Enhanced Spatial Awareness

This Thanksgiving weekend (and for the past several months), I have been feeling incredible gratitude for space—in particular, for my delicious new studio space. The converted double garage is bathed with soft daylight, an artist’s dream and an absolute balm on these gloomy, Northwest days of drizzle. Even after sunset (which happened at 4:22 today), my four color-balanced cloud lights enable glare-free painting well into the night.

Equally vital, the space is free from household visual and aural distractions, just far enough from the rest of the house to feel I have “gone to work” for the day. The planned window into the back yard never materialized due to structural constraints, and the only non-frosted window is curtained (for security and privacy) with a piece of portrait linen. If I’m feeling too cut off from life, I can clip open the fabric and see lake-bound passers-by, but I find this visual solitude enhances my focus, my entry into "the zone."

My decade-long accumulation of art books and supplies are mostly in the adjacent room (my old studio), so I can keep focused on what is current and inspiring.  It is a blessed bubble that allows for extended periods of focus, more freedom to experiment with new approaches, and the accelerated learning that comes with working on multiple paintings at the same time. (I have the two longest walls outfitted with grids of screws to hold up to ten paintings at a time.) Giving thanks indeed.

SNOW ON SHOW: I will have some charming snow paintings on display in the coming months. Seattle’s Fountainhead Gallery has its annual group show opening this week, and I’ll have two snowscapes featured. I’d love to see you at the festive opening reception on Saturday, December 2, 5-7 pm. I also have three tree-in-snow portraits on display at Kneeland Gallery in Sun Valley if you are headed to the slopes this winter. These little gems are great for holiday gift-giving or seasonal display.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2017: From January through March, I will be pairing up with my friend, still life painter Jordan Parietti, in "Duets," a group show featuring 25 Women Painters of Washington members plus their fellow guest artists. The show is in the WPW Gallery in downtown Seattle in the Columbia Tower, and runs from January 8 to March 30. I will post to Facebook the days I will be working at the gallery--hope you can stop in and see the show.

Jordan and I will pair up again at Fountainhead Gallery for the month of March. It will be all new work from both of us, so stay tuned on my Facebook and Instagram pages through the early winter for sneak peaks of close-up views of my long-beloved muse, Green Lake.

Until then, you know where to find me.

Biggest-Ever Work in Progress

It’s finally happening: after years of dreaming and talking about it, the garage is on its way to becoming a studio. Once we replaced our old solid garage door with a beautiful, satin-etched glass and aluminum version, the space was flooded with natural light.

Next step: clearing out all the “stuff” that gets stored in a two-car garage that we never park in. This led to a domino-effect of household “stuff-shuffling” and a hoot of a garage sale (time to let go of the now college-age daughter’s childhood bedroom set!).

The studs are up, and soon they will be filled with insulation. Before the weekend there will be a 72” x 16” hole in the concrete wall were the north-facing clerestory window will go. The walls will be sheathed in a ¾” birch ply that I can drill into to my heart’s content (the walls will be my easel). Rigid insulation will go between the ceiling joists, and the whole “box,” floor to ceiling, will be spray painted white. (Benjamin Moore’s OC38—thank you, Jordan Parietti, for that tip!)

When the electrician is finished, we will have a new sub-panel, and four of my favorite fluorescent “cloud” lights (in the stacked boxes, by Maxim). I have been tweaking the lighting plan for weeks, and we are installing extra receptacles in case I decide I want to add track lighting later. I’m hoping I can find low-glare, balanced-color LED bulbs that I can use in my track fixtures. Input welcome!

And boring but important: the air-exchange ventilator that will keep me breathing fresh air year-round. Still TBD: I will need heat in the winter, but will I need air conditioning in the summer? The garage door is insulated, but it IS south facing. I may end up with a ductless mini-split air con/heater, but fortunately, this can go in after I have a chance to experience the insulated space. Please share any input if you have installed these or other single-room heating/cooling units.

Sognefjord, Norway--or is it the San Juans?

Earlier in the spring we had a long trip to Europe, and I gathered hundreds (okay, thousands) of inspiring images from England’s Cotswolds, Sweden’s forests, and Norway’s Fjords. Who knows if one or two will lurk amongst my favorite Northwest landscapes in my next big show (March of 2018).

I’ve done a few private commissions since my show last fall, and I always appreciate how much I learn from my clients in these rewarding endeavors. I will be free to take on more commissions starting the summer of 2018.

Meanwhile, I will have a handful of paintings in two juried shows this summer:

“Resonance"

The Arts at the Port Juried Exhibition at the Anacortes Arts Festival

Anacortes Port Transit Shed

July 29th through August 6th

Opening reception: on July 29th from 6:00 to 9:00 (always a great event—come if you can!)

Juror: Pablo Schugurensky

“Seasons”

The Women Painters of Washington Summer Juried Show

Childhood’s End Gallery, 222 4th Ave. W., Olympia, WA

August 4 through September 16, 2017

Opening Reception: Saturday, August 5th 1:00 to 3:00 pm

Juor: Melissa Weinman

I hope I see you at one of these summer shows, and I look forward to sharing photos of the finished studio in another update this fall, as well as on my Christine Olson Gedye, Fine Art facebook page .

I plan on hosting an open studio sometime in October, so stay tuned, as it may include my first-ever studio sale… (Gotta’ pay for the new digs!)

Sneak Peak to What's Ahead in 2017

New Year Greetings from the Studio!

