.

As the new year approaches, I wish you peace and happiness. And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance. I plan to. Happy New Year.

Anticipation: Before Everything Else, Getting Ready

Gail Crum, Jill Gray Milenski and Gayle Pritchard created  

more than a hundred artworks in preparation for Memories 

Evoked: Circling Back Home. The exhibition is on view now

through March 12, 2017  at the Beck Center for the Arts, 

17801 Detroit Rd., Lakewood, Ohio.

To quote Henry Ford, "Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success." If that proves true, the opening of my artist group's three woman exhibition, Memories Evoked: Circling Back Home, should be a smashing success! It has been two years in the making, and the three of us have created over 100 artworks for the show. Last Friday we got all the work together to have a look before the artwork was installed in the gallery. Our take-away: impressive work, ladies!

As the Artist's Opening Reception approaches, March 4 at 6 p.m., we are seeing our exhibition proposal come to life. Here is the idea we submitted two years ago, the core of what motivated us to work toward this day for years:

For two decades, three artists with a shared aesthetic have met together, grown and supported each other. Though the artists express themselves through media as diverse as painting, assemblage and fiber, these three women share a passion for found objects, ephemera and colors chosen to give voice to the subject matter they explore here: memories evoked.  

In her work, Gail Crum rescues the unwanted and re-purposes the odd and discarded. Jill Milenski’s colorful imagery juxtaposes the idealized version of childhood with the reality of modern parenting. Gayle Pritchard integrates story-telling with fiber, paint, stitches and the written word in work that seeks to examine the past as a way to heal the present.

The artists met in a workshop Pritchard had developed to explore the process of imbuing ordinary objects with meaning. Twenty years later, these women have come full circle.  Together their diverse backgrounds in the business world, academia and art and their shared experiences as women in a complex world find confluence in the evocative and personal viewpoint each artist presents in the work displayed in this exhibition. 

Gail writes down titles of artworks that we have grouped
together for the upcoming installation in the gallery.

If you live nearby, we sure hope you can join us on March 4. If not, stay tuned for pictures of the installation and the opening. 

Preparing to Exhibit

Painting fabric for "Fear of Flying:

My house is an absolute mess at the moment. Not only do I have to finish tax paperwork for my company, but I am in deadline mode for an upcoming exhibition. (Details are on my Upcoming Events page.) My desk in my office is covered with paper receipts, and my kitchen table has neat little piles of paper ready for entry into my computer. My studio tables are full with almost-finished pieces, bits and parts here and there, waiting to be put in place. The overflow from my large studio pieces sit on my dining room table, where it is easier to walk around the large works as I finish them. When I was younger, it seemed easier to juggle so many "to-do" items at once. Now it's harder. I need to rest more. Everything takes more time.

My vision board from last year

That said, today I am giving myself a gift of time. I am taking the afternoon with my daughter and several close friends to make a vision board for the coming year. My daughter is our guide. She first learned to create a Vision Board in the context of a Native American women's circle she was fortunate to sit with for many years. She will be sharing some of those teachings about the tribal Medicine Wheel as we create our own visions for the year to come.

It is important to give yourself time to think and plan, no matter how busy you are. For me, having dedicated time for myself scheduled into my calendar works well. I am looking forward to some quiet meditation today as I chart my course for the coming year.

Detail of my assemblage, in progress

Being Where You Need To Be and Other Plans

As John Lennon wrote, "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." Planning, in and of it self, is fraught with danger, and life often simply does not cooperate.

And so, that is how my spring and summer went: plans gone awry as real life took over and went sideways. How appropriate it was that I picked an old circus book to use as a journal for the summer. Life has been like a three-ring circus! As a result of care-taking demands in this circus, I have not have much time to make art.

Sometimes, there is only time to juggle the many things you need to do. Don't be discouraged. Remember, this crazy time isn't forever. Do what I do, and squeeze art-making time into your day. I have been organizing, finding and finishing up already started pieces that don't require a lot of thinking time.

This is the "in progress" front cover of an assemblage I am finishing.

