Ladders, Shovels, Ropes

Collective Archive

2011-02-13T15:35:00.001-08:00

I'm in a group show at School 33 Art Center in Baltimore called "Collective Archive." For more on the show, visit www.school33.org.

Curated by Jayme McLellan
When: 3/4/11-4/30/11
Opening reception Friday March 4, 6-9 pm

New American Paintings

2011-02-13T15:32:00.000-08:00

It's been a little while since I've posted but I'm going to try to not let that happen again! I found out recently that my work was selecte for inclusion in New American Paintings, issue no. 94, the Southern Region juried exhibition. I'm not sure when it's going to be out, but I am so thrilled!

Place and Sensibility at VisArts

2010-10-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

I'm in a two-person show called Place and Sensibility at the VisArts Center in Rockville, MD.

For more on VisArts go here: http://www.visartscenter.org/

For more on Mariah Johnsongo here: mariahjohnson.com

The show runs from Nov 8-Dec 17th. There will be a mini-opening on Friday Nov 5th from 6-8 pm.

Radar Redux Reviews Desperate Times

2010-09-20T18:32:00.001-07:00

http://www.radarredux.com/2010/09/desperate-times-subbasement-studios/

Go there!

Arlington Arts Center 2011 Solos

2010-09-14T15:42:00.001-07:00

I found out today that both me AND Jason have been selected for the 2011 solo shows at the Arlington Arts Center in Arlington, VA!! I'm so excited!!! My friend and fellow artist Mindy Hirt was also chosen, so McDaniel College will be well represented by the two of us! It's such an honor and this keeps me motivated to keep working and producing and going to the studio. THANKS SO MUCH AAC!!!

For more info on the Arlington Arts Center, go here: https://www.arlingtonartscenter.org

For more on Jason, go to jasonirla.com

For more on Mindy, go to mindyhirt.com

I'll post more info about our shows once I get more. Yay!

Desperate Times opens TONIGHT!

2010-09-11T08:05:00.001-07:00

For more info, go to http://jasonirla.com/desperate_times.html

Subbasement Artist Studios is pleased to announce our upcoming show Desperate Times, opening Saturday September 11th and running through October 9th. Five emerging Baltimore artists will exhibit work reflecting a broad range of dystopian anxieties in response to the present state of society and culture. Darrell Appelzoller’s photographs are built into topographically inspired 3->dimensional islands, exploring issues of individual isolation amidst a wealth of technological communicational devices while we live together in increasingly closer proximity to one another. BHIBTB makes video installations inspired by science fiction films and literature. His videos show a future world in which Utopia seems to have finally come to be a reality, yet this future is extreme in its sterility, sublimely cultish, and Orwellian in its nature. Graham Coreil-Allen’s ongoing project, New Public Sites, exposes the absurd, overlooked, and banal, aspects of the metropolis’ we inhabit through guided tours, videos, and installations, “playfully exploring a thrilling urban sublime through drifting symbols of invisible sites”. Matthew Fishel’s work takes a significantly darker tone. Cinematic in their nature, Fishel’s videos and animations are inspired by, and are in response to, classic science fiction films and Hollywood’s current fascination with apocalyptic scenarios. Sarah McNeil has created a world in which all is not lost. Her sculptures, animations and installations follow the exploits of the Bricoleur Dream Brigade, who with their wit, cleverness, and fantastical devices, combat the negative energies and pervasive cynicism of the current moment, healing individuals and leaving the world a better place than they found it. Desperate Times is curated by Jason Irla who has brought together this group of five artist who’s disparate methods of working are all conceptually linked to finding ways in which to navigate the dystopian world we inhabit. Please join Subbasement Artist Studios, the five artists, and the curator, at an opening reception Saturday September 11th, from 7 – 9 p.m.

Real Art DC profile!

2010-08-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

Lucky #6! Go here for an article and photos: http://bit.ly/bZDk9C

Our New Studio

2010-08-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

Jason and I moved into our new studio in Area 405 recently and it feels great to have such a nice space in an artists-centric building/area of Baltimore. Here are a few shots of it--it's about the size of 2 of my old studio at MICA. Area 405 is located at 405 E. Oliver Street.

More from Detroit

2010-07-28T12:17:00.001-07:00

More Detroit pics

2010-07-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

My Detroit Pics

2010-07-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

Unlikely Places

2010-07-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

I'm in a show at Towson University called Unlikely Places. It runs until August 7!

