Merry Month?

Well it is May, but up here in Rockport, Maine, we're barely in the flower stage of our late blooming spring.  Still a bit too chilly for a picnic by the ocean, but I'm betting it's wonderful weather in Venice.  And although I won't be there in person, I did have some work near the Biennial... click on this link 

or copy and paste - https://the-biennial-project.com/2022_Venice_Finalists.aspx

Last week the hubster and I both tested positive for covid and started on a 5 day treatment of Paxlovid.  He took the final pill this morning and then tested himself to find out that he's still positive.  So I figure I probably am as well and I cancelled all appointments this week that I had a silly idea that I'd be well enough for.  But today feels different, worse than the past 4 days.  Could the rebound effect happen even before I'm finished taking the pills?

Remember that piece I donated for the benefit art show for Ukraine?  It sold and I'm so very happy about it.  Money is going to Doctors without Borders.

I've got some shows coming up this summer.  A member show at UMVA Gallery in Portland in June.  And another show called Working Waterfront at the MeetinghouseArts Gallery in Freeport.  I'm thinking of entering this photograph:

Art for Ukraine in Damariscotta

 A huge thanks to all the folks that purchased a limited edition print of Flowers for Ukraine.  A big shout out to my cuz Caren in Illinois who sent some extra money in the 2nd round of printing.  This means we can donate ANOTHER $100 to UnitedHelpUkraine.org.  

I'm also going to be donating a framed print to a special art sale organized by Lyn Asselta, Jane Herbert, Betty Heselton, Sally Loughridge, Penny Moody, and Marnie Sinclair.  I got emails from two different sources about this, but they were all tied to members of the Union of Maine Visual Artists - UMVA.

The sale itself is at the Coastal Rivers Land Trust Round Top Farm, 3 Round Top Lane, Damariscotta, ME 04543 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 29 and 30.  There will be soft live background music each afternoon at the sale.  The sale’s full proceeds will be sent directly to Doctors Without Borders and Save the Children Charities.  Link to an article in the Lincoln County News is here.

 

 Sorry about the glare on it, but I wasn't going to take it apart again for the photo.  I know my blog readers will forgive me, right?  If this doesn't sell and you would like it, contact me and we can set something up.

I haven't gotten everything out of boxes yet.  Mostly because I need to find new areas to store things and I know myself well enough to realize that if I open another box before I find things int he previous box, they will always sit in piles.

Plus the fact that doing PT 2x/wk is beginning to really wipe me out.  And I should be OK with that, as I'm still healing.  I need to sit with all this and not beat myself up.  If you're going through something similar, please give yourself a break.  We are all too hard on ourselves.

It's a terrific place to work and far bigger than any other studio I've had.  I'm happy and grateful that I have a place like this.  I'm about halfway finished setting up the studio and can't wait to get back to working with encaustic wax.

Change is the Only Constant

Studio will be shutting down next week so the guys can come and help me move from the temp studio I've had down in the basement of our house, to the remodeled space above the garage.  Here's some photos from earlier this week.

Looking east - I can see into JK's music and plant room

Looking west - that pony wall hides the stairs down to the garage

Looking NW - that rectangle on the floor is the new dumb waiter

Looking north - stairs are behind that pony wall to the right.

Update on Flowers for Ukraine

I got the following email from the folks at United Help Ukraine, the charity that I'm raising money for by selling prints of this image and donating half (profit) of the money to this group that is helping folks who have remained in the country which is being ATTACKED BY THAT LITTLE ASSHOLE PUTIN.  

Dear Ann,

Thank you for your care about the people of Ukraine and for the contribution you make through your art. We truly appreciate it! Please follow updates on our website https://unitedhelpukraine.org/archives/category/weekly-updates to see how we use funds received from donors like you to help Ukraine.

 

With gratitude,

Julie

Team UHU 

 

I've sent out a dozen prints already and there are 13 left in the series.  Prints are $20.  We have donated $150 so far and I would love to double that figure!  This would make a great Mother's Day present, just sayin'.

 

If you're interested in a print and can wait a few weeks until the studio is put back together again, email me - anntracy51 (at) gmail.com  They are 9 x 12" images on archival 11 x 14" paper.

