Early this summer, I was approached by the Arts Council of Indianapolis to produce six works similar to my Patterns In Flight butterfly series for their 2010 ARTI awards. The ARTI Awards are presented annually to celebrate and commemorate the outstanding support of the arts in our community. This year five ARTI awards are being presented to businesses and individuals this Friday at the Start With Art event. To attend Start With Art, register at the Arts Council of Indianapolis’ website. The event is from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm on Friday, September 3, 2010 at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown. Individual tickets are $60.

The six works commissioned by Arts Council of Indianapolis include:

• Dusk, Oil on canvas, 14″ x 14″
  
• Wandering Ochre, Oil on canvas, 8″ x 12″
  
• Summer Flight, Oil on canvas, 12″ x 9″
  
• Long Wing, Long Life, Oil on canvas, 14″ x 14″
  
• Appear, Disappear, Oil on canvas, 10″ x 10″
  

For a larger version of these paintings, visit the entire series, Patterns in Flight, in my portfolio. Two paintings, Long Wing, Long Life and Dusk, are hung diagonal.

If you were unable to make it in August, you have another chance to view the Patterns in Flight butterfly paintings art show. This Friday the butterfly series, Patterns in Flight, will be on display at Wug Laku’s Studio and Garage. The series opening will be September 3, 2010 at 6pm-10pm during the IDADA’s August First Friday and the series will show through September 25. Wug Laku’s Studio and Garage is located at 1125 Brookside Ave #C7 Indianapolis, Indiana.

If you cannot make it to the opening, Wug’s gallery hours are 12-4pm Friday and Saturday or by appointment. To make an appointment, call Wug Laku at 317-270-8258.

From the gallery owner:

This exhibit is a spectacular display of freedom in motion. Spend enough time in the room with these paintings and you’ll feel the air begin to vibrate and move about you. Although the nominal subject is butterflies, the real subject of these paintings is how powerfully color, line and composition can combine into patterns to create a vibrant, dynamic, even explosive viewing experience, thereby introducing us to a new experience of our everyday world.

The painting series is about journeys: the journey of each butterfly, but also my journey. Patterns in Flight provokes thoughts on time, refined beauty, and overcoming struggles. It contains a variety of butterfly species: painted ladies, a blue morpho, malachites, a citris swallowtail, postmans, a variable cracker and a zebra longwing.

RVSP today at the Facebook event: Patterns in Flight at Wug Laku’s

Whirlpool Peak Mount Fryatt

A calm, clear evening.

There are times when one looks back in time and remembers glimpses of what came before.  Visually, one’s eyes are isolated to perceiving what is now, however through images, pieces of time can be superimposed.  Time and animation are integral elements in my dynamic still life paintings.  During their lives, butterflies are creatures that themselves undergo great change.  They start as insects bound to the earth and transform into wonders of flight.

In these paintings, the simplified patterns of wings, closely cropped, tend to eclipse the creaturely nature of each butterfly.  Diagonal orientation of some canvases adds to the energy of the image.  This position breaks convention and presents a shape that can be referential to transition.

The details of how wings open: the way that sometimes light falls on the wings creating a translucent glow, reminiscent of stained glass, and how the patterns foreshorten as the wings open, add to the sense of movement, and at times rhythm, in the paintings.

A continuous and ‘unlimited’ conversation is encouraged by the use of short poetic titles.  These names can be understood as word plays on the butterfly’s name, but can also relate to time, refined beauty, and challenges overcome.

Patterns in Flight.  Patterns of movement, color, and light. Sometimes a pattern manifests where no pattern exists; patterns are implied but not actualized.  These paintings are not static butterflies, collected and mounted, but elusive creatures in flight.

It was more than a year ago that I began my butterfly series, Patterns in Flight. It’s now ready to break out of it’s cocoon (so to speak).  RVSP today at the Facebook event: Patterns in Flight at Wug Laku’s

The entire butterfly series, Patterns in Flight, will be on display at Wug Laku’s Studio and Garage. The series opening will be August 6, 2010 at 6pm-10pm during the IDADA’s August First Friday and the series will show through September 25. Wug Laku’s Studio and Garage is located at 1125 Brookside Ave #C7 Indianapolis, Indiana.

If you cannot make it to the opening, Wug’s gallery hours are 12-4pm Friday and Saturday or by appointment. To make an appointment, call Wug Laku at 317-270-8258.