Drawing in the Expanded Field

2010-07-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

I will be in a show at Colorado State University's Hatton Gallery entitled Drawing in the Expanded Field. They selected my prop drawing installation!

For more info, visit http://bit.ly/aybhRC

More from Detroit

2010-07-22T15:56:00.000-07:00

I'm really into graffiti buffs right now, and there were a lot in Detroit. Photos taken by Jason Irla...

Trip to Detroit

2010-07-22T15:54:00.001-07:00

I just got back from a trip to Detroit (Jason's hometown) and took some photos that have elements that I'd like to use in my paintings. Jason took all of these and I'll be uploading more soon...

Real Art DC

2010-07-22T15:48:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been finding that the shows, jobs, etc that I apply for and then seem to forget about always come back to surprise me! I applied to the Washington Post's art competition Real Art DC back in late April/May during my theory class and thought nothing of it. I had been emailed a few times by a reporter asking for more images and thought, "Well that's interesting" but then lost touch. I recently got an email from the same reporter asking me if I would like to be a finalist--and I said yes of course! Here's how it works-- anyone can upload photos of their artwork onto the Real Art DC page. Right now there are almost 3000 images from artists. 10 finalists are selected and featured by the Post. Once all 10 have been selected, there's a 2 week voting period where you can vote for your favorite. The winner is then further featured on the website and I think in the printed paper as well. I'm surprised to be chosen, especially out of so many images and very honored. Thanks Washington Post! I'll post a link to the story once it's published.

New website

2010-07-22T15:46:00.001-07:00

My website is up and running! I still need to add more photos but everything's looking pretty good so far and I'm happy with it. I'm going to keep using the blog to announce updates, shows, etc but will primarily add pictures of new work only to the website. The address is:

http://chloeswatson.com/home.html

It's been awhile!

2010-07-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post! Between looking for a job, trying to spend time in the studio, getting ready for 2 more shows, and setting up a "real" website, it's been hard to find time to update this thing. But YES I will have a real website soon, just have to take some better images of my paintings and then things will be up and running. I have a few things to post but first I need to go to the studio! Look out for things to come...

Hirshhorn Trip- 5/27/10

2010-06-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

Jason, Steve, and I went to the Hirshhorn last week to check out the Yves Klein show. There was another show up called "Color Forms" that was small but amazing and well curated. The Klein show was great to see--I liked the way the curators presented the videos in the doorways of the space. It was a smart way to consolidate the space---I think the curators of the Marina Abramovic retrospective at MoMA should take note! I've posted a few pictures from the trip:

Klein's infamous International Klein Blue was SO saturated it hurt to look at after awhile!

Wolfgang Laib

AMAZING Paul Sharrits piece

One of my favorites and inspirations, Fred Sandback

NO MORE GRAD SCHOOL!

2010-05-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well, the time has finally come--I went to my last class, had my final review, made my last critique schedule as a Program Assistant...I am done with graduate school.

It was a great experience. Working with Frances Barth was by far the highlight, as was meeting with our critics-in-residence and having critiques with visiting artists (David Humphrey was one of my favorites).

That being said, I am glad it's over and am eager to move on with my art/career/life. Graduation is one week away and I'm looking forward to "officially" moving on from the program. This definitely is not the end of my education--I hope to get a few more Master's degrees under my belt and possibly a PhD. We'll just have to see where life takes me...

MICA MFA Thesis II Show: April 9-18, 2010, Mary Anne Arntzen

2010-04-14T09:07:00.001-07:00

Photos from my thesis show

2010-04-07T10:00:00.001-07:00

MICA, Decker Gallery, March 26-April 4, 2010

MICA MFA Thesis I: Matthew Fishel

2010-04-07T09:58:00.000-07:00

matthewfishel.com

MICA MFA Thesis I: Jason Irla

2010-04-07T09:57:00.001-07:00

jasonirla.com

Bmore Art Blog features Thesis I

2010-03-27T09:38:00.001-07:00

oh hey! http://bit.ly/av77C9

THESIS OPENS FRIDAY!!!

