Meeting Rita

This is the first week this year I have actually spent real painting time in studio. It feels good. Really good.

Today, however, I had unexpected business in Dunedin. Alas...a slow, sputtering start to my push to paint! Oh, but don't be a negative Nancy, I chide myself, this is a great opportunity to visit the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. And because it is not truly in the Deep South, I don't feel compelled to write up a review!! Yeah, a visit just for the fun of it!!! Even better, the Rita Angus exhibition from TePapa is featured. Yes!!!

I enter the first floor display via the elevators, right into the "middle" of the vast exhibition. (For my non-New Zealand readers the First Floor is actually the second level in the building. The Ground Floor is the ground floor or first floor in the US...just an aside)

The grandeur of what I saw was overwhelming, actually. I've seen printed photographs and web images, and have encountered only one Angus face to face at Anderson Park in Invercargill. But, now I see Rita's entire life on display. And magnificently so. On every wall, from where I stand, on into cavernous rooms and alcoves in all directions. Oh my. I didn't know it till now. I love Rita Angus. I am not ready for the next thought. Look at all this!!! What makes me think I can paint? Breathe. Come on. Breathe.

Honestly, my secret thoughts before todays meeting with Rita.... what is the big deal about Rita Angus? I know now. Now that I look her straight in the eye. Straight into the many, many, sets of eyes of Rita Angus and friends and family.

I am immediately struck by the clear artistic vision consistent throughout the body of work. Rita's paintings reveal a willingness, even a mandate, to experiment, yet each stays true to her own inner vision and beliefs. And look how willingly she has put her life on display. Beautifully. Masterfully.

I study each piece, walking down the foyer toward the entrance. There it is. The title. "Rita Angus---Life and Vision". Of course. Her work evokes in me the exact words of the exhibition name. Without seeing it beforehand. Wow.

Walking along, reading each bit of information offered about Rita, I am amazed. Envious even. No wonder she could paint all this (and more, I'm sure). No kids. Then I see them. The studies. The spectacular pencil and wash ones, created soon after the tragic, soul crushing miscarriage. Oh my. And they're nude. Of Rita. She deserves every accolade. I am not willing to expose myself so vulnerably.

Rita is a grand tutor today. I want to be a good student. What do I learn from her?

I must stay true to my vision and to myself. Try new things. Experiment. Always search. Make friends with artists. Family and friends are important. She loved her family deeply. Family and friends are featured heavily her work. Be excellent in my artwork. Rita deftly painted gorgeous yet traditionally confident still lifes, florals, and landscapes in addition to the better-known Rita-styled works. And, paint, paint, paint. Rita was obsessed with painting.

I'd better leave. My daughter is waiting patiently in the foyer. Good by Rita. I'll be back. Class dismissed.

Embracing Change for the Better!

That God would help me to accept the things I cannot change, and to help me change the things I need to change, and the wisdom to know the difference, has been a meaningful part of St. Francis of Assisi's well known prayer for me for a long time. It is one I've decided to take to heart come last November.

November in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in the home of a high school teacher(my husband teaches chemistry), initiates a tremendously hectic season. Extra duties given to me by my husband to help him meet his end of the school year obligations, trying to prepare for summer and the holidays, plus, this year, the much anticipated homecoming of an offspring from a distant university, and many normal daily activities have engendered an increased sense of frustration for me as an artist for a few years. It is simply too frenetic for me to leave my easels remaining erected My huge lounge(which also serves as my studio), with my treasured artworks-in-the-making perched on them. Creating art comes to a screeching halt.

This year, sensing that change is something that God wants me to embrace in my career, I've taken this period of time to really reassess exactly what I want to achieve in my life and with my career. To what purpose am striving when I awaken each morning?

Instead of greeting each morning grumpy because I'd really rather be painting instead of taxiing, cleaning, cooking, or performing any one of a myriad of other summertime duties required to keep a large family going successfully , I decided, with God's grace, to do what Jesus did for his disciples when he girded a servant's towel around his waste, kneeling to wash their feet. I needed to serve my family with joy and gladness. Not easy for a strong melancholic like me.

This period of simple servitude also gave me the mental space to really consider the more weightier issues of purpose mentioned above. Each evening, brimming with mental energy not used in the daily activity of simply getting things done for my family, I re-examined my career goals, set up renewed plans and significantly revised my artist statement. I've also learned more about the business of art. Additionally, I've expanded my social networking on the internet, and hopefully in flesh and blood reality...something I've needed to do for a while. Simply put, I haven't socialised enough, which is something I think most artists need in order for people to know what they're up to in the studio.

So, what's new on the net the you can check out?

Firstly, I've posted my new artist's statement on nearly all the websites in which I participate, including the following:

• My Portfolio on Gallery Direct

• My Page on The Big Idea, a NZ artist site

• BrushSpace, a site where artists display and discuss their work with other artists

• My Chrysalis Seed Arts Community page, A place to share everything about contemporary visual art and faith. New and highly recommend. You need to join in order to view my page.

Secondly, I've created a FaceBook group

• An American in Paradise: Beverly Claridge, Fine Artist. If you're a FaceBook member, please join me...it's an easy way to keep up with what paintings I've completed, and in general what I'm doing in my career

Third, I've created a new Blog,

• An American in Paradise: Observations and Information on Deep South Visual Arts , as a place to be informed about visual arts in the South of New Zealand.
  

The fourth and final kind of web presence that I worked on is marketing.

• I've established a Yessy On-line sales portfolio, originally created for my now abandoned plan to sell daily paintings. I'm mainly keeping it now for the exposure, preferring to handle my sales through Bob Martin at ArtSouth in Gore(or through other galleries with whom I hope to establish a business relationship this year).
  

• My RedBubble account is an easy and affordable way to purchase cards and paper prints of your favourite Beverly Claridge paintings and drawings.

I hope you'll check out all one or maybe even all these sites, and let me know what you think.

So, in the spirit of the St.Francis' prayer, I gladly accept that November through to the end of January, each year, for this time in my life, is a period of servitude to my family, and an opportunity to genuinely consider the direction of my art career and my life. I hope and pray, with God's guidance, to continue to embrace the changes I sense he calling me to in both my career and life. I invite you to stay tuned. Blessings.

P.S. I've decided, for now, not to get upset over the fact that I have not mastered Blogger formatting. So, from what I can see in the editing preview window, all text may not be the proper colour. I know you won't really mind now, will you. A bit of an adjustment for a recovering perfectionist living abundantly in grace.