Illuminated Manuscript

Tada! I finally got around to coloring one of my own coloring book pages, ha! I made this page just about 2 years ago when I was going through an extremely stressful time in my life and I was in a constant anxiety spiral. Through happenstance, two of my friends Carolyn Murray Spencer and Chrissy Giandonato both suggested that I read Untamed by Glennan Doyle, so naturally I did!

One of the parts of the book that resonated the most with me was when she talked about her own anxiety and creating a list of "reset buttons" to help her return to herself.

"I keep a handwritten poster in my office titled “Easy Buttons and Reset Buttons.” On the left are all the things I do to abandon myself. On the right are my reset buttons, the things I can do to make staying with myself a little more possible.” - Glennan Doyle

I didn't make the easy buttons, but I decided to make my own list of Reset Buttons. I was teaching a unit on typography at the time and somehow then made a mental leap to illuminated manuscripts for my inspiration. Side note: this drawing also then became the basis for an illuminated manuscript project that I taught in my Art History class last year during the Medieval Art unit! I believe one of them actually won a Scholastics Art Award this year! My kids are legit THE BEST!

I will probably color in a few more versions of this as I would like to explore a few other color palettes - but that's the beauty of coloring book pages! I can color in as many as I want!

If you would like to buy your own .pdf version of the page, you can download it from Etsy for $5 here. 

Scholastics Art Awards

I am so proud of my students at Cab Calloway School of the Arts, they have accomplished so much this year! By the end of the year, our students will have participated in 6 art exhibitions, the Scholastics Art competitions, and countless community initiatives!

It can be hard to quantify the success of a school's program, and Scholastics is but a small fraction of the successes of our kids, but I am thrilled to share with you some highlights from the competition this year! You can also see the actual artwork here!

Cab Calloway School of the Arts: 2023 Scholastics Art Awards

• 132 Individual Art Awards

• 2 National Silver Keys

• 27 Gold Keys

• 39 Silver Keys

• 66 Honorable Mentions

• 66 Students were recognized (30 middle school, 36 high school)

• 2 American Vision Nominees (best in state)

• 24% of the overall awards in the state were presented to Cab Calloway students

But it's honestly so much more than the awards that matter. One of the things I love the most about my students is how hard they work, and how much passion they put into their art. I have students who come in before school to knock out a few prints from their linocuts, a bevy of freshman who come in during homeroom every day to do extra work on their ceramics projects, seniors who come in during every study hall in order to work on their own personal projects.

Working with these kids every day is just absolutely inspiring. Some of the kids love digital art and aspire to become illustrators. Others are making contemporary art about the personal issues that impact them, such as gender and identity. Many are embracing technical challenges and can create hyper-realistic portraits. I love that the full range of interests and skills is both present, and embraced.

If I could give myself one task an art teacher, it would be to encourage students to find their own voice and vision, and to share that with the world without fear of failure! Because of course every artist will fail, but I like to think that if all we do is succeed, than are we really challenging ourselves and pushing ourselves to the limit of our creativity?

All that to say that I'm so proud of my kids who won awards, AND for every student who wins an award (in a system that is very biased towards realism), there are at least 2 other students who are taking creative risks and potentially even failing whose efforts I am equally as proud of! To all of my students who inspire me EVERY day with your enthusiasm and creativity, THANK YOU for being you and I am so proud of you all!!!!!!

In the News - Delaware LIVE

The day started out just like any other day - well, minus the fact that it's grading day, and every school teacher knows what that feels like! I was dreading checking my email (as one does on grading day), when much to my surprise I was faced with a delightful message from Jarek Rutz, an education reporter for Delaware LIVE News. What a welcome way to start the day, indeed!

As it turns out, this was the second interview I did today - I'm getting good at this, folks! The first interview was for the Delaware State of the Arts podcast (hopefully coming out this Saturday or Sunday) via Zoom, and then I had a phone interview with Jarek. You would think that as a teacher, you are used to talking all day and you wouldn't be so nervous for interviews.... and you would be wrong! It was oddly nerve-racking, though to be sure, there is no subject I am more familiar with than my own artwork. After both interviews, I was certainly shaking with a combination of nerves and intense enthusiasm.

