Myth and Mystery exhibit

I am in the middle of another flare up with my neck and back, so I haven't spent too much time on the internet in the last week.

We are about to have another snow storm. I planned to deliver the paintings for the "Myth and Mystery" show tomorrow if the weather allows. Karen Eide, one of the three artists, has had an accident and broken both of her wrists, so she may not be able to attend the opening. She lives in Richmond which is a good two hour drive to Manassas. I am disappointed about this......we will miss her. Katie and I were really looking forward to meeting her in person after so many months of emails.

So, I have twelve paintings lined up to hang, but this morning I noticed a problem with one of the stretchers, so after picking up some hardware I attempted to re-stretch the canvas on new bars. This is a new endeavor for me as I haven't re-stretched a painting before. I never had to. Apparently, this was a bum canvas with poor quality wood stretchers that buckled on one side after a time. Even though I bought new same sized stretcher bars, the new ones are a bit larger than the original and now there is a small edge of white unpainted canvas on each side. So, I have to pull the painting from the show. This is a lesson in carefully selecting canvases. It is my regular practice when buying a canvas to lay it flat and on each side to see any gaps or warping. Generally, I find that canvases larger than 22" really need a crossbar. I am not sure where I got this particular canvas but it is a telling sign of cheapness that it has no brand name on it. Live and learn.

I will keep you all updated. Please plan to come to the reception on the 6th if you so can. Manasssas is a neat old town with a lot of cool places to eat and the Harris Pavilion will be open that evening for outdoor ice skating.

Here is the Candy Factory which houses the gallery. You can read about the historic building here.

FYI, the whole story

I just thought I would let you know, I created one long blog post about making my last quilt, Oh Deer, Look What's Become of Me! over on the Painted Threads Project blog so you can read about the making of it in chronological order.

Thinking....

There are those who would have you believe as an artist that success is all about the product. Certainly, your art is of vital importance and it is imperative to follow that creative passion without concern about who will buy or how it will sell. People can tell if you aren't all that into it. But is really and truly is a numbers game. The more you get your work out into the world, the more response you will get in return. I suppose this is a true principle in most areas of vocation.

A year ago, I made the decision to do the work I felt lead to do and to make a concerted effort to promote that work. I am amazed at the response. Beyond all the encouraging words, which are very important, people actually want to spend their hard earned money to own one of my paintings. I have had the blessing of three exhibits over the last four months which generated a lot of interest and several sales. Some of these people have found me on the internet. I just shipped off "Ovis Nectarus" to New York to a woman who sent me five postdated checks over a period of months to buy that painting. It is about to happen again. Because a person saw my work at the Athenaeum, she looked me up on the web, saw a painting she loved and tonight I am meeting with her to discuss purchase.

I say all these things not to brag. Everything I have ever been given is a gift from God. I have had my doubts, putting up obstacles of my own making because I was afraid to fail. But I want to encourage everyone who has a dream to step on out onto the path despite fear or the "they says." Just have a willingness to do the disciplined work, consistently get it out there and watch what happens.

Today, I am grateful to each of you. To those who have encouraged me with words and to those who have supported my dream with their money. Love you all....

Come on to the "Myth and Magic", our three woman show if you are around. Saturday February 6th, 6-8 p.m. at the Caton-Merchant Gallery old town Manassas. Some of you I have never met. I would love to see you there.

My sons a cover boy!

My son Ty has just made his first cover by designing an origami cocktail ring for TimeOut Chicago magazine. They even did a little feature of him on their blog.

Apostles of Beauty

Even though I think the group in the photo technically are apostles of beauty, that title actually refers to an exhibit at the Art Institute called “Apostles of Beauty” Arts and Crafts from Britain to Chicago. Its a wonderful exhibit, the arts and crafts period has to be one of my favorites.

A group of us from PAQA/SAQAILWI met this week for a field trip to see the exhibit and lunch. Trish Williams was with us as well but she had to head out before we took a group shot and Frieda Anderson was behind the camera.

Opening in D.C.

My friend, artist Terry Dixon, has an opening featuring his latest body of work titled "Re-enslavement." Terry and I went to the Atlanta College of Art together. He is a successful working artist living in Chicago.

The "Re-enslavement" paintings are inspired by Douglas Blackmon’s 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Slavery by Another Name: The Re-enslavement of Black Americans from the
Civil War to World War II." The reception is Monday February 6Th at 6 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Library. Terry, along with another exhibiting artist, Robert Morris, will speak about their work.

Writing Without Paper Blog Post

Maureen Doallas has a brilliant blog called Writing Without Paper. She posted about my upcoming show with Karen Eide and Kathleen Kendall, and asked a few questions about my work.

Narrator of Myth: Tracey Clarke

A deer in the road

My friend Jamie Fingal, sent me these photos form Road to California this weekend showing my Deer quilt hanging in the Solid Expressions exhibit.

I think it coordinates very nicely with the lovely traditional patchwork next to it.

