STUDIO SALE NOV. 30 & DEC. 5

  

(with apologies to Mr. Shakespeare…)

TO BROWSE, TO SHOP, TO SHOP, 

PERHAPS TO BUY…

Looking for a low-stress, high-interest place to find unique, original gifts for the folks on your gift list? You can’t beat the studios and galleries at The Northrup King Building. Sculpture, jewelry,  honey, paintings…and more. We’ll be open from noon - 4:00 pm. There’s lots of free parking…and none of the hectic chaos of the shopping malls.

it’s a sale!

My greeting cards will be 50% off, including cards suitable for the season (everything from sweet to snarky). I’ve also marked my botanical watercolor and graphites down by 50%. (In other words, cards are $2.00 + tax; botanicals $35 matted,- $55 framed). 

Can’t make it? My sale will also be going on the first Thur. of December: 

12/5, 5:00-9:00 pm.)
Gallery 427
Northrup King Bldg
1500 Jackson St., N.E.
Mpls., MN 55413

BREAKING THROUGH THE QUAGMIRE OF A LONG, LONG WINTER

Andromeda Waits (detail)
Water Color, Ink, and Acrylic

It's been a while since I've posted anything. For that matter, it's been a while since I've picked up a paint brush. Ennui? The endless weather we Minnesotans are enduring? My historically proven tendency to fade out on what I was certain would become a life-long passion? The votes aren't in yet. In the meantime, I've been luxuriating in memories of my childhood and teen years, the result of having volunteered to do the memory book for my high school class's 50th reunion.

I've spent hours studying photos in our yearbook, looking for the match between those young faces and the photos of the near-70-year olds classmates are sending me. (It's always there in the eyes.) I'm having a great time reading their graduation ambitions and comparing them with the people they've become. I suppose if a demographer were to study Edison High School's class of '63, she'd find nothing surprising. There'd be the same proportion of marriages and divorces, deaths and illnesses, professionals and skilled trades people that one would find in the general population. But gosh, those are just numbers. The bio's they've sent say so much about who they've become, and I find I want to learn more. I'm looking forward to seeing these "kids" in June.

If you've read thus far, you're probably wondering what connection there is between the painting and this blog entry. The answer is none. I finally finished this one a couple of hours ago. I'm posting it so that I can convince myself that yes, I still have an interest in wetting a brush.

WHAT'S ON MY EASEL

work in progress

I took my first botanical watercolor class about two years ago. Marilyn Garber, founder of the Minnesota School of Botanical Art, is an exceptional instructor who pushes me beyond my comfort level, but not so far that I panic. The image to the right is what I'm working on right now as a part of her "Tulip Mania" class. It's about 3/4 finished. There are parts of the work that I like, but a whole lot more that I'm dissatisfied with. But then I'm never happy with my work. 

Marilyn and I were talking about this recently. "I know many artists who are never satisfied with their work," she said. "As long as we compare ourselves to others, it's likely we'll find ourselves wanting."

This reminded me of a post-workout conversation in the sauna at the gym the other day. "This keeps on getting harder," one of the women said. "Maybe," I replied, "it's because we keep raising our own bars. I'm able to do more than I could a year ago, and certainly much, much more than I when I first joined the 'Y'. What was hard then is easy now."

So maybe it's the same with painting...or music...or sculpture...or cooking; we're critical of our own work not so much because we compare ourselves to others but rather that we keep trying for something more challenging. But then, to paraphrase Miles Davis, isn't it better to try something new and do it badly than to keep doing the same ol' thing?

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

"An Act of Contrition"
watercolor & ink on Wallis sanded paper

When I sign an email I include my studio address and contact info. Lately I've been adding a tag line: "Oils, Watercolors, and a Few Artsy Experiments." I'm hoping that "artsy experiments" will explain the variety in the work visitors see in my studio. I've been criticized for that variety: "You'll never get gallery representation, Judy," I've been told. "You need to stick to one voice." But if I ain't happy, the fam damily ain't happy, and what makes me happy is trying new things. So here, for what it's worth, are the two extremes of what I'm working on now. As I say in my brochures, "I paint what I love, and what I love is as varied as the music of the Manhattan Transfer. My mother would have said that I just get bored easily. As the kids say, "Whatever."