So, just a reminder that the studio is closed from April 5th to the 12th.  This means any orders for the print will not go out until the week of April 18th.

In Health news:  I can now (finally) use my left hand on the keyboard for more than 5 minutes at a time!  With the PT that I'm doing, I can now raise my left arm to shoulder height.  Thanks to my frenemy the shoulder pulley:

The right arm pulls the left one up so the muscles can remember what they are supposed to be doing.  It is painful, but gotta do it if I want more mobility - which I do... be nice to wear earrings again....been over 2 months.

Happy Spring everyone!

all hail the yellow and blue

if you haven't been following along on FB, i fractured my arm the night of jk's birthday in boston.  i still can't use my left hand so, i'm picking this out on the keyboard and capitalization be damned! while my plight will hopefully be helped by the p t i'll start the end of this week, i'm also trying to stay hopeful about the russians getting out of the ukraine!!

flowers for the ukraine

i have a co-creator on this piece of digital alchemy, my friend sandra hamorsky, who sent me some great photos of sunflowers.  then i found a photo of Berehynia, who is featured in the Independence Monument, a victory column located on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv and is commemorated to the Independence of Ukraine, according to wikipedia.  

 

 

i'm going to limit the 1st print run of this piece to 25 and donate 50% of sales to this group, which is helping the people of ukraine, click here or copy and paste url below.

https://unitedhelpukraine.org/?fbclid=IwAR0lNkofSKx0ZDkfxVmC9_H_FXcTs-cQ_Mo81uHhYTYmVfs7OUxyMDd-3BY 

 

for an interesting article in hyperallergenic about artists and the situation, click here

 

or copy and paste url below

https://hyperallergic.com/713794/ukrainian-artists-speak-out-as-invasion-intensifies/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=D022822&utm_content=D022822+CID_1f165fb8addbefe8799472c91d71c973&utm_source=hn&utm_term=Ukrainian+Artists+Speak+Out+As+Invasion+Intensifies 

 

i'm ordering some special 11 x 14 art paper to print on here in the studio.  so if you'd like a print, please email me at anntracy51(at)gmail.com.  it will probably take a week to get here, hoping shipping will not go over $5... 

Rocking Creativity

When I stumbled upon this article, my immediate thought was that it was coming from Nick Cave, the visual artist, not Nick Cave the musician.  But as I read it, I realized that Cave, the musician, is deeper than I thought!

Here's the link or you can copy and paste this:  https://www.themarginalian.org/2022/01/20/nick-cave-creativity/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

This is very reminiscent of my favorite quote on creativity and artists of any genre coming from modern dance choreographer Martha Graham to Broadway choreographer Agnes DeMille

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time. This expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it.

It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.

No artist is pleased…there is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a a queer, divine dissatisfaction. A blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”

And on we go into the fog of a new year.  But here's an abstract photo from the archives you might enjoy.

I am hopeful that work will begin next week on my new studio over the garage at our house in Rockport.  It was supposed to start last May and I just hope I can move into the new space BY this May.  May the force be with the contractor.

Stay warm and creative my friends!

Happy New Year

 

For me, the best way to start the new year is seeing some of my work in other people's houses or offices!  This 2020 digital woodblock print on canvas is in a very good home near Boone, NC.  

I thought I'd do one last blog post from this old computer, as I need to suck the remaining things off it and transition to a different and much faster machine.  This system was built for me by a company that has morphed into being zoom camera focused and they don't make computers for filmmakers anymore.  

Although I only do "artists' videos", which by their nature can be non-narrative, and perhaps more simple than a 90 minute feature film, it's still helpful with a powerful workstation so the rendering doesn't take so long.  

Here's a link to my vimeo page - either copy or paste what's below or click this LINK.

https://vimeo.com/user4159681

So I'll be offline for the next couple of days getting the new system up and running.  

But while I'm dealing with replacing all the software and getting cords I never thought I'd need, you, my fair friend can get a 20% discount off any of my art using this Discount Code - XNYCRA.