2010-03-21T17:40:00.001-07:00

WOW time flies!! MFA Thesis I opens on Friday 3/26/10 from 5-7pm! MFA candidates in the show include:

Heidi Fancher
Matthew Fishel
Molly Hawthorn
Jason Irla
Justin Kropp
Cyle Metzger
Virginia Sasser
Andrew Shea
Jonathan Stonely
John Walser
Micah Walter
Chloe Watson
Jennifer White-Torres
Ting Zhang

Gallery talks will take place on Tuesday March 30 from 3-5pm and Wednesday March 31 from 1-3pm. I'll be giving my talk on Wednesday. I'm ready to install and can't wait to see everyone's work! For more info, go to:

http://www.mica.edu/News/MICA_Mounts_MFA_Thesis_Exhibitions_March_26-May_2.html

and

http://www.mica.edu/Browse_Art/2010_MFA_Thesis_Exhibition_I.html

Thesis Order

2010-03-08T13:46:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to figure out the order of my paintings for thesis. The wall I have is 34' long so to keep the viewer going from painting to painting, Frances suggest that I think about these as if I were flipping through a book--what would keep someone interested and moving along since they could just back up and see them all at once? So I'm playing around with them digitally but I'll really figure it out once it's time to install...in 2 weeks!!

Strange Interlude Opening

2010-02-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who came to support Cindy and me!

Cindy and me

friends!

Katie Kehoe

Peter Boyce and Jason Irla

Drawings Installed in Project Room

2010-02-28T11:52:00.001-08:00

Had to get these out of my studio to play with the spacing in between them for thesis...

Taking votes...

2010-02-24T14:49:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to decide which option--either filling in the shadow/reflection or filling in the floor--works best for this new painting. These are photoshop docs; I'm leaning towards filling in the floor...

Strange Interlude Photos

2010-02-21T16:25:00.001-08:00

All done installing--the show looks great!!

Post Gogol Show @ Slag Gallery

2010-02-17T13:54:00.001-08:00

Post Gogol: The Silent Absence of the Body opens tomorrow night (2/18) at Slag Gallery in NYC from 6-8pm. The show is guest curated by Mount Royal critic-in-residence Marek Bartelik and features Mount Royal student Jason Irla. For more on Slag, go to slaggallery.com. For more on Jason, go to Jasonirla.com. The gallery is located at 531 West 25th Street, Ground floor unit #10. See you there!

Playground Politics

2010-02-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

New drawing to be mounted on birch panel; acrylic and colored pencil on paper

MICA Juxtapositions

2010-02-15T21:40:00.000-08:00

The March/April edition of MICA's Juxtapositions newsletter is out now and features info on all the MFA Thesis groups. For the entire issue, please go here:

http://www.mica.edu/Documents/Juxtapositions/JUXT_MarApr10_v04.pdf

An image of one of my drawings was used as well as other Mount Royal work...

Raw Art Sale @ MICA

2010-02-12T14:10:00.001-08:00

The Raw Art Sale features student artwork that is unframed/un-matted. I submitted almost all of the work I did while in Vermont and priced pieces ridiculously low (between $5-$30). The sale takes place in the BBOX in the Gateway Building on Sunday 2/14 from noon-4pm and Monday 2/15 from 10-4pm. For more info, please go here:

http://www.mica.edu/News/Raw_Art_Sale.html

The Poetics of Space

2010-02-11T09:48:00.000-08:00

I've been reading The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard. I'm really enjoying it--it's beautifully written and really communicates a lot of ideas I've had about my recent work.

New drawings/paintings

2010-02-09T10:58:00.000-08:00

Acrylic, colored pencil on paper, will be mounted on birch panels eventually.

Strange Interlude

2010-02-04T10:52:00.001-08:00

Cindy Cheng and I are having a show at Loyola University Maryland in their Julio Fine Arts Gallery. The show runs from February 22-March 28 and the gallery talk/reception will be Thursday February 25 from 5-7pm. For more info and gallery hours, please visit http://www.loyola.edu/gallery/upcoming/.

Drawings mounted on panels

2010-01-25T15:34:00.000-08:00

New drawing

2010-01-19T14:44:00.000-08:00

New drawing--I think it's finished, I'm happy with the pink. Will take a better image on Thursday/Friday.

Playing with shapes, trying out some compositions...

Experiments in the Studio

2010-01-11T12:49:00.001-08:00

I've been playing around with these planar cut-outs for a few days now--bending them in different ways, arranging them in different configurations, combining them with drawings directly on my wall. I want to include some 3D work in my thesis show, so whether these will be models for something bigger, I'm not sure. I am interested in combining these forms with the type of drawings I've been doing though...we'll see what happens!