Primrose Leaves
Watercolor on Fabriano 300# paper

ART-A-WHIRL SPECIAL OFFER

'What an artist is trying to do for people is bring them closer to something,
because of course art is about sharing: you wouldn't be an artist
unless you wanted to share an experience, a thought.'
David Hockney

I've written earlier about the classes in botanical watercolor I've been taking under the excellent tutelage of Marilyn Garber, founder of the Minnesota School of Botanical Artists. I wrote about how surprised I was to discover a discipline I didn't expect to fall in love with and about my discovery of an intense pleasure in a zen-like, focused experience. Just me, nature's gorgeous colors, and my paint brush.

I'd love to share with you the results of my studies. I'll be hanging these new watercolors in time for

ART-A-WHIRL (click here for directions)

May 14th, 5:00 - 10:00 pm
May 15th, Noon - 8:00 pm
May 16th, Noon - 5:00 pm
Northrup King Building
Studio 343

In addition I'll be offering for the first time ever an Art-A-Whirl special--50% off of selected oil paintings. If you're in the Twin Cities area the weekend of May 14, I hope you'll stop in. I'd love to visit with you!

SUNDAY IN THE GARDEN IN THE SPRING

Spring Tulips
by Judy Westergard
22" x 15"
watercolor on Fabriano 300# hot press
all rights reserved
available as giclee from FineArtAmerica

Spring in my hometown has been (insert your favorite superlative here; they all fit). My peonies are setting buds almost a full month early. The miniature crabapple in the back yard is promising a spectacular show of deep pink blossoms. The cardinals are staking out their territories and claiming their mates. Their bright flashes of red among the pale yellow leaves of my ash tree never fail to enthrall me. I spent a couple of joy-filled hours today in my garden. Psychologists tell us that when it comes to evoking memory, our sense of smell can’t be beat. And sure enough, a couple of whiffs of that warm soil and I was back in the tiny greenhouse my dad used for potting tomatoes and peppers. If I were good...and I mean really, really good (which didn’t happen too often; after all I had a kid brother to torment), I’d get to help my dad transplant fragile tomato seedlings to larger pots. I felt very important and very special. But unlike my dad, I don’t grow much in the way of anything humanly edible. My garden tends to run to perennials, and in the spring, it becomes a buffet of tulips that crows and squirrels love. Luckily this year I was able to nab a few blossoms before all that was left were the stems. I hope you enjoy the resulting watercolor as much as I enjoyed painting it.

ART-A-WHIRL 2010

Art-A-Whirl 2010
Click on the poster for more info

Art-A-Whirl, presented by the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association, is the largest open studio and gallery tour in the United States. This is a highly anticipated annual event that welcomes local and regional visitors to the Arts District in Northeast Minneapolis to see the art being made in this area and to meet the artists. As visitors come to see the art over the three-day weekend they also experience the unique and welcoming community of Northeast Minneapolis. More info at NEMAA.ORG.
New in my studio this year--my botanical watercolors. I'd love to see you at Studio 343, Northrup King Building.








Four Cherries
by Judy Westergard
Watercolor on Fabriano 300# hot press
All rights reserved
click on image for purchase info

HOWEVER DID THEY PAINT THAT FOOD?

Four Cherries
watercolor on paper
by Judy Westergard

I should be cleaning my studio but that always involves reshelving art books. Cleaning's boring. Reading's fun. So I park my Hoover in one corner and my keister in another and surround myself with a couple of piles of books that beg me to once again thumb through them. I pick up a collection of paintings by the Old Masters, many of them Dutch. All that food! Succulent fish, colorful fruits, glistening glassware...those gorgeous still lifes set my mind to reeling. How, I wonder in awe, did those guys steel themselves against eating their specimens?
BTW (as the texters say), I've got a new web site. You can get there by clicking on the cherries. If you get a chance I'd appreciate any feedback you'd like to send my way. Too slow to load? Confusing? Of course, if you'd just like to tell me how great it looks, that'd be good, too. Thanks!