Greetings, fellow artists and art lovers. I’m happy to announce that my show at the library is now up and open to the public. I had free rein to hang the show as I wished. The final stage of my work, the curating stage, became my last chance to express my ideas through my work and through its presentation.

I think the fact that this is a library show works out very nicely, since my most recent work is influenced by literature. Here’s is my artist statement for the show:

“The surreal paintings in this show have two literary influences. The first is Haruki Murakami’s novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles. In it, the unseen “wind-up bird” represents the forces that keep the world turning and history unfolding. The other literary work echoed here is the Charles Bukowski poem, “Bluebird,” which is about the dauntless bluebird of happiness that lives in the poet’s troubled heart. The resulting images range from the surreal to the abstract, the birds and natural forms represent dark thoughts, creative impulses, joy, and heart. Everything is churning; forms explode and rearrange themselves in chaotic arrangements balanced between order and disintegration and between melancholy and happiness.”

On the wall next to my paintings, I posted the Bukowski poem and a series of quotes from Chronicles to provide some context.

 

Choosing these pieces was an interesting process. In the above cases, I had always known they would be included. But there were older pieces and one-off works like the one below that made the cut. This was an experiment that heretofore had not seen the light of day. However, I found it melded perfectly with the rest of the show.

 

I stashed all the smaller pieces in the glass display case:

 

 

And here is my favorite view, the one from the circulation desk, showing my woodland mural that I painted earlier this year, the banner I created for the summer reading program, and my art exhibit! (Am I leaving my mark on this library or what?)

 

The show will be up through September. The end of that month will be a juggle for me, having committed to teaching an art class in conjunction with the show and doing more mural work. (Stay tuned for that!)