Frances Barth Opening at Sundaram Tagore 1/7/10

2010-01-09T10:17:00.000-08:00

Awesome show--check it out if you can!! Frances was very surprised to see us...

Richard Serra De-install in Chelsea 1/7/10

2010-01-09T10:13:00.001-08:00

Went to NYC on Thursday and happened to see some of Richard Serra's torqued ellipses being deinstalled! We didn't get to see them put onto the flatbeds, which would have been incredible, but this was the best thing I saw all day beside my director's opening!

Drive-in Screens in Danville, PA

2010-01-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

I've developed a mild obsession over this drive-in movie theater in my parents' town, Danville, PA. Had to pull over and finally take a shot of the amazing construction...

Fantastic Day in DC

2010-01-02T16:36:00.000-08:00

Went to DC today to catch the Anne Truitt show at the Hirschhorn before it closes tomorrow--it was great, I'm so glad I caught it in time! This would be the PERFECT show to take a color theory class to! Her sensitivity to color and form made for some really powerful pieces...

One of my favorites

This column in the center was INSANE to walk around and notice the differentiation between subtle values of color. One of my favorites in the show...

Detail

Also got to see the John Gerrard work featured on the 4th floor of the Hirschhorn. I have never seen any video work like it--truly fascinating and inventive. This was a highlight of the trip.

Also got over to the National Gallery's East Wing to see the Meyerhoff Collection on display in the mezzanine. What a collection they had--Ellsworth Kelly, Hans Hoffman, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Agnes Martin. Saw two great Frank Stella drawings and some smaller scale sculpture. There was also a Philip Guston show in the Tower which was nice to take in.

A great but FREEZING day in DC! We had a great time...

Frances Barth Show in NYC

2009-12-27T20:36:00.001-08:00

Director of Mount Royal, Frances Barth, is having a solo show at Sundaram Tagore Gallery. The show features new paintings and an animation and opens January 7th 6-8 pm and runs until February 6th. I can't wait to go to the opening and see all the work that Frances has been doing!!

Keep voting please!

2009-12-25T21:19:00.000-08:00

52 days left to vote!!!

http://www.bakerartistawards.org/

Happy Holidays!!

2009-12-24T17:10:00.000-08:00

Have a great holiday and happy new year!! Here are some pictures from recent Mount Royal holiday celebrations:

Mount Royal Holiday Dinner!

Jason and me in our ugly sweaters

Marek Bartelik and Sarah Oppenheimer mingling before dinner

Good food!

Frances Barth picking a present from our grab bag!

Walking Bridge

2009-12-23T18:01:00.000-08:00

9 ft x 5 ft; acrylic, colored pencil, collage on vellum

New drawing

2009-12-23T17:49:00.000-08:00

Not finished yet, have to do something about the shadow. I'm not sure how I feel about using a hook either--seems too predictable.

Revision of older piece

2009-12-23T17:47:00.000-08:00

This is a revision of You Can't Rely on Anyone (in my opinion). I cut out the stool and the purple shape from the old drawing and collaged them onto a new, longer sheet of paper.

More installation shots...

2009-12-23T17:44:00.000-08:00

From final reviews...

Installation Room shots from Final Reviews

2009-12-23T17:39:00.000-08:00

Installed some of my work from the semester in a project room for my final review...

Opening at Nudashank

2009-12-13T21:33:00.001-08:00

Saw this pic from the "Heady Mugs" opening at Nudashank and had to steal it--that's the back of David Ubias, Beverly, and me in the gallery. For more about the show, go to their website:

http://nudashank.blogspot.com/

Meet Me in the Attic

2009-12-13T19:28:00.001-08:00

New drawing, might end up changing the color; 42"x70"

Blue Barrier

2009-12-13T19:27:00.000-08:00

New drawing, 42"x80"

Thanks Mount Royal!

2009-12-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

My fellow 2nd-year program mates have nominated me to represent MICA at Art Chicago's New Insight exhibition in the spring. I am still very surprised and so appreciative---I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!! Mount Royal is a great program....I still have to jump through some hoops in order to get in to the show but to be recognized by my peers is a great feeling.

http://www.artchicago.com/show-information/exhibitions

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-24T20:44:00.000-08:00

Thanks to those that read my blog and who are interested in my artwork! I am so thankful for family, friends, cats, my apartment, MICA, Strathmore drawing paper, frozen yogurt, College Art Association, McDaniel College, Daedelus Books, and so much more...Have a great holiday!

