Mash Up

Greetings Dear Reader,

Today's post will be a mash-up of goings on in Scarborough Studios, which is a nice way of saying that I don't really have much to say.

©Patricia Scarborough, Easter 8x10 pastel, included in Seasons Exhibit at The Burkholder Project

I was recently juried into an exhibit at The Burkholder Project in Lincoln, Ne. by retired Doane College Professor of Art Richard Terrell. His title for the exhibit, "Seasons" is apt; the show consists of a variety of art styles that cover the changing weather in Nebraska. I'm delighted to be included among artists whose work I have admired for years: Anne Burkholder, Hal Holoun, Gib Neal, Richard Terrell and Keith Jacobshagen, among others. March is the month for "Seasons".

My stay at Nebraska Nature and Visitor's Center has been extended another month. If you enjoy bird watching, the sandhill cranes are making their way through Nebraska, with thousands of them roosting on the river and in the fields adjacent to NNC. It's an awesome spectacle and the nature center celebrates with special tours and art exhibits.

©Patricia Scarborough  Last Snow  12x16 pastel at NNC

Get outside while the weather's nice and go see some art!

How To

Karen, with Crane Trust Nature and Visitor Center welcomes my delivery of artwork

 “You’re doing it!” said a friend I hadn't seen in awhile. 

Huh?

“You’re doing the artist thing! Lookatchyoo! Exhibits! Galleries! Sales!! What‘s your secret?”

Does anyone ever say to their banker, “Hey! Way to go on that whole money thing! How’dja do that?”

Or to their shoe salesman, “Wow! These shoes fit! What’s yer secret?”

I have just spent the last 3 hours writing clever and charming ways to let you in on my 10 fun secrets to “doing it”.  After 3 hours of pounding my keyboard and wearing out my delete button, this is what I’m left with:

Sorry to say, there are no 10, 8 or even 2 easy steps. There are no secrets.

Paintings at Crane Trust Nature and Visitors Center

And that's the hardest thing of all. No shortcuts, no quickies, no magic. 

What's left then? All toil and trouble? Don't be silly.

I get to wake up every day knowing I'm my boss, and I like working for me. I'm a good boss. I let me wear painty jeans to work.

I get to create. 

I get to talk to people about things that make them happy; color, shared experiences, memories.

I get to share what I've learned with some really great people.

 

I get to  make people happy. Really happy.

And I'm happy to tell you that The Crane Trust and Visitor Center on Interstate 80 at the Alda interchange, has invited me to share my work for the next six weeks. No secret there; they asked, I said yes. Show's up now until February 24th.

2014 Sandhills Gale 8x10 oil currently hanging at Crane Trust and Visitor Center

I'm also sharing my magic at The Burkholder Project in Lincoln, Ne. in the Corner Gallery, where I've got my very own wall to hang my paintings on forever. 

Come to think of it, that's how it's done.

New Direction

©2013 Patricia Scarborough  Hot Start to an August Day  12 x 12 pastel

Greetings Dear Reader -

The Day Trips exhibit is safely hung on the walls of The Burkholder Project. Suddenly I'm without an anchor; no deadlines, no focus, no theme to corral my ideas.

I feel a little like a kid in a candy store. Where do I start?

I enjoyed the challenge of the piece above from the Day Trips series. Could it be a new avenue for me to pursue?

For a long while I've been coveting the lanky spare lines of Nebraska's grain elevators. They are a completely different animal from my usual landscape, yet, in a way, still from the same rural place. Despite their very gritty, dusty machine-like appearance, elevators have a kind of exotic elegance that fascinates me.

I've been trying out some ideas. You get to be the first to see what's been on my easel.

It's not just about the structure of these gigantic insect-looking things. It's about what they represent, their purpose, the time of year...

...birds mysteriously roosting on invisible cables...

the unintended beauty of their architecture...

... the way they bump up against, and fade into, the atmosphere.

©2013Patricia Scarborough  As yet untitled pastel, about 14 x 16

 

It's a terrifically exciting challenge.  Rather than leap into what I know and allowing muscle memory to take precedent, I'm back in the game, wondering what...how...when...

