"From These Hills" 2009 juried by Ray Kass

"From These Hills" Contemporary Art in the Southern Appalachian Highlands, the big biennial exhibition at William King Museum in Abingdon, VA opens Thursday Oct 22nd 2009. Ray Kass is the guest curator this year and will give a talk during the reception.
"Aileen's Window", my 7.5 feet tall by 5 feet wide painting from the inside of my Great Grand Father's barn loft is included! 83 pieces by 37 artists representing all media is one heck-of-a-show not to miss. It will be on display from October 23, 2009 to February 14th, 2010.

Appalshop Show "Sanctuaries"

Appalshop invited me to exhibit "Sanctuaries" as part of their 40th Birthday Celebration!
Opening Saturday Oct.10th along with String Band Day, free music lessons and a square dance!
I am honored to be a part of this wonderful and strong community asset in Whitesburg, KY.
If you are not already familiar with this institution, check them out at Appalshop.org.
The finished installation looks GREAT.
I under-estimated the amount of work it takes to adapt to a new space, but I did necessary reconnaissance ahead of time to be able to put in long days and nights to adapt the show.
Every single wall mounted piece had to be re-done to fit their hanging system.
At Arts Depot, I had six helpers and three days to install.
At Appalshop I had the equivalent of two helpers and three hours to install.
It's amazing how much you can get done when you really focus!
The show looks really nice, and it's wonderful to see the same pieces in a different setting.

"Tea Time for Darfur" wins Top Prize at Mid South Sculpture Conference

Just back from Mid South Sculpture Conference in Chattanooga, TN last weekend-what a high quality excellent event they put on! Lots of new friends and new knowledge to build on. The guest artists / jurors Carol Mickett and Robert Stackhouse were insightful and kind, making themselves available throughout the conference to attending sculptors. The key note speaker, Valerie Fletcher, Senior Curator (of Modern Art) of the Smithsonian Institution Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Gardens in Washington D.C. is simply not available elsewhere, and gave an insightful presentation on contemporary sculpture from the top museum's viewpoint.

Did I mention I WON top prize for indoor sculpture?

"Tea Time for Darfur", my cocklebur / burdock teaset looked great with the afternoon sunlight on it in the window of the gallery.
There were two "top prize" awards each for indoor (Ron Gard from Chicago took the other top indoor prize) and two outdoor sculptures.

"Sanctuaries III" Arts Depot, Abingdon VA

What a priceless opportunity it is for an artist to have a public artspace to experiment in! The folks at The Arts Depot in Abingdon VA were terrific to work with, booking almost a year and a half in advance, touching base every couple months with a timetable for press and installation and reception and artist's talk. We set a new attendance record for a Spot light Gallery solo show opening! Roy Andrade, Cary Fridley, Doug Dourschug and Ed Snodderly played old-time music while huge projections of pioneer barns, both from the inside and out, filled the wall behind spontaneous dancers.
It was the happiest opening I've ever been to, even if I am biased. Folks connected easily with the art, and discussed the contemporary context. Everyone it seemed had "Barn Stories" to share with each other.
I heavily documented the whole experience with the intention of using the images in a proposal for a much expanded version.

Lesson number 11: Never underestimate an opportunity!

I am polishing a presentation for tonight at the Arts Depot in Abingdon, VA. The requested subject is how I developed the Walk-Through Installation on display there now-I'm excited to share the process!

Luckily I just went to a one-day workshop at Penland School of Crafts in NC put on by Creative Capital which gave tons of career-changing information, much of which will come in handy tonight!

Lesson number 10
I learned everything I know in a workshop! (almost)

Arts Depot, Stop Animation Clip copyright 2009

No kidding, I have been working towards the art opening this Sunday for decades. It has just taken a while to "congeal". The Arts Depot in Abingdon, VA "booked" me a year and a half ago. It was motivation to think long and hard about what it was I wanted to represent. I have included the "E-vite"(electronic invitation) and a way cool stop-animation my friends helped me with below. Enjoy.



Lesson #9 Friends are worth more than gold.

Sages and Sanctuaries II

"Sages and Sanctuaries II" is up until August 6th, 2009 at Carroll Reece Museum on the campus of East Tennessee State University. This is the second of a three part exhibition exploring contemporary art through an Appalachian lens.
The first exhibition "Sages and Sanctuaries I" was held at MECC Mountain Empire Community College in Virginia this past January. It was entirely two-dimensional works.
The second at ETSU combines two and three dimensional works, along with some farm materials like tobacco and old hand tools.
The third and largest will open Aug 13th with an artist's reception on Sunday August 23rd from 2 to 4pm. It will be a walk-through installation, combining projection, 2D, 3D, textures and smells to give context to the origins of my artistic aesthetic.
I received a grant for partial funding for a 28 page catalogue that accompanies these three exhibitions. "THESE TRUTHS the brutal tenderness of appalachia" is available on Amazon and other locations.

Derek Guthrie wrote the introduction, and Kathleen Grover and Venus Zarris each wrote enlightened essays.

Sam Mays did a beautiful job with the graphic design.

Published June 2009

ISBN #978-1-61584-019-9

Lesson #8. Don't burn bridges.