"There is nothing more important in painting now than standing in our landscape with strength and honesty."
--Sean Mount
Epochal Violence #6. Oil on canvas. 50x36. 2017, by Sean Mount.
As a confirmed introvert, it has taken me a few days to recover from a very social and exciting weekend! I was invited by my old and dear friend, the artist Graham Preston, to participate in a group art show called "This'n'That," at the Prallsville Mills in Stockton, New Jersey. (You can read more extensively about my connection with Graham in this blog post from last year: "Housewife on Fire.")
Here is a photo of Graham and me, in front of my paintings. We have been friends since high school! #oldfriends #artfriends
One of the best parts about participating was getting to meet so many fantastic and interesting artists. There were more than I can describe here, but I'll mention a few that I really connected with. First, the wonderful Pat Lambe helped me hang my art on Wednesday. What a nice guy!
Then I met very cool, spunky lady named Lauren (what a great name!) and after we were talking for a little while I realized she was The Lauren. Lauren Rosenthal, the one my good friend and art-collaborator, Kate Brandes, has interviewed, and is part of our Intersections project. (read awesome interview) She has a piece my local friends might recognize at the Nurture Nature Center in Easton. I pretty much flipped out when I realized who she was! Later that night there was a dance party, and Lauren and I danced a lot. A LOT. Like, my body was in pain the next morning. We danced with another artist-Lauren, Lauren Johnson. #laurenartists #somanylaurens
Here's my favorite Lauren Johnson painting:
"Pulling Together Your Paintings with Underwear'" #sillytitles #underwear #laurenjohnson
I also made friends with artists Megan Moriarty and Andrew Wilkinson and Cayley Plutnick and Sean Mount. I hope to feature some of their art and thoughts about the art-making process in future blog posts, as well as some of the other artists that I may not have gotten a chance to meet. The event was so busy!
So...I was just dancing my butt of with a bunch of Laurens late on Saturday night when... (trumpet music)...I sold a painting! Hooray! An elegant woman named Michele bought it, and it turned out her husband is an artist I have been admiring for awhile: Rye Tippet. So, I got to meet him in real-life, which felt thrilling! Here is the painting I sold:
"Woman, Control Yourself!" oil on board, 8x10" (I put all my oyster paintings here.)
I'm going to end this blog post with another painting by Sean Mount. When I looked at this portrait, I felt very emotional, and sort of sad. It's so tender and full of love.
"Mother" oil painting by Sean Mount
I will leave you with this quotation from Sean Mount's artist statement, which I really loved, and copied into my sketchbook: