Can also see my work in the bathrooms at Bean Cycle & Matterbookstore here in Fort Collins!

Washington Pavilion of Arts & Science ArtsNight

Attention Sioux Falls-ians: Visit the Washington Pavilion to see all of the work on display for their annual ArtsNight fundraiser, including a recent piece of mine "Here I Am and I Am the Ghost" - now through May 2. Feel free to cast a People's Choice vote in my favor!! See more recent work at  www.karlyreeward.com

Other places to view my work:
GoLite Direct, 230 S. College, Old Town Fort Collins - through March 31
Clothes Pony & Dandelion Toys, 111 N College, Old Town Fort Collins - indefinitely
Juiced on Imagination Studio, 115 N College, Suite 220, Old Town Fort Collins - indefinitely

Classes/Workshops and a Show!

Hey out there,

Classes and workshops up here - starting March 18!

New work hanging at Mama Said Sew in Old Town in the month of April! First Friday reception information forthcoming!

It's short and sweet today, internet.

Adios!

AIR, et cetera

Hello Dear Viewer,

A delayed synopsis on the haps, but that's the way it goes.

The AIR Summit was an interesting opportunity to meet and network with fellow artists and arts-people in the area. In my personal opinion, it appears that AIR is off to a solid, yet scattered, beginning. The cog-turners of the organization display much enthusiasm for their aims, and for that I applaud them. However, their aims need some honing in to become productive. Although they seem to be aware of that, and are just beginning to get community input and finesse their focus. The underlying disconcert I feel about everything doesn't have to do with AIR's goals, but rather the fact that I don't feel convinced that this community can support their goals. As a cohort at one of my discussion tables aptly put, an arts-centric community has to grow out of the people there, not because an organization comes in and says it's making an arts-centric community. Alas, we have yet to see, in the next year, where AIR could go. Best of luck to them.

Other news of note: My classes are in development for Juiced on Imagination Studio and I am very excited about them. Starting mid-March, I will be instructing in Media Foundations for Drawing, Painting, and Photography, as well as basic camera operation. Please check my website in the next couple of weeks for dates and descriptions!

Also, this weekend there is a fabulous event in Loveland that my friend Jess is part of...check it out here for more information!

And although it's outside of the NoCo realm, I would like to post a show I will regretfully not be able to attend:
New shoe 4 you - Recent works by T.J. Donovan
March 1st, 2012 - April 6th, 2012
Closing Reception: April 6th, 5-9pm

Dakota State University - First Bank and Trust Gallery
located on the 1st floor of the Karl Mundt Library
820 N Washington Ave
Madison, SD 57042

Gallery Hours:
Monday-Thursday 8am – 12am
Friday 8am - 9pm

Catalogs and postcards available at gallery

All works will be for sale. Please contact 617.910.6632 for catalog and sales info.
All sales contingent upon the buyer's ability to provide a suitable home for the work.

And one more...if you haven't seen this yet... ArtThoughtz will blow your mind. See also: Art in America interview

Alright, I think that's all for now. Keep making it beautiful out there! 

AIR Curriculum Summit

Arts Incubator of the Rockies (AIR) is hosting a Curriculum Summit at the Lincoln Center on Thursday, January 26 from 4 to 6 p.m. The summit will include:  (from Beet Street's description)

• AIR incubator update
• Introduction of curriculum and tech committee members
• Introduction of curriculum consultant team  
• Community brainstorm
• Prioritization exercises
• Small group facilitated discussion

 While the RSVP deadline has passed, you can watch the summit streamed at beetstreet.org

According to Beet Street, "AIR is a regional arts incubator that will serve the Intermountain West region and is designed to help visual artists, writers, musicians, performers, designers, arts administrators, and other creatives learn about the business of their art, connect with other artists and communities, and gain the support and resources to succeed.

Once developed, the AIR curriculum classes will allow  the creative community to take a series of comprehensive classes or a single class on atopic of interest. Tracks will be offered for individual artists, and arts administrators, and other creatives. too.  Industry specific seminars will help participants make sense of their ever-changing profession. Every class will include great speakers, hands-on exercises, case studies, and chances to learn from and network with other artists.

Classes are scheduled to begin in late 2012. For more information, please visit www.beetstreet.org. "

As a local visual artist and instructor, I am excited to see how this implementation grows. I feel that Fort Collins and Northern Colorado at large are putting extra effort into their local artists this year, and it is very rewarding (har har) to be part of that effort.

I will be posting notes on the summit in a few days! Cheers!

the hpas...i mean the "haps"

Gearing up for live painting at the Bean Cycle! Familiar with those purple boxes they call the bathrooms? Well get ready for a transformation into the personal bathroom gallery of Forest Form #4 by yours truly. Not familiar with the Bean Cycle at all? Check out thebeancycle.com and wolverinefarmpublishing.org while you're at it. Tentatively going down November 26 and December 03. Will post flyer/confirmed dates when available!

Also want to send interested parties to the website of a fantastic artist. Her name is Lea Zoltowski and she taught a great demo at Front Range. Her website is leazoltowski.com and I am particularly enamored by her recent sculptural pieces. Sharp statement and beautiful functional work as well.

Last bit of news is that I am developing a more rounded out website, soon to be posted as my primary site.

Accepting, as well as granting, all grad school application commiseration, advice, and encouragement!

Cheers world.

the twenty-fifth day of the tenth month of the two-thousandth and eleventh year

...and you, Dear Viewer, are perhaps wondering where all of my work is.

I will start by saying that twenty eleven has been a true testament to Rilke's admonition: "Live the questions." This year has taught me more about the challenging life of an artist than anything heretofore, and I am happy to say that I have made it (well...with two months to go).

The turn of the year brought a completely unexpected and unrequested move out of house and studio, while juggling graduate school applications and preparing to fill a very large wall space. That work, posted in February, went up, and came down, and then went to its new owners.  I spent the first six months of the year living in a space that afforded a small table to paint on, and many small watercolor abstracts resulted from this time. It was quite frustrating to tuck away my oils and large canvases; however, those six months will forever remind me of the importance of process and all that it entails.

Process doesn't just happen in the studio. Process is a constant, and perhaps the most potent and fertile periods of art-making happen when you are sitting in a diminished and foreign working environment. This thankfully short-lived space reminded me to cherish silence in my process. I recently gave a lecture at the University of Sioux Falls on this topic, and am developing it into a full essay to publish here.

Rejection from graduate school and another move, along with a Mac meltdown, proved to be temporarily crippling - but not paralyzing. Now reinvigorated and with ample space and time to create, I am. I am creating, creating, creating, and rarely let myself be distracted enough to photograph and upload my works.

That, however, is changing, along with all things in the universe. I will be posting work that has been completed in twenty eleven very soon, and after that work that is in progress now. Additionally, it is my intention to plump up this blog business into a steady flow of ideas about process, art-making, and teaching.

So, thank you, Dear Viewer, for your consideration, and please, stay tuned.