I didn't expect the article to go online so quickly, but here it is. I was at Brew Ha-Ha, waiting to meet up with Shawn Faust and Jeremy Hebbel, two amazing Delaware artists with whom I am collaborating on an upcoming project called Into Light. More on this in another post! While I was waiting, I innocently opened my email to see the article was already live! I'm fairly certain the baristas at the counter just thought I was really feeling the groove of the 90's music in the background (which, to be fair, I was) but in actuality, I was quite literally, jumping up and down with excitement. 

Every artist is excited to of course have their minute in the spotlight. However, as a chronic migraine sufferer, one of the things I find the most heartening is that the more air space my exhibition gets, the more people will be talking about what it really is like to suffer from migraines, a neurological disease. Since the inception of this project, so many people have reached out to me to share their experiences, and I think that it is just so helpful to know we are not out there, suffering alone. 

Luckily for me, I have had an amazing support group here in Delaware. I attribute it to them (and also to Emgality, and no I'm not getting kickbacks ha!) that I have made such strides in recovering my health.

All that said and done, please check out this great article! Let me know what you think and feel free to share YOUR migraine story!

Delaware LIVE News: Cab Calloway Art Teacher's Exhibit 'Makes the Invisible, Visible'

Press Release and Video

Read the full press release for my exhibition below after watching my Artist Video

The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery presents 2022 DDOA Individual Artist Fellow Maia Palmer’s exhibition, "Making the Invisible, Visible", running November 4-25, 2022. Guests are invited to attend a Meet-the-Artist Reception on Friday, November 4, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. (There will be student performance at 5pm from the strings majors at Cab Calloway School of the Arts, with special thanks to educator Julie Murphy)

Committed to “being a positive force for social change,” Palmer is the high school visual arts teacher at Cab Calloway School of the Arts. She feels strongly about teaching there, saying “I am a product of public school and I want to be part of rebuilding its strength.” One of the most exciting aspects of receiving the Fellowship is “the recognition of my work” and the ability to further its scope and her goal to “help amplify the voices of those who are not always heard.”

"Making the Invisible, Visible" features a series of migraine self-portraits documenting Palmer’s experiences as a migraineur over the past 15 years. To be clear, migraine is a neurological disease, one that is debilitating and painfully real. Yet it is frequently referred to as an “invisible illness,” as there are often no visible symptoms. Women in particular are subject to dismissive treatment because of this, as Palmer has experienced first hand.

With these works, Palmer examines her relationship with migraine. She merges autobiographical experiences with imagery and text laden with both historical and personal value. Each of these images captures a real, private moment that she has in fact experienced - from hiding under blankets to wearing hand-made ‘migraine boxes’. She says, “Creating these drawings is a visceral process of acknowledging the larger than life physical and emotional pain that migraine has caused in my life - as well as the emotional and physical growth it has helped me accomplish. I am ultimately a stronger person as I emerge on the other side of chronic migraine, cherishing every moment and delighting in our capacity as humans to overcome and endure.”

Navigating her own experiences, Palmer has embodied the physical and mental trauma of this illness by manipulating surfaces and materials to simulate the experience of a migraine - the tearing of paper, or the piercing of a surface with needle and thread. By making visible the invisible trauma of migraine, she aims to bring awareness to this consistently under-funded, chronically misunderstood disease.

The Mezzanine Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located on the second floor of the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington.

Announcing My Upcoming Solo Show: Making the Invisible, Visible

Save the date!!! My solo show is coming up soon, Friday, Nov 4, 5-7pm, Mezzanine Gallery! I would love to see your faces there!

As many of you know, over the past 14 years, I have endured discrimination, harassment, broken relationships, strained friendships, and unemployment due to migraine. I am so thankful to have emerged on the other side as healthy and functional, but it has taken a really long time to get here, and loads of support from my family and friends.

I began this series after suffering some setbacks with my migraines. I had been doing well, but then Covid, teaching online, producing videos on a regular basis, and dealing with discrimination and an extremely stressful situation at my job was ultimately too much and my migraines got significantly worse again.