The painting series is about journeys: the journey of each butterfly, but also my journey. I have transformed from being called the “bone lady” to the “butterfly girl” over last last year. Three paintings of this series were selected by the Arts Council of Indianapolis. Working with the Arts Council led to a few small commissioned works for the ARTI awards. My macro paintings have been compared to Georgia O’Keefe –whether that comparison is true or not. I have learned much about myself wondering around butterfly wing veins and cells for hours on end. And now I am excited to finally place these paintings in public view at Wug Laku’s Studio and Garage which is at the Circle City Complex.

Patterns in Flight provokes thoughts on time, refined beauty, and overcoming struggles. It contains a variety of butterfly species: painted ladies, a blue morpho, malachites, a citris swallowtail, postmans, a variable cracker and a zebra longwing.

Last Tuesday afternoon, May 25, 2010, Patterns in Flight Triptych was installed at 924 N. Pennsylvania, Indianapolis, Indiana, the home to the Arts Council of Indianapolis.  I was to be present to capture some images from the installation process. Patterns in Flight Triptych is a collage of three pieces from my latest dynamic still-life series, Patterns in Flight. This print of my work is a vinyl banner on the windows of the building and will remain installed for one year.

The entire butterfly series, Patterns in Flight, will be on display at Wug Laku’s Studio and Garage. The series opening will be August 6, 2010 during the August First Friday and the series will show through August 28. Wug Laku’s Studio and Garage is located at 1125 Brookside Ave #C7 Indianapolis, Indiana.

First the rolled panels are unboxed and are ready to be applied to the windows. Right: These are the three windows the butterfly paintings will be adhered to.

It’s been a while since I have posted here on Llama and Lamb. One of the reason is because I have become active on Twitter (@smjdesign). Yes, that thing everybody is talking about. Speaking of Twitter, earlier this week I tweeted:

Can’t we go back to when we could knock on each others’ doors at any time, ask if they can come out and play. Are people really that busy?!

I thought I’d unpack this thought with three themes: the past, the present, and the future. So let’s first stroll down memory lane and do a little psychoanalysis.

The Past

As a teenager, I had friends that I could stop in on. Some were adults others were my own age. Often I would tell my parents I was going to run an errand and not show back up until 11:00, since I had stopped by a friends house. Nothing was as disappointing as stopping by a friend’s houses only to have their mother, grandmother, or closest relative tell me they were not home.

I grew up in rural Kentucky in a county with about 7000 people. There was not a large pool of teenagers. There were 66 other people in my high school graduation class. I managed by attending summer camps in larger cities. By camps, I mean air-conditioned college campuses with classes that focused on computer programming and academics. This new medium called instant messaging was a god-send (remember ICQ, the hippy-themed precursor to AOL Instant Messenger?). I was able to log-on every night and chat with friends in other parts of the state and even a few local. Nothing was off limits: romance, religion–you name it. As I think back, it is true that people will often write virtually on the web information that they would not say in person.

So I moved onto college and loved the access to 1300 people–yes, it was a small college. Most weeks, I was that guy who hung around the dorm on Friday and Saturday nights knocking on people’s doors to see who was around. In these circumstances, it is somewhat amazing that I never met my wife, Rachel, until the last month of our senior year. It was my curiosity of starting up a conversation with strangers on an art field trip to New York that lit the match of romance. Habits are difficult to break though. For the first few weeks, Rachel wondered whether I was truly attracted to her, since I spent the majority of our time together talking about other girls I knew.

The Present

In the apartment my wife and I used to live in, my neighbors changed frequently. New residents moved in and old residents moved out every year. I did not expect consistent relationships beyond a greeting in the stairwell. When I was in the process of buying a house, I had visions of new neighbors knocking on my doors and bringing us casseroles and fruit baskets. That didn’t happen. Reality is pleasant–I can’t complain. I have really nice neighbors that say “hi” when one is out doing yard work. One of my neighbors once cut my gas for me for free.

Yes, the onus is on me to invite my neighbors into my house. We’ve hesitating doing this so far due to the continuing remodeling of our foreclosed house (think plastic sheeting on the floor, lack of shoe molding, and monstrous sponge painting from the prior owners).

The future

I’m afraid that my life will become busy with people that I only see once a month or have a passing friendship with. We sometimes have to schedule get-to-togethers with friends over a month in advance. Yes, you have to meet someone in order to have a deeper friendship, but many of our friends have children. I understand–I’m sure we will have children that will require (that we will want to spend) time with–those poor nerdy kids! I am very fortunate that I met Rachel in college– I do not have any idea where I would meet woman similar to me now (not that I’m looking). I guess what I’m saying is that it seems that we are often in our own little bubbles.

