Working under pressure - always works for me, I seem to get a lot accomplished. I took the afternoon off and went for a horse ride on a beautiful sunny afternoon and have come back refreshed and back to the studio I go. I currently have a solo-show at the UW-Marinette Gallery space, however, it features my mixed media paintings I have done prior to my move to the oil/cold wax abstracted landscapes.
After much hard work this winter in the studio of not only painting, but cleaning as well, I've got a solid body of new work that I am really satisfied with. So . . . I got organized, put together a portfolio of my new work and sent it off to some galleries. I've started to get some responses back, somes no's, some love my work and a couple that sound promising. There is one for sure out of all this work so far and that is - I'm happy to announce - the start of a gallery/artist relationship with Edgewood Orchard Galleries in Door County! I feel one of the best galleries in the peninsula! They called me immediately upon receiving my portfolio and I'm on my way to organizing the select group of pieces that I will be taking to them in April. Still waiting to hear from a few more of the galleries, but am thrilled to be a new artist at Edgewood Orchard Galleries! So, after this beautiful spring day of riding through the marshes and fields and woods - I'm back to capturing the simplicity in my memory of what I saw in nature today!

I finally did it! Had my friend Ingrid start my etsy shop (ginniecappaert.etsy.com) - if you don't know what etsy is - etsy is a shop on the internet where everything is handmade - so artists and crafters from all over the world post unique items/artwork to sell. Check it out. Also, check out Ingrid's site ingridartstudio.com She's been very successful on etsy and has been telling me to try it for years - so thanks to her - I'll try it!
Back in the studio, landscapes continue to pour out of me - currently small ones - like 1" x 3" which is very different than working large, quite intimate, I kind of like it!

Finally did it! Had my friend Ingrid create my new etsy site to sell smaller pieces of my work. Visit my new site ginniecappaert.etsy.com to see and purchase original encaustic and cold wax/oil pieces. Ingrid had been doing etsy for over a year with great success - her site is ingridartstudio.etsy.com - check out her work, too!

A juried show in New York - a small works exhibition - at the National Association of Women Artists Gallery opened February 12 with a reception on February 16. I had two pieces accepted - my first showing in New York and I am very excited. The pieces accepted were of my new abstractted landscapes, minimalist, oil and cold wax on panel. I seem to have put aside the mixed media/collage pieces and am working on these more simplistic pieces and am finding a certain feeling of peacefulness inside. In other words, I am really "enjoying the process".

I am refreshed and back in the studio after a weekend trip to Charlevoix and Traverse City. Two galleries there (Elements & Gallery 50) represent me and I wanted to trade out some new artwork. We enjoyed walking downtown on a snowy evening and having a wonderful dinner at a bistro/chocolate restaurant. We also stopped at a tea house to warm up - lovely. Now back to reality and work!

I attended a wonderful evening reception for the group show "messages" at the Marquette Cultural Arts Center. A wonderful evening of friends and art. Nathan & Ingrid Blixt (Ingrid was also part of the show) and Pasqua Warstler and myself enjoyed an "art evening" out. Dave's cousin, Rebecca Ferguson, was also singing with a band, can't remember the name of the group, but they were fabulous, all on the same night!
Then this weekend some friends and Dave and I adventured via snowshoes on rough terrain to the "ice caves" in Eben, Michigan. Courtney & Lara are passionate gourmet's and after our "hike" we had a wonderful spread (on the tailgate of Dave's truck) with all this fabulous food! Now back to the studio.

Wow, am I a lucky girl! My "builder guy" that makes my panels for my new artworks just brought me a huge stash of panels yesterday. A variety of sizes to inspire me and keep me busy for weeks. I'm diving right in today with some mini's 1" x 3" as well as a couple medium sized ones. Also wanted to share with you one of my favorite books "New Mexico Artists at Work" it takes a look at some of the studios of fabulous artists like Susan Rothenberg, Agnes Martin, Gail Rieke and more - all in beautiful New Mexico! It's a wonderful read, over and over again!

Here's a pic of a new triptych with some gold dry pigment layered under more layers of oil paints. I love the subtleness of the layers as they show through.

I am reading another good art book "Trust the Process-an artists guide to letting go" by Shaun McNiff. A wonderful read about letting go and letting the artist spirit inside of you do it's own thing. I can relate to that. I was explaining to an artist friend my fear of "changing my style" - yet again - and what my collectors would think. She said you got to keep it interesting and truthfully, i feel like i have no control over my art, it just flows out of me so even if i wanted to keep doing my "busier, mixed media style", it wouldn't work as it is the "minimalist" path that my soul is on for now. And by the way-I'm loving it.
Here is a quote from the book "Artists strive to get to the heart of life, to the core of matter, and they are known as much for what they omit from their interpretaion of nature as for what they include. In the creative process, "seeing" is as important as "doing"." So . . . now I am going for a walk in the sunshine (first time I've seen the sun in weeks) to (quote) contemplate the spirits and energies conveyed by the structures of your environment. Peace.