I had forgotten how debilitating they could be. And it's not just about the physical pain, but also the frustration at feeling shut in, trapped, and unable to live life as you want when you are stuck at home, under the covers, hidden in the dark. Happily, my migraines have become more manageable although they still continue to flare up. I sincerely believe that this project has helped me cope in many ways, and I hope that if you are a migraine sufferer, that seeing this works helps provide a feeling of solidarity and understanding to our so often misunderstood condition!!

Move Over Dick and Jane

More exciting news on the art front! This is QUITE the year!

My artwork, "Move Over Dick and Jane," has been accepted into the exhibition: “Let Me Tell You: Work by Women Artists, Taking Up Space” at Chris White Gallery. Opening Reception is Friday, May 6, from 5-8pm. https://www.chriswhitegallery.com/exhibitions I hope you can join us for this celebration of stories told by women! (fyi, I will be there for the later part, as we ALSO have a National Art Honor Society exhibition by Cab Calloway School of the Arts visual arts students at the Talleyville Frame Shoppe & Gallery. More info forthcoming!!

About my dear friend:

This collaborative painting is of my good friend Susan M. I met Susan through a high school friend who set us up on a friend 'blind date.' We immediately hit it off and bonded over our shared desire to learn how to salsa dance and brush up on our Spanish together! Ever since I met her, I knew that Susan was a serious powerhouse. She is this insanely smart, competent powerful woman who excels at so many of the things that to me are super intimidating, and truth be told, are often considered typically male dominated territory.

The woman wields power tools like no one else I know (and thankfully has helped me with many home projects!) and isn't afraid to knock down walls, rebuild them, and put them back up all by herself. She is an engineer and freaking mathematical genius! When I met her she was a bridge engineer (how many people do you know that you can drive down the road with and have them casually point out - oh, hey, I designed that bridge over there... WHAT?!?!?! SO COOL!!!!!) and has since moved up in the world to oversee massive construction efforts in our state on major highways!! (now you know who to blame for all those construction traffic delays, ha!) I love to think of her waltzing (or perhaps more accurately...salsa-ing) her way out of her bad-ass construction truck, with her officious deldot hat on, clipboard in hand, dolling out commands to all of the construction workers! Whether or not she does, I also like to imagine her sass-ily sassing people!

I also remember one night, I came over and she cooked me up some delicious enchiladas (an amazing cook on top of all this), and we talked about her job and all of the challenges she had to over come. Because let's be real she IS in a man's world! While the tide is changing, she was still one of the very few engineering majors in her class, and even of of the fewer bridge engineers in her job, and even FEWER female AND latina engineers on the job.

I honestly don't even have the words to convey how much I respect and love Susan. Not only is she a bad-ass in her job, but she (for awhile, before she had her baby - a beautiful baby girl!) tutored kids in math and SAT prep. And salsa danced?!?! And is an amazing friend???? Like.... yeah. Such an amazing person on literally every level. She has been there for me so many times on so many levels. I am so grateful to Susan for everything that she is, and everything that she brings to the world.

I can think of NO better role model for the next generation of kids out there - what an amazing example of what you can achieve and who you can be, despite all of the odds against you.

I love ya Susan, and thank you for being you!!!!

About the painting:

This work actually originated as a coloring book drawing, for my collaborative coloring book, A Portrait of Delaware. https://www.maiapalmer.com/coloringbooks I then started working on a series of collaborative paintings/artworks of people that I know who are creating the change that they want to see in the world, and I could think of no better example than Susan. She isn't consciously setting the world on fire, she is simply following her passions, but by doing so is creating a role model for other women to follow in her footsteps. I love the idea of riffing off of the Dick and Jane readers that so many of us learned from when we were small children. These educational readers were great - if you were white and heteronormative. They set the standard not only for how to read but for societal expectations. Even today, there are still relatively few children's books that focus on the experiences of the "other." I like the idea of usurping this format for modern day experiences that can touch and resonate with a larger group of people, and help set a new norm through a collaborate approach with people from more diverse walks of life. Keep your eyes open for more of these works to come

Exhibition Info:

https://www.chriswhitegallery.com/exhibitions

The exhibition, curated by Jen Hintz Eggers and Rebecca Howell, features emerging female-identifying and non-binary artists participating in group storytelling. Space will be held for the voices and stories of those often relegated to secondary roles in patriarchal society and traditional gallery structures. The story an artist wishes to share and the manner in which they tell it is their choice. These stories will be shown, heard, honored, and revered in this space.