New Drawing Idea

2009-11-22T19:49:00.000-08:00

I have an idea for a new drawing that keeps popping up in my brain so I attempted to recreate the image in Photoshop--the drawing will include some variant of either one of these.

New photoshop mock-ups for drawings

2009-11-16T09:19:00.000-08:00

These are photoshop documents that I made to visualize some drawing ideas:

NYC Summary

2009-11-16T09:03:00.000-08:00

I had a great day in NY last Saturday (despite the rain) and saw a lot of great shows. Some highlights were:

Rebecca Campbell at Ameringer McEnery Yohe Gallery

Tim Eitel at PaceWildenstein

Slashed: Under the Knife at the Museum of Art and Design

Hope Gangloff at Susan Inglett Gallery

Matthew Ritchie at Andrea Rosen Gallery

Maya Gold at Mike Weiss Gallery

And of course Pinkberry was amazing!

Excited to go back in the spring...

Thesis Gallery!

2009-11-12T17:53:00.000-08:00

Here's the floor plan for the gallery (Decker) I'm in for Thesis I. I have a super long wall so hopefully I'll make either some huge drawings or a lot of medium-sized drawings. Thesis I opens March 27, 2010.

NYC this weekend!

2009-11-12T14:01:00.000-08:00

I haven't been back to NYC in almost a year, so I'm really excited to go see a TON of shows and galleries. I want to see Paired Gold, the Felix Gonzales-Torres and Roni Horn pieces at the Guggenheim.

I'm also really looking forward to the Slash: show at the Museum of Art and Design. I love that place!

And of course I'm excited to go to Chelsea and see a bunch of shows up there now. If I had my Art in America in front of me I could remember which ones I was really looking forward to...

Photoshop Docs for New Drawing

2009-11-12T13:57:00.000-08:00

I started this drawing of a walking bridge and ended up not liking how I placed it on the page. I cut it out and glued it onto a new piece of paper about 8 ft long. I took a picture, uploaded it into Photoshop, and did some mock-ups for versions of the new drawing. I chose to do the first one pictured here...still working on it, but pictures to come soon!

Original Drawing

Photoshop Docs

Anchor

2009-10-26T16:51:00.001-07:00

New drawing completed today, I'll take better images soon.

Studio pictures

2009-10-25T18:28:00.000-07:00

My old license plate on Mount Royal's shopping cart

A sneaky picture of me working

What I Hope For is Never Reciprocated

2009-10-25T14:01:00.000-07:00

colored pencil and acrylic, about 42 in x 75 in.

The Kind of Game We Play

2009-10-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

Colored pencil and acrylic, about 24 in x 48 in.

Intimacy

2009-10-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

New drawing, colored pencil, about 40 in x 22 in

Baker Artist Awards

2009-10-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

VOTE FOR ME PLEASE!!!!

http://www.bakerartistawards.org/nomination/view/chloesuze

Mount Royal "Cut It Out" Opening

2009-10-06T09:59:00.000-07:00

Curated by Matthew Fishel and Ariel Braverman, 'Cut It Out' features work dealing with subtraction. The show is in Mount Royal's 500 Gallery and will be up for 3 more weeks. It looks great! Oh and we staged a "Last Supper"-like photo using Jason Irla's cut-in-half stools...best photos ever, we love us.

Disabled Deck

2009-09-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

colored pencil and acrylic, about 72 in x 42 in

Deck Carousel

2009-09-27T19:42:00.000-07:00

About 16 inches x 34 inches, made from colored pencil, pen, and acrylic.

Title TBD

2009-09-27T19:39:00.000-07:00

This drawing is about 24 inches x 40 inches, made using colored pencil and acrylic. I like to think that the lawn chair is pushing the purple wall towards the step stool but if it pushes it too hard it will fall off of the plank.

My piece

2009-09-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

I had intended to put a different drawing in the show but was convinced otherwise during a group critique. I had already filled out the label paperwork so this piece got the other drawing's title (There is no way to escape and there is no way to return), which I think works just as well with this piece so I'll come up with something else for the other drawing.

Whitnie Biennial

2009-09-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of our Fall show. My mom really loved it and I enjoyed her commentary.

