Weekly Update

Behind again, but I haven’t given up yet. I am trying to slowly move forward despite it all. Let’s see how that goes…

Current Exhibitions

I have work in Small Wonders 13 at Arch Enemy Arts through the end of the month. All pieces in this show are under $300, which makes it perfect for holiday gifts. Work can be viewed HERE

Switch, opens today at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists and runs through December 20th. The work can be viewed and purchased HERE.

Upcoming Exhibitions

My work will be on display at the AQUA Art Fair in the Arch Enemy Arts booth in early December.
This piece is a study in the various finishes I use in my work.

Work in Progress

I’m still planning/making work for subject/matr/mother, a group exhibition at Carbondale Arts in Carbondale, CO. Right now I have three pieces in progress, and another (larger) one in the wings. My thoughts are that I’d like to have 7 pieces total and I am figuring it all out…I think.

So busy…

I’ve been so busy…work, appointment after appointment, fun things for O’s birthday, cats and more cats. But finding time to go see some Art always seems to bring me back to earth.

Tell me all your secrets…

The last three hummingbirds in my “Tell me all your secrets…” installation are now at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists aka CFEVA for their small works show, Switch. This series was made for a show that I was in last year, Birds Rising at Brassworks Gallery, and while a few sold, I received about half of them back. Being able to find new places and therefore new audiences for pieces is always exciting for me. We see so much Art through a tiny screen anymore and it’s just not the same. Like David Lynch says about watching movies on a phone… it’s just not the same.

Loss

To know someone for so little time, but to be with them at the end stretches the knowing out into some universal infinity. We first saw these kittens on Monday, so it’s only been a week, but loss hits solidly whenever it comes.

This little calico, which we’ve been calling Pumpkin Pirates (Pirates is her mother), died this afternoon. When I came out this morning, she was completely limp and barely breathing with eyes open. I tried to get her warmed up. Paul offered to rush her to the animal hospital. But I knew it was already too late. She took her last breaths wrapped in a blanket on the grass in the sunshine, near her family. I watched over the entire time, my heart breaking over and over again. When she was still, I buried her under our Magnolia tree.

Normally when I come upon a dead animal, I take a photo so I can memorialize them in a future sculpture. Giving some sort of future to the nameless that have passsed I suppose. But I couldn’t bear to do it this time. I can still picture her too clearly and maybe I didn’t want a reminder of how awful nature can sometimes be.

Weekend friends

In addition to Art and Work and Life, we also squeeze in rescuing cats. New to the yard, are these tiny guys and their mom, Pirates. She was recently taken to be spayed and they are so very happy she is back.

Tonight!

The Wagner is one of my favorite places in Philadelphia, and also one of its best kept secrets. A Victorian Science museum in North Philadelphia, the Wagner is a beautiful space full of amazing specimens. Their lecture hall is lovely and it has been a dream of mine to give a talk there. I’m very much looking forward to this Sip & Sketch tonight!

Motivate Me Monday?

Oh man. I am not actually as far behind as I feel like I am but wow am I feeling the pressure.

“Of what Darla?”

I don’t even really know at the moment. It just feels like I am on a slippery slope of trying to finish everything and catch up and schedule this and get ready for that. And like I said, I’m more prepared than I normally am for the things I’m feeling stressed about, but nonetheless I am feeling the stress.

In times like this I make a list.

What to do?

When is it due?

What do I need to get to do the thing?

How long do I need to do each thing?

That usually helps. I’ll give it a shot and we’ll see.

This whole year has felt like trying to get up an icy hill. Last year my footing felt more certain in all the ways… I’m not sure what changed this year.

Whoops, a break. And now we’re back.

So I accidentally took two weeks off. First I was tired from Paul’s birthday weekend adventures in NYC. Then I was busy. Then I was not motivated to write anything. Then I was sick. Whew.

Since I’ve been “away”, I started a new piece. A self portrait, which has me all “a way” about it. I love sculpting figures, despite rarely getting a chance to do so anymore. Portraits are not my thing though. Usually it ends up looking like a second cousin of the person I’m sculpting. I am not generally interested in sculpture for the sake of translating direct observation only, so I get bored, impatient, annoyed, etc.

I personally tend to work more intuitively and would rather get the “feel” of the person (it sounds bit woo woo when I put it like that but bear with me). In my animal work I’m most often going for “emotional portraiture” which often captures more clearly what I’m after. However what happens when we turn the lens on ourselves? Can I get observation and emotion? Ahhh it’s a bit of a winding path here. I started off enjoying the process, but very quickly I’m up against a wall of what I think I look like and what’s true (measured literally by calipers or more loosely by the looks on the faces of my loved ones). I see myself as this wide jawed stoic figure with better eyebrows and hair than I know I have. I have a hard time finding softness and beauty in myself, which is interesting to observe. So it’s become this inner battle, made real, between my actual self and my perceived self and I am fighting on all fronts. It’s truly wild when thinking about it like that. I just posted a quick video of the piece and immediately afterward cut back into the nose and structure of the face. We’ll see how far we get but that’s when I’m at for now.

Small Wonders 11 opens today!

SMALL WONDERS is back for its 11th year and features 50+ artists with over 100 pieces of new original and affordable works!

Everything measures 12" (or smaller), and has a price tag of $250 or less!

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SMALL WONDERS 11 includes new work from:   3rd Version, Alex Eckman-lawn, Alex Garant, Alexander Reisfar, Alexis Hilliard, Alexis Trice, Anais Lera, Anthony Solano, Ben Howard, Bill Ross, Brian Hoffman, Brian Serway, Bruce Parker, Caitlin Hackett, Catriona Secker, Colete Martin, Colin Frangicetto, Czr Prz, Danielle Schlunegger, Darla Jackson, David Seidman, Emma Black, Erich Moffitt, Eva Redimonti, Frank Gonzales, Gerlanda di Francia, Grelin Machin, Haley Manchon, Hanna Jaeun, Horrible Adorables, Jesse Jacobi, Jessi Hardesty, Jessica Dalva, Jesus Aguado, Jordan Kressley, Juliet Schreckinger, Katie Gamb, kEda Gomes, Kelly Vivanco, Kimera Wachna, Lana Crooks, Lihao Lu, Maria Teicher, Maryann Held, Meredith Jackson, Michael Koehler, Michael Reedy, Michelle Avery Konczyk, MK Komins, Nikoo Bafti, Paige Greeley, Paul Romano, Rachael Bridge, Robert Kraiza, Shailinn Messer, Shannon Taylor, Tyler Mitchell, Vavara Fern, and VR Rivera 

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SMALL WONDERS 10 will be physically on view from November 5th - November 24th, 2021

at Arch Enemy Arts, 109-111 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106 .
Sold works will begin to ship the week of November 29th unless other rush shipping arrangements have been made.

I’m always excited for this exhibition each year. Small works are near and dear to my heart and its always so fun to see what everyone comes up with. Paul and I each have two pieces in the show this year, so please do pop over and take a look, digitally HERE or in person tonight at the opening!

A penny for your thoughts, 2022. Plaster, 1”x 1”x 2”, $100.

A Piece of Me, 2021. Polyurethane resin, acrylic, graphite, 4”x 2.5”x .5”, $100.

Paul Romano, Untitled (Saint I), 2022. Oil on Paper, 5”x 7” framed to 12”x 14”, $250.

Paul Romano, Untitled (Saint II), 2022. Oil on Paper, 5”x 7” framed to 12”x 14”, SOLD.