Anxiety vs. Figure Drawing: Who Will Win?

Anyone who is close to me knows that I deal with some pretty high anxiety, even though the face most familiar to people is that of the enthusiastic, perennially happy and upbeat version of myself. Unfortunately, living with anxiety is not unique to me. So many people in my life, both adult and student, suffer similarly. And it often has no rhythm or reason as to when it might strike, even in the most unlikely of situations - such as an artist/art teaching going to a figure drawing session...

Consider that I have been teaching art, on and off, since 1999, have six years of high level art education under my belt, and I recently won a major award.... And yet...and yet.... something as simple as going to a figure drawing class has the ability to get under my skin, when drawing is for me, like breathing! I love it, always, unconditionally. And yet...

          1-5 minute poses

Anxiety, for me, is typically triggered by anything that feels "new" or "unfamiliar", whether this pertains to people, places, or activities. And thus is struck today (and really, it started last night, because, you know, worrying is best done well in advance, ha!) I haven't attended a formal figure drawing session in possibly close to three years, so it falls easily into the category of "unfamiliar" at the moment. What if I got lost on the way and arrived late? What if I was terrible and people noticed? Who would be there? What if there weren't enough seats? How would I arrange my art materials? All of these questions and more ran through my head. 

And yet....

           10-20 minute poses

I did go, and I'm so glad! This may seem like a small victory, but every time we go up against those fears, as small and irrational as they may be, pat yourself on the back and be proud of the small wins! In the end it was a great two hours, I feel super pumped (and apparently in the sharing kind of mood) and plan to attend every month. FYI - it was at the Delaware Contemporary, every third Saturday from 10am-12. It's run by Jenna Lucente, an amazing local artist (check out her work at www.jennalucente.com,) and the museum is well worth a visit. I may not have produced my best figure drawings ever, but everyone was so welcoming and it felt so good to stretch my life drawing muscles again!

For those of you who would like to go to a figure drawing session, but are feeling a little intimidated, let me know and I will be your hype woman! You typically start with several one minute poses to get warmed up, then a few five minute, some tens, and then you end with some 20 minute poses. It is a great way to get those drawing hours in and really up your game!

What are some of the anxieties that you face that you have overcome lately? The more we share our experiences, the stronger we will become! 

Individual Artist Fellowship 2022: Works on Paper

Dear friends, I'm so so happy to announce that I have been awarded a 2022 Individual Artist Fellowship by the Delaware Division of the Arts in the category of Works on Paper for my "Making the Invisible, Visible" migraine series of self-portraits.

Words can not even begin to express my enthusiasm - mostly because anyone who knows me, knows my enthusiasm is most aptly expressed by exuberantly jumping up and down with an excessive waving of the arms... Oh wait, here's a video of me doing just that...

 

So, it's fair to say I am BEYOND thrilled! I have seen so many talented Delaware artists like Shannon Woodloe, Eric Zippe, and Lauren E. Peters awarded this fellowship in past years and I am so excited to join their ranks! It is rather funny timing, as I was just discussing this body of work in my last blog post, and how it has taken me many years to follow the advice from my professors at the Carnegie Mellon School of Art about creating a cohesive body of work. And well, my friends, here is the proof, because it was with that very same body of work that I created over the summer that I was awarded the fellowship!

A little bit about the fellowship and what it means for me and why I am so excited. The fellowship "recognize[s] artists for their outstanding quality of work and provide[s] monetary awards. Individual Artist Fellows are publicly acknowledged and benefit from the additional exposure to their work." In addition to the monetary award, fellows are given the opportunity for a solo exhibition as well as participation in the group exhibition, Award Winners XXII, at the Biggs Museum of American Art tentatively set for June 3 through July 23, 2022 with an award ceremony and reception to be announced. 