The Uncommon Life of Common Objects

2009-09-22T09:44:00.000-07:00

I checked this book out of the MICA library yesterday and have not been able to put it down! It's by Akiko Busch, here's what the description on Amazon.com says:

What makes us love our things? Why do we attach certain sentiments to certain items? How is it that sometimes objects can tell stories more eloquently than people? These are questions explored and answered in The Uncommon Life of Common Objects. Author Akiko Busch devotes a chapter to each of 12 common objects, and discusses her and others' experiences that give everyday things their significance. Through her examination of: a video camera, a cellular phone, a vegetable peeler, a snowboard, a baby carriage, a chair, a refrigerator, a mailbox, a medicine cabinet, a cereal box, a backpack, and a desk, Busch illuminates the social and personal issues that shape our lives and the ownership of our things. Lovingly illustrated, always touching, sometimes nostalgic, and often hilarious, The Uncommon Life of Common Objects, is a topical reader that is at once a personal manifesto, a look at how design influences and responds to our changing lives, and a study of society and its values and the infusion of meaning into inanimate objects. Each of the 12 chapters is accompanied by a four-color drawing. We generally assume our objects belong to us, and generally we are right. But there are times in life when we belong to our objects. --Akiko Busch By Akiko Busch.

Whitnie Biennial Opening

2009-09-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

Mount Royal's Fall show, aptly titled the "Whitnie Biennial," opened on Friday 9/18. The show looks GREAT--it's in the Fox 3 gallery. For only being in school less than 3 weeks, we really put together a coherent show. The opening was crowded and we all got a lot of positive feedback.

tall platform drawing

2009-09-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

This is the most recently finished drawing. The shadow is painted with acrylic, and the drawing is probably 30 in x 22 in? More to come...

Deck sliding off the edge

2009-09-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

I just finished this drawing today--I'm not sure how I feel about the painted shape yet, but I'm happy with the way the deck turned out and I like how it also resembles a crib. I'm still trying to decide if I should add another object that would act as a "trigger" to tip the deck off the edge.

The drawing's about 42 in x 42 in, acrylic and colored pencil.

There is no way to escape and there is no way to return

2009-09-13T15:42:00.001-07:00

This is the drawing that I'm going to put into our Fall show. I'll take better images of it when it's installed. It's 96 in x 42 in and colored pencil.

grave piece

2009-09-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

This is one of the first pieces I've done since getting back into things in Mount Royal. The semester's going great so far--I'm TI-ing for a Painting I class with fellow Mount Royal alum Lillian Bayley Hoover. I'm really enjoying working with her and the students. Our Fall show goes up THIS FRIDAY! I'm glad I have work done--if it was this early last year I think I would have cried haha. Anyway, this piece is about 4 ft x 1 ft x 1 ft. I need to revise it somehow, i'm not as happy with it as i was when i did the sketch for the piece.

Inner Harbor Art Festival

2009-08-22T19:30:00.001-07:00

I was (and still am) so honored to be chosen by Maryland Art Place (www.mdartplace.org) as one of the artists to represent them at the first ever Inner Harbor Art Festival. Last Monday, I was on Fox 45 morning news in a segment that was promoting the festival. Cathy Byrd, MAP's executive director, did a fantastic job introducing the artists present. I was happy that I didn't have to talk on camera haha all I had to do was knit by my work and look pretty. It was a great experience and great exposure and totally worth getting up at 4 am for!

The first day of the festival was today and it was very overcast all day. About 150 artists were represented and selling their work. Kids and dogs seemed to like my work the most! It was a great experience for an emerging contemporary artist like myself. It was very crowded but we had to shut down two hours early because of a big storm. The festival continues tomorrow from 10-5, and then on Monday is new graduate student orientation at MICA! What an exciting weekend...

Cathy Byrd being interviewed live about the festival

My work is in the foreground of this photo. There were 5 other artists featured.

News truck!

All set up!

Me, my grandma, and my mom sitting in the tent!

New Work up at Joe Squared

2009-08-05T17:53:00.001-07:00

Joe Squared is located at 133 W. North Ave, Baltimore, MD 21201. Some of the work I did at VSC is currently on view there--go and eat! Their food is delicious!

me in my studio at vsc

2009-08-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

thanks anita horton for the pic!