I am so grateful, too, that I have a supportive group of artist friends. We meet almost every week. It is something to look forward to, and an appointment to think, be and make art.

New Year New Schedule

My sketch of oranges, inspired by a postcard Jill brought
to art night.

I have been having a lot of fun with my new schedule this year. With the support of my art group friends Jill Milenski and Gail Crum, I spent the first few weeks of this year reorganizing my schedule. Last year I did quite a bit more sketching, thanks to Jill's influence. She is such an amazing painter, that seeing her work on a regular basis inspires me.
Gail and I co-taught several classes together at Small Studio, and since we meet nearly every Monday night, we are constantly interacting and supporting each other's goals. Gail excels at her assemblage work, and it is fascinating to work together with her each week, since our approaches are quite different. All in all, meeting together regularly has helped all of us be more productive.
Among other things, my new schedule includes taking at least 10 minutes to write in my journal, and 10 minutes to make a sketch. What fun!

Making Shrines at Small Studio

Friends and fellow artists joined Gayle for the Enshrined class.

 As promised, the Enshrined workshop at Small Studio Productions was loads of fun. Gail Crum joined me to co-teach the class, and Ginny at Small Studio has affectionately dubbed us The Gales, and now in her new blog post, Gale Force. That about sums it up! Gail was in the very first Shrines class that I taught some twenty years ago. She says the class changed her life. All I know is that she has been creating shrines, assemblages and collages ever since, and is an amazing artist. It was fun to teach a class together.
There were several long-time friends in the class: Phyllis, Karen and Clare from the "Dye Group", a cadre of women artists who have played together for decades and still keep a journal about what they are doing. Clare just retired from the art department at Malone College, but is teaching her amazing encaustic techniques and other workshops around northeast Ohio and in Columbus at QSDS.

Phyllis, Karen and Clare are "Dye Group" buddies. Gail Crum
co-taught Enshrined with me.

Former studio mate and amazing painter Pam Dills came with two of her friends, neither of whom had done artwork before, but both of whom made amazing pieces. In addition, Zelda, Kim and Denette joined us, and made absolutely stunning shrines with their selected objects and stories.

Enshrined class students working away.

Kim's shrine about her garden-loving grandmother, in progress

More workshops to come, the next on May 17th. Hope to see you there!

Family Connections

T. Vickery's Boots and Shoes! I loved this ad the minute I saw it recently. Vickery, you see, is a family name, though I can't think of any T. Vickery's in the group.

You may think it strange for an artist to also be passionate about family history, but for me there is a direct connection. You see, my art is very personal, and is often about my family, my history, or some combination of the two. My piece The Day Momma Died uses physical objects that belonged to my mother to create an artwork, and to commemorate the experience of the day she died at 62.
Prayers for the Dead commemorates three family deaths which took place shortly after my mother's death.
My Joie de Vivre series is a group of three abstracted self portraits that chronicle, for me, a crucial developmental phase in my artwork. A few years ago, I made a piece about my husband using the lyrics of one of his songs.


Gayle with her piece inspired by her husband's song lyrics: I Hear Voices in my Head

Whether I am working on works for the wall or creating mixed media assemblages, my work tends to be autobiographical. It is the way I process my internal thoughts. It is what comes out when I go to that space deep inside where my inspiration lives. What inspires you?

This is an actual advertisement from Derby, England in 1816. The Mr. Pritchard mentioned is my husband's ancestor.

Appreciating Life With Eyes Closed

Gayle's assemblage in progress



I  hurt my eye last weekend, but I have no idea how or when I managed to do it. When I finally went to see my eye doctor, he found the scratch, and told me it could have even been caused by a stray hair blowing in the wind. I guess this might be a downside of having long hair. In any case, once again I was forced to STOP: stop what I am always doing, which is working, and close my eyes; rest. God, I hate that!

