UPDATE: New work!!

Hello folks :) 

I've just updated the CURRENT WORK section, adding photos of three new paintings, and one new print! (I also have it in motion to add a COMMISSIONED WORK section, but as of now have only really ever painted on commission once, haha, so there's not much to show there - will hold off until I can fill it out a bit more)

One of the 8+ scans I used to assemble the image of It's raining and the sun's out.

One of the 8+ scans I used to assemble the image of It's raining and the sun's out.

The print, It's raining and the sun's out is a four-colour, lithograph I made over the summer and printed a VERY LIMITED EDITION of 8 prints (there's also, I think, 4 Variable Prints where the registration is slightly different, and I'll be selling these at a discounted price for those of you who are interested!) 
The print was a challenge the whole way through, but I learned so much from it, and it felt so good to not only be in the shop again after two years, but to be working with a stone again <3! Oh my goodness, my whole heart!! Anyway, it's got me v excited for the future (I'm looking into different printmaking programmes and getting serious about pursuing my MFA). 
Not only was the print a challenge, but getting a proper image of it for the site was way more painstaking than I'd initially imagined. It being a bleed print, there wasn't room to tack or clip the paper without causing a distraction, and when I tried mounting it w tape and photographing it on the wall, the camera was causing a whole other slew of problems! I finally settled on scanning the print in pieces and reassembling them in Photoshop, digital collage style; the problem here being that the white of the paper would translate differently from scan to scan, and since the edges would blur a little, I was constantly cropping to get a seamless transition. In all, the final image of the print took about two hours to finalise from over eight scans assembled in 22 photoshop layers, merged into one, and edited so that it looks more or less seamless. 

IT WAS FUN! 
& I never want to have to do it again :) 

Anyway, check out the new work, and if you are in Manchester, swing by the New Hampshire Institute of Art's French Bldg. (148 Concord St.); I have a little triptych who's making its debut gallery appearance, and I'm v proud of it!  

_AKK

NOW: a juried selection of alumni work

This weekend marks the final days of On The Map at 3S Artspace. The show will close September 3rd, but as one show ends, another begins! Now: a juried alumni exhibition opens tomorrow, September 2nd, at NHIA's French Gallery. The show will feature works from a small handful of NHIA alumni and will hang until October 22nd. 

:) On The Map's opening reception & NHIA's upcoming alumni show :)

Jeff put this shot together 💖 

Jeff put this shot together 💖 

So this weekend marked the opening of On The Map at 3S Artspace. My parents came to visit that same weekend, so we did some damn good celebrating!  

The turn out for the opening reception was great, and it was nice to show with friends and fellow alumni Abba Cudney, Kate Knox, and James Chase. 

Happy that my mom insisted on taking this shot; she even instructed me to hold up the show program 👌🏼 well done, mum :)  

Happy that my mom insisted on taking this shot; she even instructed me to hold up the show program 👌🏼 well done, mum :)  

The show will remain on view till September 3rd, so there's plenty of time to check it out even if you missed all the fun at the opening reception. 

Opening on September 2nd at The New Hampshire Institute of Art is NOW: NHIA Almuni Exhibition, where Abba and I will both have work featured. 

Part of the triptych accepted into the alumni show at NHIA; love the shadow play that was happening on the painting's surface 👌🏼 

Part of the triptych accepted into the alumni show at NHIA; love the shadow play that was happening on the painting's surface 👌🏼 

Still no news regarding the forthcoming issue of Paint Pulse, but I'll keep y'all posted when I hear anything. In the meantime, I've almost finished a new litho edition, with only one last layer to go before the prints are complete! 💪🏻 

Here's a sneak peek of how the print looked after printing the second layer.  

Here's a sneak peek of how the print looked after printing the second layer.  

After being out of the printshop for two years or so since graduation, it sure feels good to be thinking and working with such processes again! Unfortunately, there most likely won't be room for me to work in the shop come Fall when the BFA classes start back up, but getting back into the swing of working in a shop and adding another edition to my portfolio has got me excited about the possibility of pursuing my MFA.  

Opening at 3S Artspace ✨ Paint Pulse Magazine

Hello again :) 

This is the piece that will be hanging at 3S // I Never Want To Be Mad At You, 2016, oil on canvas.&nbsp;

This is the piece that will be hanging at 3S // I Never Want To Be Mad At You, 2016, oil on canvas. 