Now, on a lighter note

During this last weekend, Rachel I walked around the Stutz Building in Downtown Indianapolis stepping in and out of artists’ studios. I discovered that artists don’t really care for labels on their work, but as a poet, it’s hard for me not to distill images down to words. After all, there art encompasses their whole life, right? I also have some trinkets of insight to pass on, too. Enjoy.

Art lessons from four hours at the 2009 Stutz Open House:

• Hearts do not belong in fine art paintings (O.K, maybe folk art, but nothing else!).
• The larger your huge gaudy golden frames are the faster your work will sell.
• Lombardy Poplars (the “French trees” in impressionist paintings) should be banned–permanently. Why do we want the French countryside in our living rooms?

It’s been a while since I have posted here on Llama and Lamb. One of the reason is because I have become active on Twitter (@smjdesign). Yes, that thing everybody is talking about. Speaking of Twitter, earlier this week I tweeted:

Can’t we go back to when we could knock on each others’ doors at any time, ask if they can come out and play. Are people really that busy?!

I thought I’d unpack this thought with three themes: the past, the present, and the future. So let’s first stroll down memory lane and do a little psychoanalysis.

The Past

As a teenager, I had friends that I could stop in on. Some were adults others were my own age. Often I would tell my parents I was going to run an errand and not show back up until 11:00, since I had stopped by a friends house. Nothing was as disappointing as stopping by a friend’s houses only to have their mother, grandmother, or closest relative tell me they were not home.

I grew up in rural Kentucky in a county with about 7000 people. There was not a large pool of teenagers. There were 66 other people in my high school graduation class. I managed by attending summer camps in larger cities. By camps, I mean air-conditioned college campuses with classes that focused on computer programming and academics. This new medium called instant messaging was a god-send (remember ICQ, the hippy-themed precursor to AOL Instant Messenger?). I was able to log-on every night and chat with friends in other parts of the state and even a few local. Nothing was off limits: romance, religion–you name it. As I think back, it is true that people will often write virtually on the web information that they would not say in person.

So I moved onto college and loved the access to 1300 people–yes, it was a small college. Most weeks, I was that guy who hung around the dorm on Friday and Saturday nights knocking on people’s doors to see who was around. In these circumstances, it is somewhat amazing that I never met my wife, Rachel, until the last month of our senior year. It was my curiosity of starting up a conversation with strangers on an art field trip to New York that lit the match of romance. Habits are difficult to break though. For the first few weeks, Rachel wondered whether I was truly attracted to her, since I spent the majority of our time together talking about other girls I knew.

The Present

In the apartment my wife and I used to live in, my neighbors changed frequently. New residents moved in and old residents moved out every year. I did not expect consistent relationships beyond a greeting in the stairwell. When I was in the process of buying a house, I had visions of new neighbors knocking on my doors and bringing us casseroles and fruit baskets. That didn’t happen. Reality is pleasant–I can’t complain. I have really nice neighbors that say “hi” when one is out doing yard work. One of my neighbors once cut my gas for me for free.

Yes, the onus is on me to invite my neighbors into my house. We’ve hesitating doing this so far due to the continuing remodeling of our foreclosed house (think plastic sheeting on the floor, lack of shoe molding, and monstrous sponge painting from the prior owners).

The future

I’m afraid that my life will become busy with people that I only see once a month or have a passing friendship with. We sometimes have to schedule get-to-togethers with friends over a month in advance. Yes, you have to meet someone in order to have a deeper friendship, but many of our friends have children. I understand–I’m sure we will have children that will require (that we will want to spend) time with–those poor nerdy kids! I am very fortunate that I met Rachel in college– I do not have any idea where I would meet woman similar to me now (not that I’m looking). I guess what I’m saying is that it seems that we are often in our own little bubbles.

Now, on a lighter note

During this last weekend, Rachel I walked around the Stutz Building in Downtown Indianapolis stepping in and out of artists’ studios. I discovered that artists don’t really care for labels on their work, but as a poet, it’s hard for me not to distill images down to words. After all, there art encompasses their whole life, right? I also have some trinkets of insight to pass on, too. Enjoy.

Art lessons from four hours at the 2009 Stutz Open House:

• Hearts do not belong in fine art paintings (O.K, maybe folk art, but nothing else!).
• The larger your huge gaudy golden frames are the faster your work will sell.
• Lombardy Poplars (the “French trees” in impressionist paintings) should be banned–permanently. Why do we want the French countryside in our living rooms?

For more information or to see photographs of the exhibit or the talk I gave in KY on March 5, 2009 go to RachelSteely.com

For more information or to see photographs of the exhibit or the talk I gave in KY on March 5, 2009 go to RachelSteely.com