As a longer lasting bonus, awards such as these add to an artist's general reputation and can be helpful in winning future awards, residences, other exhibition opportunities, etc. In other words, it looks kick-ass on your resume! 

You can learn more about the Individual Artists Fellowships awarded this year here: https://arts.delaware.gov/iafrecipients/ and stay tuned for more information about upcoming exhibitions and events!

If you haven't already seen some of my work in this series, you can read my artist's statement here: https://www.maiapalmer.com/selfportraits. When you have gone through six years of intensive art school training, you get used to writing about your own work pretty quickly. But I've never really read someone else's interpretation of my work before! Getting the news that I had won the fellowship made me so incredibly happy, but reading the juror's comments and knowing that a complete stranger resonated so with my work made me want to cry! Particularly given that this work has been so personal and meaningful to me, even just knowing that it could reach someone else who has suffered in a similar way makes me feel that I have succeeded. And so, I leave you now (to go jump up and down some more, obviously) with the words of the juror...

"The works shown are impressive. For anyone unfamiliar with this "invisible illness" the drawings on glassine paper, china marker and thread are beautifully rendered and convey the intense frustrating pain that accompanies this illness. The works rendered in pastel and paper are haunting, and show the despair, nausea and depression that this disease can bring. They show the intense claustrophobic isolation that one endures. In these works the artist has indeed may the invisible visible. As a one time suffer, I appreciate the artist acknowledgement of the creative power and strength that can be obtained by overcoming this debilitating disease." 

Okay, one LAST last word: Thank you to all my amazing friends and family who have supported me to help me get to this place in my career - I sincerely couldn't have done it without you in so so many ways!!!!!! Seriously, Delaware is my home because I live here, was born here, and work here... but most importantly it's home because the people that I love and that love and support me are right here with me! Sending you guys All. The. Love!

Coming Full Circle

Updating my website has been an ongoing endeavor, but as I worked on it these past few weeks, I was reminded of some most excellent advice that I got as an undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon School of Art. At both my sophomore and senior year portfolio review, the repeated, resounding advice that I consistently got was, FOCUS, MAIA, FOCUS!!! Sometimes I wanted to paint, sometimes draw, sometimes work in the foundry… Their advice definitely checks out, because as I have found in the real world, most applications, fellowships, grants, etc. are looking for works that speaks as a whole, not a little bit of this, a little bit of that. So clearly, armed with all of this real world knowledge on top of 6 years of art school, I took their sage advice, and…

…Completely ignored it! My work continues to be all over the board, ha! Some days I feel like cats and comics, some days I like to revel in the beauty of a landscape, or maybe some creepy skulls, but no, what about portraits? Let’s paint them, no, let’s draw them, wait, what about a coloring book? So yeah, I continue to explore my vast and varied interests which leads to a bit of a random website, but on the upshot, it definitely helps me as an art teacher!

I’m still not quite sure how I landed my dream job at the premiere art school in Delaware, but I’m pretty sure that my knowledge of everything from printmaking, digital art and photography, murals, ceramics, painting, and drawing may have played a part in it. (Also for which I have CMU to thank for giving me such a well-rounded foundation!) One of the biggest challenges I have found teaching at the AP level is that students are doing ALL sorts of different artwork, and having a diverse skillset to be able to help them is definitely key, although let’s be very clear, I am STILL very much learning! I am lucky to have had such amazing coworkers over the past few years, like Cheryl Lynn, Kate Huffman and @dweldzius , and now Lindsey Ostafy– I have learned SO much from all of them!

Aaaaaaand, circling back to my professors at undergrad, Mary Weidnerand Susanne Slavick, they will be happy to know that I did SOMEWHAT take their message to heart... It took about 20 years, but I think that this past summer I finally figured it out, and have created a body of work that I’m truly proud of. It is cohesive, meaningful on a personal level, and it is a style/technique that I find myself falling into and in love with and see so much potential for coming projects. It’s actually interesting that I have come full circle in more than one way. It was in undergrad that I embraced large scale charcoal drawings, and I loved it so much! But somehow, somewhere along the way, drawing fell by the wayside for me. I think I fell into the trap of trying to make the artwork that I thought would be “marketable” or saleable versus the artwork that I truly felt compelled to make. Another great thing about teaching, is that hey! I don’t have to sell my work for money – that’s what the teaching is for, ha! But realizing this means that I feel more freedom to pursue my own interests, and I’m not beholden to any market.