So On The Map opens at 3S in two weeks! Super excited to have a piece in the show, and to be showing with some good friends and fellow NHIA alumni again. 

Speaking of NHIA alumni, there was a call for work from the Institute for a group alumni show. I sent along some recent work, so I'll keep y'all updated about that as well! 

In other news, I've been selected as one of ten artists to be featured in the upcoming issue of Paint Pulse Magazine, a biannual, juried publication, based out of Brooklyn, NY. Copies will be available on the Paint Pulse website for $20. I'll share the link when publication is complete and my contributor copy comes in the mail 💖💌🔥 .

Until then, I hope to see so many beautiful faces at the opening FRIDAY, AUGUST 5th!!  🆒

My parents might come to this one, so we'll be partying our way around Portsmouth before the show, fo sho!   😘✌🏼️✨🍻 See you there! 

UPDATE: Publications, Exhibitions, &c.

Ello friends :)

It's been a little while since I've done a blog post, so I figured I was due for one!

I've been busy in the studio, toying with new geometries in my work, and exploring new themes & ideas. I've also been working on a small portrait as a surprise gift to a friend & colleague that I will post here after I present them with it! I've also made some small strides in getting my basement darkroom ready to use (haha, yes, it's still not done!).

The issue of Studio Visit Magazine that I was selected to be in is looking like it will be published sometime this Spring or Summer, and I've also just had a piece accepted into Ayris: Creative Arts Journal (published by the New Hampshire Institute of Art). I had a selection of poems considered as finalists for publication in Epiphany Magazine, but I haven't heard from them in a few weeks, so I'm guessing they've gone another route. 

I've also had work accepted into two different juried, regional exhibits. I'll have two pieces at the Library Arts Center in Newport, NH, and another piece at the Newburyport Art Association in Newburyport, MA. More information about these shows and their openings can be found on the EVENTS page of my website. 

In addition to the two pieces chosen to hang in the 2016 Juried Regional Show at the Library Arts Center, I was also one of eight artists chosen to have a larger body of work hang in their Selections 2017 exhibition next February, but more info on that in the months to come!

In the meantime, here's a shitty cellphone pic of what I'm working on right now!!

image.jpg

 

Now I have to run off to Home Depot and buy some wood to build a frame bc my panel construction for one of my accepted pieces is SUPER SHODDY. Wish me luck; I'm a really rotten carpenter *w* 


_AKK

Works in progress.

Hello friends!  

Here's a little sneak peak at what I've been up to lately. 

A view of works drying on the wall in my studio.  

A view of works drying on the wall in my studio.  

On the top right is my newest piece I Never Want to Be Mad at You . It's painted on canvas stretched with some antique stretcher bars I picked at goodwill. Beneath that are two not yet titled works in progress. 

The large piece in the middle is something I've been working on for a few weeks, but it's too wet to continue working on yet (clove oil is a blessing and a curse).  

A week or two back, Jeff bought me flowers, so I decided to do a quick oil sketch of them on the first canvas I found, so they're painted over this stairwell I was probably never going to finish anyway. 

on the upper right is a cigar box lid I've been working for a while. It's a combination of landscapes - one with bright daylight, the other a nocturne. They coexist in an abstract space and are representative of my experiences living in the landscape of the Jersey Shore and living the contrast of living here in Manchester. Here's an updated view of that piece, which is still in progress:

The piece, not yet titled, but mentioned immediately above.  

The piece, not yet titled, but mentioned immediately above.  

Beneath that is the start of a self-portrait, which I think I just ruined with the first coat of paint... so no preview of that.   

Finally we have that paper hanging from the line. This is an old drawing I pulled out from my in-progress portfolio. I hit it up with some fresh layers the other day, but the paper quality is poor, so who knows if it'll withstand the abuse I'll give it. 

My palette rn  

My palette rn  

_AKK

Studio Visit Magazine

Hello Friends!  

Screenshot of my acceptance into Studio Visit's forthcoming issue. Read up a bit abt this juror and apparently he was fired from his job for a "blood sugar episode" where he yelled at his staff and threw his cellphone which then hit an employee 😳😬…

Screenshot of my acceptance into Studio Visit's forthcoming issue. Read up a bit abt this juror and apparently he was fired from his job for a "blood sugar episode" where he yelled at his staff and threw his cellphone which then hit an employee 😳😬😬😬

Recently I've been informed of my acceptance into the forthcoming Spring issue of Studio Visit Magazine. Studio Visit is published by Open Studios Press, and is the sister publication to New American Paintings. 

