Part of my growing art circle includes the Chicago Women’s Caucus for the Arts . I love meeting with artists and having an opportunity to share and show art. Three of my oil and cold wax pieces will be in the August House Studio‘s 30th Anniversary Show “Small Treasures” featuring work by The Chicago Women’s Caucus for the Arts. So far, weather in Southwest Michigan, Northwest Indiana and Chicago has been mild, so I’m hoping for smooth travel to attend the opening this Friday evening. For those of you in the Chicago area, the opening is December 2, 2016 from 6-9PM. 2113 W. Roscoe, Chicago, IL 60618
“Pink Moon ” 12″x12″ oil and cold wax on board“Sol” 12″ x 12″ oil and cold wax on board
In November 2012, after 30 years in Indianapolis, IN, I moved my studio (and my life) to the lovely lakeside town of Watervliet, in Southwest Michigan. While living on Paw Paw Lake is beautiful, it doesn’t have the artistic community that I had spent so many years developing and nurturing in Indy. That doesn’t mean that the connections are not here, but they are more spread out geographically. Luckily, I love to drive!
I’ve been an active member of the Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA) for a number of years, and the Indiana chapter is centered in South Bend, IN, just an hour’s drive south of my home in Michigan. I’m also a member of the Michigan chapter of the WCA, so I was excited when I got notice of a meeting in Ann Arbor, MI. The winter weather has been mild this year, so I made plans to drive the 2 hours there and 2 hours back to meet the members and get involved. As I’m learning here in SW Michigan, anything goes with the weather, and the day of the meeting was sandwiched between two severe winter weather watches. I managed to make the trip with some white knuckle driving, but not too much snow actually falling on the roadways.
I’m really glad I went! It’s always exciting to be back in Ann Arbor (I lived there for 9 years and went to art school at the University of Michigan) and the town has an energy all it’s own. The chapter president hosted us in her studio, and we were able to share our work and hear about the activities of the chapter and members. One exciting project is a call to participate in “Women Yes!” a poster competition and campaign to bring art by talented women artists into the AAATA Buses in Ann Arbor, Dexter, Saline, Milan and Ypsilanti.
“Spiral” encaustic on board, 8″x8″
I was able to share a small encaustic on panel, as well as the photo of my encaustic monotype that was published in the ‘Still Point Arts Quarterly’, announcing my ‘Best of Show Award’ for their online show in May of 2015.
It was a good trip for connections. This Friday there is an art opening at the Box Factory for the Arts in St. Joseph, MI, and one of the former Michigan chapter members, Kei Constantinov will be opening a show there. St. Joseph is a mere 16 miles away, so I’ll be able to meet her and support a fellow WCA artist!
