Icons of the West

I am honored and excited to be juried into the national Icons of the West exhibition! Show opens this Friday and continues through June 30th. The Dana Gallery is in my old home town, Missoula, Montana. Missoula is a beautiful place along the northern rocky mountains and home to the University of Montana.

Since I am unable to attend the show, I sure hope the gallery posts the entries so I can check out all selected 160 iconic west paintings and sculpture.

Art on Trout Road 2014 in Montrose Colorado

Looking forward to Art on Trout Road 2014 and thrilled to be invited to show again with Bill Wilson (ceramics) at his home studio, along with artists Ron Hoeksema (abstract oils and serigraphs) and Paul Wiesner (pottery). Bill has been so gracious to host this event in his home for about 25 years now! I am excited to reveal my new art tiles. These are ceramic tiles from my original paintings perfect for gift giving or a bright spot in your office or wall.

Northern New Mexico Inspirations



 

"The mountains are calling me and I must go"  --John Muir

"Hillside Grazing"- a new oil on cradled panel ready to hang. I was happy to make the scenic drive to deliver this to the Hunter-Wolff Gallery in Old Colorado City in Colorado Springs, Colorado with a fun stopover in Salida for the Art Walk. I so enjoy drives and walks along the High Road to Taos in New Mexico. The photo that motivated me to paint this scene was snapped while taking a jaunt on the High Road Art Tour.

Absentee artist posting once again

I've been neglecting this lonely artist blog & instead have posted regularly to my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GinaGrundemannArtist. I don't know about you, but I find that trying to keep up with all the assorted web postings is rather exhausting & distracting from my painting. I will try to do better :). It is so valuable to not only create but to also share the why and how of being an artist.

The ever changing rural landscapes of western Colorado and Northern New Mexico is still such an inspiration to me. This original oil painting, "Home on the Range" captures a slice of our country life and the ranching way of using the land and its bounty, living a simple and wholesome life.

Inspired inaction

"You cannot plough a field by 

             turning it over in your mind."

 I am in a dilemma, stuck between two art disciplines and as a result, my art making is frozen in place. I have ideas swirling in my head that are struggling to come out. They are contrary to my usual mode of working, so they sit there, impatient to arrive but imprisoned by my lack of action. It is so easy to continue to stay stuck whenever you are trying to embrace a new way of working that chafes at your comfort zone and forces a new direction. I could sit here in inaction, fearful that my new direction will be a poor route and that I may get lost on the way. I could forget about the new and continue stolidly along the path of what I've always done. Or I could boldly hit the ground running, embrace the new in excitement that good things come by way of experimentation, inventiveness and the willingness to forge my way through unknown territories.  Ok, let's get moving already!

Having new eyes

The voyage of discovery

is not in seeking new landscapes

but in having new eyes.

– Marcel Proust

My recent works for the Colorado Pathways show are once again glimpses from my playground, the western Colorado landscape. This quote rings so true as I look with new eyes at the views around home and continue my explorations of the pathways through the rural landscape. What one day appears mundane with no interest, the next day reveals a stunning view with dramatic color and drama.

The Monitor Article

Kind of unnerving being photographed and interviewed for a cover page and article, I must say. I'm usually on the opposite side of exhibitionists, usually content to enjoy my quietude. In any case, I shared a bit of myself to Mavis Bennett, Editor of the Monitor Magazine for the Fall publication, which with her deft pen, was turned into an article and published this week. It's really quite a good thing to take a moment and express why we do the art we do and how our background influenced our genre of painting. Paintings don't always speak enough for us.  Click below if you would like to see the article in the Fall, 2011 issue on pages 12 and 13, or copy and paste the following into your browser:

http://www.themonitormagazine.com/issues.html

Reflections on the coming year

Every artist dips his brush

in his own soul,

and paints his own nature

into his pictures.

~Henry Ward Beecher

This is the time that so many of us pause for reflection on what went right or wrong in 2010 and set goals for 2011. As an artist, we are continually trying to understand and reflect in our art the world as we see it or the world that could be. It doesn't matter whether it is the dead of winter on December 31st before the new year or the middle of a hot July. At any time of the year I find myself trying to rationalize the making of my art and place it on a scale to measure the worthiness of this painting or that, the merits of making art that attempts to re-interpret a place of beauty, to bring serenity to the viewer. Making art solely because I want to express the beauty I find in nature is quite an idealistic aim but one that I gravitate and aspire to. I'm not trying to change the world, make a political statement or bring to light a social injustice.

So the simple truth is that my artistic goal for 2011 continues to be to create paintings that stir the soul to a place of rest and feeling of peace and tranquility for those who view my paintings. I'll strive to continue to develop my skills, trying to paint spontaneously with fresh, color loaded strokes. Oh, and of course, it would be great to find another gallery that would provide the perfect collaborative atmosphere for my work :) 

Guess I better get to work and quit talking.

Happy New Year to all!