The magazine will be distributed across the country to thousands of galleries, collectors, and museums, and will feature work from roughly 350 different artists, so I'm stoked to be one of the artists involved.  

image.jpg

I'll post more as information becomes available, but in to meantime, check out past issues of Studio Visit at their website.  

THE MAKING OF: Keep These in Mind (a triptych)

Back in November I made a post about how I frequently thrift my supplies – buying up cheap paintings that've been cast aside at Saver's, or Goodwill, and re-stretching them with new canvas or simply painting over the old ones. 

This is exactly what I've done with a few of my most recent pieces including Keep These in Mind (a triptych), Shadow Puppets in the Playroom, and some other works still in progress.  

TOP: the three canvases used in Keep These in Mind (a triptych)&nbsp;as they looked when I bought them from Saver's for ninety-nine cents each.&nbsp;BOTTOM: waiting for the primer to dry - the first step in creating the finished work.&nbsp;

TOP: the three canvases used in Keep These in Mind (a triptych) as they looked when I bought them from Saver's for ninety-nine cents each. 

BOTTOM: waiting for the primer to dry - the first step in creating the finished work. 

Eventually, after a few months of work, those salvaged canvases grew more and more developed until they grew into the painting below.  

The finished piece Keep These in Mind (a triptych), 2016.  

The piece Keep These in Mind (a triptych), deals with more of the same elements I've been exploring in recent work, in particular, reflecting on my childhood growing up on the beach, but also dealing with more specific moments of nostalgia. There is also a new element that I haven't yet explored in depth, and that is the question of my own spirituality. I wanted there to be moments of light and lifting, but also something tumultuous beneath the surface.

As always, there are notes and text embedded within the paint layers, and if you can read them, they give the greatest insight into what I was thinking during the moments the paintings were executed. In the first canvas, most legibly, dead-center, it reads "that this is your home." I've been very keen on fractions of sentences lately; there's an honest beauty in a fragment that I really connect with and love to utilize in my paintings and poetry. It sets the tone for the viewer early on, and informs them of a context with which to view the rest of the piece. The middle piece read something about how you are a precise number of breaths or heartbeats, and acts almost as a memento mori, working with the third and final piece which along one of the edges reads "some higher being," or something like that.

Below, you can find some shots as the work progressed.  

The first pass of drawing and gesso. I tend to work with pastels and primers in my first layers, and build up what the painting will look like long before any oil hits the canvas.&nbsp;

The first pass of drawing and gesso. I tend to work with pastels and primers in my first layers, and build up what the painting will look like long before any oil hits the canvas. 

Critiquing with my studio buddy, Miles, after the first few passes of oil paint.  

Critiquing with my studio buddy, Miles, after the first few passes of oil paint.  

Here the work hangs in progress from tacks pushed into a panel; I would later remove them to start a self portrait on that board.  

Here the work hangs in progress from tacks pushed into a panel; I would later remove them to start a self portrait on that board.  

Many mornings look like this: a black coffee and a full palette. By now, the piece is nearly finished. This photo was taken during the last session I spent working with these little guys.&nbsp;

Many mornings look like this: a black coffee and a full palette. By now, the piece is nearly finished. This photo was taken during the last session I spent working with these little guys. 

Most of these photos were originally posted to my Instagram page, so if you'd like to follow my day-to-day in life and in the studio, you can find me @akell24 - just sort through the copious pictures of my cats ;) 

 

I've learned a great deal through creating this triptych. I think it's the first triptych I've worked on since art school (and certainly the first successful one ever), and I really enjoyed using multiple canvases to make an image. It also was helpful and exciting to be working on these little guys at the same time as a much larger piece called Take the Sky With You, which I painted as a surprise for my mother (here's hoping she doesn't read my blog!). That piece is 40" x 60" and I've struggled to complete it since 2014. I'm happy to say that these smaller scale paintings informed how I wanted to approach putting the paint on that much larger canvas, and that the piece is finally finished. I'm hoping it'll be dry enough to transport by the next time I go home, but I mix clove oil in with my paints when they're on the palette, so who knows! 

 

_AKK