As I write, the winter light slants low and bright across Green Lake. The bare trees and fading grasses at the water’s edge make walks in the crisp air a chilly affair, as I constantly stop to compose and record on my small glass screen. Recent of strolls have also afforded me time to reflect on what I accomplished last year, and what professional challenges I plan to take on in the one ahead. I thought I would share some of these behind-the-scenes happenings—feel free to hold me accountable to my 2017 wish list!

Professional Highlights in 2016

1. Moved my art practice back to my home studio for more space and much-longed-for art/life fluidity.
2. Redesigned my website and blog on a mobile-compatible platform.
3. Implemented an inventory on Artwork Archive, including a public page where you can find all my recent and available artwork in one place.
4. Completed the 12-week intensive Creative Visionary Path interactive online course with Nicholas Wilton and 195 other incredible artists from across the globe, creating an ongoing local tribe of artists in the process.
5. Co-founded an intimate monthly critique group of women artists working in a variety of styles and media.
6. Found new inspiration in poetry for my October solo show “Stay Awhile” at Fountainhead Gallery—during which I gave my first Artist Talk!
7. Participated in group shows including Anacortes Arts at the Port, the Schack Art Center, and a Women Painters of Washington show at the Bellevue Arts Museum.
8. Created a private commission in collaboration with wonderful clients.
9. Placed a painting in the collection at Island Hospital in Anacortes.
10. Presented three artist speakers to the Women Painters of Washington, including chairing my first panel discussion.  

Only half of those were stated goals or plans from the start of the year, the rest were opportunities I seized when they arose. Many thanks to all those friends, fellow artists, gallery professionals, and patrons who offered all the support, encouragement, critiques and sales that made 2016 so successful.
 
Looking Ahead to 2017

1. Expand my home studio by finishing our garage, adding windows, insulation, heating, lighting and ventilation so that I can…
2. create larger paintings and…
3. host an open studio!
4. Partner with an art consultant to collaborate on artwork for environments of care and healing, such as hospitals and other care centers.
5. Seek out more commissions, which are challenging and satisfying in completely different ways than painting for gallery shows.
6. Create a body of work based on our upcoming travels in Scandinavia and England, as well as new takes on the Northwest, in preparation for my March 2018 solo show.
7. Reignite the creative spark that flies between music and painting.

Whatever 2017 holds in the wider world, in my practice I intend to press ahead with seeking and rendering the harmony, light and beauty in nature, and sharing that with you.
 

The Poet Inspires the Painter

Herewith, the statement for my show "Stay Awhile" at Fountainhead Gallery. The Artist Reception is tonight from 5 to 7; if you can't make it tonight, I am giving an artist talk next Sunday, October 9th, at 3:00 pm; the show will be on display until October 29th.

Stay Awhile

“Stay awhile” is what the trees said to poet Mary Oliver in “When I Am Among the Trees,” as she endeavored to “walk slowly, and bow often.” Oliver’s humble reverence for nature derives from quiet moments on ordinary walks. It is experienced and expressed on a deeply personal level in spare, precise language. Her ability to discern and convey nature’s lessons is profound: Be present, be humble, be grateful. And be aware of your mortality.

Her words are a gentle nudge, inspiring me to be more alive and perceptive.  And that sensitivity is what informs the work here. The Marsh Songs series, which makes up the bulk of this show, was inspired by a winter walk with a friend through the Magnuson Park. It was one of those dreamy, fog-laden mornings when the sun was just beginning to glow through the dense air. The wispy trees, glassy water and dramatic atmosphere sang in chorus, soto vocce.

“I’m sorry,” I said to my friend as I pulled out my camera. “We won’t be getting much vigorous exercise today.” An hour and a half and 172 photos later, the mist still hung in in the air, and I knew I had enough imagery to captivate me for months.

Back in the studio, I applied the poet’s lessons. Recall the moment: the cool, moist air, the mist rising off the wetlands, bending the light and silhouetting delicate saplings. Edit and distill the cacophony to the simplest expression of that moment. Paint mindfully, re-evaluating with each stroke: Is the color, the value, the shape and placement bringing me closer to the essence of that experience? Be discerning, like Mary.

The next part of the creative act is up to you, for how you receive and respond to the work on these walls is just as individual and personal and meaningful as my creation of it. What does it recall for you?  Where does it take you? What narrative evolves in your mind?

Oliver’s words will always be a deep well for me, a handbook for creating and living fully: “My work is loving the world … mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.”

Christine Gedye, October 2016

When I Am Among the Trees

By Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,

especially the willows and the honey locust,

equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,

they give off such hints of gladness.

I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,

in which I have goodness, and discernment,

and never hurry through the world

but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves

and call out, “Stay awhile.”

The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,

“and you too have come

into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled

with light, and to shine."

The "Tiffany Box" for My Paintings

That's what a friend of mine calls the custom frames I have made for my paintings.  My amazing framer, Kurt Pape of Unique Art Framing, did an especially fabulous job for this show. For each painting, he responded to the colors, values, paint handling and overall atmosphere before deciding whether it called for pale silver, antique pewter, champagne gold, textured or solid, squared or rounded. He really dialed in the profile, edge finish, and reveal width (the gap between the float frame and the panel edge). The Africa tree paintings have no paint or gilding, just hand-rubbed maple. As always, he built each one in his shop from bare wood.

The top left photo shows Kurt in his workshop, trying out different frame corners on some of the smaller pieces in the show. He has also made me a set of frame corners in my favorite finishes so that I can hold them up to my paintings as I am nearing completion. It helps me to imagine the final presentation, and to determine how close to finished the piece actually is.

Kurt's experienced, artful eye has been integral to the presentation of my work for the last ten years. It costs more than stock framing, but it really ensures that each piece is truly one of a kind. Thank you, Kurt! http://www.uniqueartframing.com/