Thanks Jamie!

Fantastic Art Marketing Retreat with Alyson Stanfield!

Artists: How would you like to sell more art?

If you could use some fresh and practical ideas for marketing your art,
check this out.

Alyson B. Stanfield, author of “I’d Rather Be in the Studio! The
Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion,” is coming to Wisconsin in
early March to help us get a groove on our marketing.

I’D RATHER BE IN THE STUDIO

A NO-EXCUSES ART MARKETING WORKSHOP

March 9-10, 2010

Siena Center, Racine, WI

**Sign up by February 12 and get a bonus gift from Alyson!

During these two days, you’ll learn

• How to write a better artist statement that connects with your audience

• How to organize and expand your mailing list

• The tragic mistakes artists make on websites and blogs (and how to
fix them)

• Email secrets that produce results

• How to increase traffic to your website and blog

• How to build your online presence with Facebook and Twitter without
becoming a slave to your computer

And it’s only $100! Alyson says this is a crazy low price, so you should
probably grab it while you can.

Two full days of ideas, examples, and motivation to help you get your
art out of the studio and in front of people who can see it and buy it.
AND, you’re going to leave with an action plan.

Get the details and register (by February 12 to get the bonus!)

And help us fill the room by sharing this information with other
artists. We’re already at 2/3 capacity!

The accommodations at the Siena Center are a down right bargain too, so this is an amazing opportunity to fit our tight recession budgets, too.

Painting Update

Two weeks until the Caton Merchant opening and I am excited to debut the baboon that night. About time, yes? In the meantime, I need to conjure a title and make some sense of the bits and pieces of story. I feel a weight, like a finally faced memory, lifted now that he is complete. And, if I may say so, he really is magnificent to behold.

In working on small studies this week, I decided it was time to paint a female hummingbird.



"Ruby Throated Hummingbird" (female)
5" x 7", oil on panel
(available, $250, framed)

Pre-order your copy now and have it by the end of the month!

This is so exciting the new Lark book 500 Art Quilts is going to be released sooner than scheduled! It should be hitting store shelves by the end of January.

I am so happy to say that my quilt Moon Garden was juried into this book. This is what the Lark website says about the book:

A beautiful new addition to the successful series 
A vibrant and growing community of crafters has embraced quilting, and this outstanding international collection will inspire and captivate them. Juried by Karey Bresenhan, one of the most prominent figures in quilting, it presents 500 magnificent contemporary art quilts, made in fabric and other media, and showcasing diverse designs, materials, and techniques. From their very inception, these quilts were destined for display rather than practical use, with an extraordinary quality of image, form, line, and composition.   Artists include:Pamela Allen  -  Alice Beasley  -  Eszter Bornemisza  -  Jane Burch Cochran  -  Judith Content  -  Chiaki Dosho  -  Noriko Endo  -  Caryl Bryer Fallert  -  Jamie Fingal  -  Linda Gass  -  Jenny Hearn  -  Judy Coates Perez  -  Yvonne Porcella  -  Susan Shie  -  Jen Swearington  -  and many more!

Oh Deer, Look What's Become of Me! makes it's debut this week

at Road to California in the Robert Kaufman Fabric exhibit "Solid Expressions", these are all quilts using Kona Solid fabrics. This quilt is whole cloth painted on Kona "Ivory". I wish I could be there to see the other quilts in the exhibit too. Anyone who's going please leave me a note about the show I would love to hear all about it.

5 minutes of your time to have a chance to win some great stash!

Visit Lesley Rileys blog for the details and link to her short survey.

February Show

Anyone ever get stuck in a blue place? I know that this struggle isn't particular to artistic temperament and I am sure many of you deal with this as well. It has been an off and on lifelong companion for me and my old friend has been visiting for a few weeks for a number of reasons, hence my absence. But I feel the veil is lifting a now.....

The "Myth and Mystery" show opens in a few weeks and I have been finishing up a few paintings and addressing how to fill up a 30 running space. Katie and I are getting together next week to talk about details of the reception. The other artist, Karen, lives in Richmond, so we look forward to meeting her at the reception.

Please join us if you are able.

Lark Quilt It Contest

So you remember a couple weeks ago I mentioned the  Lark Books Quilt it contest?

Entrants will create an original Quilt of any size that incorporates at least three of the following five required elements

Bird/s
Mountains
Silver fabric, thread, item
Recycled/repurposed material
Beads

I sent in my entry in and got the ok to post it, so here it is

Take These Broken Wings 12" x 12"


It has a background of used tea bags gel mediumed to fabric.

I drew my design on the teabag fabric and painted in highlights with white and the branches with brown before moving on to color.

 I painted the color with transparent washes of textile paint.

After quilting it with wool felt I sewed an embossed metal wing made from a sheet of aluminum layered over a piece of copper and a wing shaped piece of wool felt to give it more stability. A silver brad  pierced through copper creates his shoulder joint.