There's no better place to be.

Day Trips

I've been hard at it, putting the last swipes of  color on canvas for an exhibit I hang in just a few short days.

I'd been struggling with ideas and themes for an exhibit that had been scheduled for several months. You know how it is when you look hard for something and it just doesn't make itself known?  Like Sir Isaac Newton; he spent all that time looking for a good idea without success, then when he least expected, an apple fell on his head and -'poof' - there it was, gravity.

Handsome Husband and I were out for a much needed breath of fresh air early this spring. We'd been cooped up for weeks due to typical Nebraska winter weather; grey, windy and c-c-c-c-cold. On this day, however, the sun shone brilliantly against a warming blue sky and we hopped in the car to see what had happened around the county since the last snowstorm. 

As HH and I drove the roads around our town we saw life rising in the meadows and fields, creeks and river bottoms. Grey turned to gold, pink, coral. Honestly, it's this way every spring and yet, every year it is a delightful surprise; the loveliness that unfolds so often right before our eyes in the routine of our days. And there it was; my great idea.  I had quit looking for a theme, and it was right there in front of me. What I see every day, drive by, through or around in the course of my life. Day Trips.

We plan magnificent vacations and travel for days and fly a thousand miles to see something new, we read of exotic locations that leave us wishing we were anywhere but here. Yet sometimes 'here', that place within a few minutes of home, is lovely too; rich with color, texture and mystery.

 

©2013Patricia Scarborough  Harvested   12 x 12 oil

Day Trips is a call to attention, a kind suggestion that you, I, all of us, tuck our pads, pods, phones and readers away for awhile and lift our eyes to the world in front of us, right where we are.

Day Trips is an exhibit of new work opening at The Burkholder Project in Lincoln, Ne. on July 3rd, and available for viewing through July 31st, 2013.  I'm sharing exhibit space with ceramic artist Sharon Ohmberger. Our opening reception is during Lincoln's First Friday Art Walk on Friday, July 5th from 7 - 9pm. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Up-ness

Greetings Dear Reader –

Those of you who follow this blog (hi Mom!) recall that I’m a not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions. A more helpful method of self improvement or growth, in my opinion, is choosing a word to serve as a guide for the next 12 months.

Over the years I have used words like ‘engage’ or ‘focus’ to lead me through times of growth, languish, tension or ease. I found that a simple word whispered into my inner ear could lift or push or validate my actions in a manner far more deeply than any resolution could.

When the calendar reminded me that it was time to pick a new word for 2013 I imagined something exciting. Charge! Leap! Courage! Effortlessness!

The word that appeared unbidden was “up”.

“Up”?  Gee, I was imagining something more…exotic. 
The more I pondered my list of uplifting words, the more often the word “up” came ... up.

Have you ever noticed that when something is on your mind, you experience it more often?  Like forgetting your purse and seeing traffic cops at every corner. Or giving up sugar and the neighbor, to whom you haven’t spoken in years, brings over a pile of cookies just because. Or pondering the word “up”, and finding that it comes in handy in all kinds of situations.

I cleaned up some files. I’ve upped my exercise routine. I’m aware that I tend to knit my eyebrows and am making a conscious effort to lift them up, coincidentally lifting my attitude.

Who knew such a tiny little word would worm its way into my daily life and have an impact in such a short time? Up is not just a direction. It seems to be a call to action as well; get up, up-level; buck up; be up to it, upscale, be on the up and up, upbeat, sunny side up.  What else? I can have an uplifting attitude,  I can update my website. I can up-end my schedule, or upset the fruit basket – all good things in their proper context, which is to pay attention and grow. Up, of course.

At The Burkholder Project in Lincoln, Ne. proprietor Anne Burkholder arranged to put carpet up on the walls of a vacant studio space. 

Anne Burkholder herself

She then offered this prime space to a select group of artists, including me.

I signed up, and recently hung up a group of paintings on the wall.  Stop in and see what's up at the new Corner Gallery at The Burkholder Project.
 

I'm up for 2013. Are you?