Maybe you have a similar personality, and maybe you don't. Years of journaling and self-examination prodded by observations from my loved ones have taught me that I feel best about myself when I am accomplishing my goals. For me, this probably comes out of my childhood, growing up in a large family, and trying to be noticed in a good way. The end result, in my adult years, is that I have a very difficult time shutting down. My active artist's mind races through the day, and thinks all through most nights, as ideas flow into my consciousness and spill over into my dreams. I love that!

This week, I was left unable to actually bring my ideas into fruition, as my hurt eye failed to cooperate. I was left pondering ideas, and thinking of lists of what I wanted to do next. The situation was aided by the fact that two of my young grandbabies were here all week while their parents traveled. There is nothing like caring for babies to make one stop and smell the roses. They are a constant reminder of what is important in these brief lives we live. Stopping the whirlwind of self-absorbed brain activity to sit down on the floor and play, make lunch, read stories and cuddle is a good way to remember that the number of hugs and memories of being loved are a large part of what makes us who we can be.

Yesterday, I was able to get back to work. My week ended on an especially high note in my Be a Pro workshop. I had a great class of eight articulate and ambitious seekers, and the discussions were lively. I felt buoyed, and I hope the participants felt more empowered to find their ways forward as artists and writers.
Later this month, I will be teaching a workshop I call Spirit Boxes, Sacred Vessels and Shrines. We'll be making personally meaningful assemblages from found objects. Hope those of you who live locally can join us. Now...back to my journal lists. Have a great week, all!



Gayle's Reflections of Mexico assemblage



Finding Your Soul Through Your Hands and More Fall Fiber Exhibitions

This past week I heard a great interview on PBS by Jeffrey Brown of author Matthew Crawford. Crawford's new book, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work sounds like a great read. It is about the value of making things and doing things with our hands. I can't wait to read it. I also can't help but think it represents the current societal trend, as happened in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, of re-learning how to be a maker. Once again, people across the world are turning to making; this is evident in the popularity of knitting, quilting, scrapbooking, and in online places like etsy.

I have been teaching workshops, ostensibly on making, for decades now. What my workshops are really about, though, is reconnecting. If my workshops are successful, the participants come away understanding how to find and listen to their inner voices once again. Listening to that inner voice is crucial for artists, but is also a honed skill that anyone can benefit from. Why do you think gardening is so popular? When my website update is complete, I will be posting some tutorials from my workshops, some exercises you can try at home. You can then test this out for yourself. If you are feeling lost or disconnected, you can find your way home.

Speaking of workshops, years ago two sisters signed up for my class, Spirit Boxes, Sacred Vessels and Shrines. One of them, Gail Crum , really found her voice, and has been creating fabulous assemblages ever since, several of which I have in my own art collection. She, her artist husband Sean Crum and painter Richard Skerl will be exhibiting at the Pentagon Gallery in Cleveland Heights, Ohio beginning today. The show will be up through October 24th.

As I mentioned in my last post, the art exhibition season is gearing up. The postcard announcements and emails are pouring in from friends and colleagues, so I would like to highlight a few more exhibitions I have heard about. Some of the local (greater Cleveland) galleries do not have websites, so you'll have to find your way to those locales.

Rock Ghost 2 by Rebecca Cross, solo exhibit, Transformations: Shibori in Silk At the Fountain Gallery, Malone College in Canton, Ohio

Having completed her MFA a few years back, Cross' work has blossomed, as she shreds the line between work for the wall and work for the sky.

September 4 - 27, Beachwood (Ohio) Community Center, fiber artists Jean Evans, Carole Pollard, Sandy Shelenberger, Judith Kessler Smith and Sonja Tugend will be showing work in Fabrications x Five.

In St. Louis, Missouri, a happenin' fiber art city, you can see the work of my colleague Pat Owoc in several group show venues. Her solo exhibition, Not Altogether Whole, will open in the Charak Gallery at the Craft Alliance on September 11, and will be on view until October 25, 2009.

Detail, Rest Area 1 Mile, by Pat Owoc

Enjoy your Labor Day Weekend, a holiday which was designed to honor the work of our hands. Make something this weekend!