So thank you to my profs so much for helping me all those years ago – I’m still learning from you both, and I’m super excited to see where this body of work will take me! Ya’lls can check out this body of work under the “Portraits” tab (okay, and then the “Self-portraits” tab… yes… still too many tabs and sub menus, but hey, work in progress, right?). Check it out and let me know what you think of my website!

Once an art teacher, always an art teacher!

Now that I have been teaching art for some time now, I have a hard time turning my teacher brain off! As I was working on this drawing, I kept thinking about all of the things that I would tell my students to notice if they watched this video, or what I would tell the if they were creating a similar drawing (newsflash, they will be, quite soon!)

It was also heartening to realize that I do, in fact, do the things that I am always telling my kids to do! I think they think I'm nuts, with some of the advice that I give (particularly the not using black for shadows part), but I truly do believe what I tell them, and am about to tell you :)

Some of the advice that I would give, that I think I did pretty well in this piece are as follows:

1. Don't be scared to start over! Students HAAAAATE to start over, and I get it, it's scary and hard and it sucks to have spent time on something just to realize that you may need to do it again. This is actually my 3rd version of this drawing. I did one in my sketchbook, liked it so drew it larger (you can see the remnants of it in the top right hand corner at the start of the video), but I didn't like it so I erased/smeared over it, and then did version 3 straight up on top of it. And am happier with this version than either of the 2 prior.

2. Plans are helpful, but sometimes you have no idea WTF you are doing till you do it! I hadn't intended for this work to be in color, it was black and white, with maybe some purple for my hair as I envisioned it in my head. But I was so confused by my earlier drawing, I had to add color to help me sort out new/old drawing, and then I just ran with it. Sometimes, you just gotta go where you drawing takes you!

3. Don't use just "skin" colors for skin tone!!!! I mean, you CAN, and some artists do that very convincingly. But after my initial pass of a skin tone, I ran with the reds, purples, blues and even some greens. I love it when you layer colors and the hints of one color peeps through to the next layer.

4. Avoid black holes!!!!! omg. If I have to take away one more black colored pencil LOL. To be fair, I did go in with some black conte crayon at the end, but only after I had exhausted my full repertoire of conte crayon colors. And I love working with black and white! But why make a shadow with just black when you can get such a richer more lively dark shade by layering colors?? My kids laugh at me b/c they know my answer to almost every color question is JUST USE PURPLE (so they won't be surprised when I show up to school with purple hair at least haha!)

5. Mark making is beautiful! STOP THE SMUDGING! I totally get it's not everyone's jam. But sooooo many of my kids default to using a smudge stick (or heaven forbid, THEIR FINGERS!....actually.... I smear my big charcoals drawings with my hands all the time for the same reason I tell them not too, shhhh!!!) In my opinion, this can be a bit of a cop out. If this is the ONLY way that students know how to create a gradient, then they won't have as many skills in their skill set as the student who can both use a smudge stick AND one who can use just the pressure of the pencil to create variances in value. I always feel like why learn only one method that only will get you one sort of result, when you could learn MANY methods and then choose the one that makes more sense for your desired goal????

6. LOOK AT YOUR SOURCE IMAGE! Students will spend more time looking at their drawing then at their reference and then wonder why it doesn't look right, ha! But no, my kids are doing well this year, and they suffered through a lot of blind contour drawings, and they are pretty good at actually looking at the thing they are drawing/painting. But watching this video made me laugh with my constant frantic head turning haha. It's because my computer is set up in the corner with my image. I usually have a print out but it was black and white so I preferred looking at my actual photo so I could see the colors better.

Can you see evidence of my tips in the video???

