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.

In the Details

My art group at the opening of In the Details, Jill Milenski,

Gail Crum and me standing in front of my installed work.

I was so excited last Friday night to attend the opening of In the Details, a fiber exhibition curated by Mary Urbas and held at the Artist Archives of the Western Reserve. The CAN journal, Cleveland's go-to magazine for the arts community, had a nice article preview about the show and the accompanying solo exhibition by the late Lillian Tyrell at the adjacent Sculpture Center, Disaster Blankets. New-to-me Canvas Magazine also had a nice review article by Michael C. Butz.

Mary Urbas, center, talks about In the Details, as the artists in attendance
listen in. Left to right: Jennifer, Deborah, Juli, Mary, AAWR director Mindy
Tousely, Gayle Pritchard, Libby Chaney

The gallery is a small space, but it's perfect for showcasing a themed exhibit, as this one is. A broad range of fiber art is on display, and includes two of the Archived artist, Lillian Tyrell and Evelyn Svec Ward. I was happy to be included for exhibition with amazing artists such as Susan Shie, Libby Chaney, Juli Edberg, Sandy Miller, Jessica Pinsky, Jennifer Whitten and Deborah Silver, all of whose work I have admired over the years. The show will be up through November 4.

Part of the crowd reading Susan Shie's amazing work.

Falling Into the Rhythm

Detail of Beauty Queen by Gayle Pritchard

Fall is here. I say it out loud, even though it's only September 4th. Yesterday would have been my mother's 89th birthday, had she managed to live to a ripe, old age. It's also the day my husband and I had our "family" wedding celebration, seven months after we went to a Justice of the Peace in Virginia to get married. Fall is full of memories. It's a bittersweet time, since I always feel a bit wistful as summer wanes and cooler weather approaches. Still, fall offers its own opportunities, and it's time to adjust to that new, slower rhythm.

Last week, I finished and delivered my artwork, including three brand new pieces, to the Artist Archives of the Western Reserve. I am absolutely thrilled to have been included in the upcoming exhbition, In the Details. The exhibition was curated by Cleveland's own Mary Urbas, and it will open to the public on September 15.

I have many stories to tell about the artworks I created for the show, but I am not ready to tell them yet. I will share a detail of one of my new pieces, one of three I made in honor of my nephew, Jeremy Schroth, who died in recent weeks. He was a Wounded Warrior. His life given in service to his country over a series of multiple deployments rested heavily on my mind as I finished Wounded: What You Can Do For Your Country.

Detail of Wounded: What You Can Do For Your Country
by Gayle Pritchard; 2017

This week, I am fortunate to attend HippoCamp 2017 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a conference for writers of creative non-fiction. My daughter, who is also a writer, will attend with me for the second year in a row. I can't wait to explore a different part of my creative brain!

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. 

A Unique Exhibition

In Their Own Right, opening night. Several of my artworks are in the background.

Last night was the opening of a  summer exhibition at The Beth K. Stocker Art Center. This fiber exhibition, In Their Own Right, presents the work of the four women who have curated The Artist as Quiltmaker exhibition: Ricky Clark, (the founder), Sue Copeland Jones, Ruta Butkus Marino, (the currt curator), and me, Gayle Pritchard.



Sue Copeland Jones, Ruta Butkus Marino and Gayle Pritchard at the
opening of In Their Own Right. My work is in the background on either side
one of Ruta's pieces, the lovely blue composition in the center.



The exhibit presents a wide range of styles, and includes artwork created over a period of twenty years or more. Surprisingly, the broad range of work fits together fabulously, creating a resoundingly beautiful visual experience. Though not intended to be a retrospective, I will tell you from an artist's perspective, it is really fun to be able to show work from various stages of your career. It allows the viewer to get to know you a bit better, and to see your work in a new context. Luckily, I was able to borrow some of my artwork from the owners to include in the show.



On loan from the owner, this piece is Masks II: The Joybringer. It was fun to
see it again, and to be able to hang it for In Their Own Right. On the pedestal
to the left is my assemblage, Love Voodoo, which sold at the opening.
Ricky's Amish-style house quilt is in the background.



All the artwork fits together so beautifully, as here: Sue's work at far left and right
(far right is April Harvest beside Tuesday Dreamings), and Ruta's amusing
piece, Birth of Bob, on the left

Ruta's work, Grandifloragargantua, greets visitors to the gallery.

If you're visiting the North Coast this summer, please stop by In Their Own Right, The Artist as Quiltmaker XV, or any of the other many related exhibits and events. For all details, please click on this QuiltConnection link.