a new space

well, it's smaller, but at least it's temperature controlled! now that i've moved into a small apartment i have less room, but my studio is constantly staring me in the face! after installing my show at max's, i felt inspired to unwrap my large canvas and do a bit of underpainting. for some reason, my kitties seem very intrigued by this 4 feet of space i have to work in and take up residence there most of the night. don't be surprised if my latest work is a little furry....

OCD

here's a sneak peak at one of my favorite sets of drawings from my show. i call it the OCD series because of the compulsive mark making and repetition of line, loose boxes and rectangles. each piece is 6"x 9" and hangs separately.

mark your calendars, saturday, august 14th from 2:30 to 5:30!

tides are turning

so sorry to have been MIA from my dear blog, but it looks like things are back on track. thursday night i hung 16 paintings and drawings at Max's restaurant in downtown Santa Fe! i won't be having an opening until august 14th when it's busier and their new kitchen staff have gotten all the wrinkles smoothed out. but there was a soft opening last night and let me tell you...the food is FIO (food induced orgasm)! i spent a lot of time framing all my work and picking what i wanted to put in. most of it was done in this past year, but there are some drawings from several years ago that i've always wanted to get framed and display. i'll put some more photos up soon once i get them off of my camera. oooh, and i also got a pretty new camera. it's a canon T1i. i love it! it's amazing how much better my photos are with a DSLR.

i've been rather busy with my aunt's house, getting it ready for the market, having a yard sale, entertaining the fam when they came to visit. and then i moved into town, which has been the best thing for me. i love being within walking distance to work, downtown and the farmer's market. i feel free again and the juices are flowing. and now that i have an empty living room/studio, looks like i'll be painting again very soon! i inspired myself after seeing all of my work on the wall and i want to paint an even larger piece for the restaurant. lots of ideas!

also, i've been working on the side doing print/marketing work for clients. i can do business cards, flyers, brochures, logos, etc. feel free to contact me if you need any graphics work done. you can reach me at sarashawger78 at hotmail.com.

namaste!

paint under the fingernails

i think my head has been clearing. a lot has happened this year already. after almost two years of fighting, my aunt passed away in mid january. the months leading up to her death were a total nightmare for me. as much as i usually used art as a means to cope with my feelings, i was frozen. i think i was in shock at the realities of life...or actually, the reality of death. i'm still stunned every time i remember that she's gone. now, the clean up. meetings with realtors, lawyers and CPAs, oh my. i've spent the last week getting the house ready for showings. i live in a sterile environment and i'm now happily parked in the only place in the house that i can still make a mess and it's a plus....my studio! we're finally warmed up in santa fe and my garage studio is at a bearable temperature.

i started with a piece that i promised to do for a habitat for humanity charity auction...on a shovel. i wish i had done a lighter scene, but i've been wanting to work on my night scenes. of course, the deadline was on the 15th...so i will take a semi-wet painted shovel to habitat on tuesday and hope it's not too late!

once i get my hands dirty, i am very willing to keep getting dirty. i had a vision of a raven painting in my head. i picture a lot of movement, almost feathery. so tonight is my first attempt at a figure in a painting. i usually do landscapes and abstract pieces that focus on value and color. the background is my brushstroke style and there is some of it in the body of the bird. there are more ravens in my head with different colors, looser brushwork and a closer cropping of the head. it's good to be back!

stuff i want

living in an art town is very dangerous. through small (really small) payments, i am slowly building up a collection of art. i'm about to move outside of the safety of my own gallery. so, in lieu of my own art, which is at a standstill due to a crazy long head cold, i'm posting pics of things that i want!

first up, Wendy Chidester with her minimal green background and stately little camera. i've seen this piece several times down at giacobbi fritz gallery and i am totally in love with it. imagine my horror when i get on the website...and it's sold. ugh! okay, i knew i'd never get it, but at least i have the pic to remember it by.

next up is a cool bronze bunny by Jim Budish. i catch his work at waxlander, our 'sister' gallery down the road. i don't know why necessarily...i'm not a huge animal as art fan, but this little guy just makes me smile. this may very well be my next purchase as i've talked to my pals down there and may use a christmas bonus as a downpayment. weee!!

i went down town a few friday art walk's ago and found Rik Allen at blue rain gallery. now, i'm a bit of a geek. i loved x-files and lots of sci-fi shows and movies. there's something fun about the idea of a spaceship. this work is totally made out of blown glass and the body of the ship is painted with 'metallic' paint. oh how i love these and want one of my own! they are so delicate and feel so solitary. time has aged them, the colors are faded, but their purpose and fortitude in the face of the universe is fascinating!

this piece, also by Rik Allen, is pretty freakin' cool! it's as tall as i am and made from parts of an old plane/rocket...something like that. upon looking closely, it's a spaceship with an escalator that leads all the way to the cockpit, where sits a red chair. so simple. you expect a cockpit with buttons and levers and.....well, stuff. but instead it's like a viewing area. maybe you control the ship with your mind. it invites you to walk up there and experience it yourself. looking in from the tail end through a hole, you have a view of what it would actually look like if you were sitting in the chair. this one is way out of my price range, but i love it!

accepted!

my alma mater is having a juried alumni show. i sent in four drawings and they chose these two to be in the show. the blue piece with the low horizon is a smaller piece, 8" x 5", and the grey one is a larger endeavor at 20"x 15". my arm about fell off after that one. i couldn't finish it in one session! i'm pretty happy with them. it's hard to see in pictures, but there's a lot of detail and many colors in each piece even though the overall effect is of a singular hue. i'll have to post a detail pic sometime.

now to get them framed and shipped off to west virginia! wish i could go to the show, but my family will be visiting and it's a bit of a trip. any suggestions on titles? i hate titling my work....

at it again

i broke out the pastels again for some art venting. these pieces are great for me because the movement is fast and vigorous and i put a lot of my emotions into them. i call them abstracts, but they are very much related to horizon lines and the new mexico sky. the pink one has a high horizon line with a touch of oranges and yellows for the warmth of the setting/rising sun. also, the blue piece has a faint glow of yellow at the bottom. the actual horizon line is hidden, or can be the natural line of the end of the drawing. my main focus was trying to successfully show a progression from dark to light and in the pink one, to be able to show a change in subject/space without completely dissecting the canvas. i want it to be a soft flow, nothing to harsh.