Experience at VSC

2009-08-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

i got back from vermont on friday and i had planned to stop at stormking but the torrential downpours taking place in the northeast prevented me from doing so. so i called my great aunt helen and told her that i would not be stopping at her place for the night in danbury, ct and i drove the whooooooooooole way home. it took almost 12 hours, but i was just so excited to see my cats and get back to reality that i had to do it.

i would not go back to VSC. i had a really great experience as far as meeting other residents and visiting artists goes, but there were some things that made the month-long stay uncomfortable. johnson, vt is VERY isolated. the town itself is about three or four blocks long. cell phone service was terrible, so we all had to either walk or drive up this very steep hill to get reception. there was no TV, and that was fine with me but i felt really out of the loop about what was going on in the world. my room had no air conditioning, which was fine at first bc it was kind of cool the first two weeks there, but when it warmed up my room had absolutely no air flow and it made sleeping extremely uncomfortable. there was also construction going on directly outside of my window: a bridge was being torn by little by little every day that began promptly at 6:45 am. what a terrible wake-up call! i got sick of the food fast, partly bc im a very picky eater and also because there wasn't enough variety for vegetarians, allergy people, etc. there was only one option for dinner and for those of us who don't eat red meat or pork, this usually meant eating rice or potatoes as dinner. i lost between 5 and 10 lbs during the month--ridiculous! we (sculptors) were told that we had to pay a welding fee and then pay for welding by the hour--this was NOT advertised on the VSC website or in any paperwork, and i found it ridiculous considering that we're paying allllll this money to be there. same thing with yoga; on the website it's stated that there's daily yoga blah blah and nowhere does it say "oh yeah you have to pay for that." i just didn't really understand where the money we all paid was going to. it's not like the buildings or studios were extraordinarily taken care of. another weird thing was that there were no mirrors anywhere besides a small one in each bathroom, so we all really had no idea what we were looking like haha.

i don't know if it was my group or what but i just found that there were too many flower/cloud/landscape painters and not enough artists using abstraction or more contemporary imagery in their work. i was happy with everyone in sculpture but not so much with the painters and that's not to say i didn't like the work itself i just didn't find it that interesting. all in all i liked VSC for providing me with a quiet place and studio to get a ton of work done. it was nice having a metal/wood shop downstairs from my studio, but I would not do a residency there again.

bad images of paintings (sorry!)

2009-08-04T09:37:00.001-07:00

I apologize for these terrible images, once I get back into the swing of things at MICA I'll take some great images. The yellow painting is my favorite, it's about 5 ft x 4 ft.

more paintings

2009-08-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

Big painting

2009-08-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

I revised this painting after a fellow resident casually said that it was very "Spiderman-ish." I was not going for that so I respected her comment and painted over the messy net. This painting is about 5 ft x 5 ft.

Willie Cole Visits VSC

2009-08-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

Renowned sculptor Willie Cole was one of the visiting artists while I was at VSC. I've always liked his work and I really enjoyed his slide talk--he was very laid back and casual...but too casual during the studio visit I had with him. He just had no idea what to say during the visit, and admitted to it too! It wasn't that he didn't like my work, he just didn't know how to talk about it, which was disappointing. I did manage to ask for his autograph haha.

Installation

2009-07-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

I did this installation in my studio at VSC over the weekend and I'm not as happy with it as I thought I'd be--the drawing I made of the plans is a lot more successful I think. I used oil pastel on the wall and the tubular objects are made of laminated wood and then painted and drawn on with oil pastel. I had a crit with renowned sculptor Willie Cole and he suggested that the net/tent be made of an actual material and not just be a drawing, but the whole point of me doing this was to have the drawing interact with an actual 3-d object. I'm sure I'll revise this piece eventually.

paintings featuring columns

2009-07-24T18:51:00.000-07:00

new drawing

2009-07-19T17:39:00.001-07:00

this drawing is 9 ft x 17 inches. the positioning of the deck on the paper corresponds to how the paper should be positioned on the wall, so it looks as though the deck is living in that corner. this is a new direction i'm taking with a series of large drawings. i placed the older drawing up against a corner in my studio so as to create the same effect.

Studio

2009-07-19T17:35:00.001-07:00

Some shots of my studio after i cleaned it for open studios and a crit with sculptor barbara galluci. people responded really well to my work during open studios, which is very motivating!

of course my studio no longer looks this clean but thats okay!

