Taking the show on the Road!

I am taking Sea of LoVe on the road to ArtPrize 2014 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  This three-week event is a city wide epic art event. 1,700 artists display their work in over 175 venues, such as, nail salons, gas stations, on sidewalks, schools, churches, cafés and even tattoo parlors. It is amazing. The public votes on the best piece of artwork and that artist wins $200,000.  I believe that it is one of the largest awards given to an artist and uniquely chosen by the public.  You have to be IN Grand Rapids to vote.   

I am going to be my own gallery attendant for my installation.  I will be on-site for the first two weeks to be available to the public to talk about my work and visit with people.  I want the LoVE to go out into the world.  Every sign will be for sale for $5.  I will also be doing mini-installations in yards around Grand Rapids [10 or more signs for $50 – I can do this in Houston too.] Want a piece of Sea of LoVE check out my store and I will send you some!

2,000 signs are packed into my minivan, ready for the 1,200 mile journey.  I really did have to check the payload of my mini-van to be sure that it could tolerate the weight of the LoVE signs. Sea of LoVE will be installed on the lawn of the Gerald R. Ford Federal Courthouse on Michigan Ave. on view from September 23 to October 12.  

Keep up on the project by liking my Facebook page.  

This LoVE project started out as a Lenten devotion. I would put one sign out on my dog walk every day for 40 days. I would tie them to trees or leave them in people's yards. It was so embarrassing. I didn't want anyone to see me putting the LoVE out there. I didn't want anyone to know it was me. That didn't last long. People took notice. At Easter that year, I mentioned to my husband that I should put a LoVE sign out every day for a year. He said I should put a LoVE sign out every day for the rest of my life. I think he is right. 

The thing is, we are loved abundantly by God/The Universe/The Creator. We in turn can love abundantly without restriction. We have an unlimited amount of LoVE in us. Love knows no end. Love is infinity. 

Photo Credits -Marisa Brodie

Showing my New Stuff –

It is like hanging out in public in my underwear.

I know that I am not the only one who feels this way.  Very well known and established artists feel this way.  But it makes me want to hide away and not tell anyone what I am doing.  Especially if it is brand new work.  If I hid my work for a year and let it incubate it might be better emotionally, but there is this other part of me that wants to complete the work by showing it to the world.  Hello everyone, here I am in my underwear. 

This work has really surprised me.  It is so BRIGHT!  Many of the colors are right out of the tube.    Usually when I come up to Maine to work, the paintings are usually more pastel.  Not this year.  This series was painted on location in Friendship.  Martin's Point Road at Richard Burns' house and the town landing at the working harbor.  This is a super fun way to work.  The compositions come out in unique ways when painting right on the spot.  I am not forgetting about the sunscreen and a huge hat now that I am seasoned outside painter.  No more bacon ears.

I have finished my fifth week in the life drawing class.  I paint and it is the most humbling artistic thing that I do each week.  I can really see better results.  Finally, I am not worried about making a pretty picture.  I have given myself permission to make a really hideous piece or make the model look fat and awful.   I like how this process is going.   The models and the artists are so kind. 

When in Maine, paint a nude model then go paint outside....

I decided to start my summer in Maine with torturing myself in a life drawing group.  Here are the results.  When I was doing this, I felt like I had forgotten how to paint.  The model and the other artists were so kind to me and encouraged me to come back.   I am just going to keep after it and  show up on Wednesday nights with my paints, crayons and an open attitude.  I have to admit that when the timer when off for the pose, I was so grateful to be free of the stupid painting that I was working on. 

Painting out side.  I am working in Friendship, Maine.  I picked one of my favorite houses that is on the way to the beach.

This is what I learned painting outside:

*There are NO secrets in a small town.

*Make it work.  If your back is killing you because your rickety table is too low, use a boat support as an easel. 

*Make it work, if you didn’t bring enough paints, use what you have.

The audio selection on the water included:

*Dogs barking their heads off

*Seagulls laughing at their own jokes. They think they are hilarious.  They crack themselves up.

*Roosters. 

*Lawnmowers, many of them

*The deep rumble of a lobster boat starting up.

*Seagulls at a comedy club.

More things I learned:

*Sunscreen.  Buy it, put it on, don’t be such a dumb-a** .  Seriously, my ears are bacon now. 

*Just get started.  Don’t worry too much and play.

*Fishermen help painters.

*Make it work.  Use what you have.  Use what is around you.

*Bring Sunscreen.

*Bring bug-spray.

*Hang in there.

*Paint dries really fast in direct sun. 

*Show up tomorrow

This is the start up sketch of the paintings.

This is quite a change from my studio in Houston.  I have taken over a big portion of the back porch.  I want to dare myself to use all of those paints!

Here are the first three paintings that I have made.  They will be part of a show in Rockland, Maine in July at Art Space.

What happens in Austin, well you get the picture....

Given that this is my first rodeo, I am very pleased how my tent looks.

I sold two paintings, a ton of LoVE signs AND some of the 1,000 Project pieces.

What did I see?

Dogs.  Austin LOVES their dogs. They wore sunglasses.  Not just human sunglasses, but specially made doggy sunglasses.  Dogs were in strollers, backpacks and carried like small children. 