Here's the link to the Fine Art America Website either copy or paste what's below or click this LINK.

https://fineartamerica.com/art/ann+tracy

You can order prints on a variety of materials including shower curtains, pillows, even cloth masks - but be sure to wear them with a pm2.5 filter in them or double mask with a surgical mask underneath.

Yeah, I know the health professionals were telling us that cloth masks were fine, but that was when we didn't have enough PPE for health care workers.  Now you can buy KN95s (made in China) or N95s (some made in the US) so go do that, please.  They are the most effective at keeping you and others safe!

 

New Digital Work

I'm still working out how to work in my little basement studio space and while I'm working on a couple of small paintings, I've been doing mostly digital work.  Here's the latest...

LA Heat - digital variable sizes

This series of work (only 2 so far) deal with the ever warmer Los Angeles area due to the currently climate emergency.  It's composed with photographs of other distressed photos from a magazine. 

Here's another one that I made from that same magazine source, but with a photo of  a wonderful model I've used for photo shoots.  I love working with her as it's always a creative journey together, right Jenny?

LA Angel - digital, variable sizes

This piece also addresses the climate emergency but in a more opaque way.  Maybe a symbolic way as we have the dark angel looking at us from the depths of central LA where she appears to be trapped somehow.  All sorts of narrative one could spin about this piece.  And as far as this artist goes, they are ALL correct.

This next piece brought to you by the fact that North America has lost over THREE BILLION birds according to Audubon.  I think I'm going to make some works on canvas of this one and offer them up as a fundraiser for Audubon.  Or do you think it's too dark?  Maybe but it's the way I'm feeling right now.  Please stop using chemicals in your yards, I BEG you.

Bird Dreams - digital, variable sizes

I'm also doing an experiment on Etsy at my shop - selling calendars.  Two of these images are in the calendar but Bird Dreams isn't b/c I just finished it today.  The calendars won't be ready for holiday giving, BUT, I can email  you a "fact sheet" with small thumbnails of the work in the calendar that you can print out and give to the lucky recipient. 

If the link above doesn't work, you can cut and past the following:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1131622441/calendar-2022-featuring-new-and-classic?ref=shop_home_feat_1&frs=1

Have happy holidays my dear readers and let's hope that 2022 will be better than the last two years.  I'm not going to state the obvious, b/c, you know what they say ....

Support Local Artists

We all should be supporting local businesses, as that's the way to build sustainability for all communities.  But it's especially important to support local artists in your communities.  Not only do I have work in three different galleries for the rest of November (and in some cases on into December) but there's a special sale on the Etsy shop for the next 13 days.

For those readers in the DC/Arlington, VA area, head on down to St Micheal's Episcopalian Church to see the work in that show.  I have two pieces in the on-line show as well.  Take a look here and if you're interested in buying, there's a page that tells you to contact the artist directly.
 

Closer to you folks in Maine, this is one of the pieces I have in the Meetinghouse Art Gallery holiday show out in Freeport. 

It's a monotype made with a fern from the backyard and some added silvery circles for the moon.  One of a kind, although this is the ghost print of the first print.  But only those two in the world right now.  You'll have to go to Freeport to see it, unless it doesn't sell and I put it up on the Etsy site.

Then there's the show at the Jackson Memorial Library with other members of the KCAS - Knox County Arts Society.  The show is only up until December 10th.  You'll have to drive down the St George Peninsula to Tenants Harbor to see it during regular library hours.  So please check their website or call them.

 

And now for folks who live anywhere - the Big Etsy Sale - 20% off anything there

13 days ONLY

Nov 18th at 5 pm to Dec 2nd at midnight at the AnnTracyFineArt Shop

https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnnTracyFineArt?  (in case the link didn't work)

 

Once I recover completely from the dental surgery I had done this week, look for gift cards on the Etsy site too! BUT how could I forgot to mention the member show at the UMVA Gallery at the Portland Media Center, 516 Congress St in Portland???  

My work is the small one in the middle, shot by my dear friend Christine Sullivan.  It's based on a photo and was printed on Japanese paper and coated with encaustic wax.  The show will be up all through November and December.  Christine and I will be gallery sitting on Saturday afternoon, Dec 18th from 1 to 4 pm.  Hope to see you there if you're in the Portland area.