The Tortured Artist Paradigm

So, whoever invented the popular "tortured artist" paradigm (I'm pretty sure it was Plato with his "All of the good poets are not in their right mind when they make their beautiful songs") was, indeed, well, full of nonsense. 

Dear Francis Bacon, while I love your paintings, your indifference to happiness - "The feelings of desperation and unhappiness are more useful to an artist than the feeling of contentment, because desperation and unhappiness stretch your whole sensibility" - is also completely nonsensical.

Not to say that if suffering is your jam and its what gets your paintbrush moving that you should dump it for a smile and some sunshine! (Though I highly recommend it.)

I write this because I've been procrastinating for several weeks now working on this commission (see below) and I couldn't figure out why. But the answer is simple. I've been stressed and lonely, and I just really didn't want to make work. My heart wasn't in it.

And this made me think about the concept of the tortured artist which is so popular in today's culture - the mad artistic genius! Behold!

There are so many stereotypes that surround artists - we are solitary creatures; we are full of boundless creativity; anguish is a font of inspiration; we shall trudge on and work through the pain and suffering! Now more than ever I realize how I, and I'm sure many of my artistic cohorts, do NOT resonate with these concepts in the least.

I am gregarious by nature, an extrovert that thrives on physical activity and time spent with my friends. At first during quarantine, I was thrilled! Ecstatic! Time! At long last! But eventually, the loneliness, compiled by the stress of making new lesson plans and teaching art from a distance, the lack of tactile contact, have most certainly caught up.

Honestly, making art has been the LAST thing on my mind. And I say this to myself out loud in blog form in order to give myself permission to breathe, recenter, and take a break. Yes! I am an artist...and YES I am giving myself permission (and you too!) to binge on Netflix like every other person on the planet instead of feeling like you must wield your brush like a weapon and stave off the loneliness with dramatic bouts of creative genius!

What eventually pulled me out of my funk wasn't just "getting to it." It wasn't embracing my pain or my sadness...It was giving myself permission to not work, and to allow some joy to enter my day - specifically the joy of meeting with other artists for some "Virtual Shared Solo Practice." Knowing that I would be meeting with this group for a 2 hour session, I allowed myself to bing on some Netflix, take a nap, and snuggle with my cat for the entire day leading up to it. I finally caved and gave myself the go-ahead to do absolutely nothing of "value" or "worth." And it felt so good! I was then able - after a week of procrastination, wild stress and anxiety - to finally begin this commission that I had been putting off. It was that pass to play hooky, and the connection to others that helped catapult me into a positive mindset. 

So my final thoughts are this - even though we are artists, we are still human, and we do NOT all thrive on misery, anxiety and depression. And if that is where you are, that's okay. It's okay to not create. Sometimes we just need to allow a mental space for mindless activity until we can start breathing normally again. Your art will always be there waiting for you! 

The Memory Project: Creating Portraits of Kindness

I love that I love my job! This week has been especially meaningful; I love knowing that I’ve helped contribute to something greater than myself or even my students - Let me explain! (how many times can I say 'love' in one paragraph...Can you sense my enthusiasm?!)

Earlier in the semester, one of my design classes set a charity art project in motion. We were discussing the upcoming Fine Arts Festival (which, by the way, was a big hit!) and a student mentioned how at his sister’s school, they did a fundraiser at their art show to raise money for supplies, and inquired if we could do something similar.  I pointed out that as a private school, we already have a budget for supplies. I loved his response, “But, Ms. Palmer, couldn't we raise money for a charity instead? Like…an art charity?”

Yes, yes we can. I mean, how could you not love these kids?! After some research, I stumbled upon an organization called The Memory Project. You can watch this video to see the project in action!

In a nutshell, “The Memory Project invites art teachers and their students to create and donate portraits to youth around the world who have faced substantial challenges, such as neglect, abuse, loss of parents, violence, and extreme poverty.

These portraits help the children feel valued and important, to know that many people care about their well being, and to act as meaningful pieces of personal history in the future.  For the art students, this is an opportunity to creatively practice kindness and global awareness.”

27 of my students volunteered to participate in this project, and they spent several weeks working diligently to create vector portraits of 27 high school students in Bolivia. I've included just a few in this post.