When the baby needs to be changed, why not in my tent?  Not a real baby, it was a mechanical doll and it’s teen mother had to care for it.  It cried, needed to be fed.  She is doing this for a class in High School and will be a nursing assistant when she graduates.  As it was screaming it’s head off, the girl whispered, “Shut your lips.”  Thing about being a new mom, even to a fake baby, people help you.  They want to find you a chair to sit in, a place to put your bag and help you figure it out.  I was really impressed that she came out of the house and was at the festival with her friends.  She had a really good attitude.  She was looking forward to turning in her baby on Monday. 

Tee shirts. Here are some of the highlights. BTW – don’t wear you’re A&M stuff in Austin. 

Rehab is for quitters

Life is pretty amazing

Rick Perry Sucks

Shit Luck

I messed with Texas

Body by Duff

Sick of It

Best. City. Ever. Austin

No days off

Shake your Shamrocks

You Can’t Sit with Us

Nacho Average

In dog beers, I have only had one

Do the Work

Buda, Just outside of Weird - I had to have the guy explain this one to me.

Keep Calm, Graduate Again

Spooning might lead to Forking

Love with your mind, not with your eyes

Welcome to the dork side

I love Being Me

It was me.  I let the dogs out.

Polite as Fuck [He really was, I asked him]

Things people said in my tent or passing by

Mom, can I give you some money?

I should donate my sperm to a bank.

A blind man saying to the sales girl, “Nice to see you.”

Baby, I went to Plano and came back pregnant

There is not a bench to be found on 6th Street.  Keep on moving. 

Overall it was a great experience and VERY entertaining!

Sea of LoVE is going on the road, to Grand Rapids, Michigan!

Sea of LoVE is going on the road.

  ArtPrize 2014.  Grand Rapids, Michigan.

September 24 - October 12

I have a choice of 5 venues to host my installation.  I will pick by the next week.  There are 1700 artist working on getting their work into 200 locations.  I am so happy to have choices!

Thank you all who came out to see the project, take family photos and for all of the encouragement. I am especially thankful for those that helped me install and put away the entire project.  
Photos by the very talented, Marisa Brodie

LoVE Sign Installation

I am installing 1,000 LoVE signs in my yard on

Sunday, April 27th from 1-3pm.  

This installation is a demo for a larger project that I am proposing for ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  

Blue Bonnets are really fun to take photos with this time of year, but how about getting your photo taken in a "Sea of LoVE."  That is my working title at this point.  If you have a better suggestion, please email it to me.  If I pick your selection, I will send you a box of LoVE!

So come and see! - Send me an email at ww@wendywight.com and I will give you the address!

What am I making?

Here is the new work that I will be showing at Art Space in Rockland, ME.  The New Member show that will have it's opening on May 2.  It is the first Art Walk of the summer season.     These paintings are acrylic on reclaimed wood decking.  The paintings can stand on their own or be hung on the wall.

Work in production

Before I skip town to go to Maine for the summer I will be showing my work in Austin, TX.  I am participating in the Pecan Street Festival.  May 3-4.  This is my first festival and I am SO excited to show my work on the road.  I am going to have a mobile gallery. I CAN'T WAIT it is going to be so much fun!

Project Progress

The 100 paintings, 10 x 10 project is off to a good start.  A bit slower than I anticipated, but I am getting my wheels turning and getting some traction.  The top images are of the completed paintings,18 x 24, on the bottom are the sketches using the antique photos copied onto 12 x 17 paper.  Working with the sketch, or as I like to call it, a test, helps the painting come along and I have an idea of the direction of the piece. 

This summer I will be showing my work in a cooperative artist gallery, Art Space in Rockland, Maine.  The gallery is right on Main Street next to the Farnsworth. There is a ton of foot traffic in the summer.   I will work hours as part of my commitment to the gallery.  I flew up in January to have an interview with 10 of the resident artists.  My first show with the gallery will be in May as part of the new member show and then I will have a show in the front room with three other artists for the month of July.  I am planning on creating work that will directly reflect the landscape of Maine.  The photos here are of Friendship, Maine right after a snow storm.   These three images will be a part of a series of 10.  

100 Painting Project

I know when I make goals for my art studio, they are big.  So this is what a delivery of 100 canvases looks like at MotherDog.  

Delivery!

This year I am going to make 100 paintings.  [I love counting things!]

I am calling it my 10 x 10 project. 

Here is an example of the preliminary sketches.

 Ten paintings, ten different subjects.  The first 10 paintings are focused on groups of people.  I am using images that I purchased at an antique shop.  The photo above shows the sketches in progress. 

The second topic of ten will be about typewriters.  The research for this has been delightful.  I am secretly obsessed with typewriters. 

Typewriters!

Art Crawl 2013

ArtCrawl? It is a huge group of artist studios in downtown Houston that is open to the public.   This only happens once a year.  There are food trucks, performance art of all kinds, music and tons and tons of art. 
 
My studio super kid friendly.  I have a table for kids to make art.  I put out paper and nice colored pencils.  If you are visiting with kids, I recommend visiting earlier in the day.  The crowd tends to get very festive later in the day.

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I have a full array of mini, $5 business-card sized paintings. These paintings are the result of my warm ups when I arrive in the studio.  It gets me loose.  Plus, I love that you can have a piece of fine, hand made art that fits into your pocket.

Come check it out. 
Saturday, November 23, 2013, 10AM – 8PM.  

 Official ArtCrawl Website.

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