One thing after another

Busy, busy week. I have had two meetings this week, got a flu shot and continue to get things ready for the Open Studios this weekend.

Today's meeting was the Portland SAQA group meeting and we talked about writing artists statements, which is one of those chores, necessary for exhibits and such, but daunting. No one likes to do it. After the discussion I came home and wrote mine. How do you like it?

Terry Grant

Terry Grant (°1946, LaJunta, CO, United States) is an artist who works in a variety of media. By focusing on techniques and materials, Grant makes work that deals with the documentation of events and the question of how they can be presented. The work tries to express this with the help of physics and technology, but not by telling a story or creating a metaphor.
Her artworks are notable for their perfect finish and tactile nature. This is of great importance and bears witness to great craftsmanship. With Plato’s allegory of the cave in mind, she absorbs the tradition of remembrance art into daily practice. This personal follow-up and revival of a past tradition is important as an act of meditation.
Her collected, altered and own works are being confronted as aesthetically resilient, thematically interrelated material for memory and projection. The possible seems true and the truth exists, but it has many faces, as Hanna Arendt cites from Franz Kafka. By contesting the division between the realm of memory and the realm of experience, she considers making art a craft which is executed using clear formal rules and which should always refer to social reality.
Her works are an investigation into representations of (seemingly) concrete ages and situations as well as depictions and ideas that can only be realized in art. Terry Grant currently lives and works in Portland, OR.

Ha ha! I didn't write that. There is a site called "500 letters" where you fill out a short form and it will generate an artist's statement for you. I was somewhat hampered because it didn't offer fiber as a medium choice, so I chose "variety of media." I thought it did quite a good job—totally incomprehensible. But, seriously, I need to write a more realistic statement. That is our homework for next month's meeting.

I am trying something for the Open Studio that I have not done before. I had giclee prints made from three of my favorite Twelve by Twelve pieces to have for sale. I can offer something small and inexpensive ($16) as well as having my original work displayed and for sale. I ordered the prints from a Canadian company and I am really pleased with them. The paper and ink are archival and the color looks perfect. The paper is thick and creamy and the prints are beautifully detailed. I don't know if anyone will want something like this or not. It was not a huge investment to find out.

I am mounting them on black mat board and signing them. I will wrap them in cellophane to protect them.