Models and paintings

2009-07-19T17:31:00.000-07:00

here's an updated look at the models, the see-saw one is new and needs to be painted. barbara galluci suggested in her studio visit with me that i continue to work at this scale--not sure how i feel about that yet. some new paintings below, too.

more and more paintings

2009-07-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

17.5 x 69 inches

12 x 9.5 inches

9.5 x 11 inches

6 x 14 inches

10 x 11 inches

more paintings

2009-07-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

19 x 8.5 inches; will probably paint over this one

10 x 12 inches

10 x 14 inches

22 x 15.5 inches

14.5 x 5.5 inches

Paintings?

2009-07-11T09:41:00.000-07:00

These images are kind of crappy, but I've been doing some paintings with latex house paint, oil pastel/stick, and colored pencil.

19x13 inches

15x38 inches

8.5x15.5 inches

22.5x30 inches

Making models

2009-07-11T08:57:00.001-07:00

I've been making some models here of future projects i'd like to make, and since there's only so much room in my car for the ride back to Baltimore, these models are the next best thing and are helping me to plan ahead. I've been having a recurring dream where i am driving down a ramp onto some sort of highway and i can't help but partly collide with this enormous, purple billboard. I want to make this enormous billboard eventually, but for now there's just a rudimentary model. I want to transform one of my drawings into 3-d, so that's where the green model comes in. I would like it to be about 7 or 8 ft tall instead of 6 inches.

7/9/09

2009-07-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

welded steel, measures 6 ft x 3 ft x 7 ft- the dimensions of a standard grave

Ladders, Shovels, Ropes

Collective Archive

New American Paintings

Place and Sensibility at VisArts

Radar Redux Reviews Desperate Times

Arlington Arts Center 2011 Solos

Desperate Times opens TONIGHT!

Real Art DC profile!

Our New Studio

More from Detroit

More Detroit pics

My Detroit Pics

Unlikely Places

Drawing in the Expanded Field

More from Detroit

Trip to Detroit

Real Art DC

New website

It's been awhile!

Hirshhorn Trip- 5/27/10

NO MORE GRAD SCHOOL!

MICA MFA Thesis II Show: April 9-18, 2010, Mary Anne Arntzen

Photos from my thesis show

MICA MFA Thesis I: Matthew Fishel

MICA MFA Thesis I: Jason Irla

Bmore Art Blog features Thesis I

THESIS OPENS FRIDAY!!!

Heidi FancherMatthew FishelMolly HawthornJason IrlaJustin KroppCyle MetzgerVirginia SasserAndrew SheaJonathan StonelyJohn WalserMicah WalterChloe WatsonJennifer White-TorresTing Zhang

Thesis Order

Strange Interlude Opening

Drawings Installed in Project Room

Taking votes...

Strange Interlude Photos

Post Gogol Show @ Slag Gallery

Playground Politics

MICA Juxtapositions

Raw Art Sale @ MICA

The Poetics of Space

New drawings/paintings

Strange Interlude

Drawings mounted on panels

New drawing

Experiments in the Studio

Frances Barth Opening at Sundaram Tagore 1/7/10

Richard Serra De-install in Chelsea 1/7/10

Drive-in Screens in Danville, PA

Fantastic Day in DC

Frances Barth Show in NYC

Keep voting please!

Happy Holidays!!

Walking Bridge

New drawing

Revision of older piece

More installation shots...

Installation Room shots from Final Reviews

Opening at Nudashank

Meet Me in the Attic

Blue Barrier

Thanks Mount Royal!

Happy Thanksgiving!

New Drawing Idea

New photoshop mock-ups for drawings

NYC Summary

Thesis Gallery!

NYC this weekend!

Photoshop Docs for New Drawing

Anchor

Studio pictures

What I Hope For is Never Reciprocated

The Kind of Game We Play

Intimacy

Baker Artist Awards

Mount Royal "Cut It Out" Opening

Disabled Deck

Deck Carousel

Title TBD

My piece

Whitnie Biennial

The Uncommon Life of Common Objects

Whitnie Biennial Opening

Heidi Fancher
Matthew Fishel
Molly Hawthorn
Jason Irla
Justin Kropp
Cyle Metzger
Virginia Sasser
Andrew Shea
Jonathan Stonely
John Walser
Micah Walter
Chloe Watson
Jennifer White-Torres
Ting Zhang