   

Here are some of the challenges that these children in Bolivia face: “It is first important to know that Bolivia is the financially poorest country in South America. Such poverty leads to regrettable trends for many women and children, such as inadequate nutrition, limited healthcare, substance abuse, and domestic violence. Bolivia’s weak economy also creates a vacuum for narcotics, as many people can make far more money through the drug trade than they can through traditional employment.

These children all live in a particularly challenged area on the outskirts of a city, where many families live in one room homes with dirt floors and walls of sheet metal.”

   


It was inspiring to see how much my students cared about this project. Sometimes when students become frustrated, they fall into an attitude of “I just want to be done” or “this project is too difficult.” But these kids were amazingly dedicated. Despite the fact that this was the first time for all of them using Adobe Illustrator, or even digital art of any kind, they were motivated to keep at it until they had created portraits that the Bolivian students would love and cherish. They even wrote letters in Spanish (with the help of our Spanish teachers!) introducing themselves and explaining their artistic choices to make it even more personal. One student said, "The Memory Project helped me to fully appreciate just how powerful art can be. It's so crazy and inspiring to think that someone thousands of miles away has benefitted from my art project!"

     

 

This week, we received a video showing the delivery of the portraits. Overall, portraits were created for over 800 children in Bolivia, with the help of about 160 schools in the U.S., including Archmere Academy. In addition to the portraits, the participating schools as a group managed to raise over $4,000, which will help provide much needed services to these schools in Bolivia. I feel so proud that my students were part of this effort. 

I can’t imagine a better example of how we can use art to change lives and create powerful, social change. It’s a good day to be an art teacher!!

    

In a Framing Frenzy!

I haven’t written in about a year – and that’s because things have been busy! I am now officially a full-time art educator at Archmere Academy, and life couldn’t get any better!

In addition to working full-time, I have also been preparing for my first solo exhibition in the area, featuring a combination of my dictionary drawings (see below!), portraits, and landscapes. I am so grateful to my amazing co-worker, Terry Newitt, who suggested that I contact Darlington Arts Center. The center is wonderful, and currently has a beautiful high school art exhibit on display. Definitely worth a look!

It has certainly been a learning experience for me as I prepare for the opening on June 15. I realize it’s still quite a ways off, but I decided to do the bulk of the framing myself, which has been an uphill battle. I have almost finished framing 16 of my dictionary drawings! They were a particular challenge for several reasons. I didn’t want to use a standard matting option because I love the edges of the pages – I want everyone to be able to see them, as they add so much visual interest to the pieces. This means I needed to float them, but I didn’t want to damage the pages because of their fragility. With the help of Jerry’s Artarama and Wendy at The Talleyville FrameShoppe and Gallery, I finally came up with a solution.

I ended up using a self-adhesive hinging tissue on the back four corners, mounted to black mat board, and a cream frame around the drawing. I was concerned about my dubious ability to center the artwork correctly, so I added strips of foam core in between the two mats, and then added the artwork after the mat was assembled. Because the frames now have a shadowbox effect, the distance between the edges is constantly shifting anyway, so small discrepancies are less noticeable. That said, I'm sure I centered them all perfectly! It was arduous cutting the 32 mats, but I think the end result is worth it. Even worse than cutting the mat was the deceptively simple task of cleaning the glass. Every time I thought I was finished with a frame, I’d notice a new speck of dust, a smudge or a stray cat hair trying to sneak its way behind the glass. It seems I spent the bulk of my spring break windexing my way through the process!

Over the past few years, I have participated in several group exhibitions, and it definitely helped me come to understand the importance of framing. I won’t lie – I tend to skimp on the framing process and go for as cheap as possible. But it definitely costs the artwork in terms of overall power and presence. I’d previously been using a clip frame for my dictionary drawings, and while functional, they certainly didn’t add anything to the pieces. My new strategy is a decided improvement! The black provides a nice contrast and also ties in with the pen and ink work.

Now that they are just about complete, I can’t wait to see them all up and on display! Next up in the process, reframing my miniature landscapes…go go go!