Drawing In Progress Part 2

I'm working away at the second portion of the drawing (you can kind of see the first one right above it). It'll be interesting to see it completed. I liked the contrast of the references next to each other, and I'm hoping it will come across in the finish.

Also, I just want to formally announce that both Blackbirds #9 and #10 have sold, and I'm accepting commissions for more Blackbirds (I actually have one underway now). If interested, you can contact me directly via:

e-mail: meganwolfe@earthlink.net

cell: (415) 412-8610 (e-mail is usually better for getting a faster response).

P.S. Just updated megwolfe.net with a new cafe sketch for 04/20/08.

"Follow Through" Blackbirds Sold Out!

I'm happy to announce that all eight of the Blackbirds at 79 New Montgomery sold out. There have also been inquiries about commissions, and whether or not I have any other Blackbirds in my possession. I have two. Blackbirds #9 and #10 are still available for purchase, and are in the process of being framed.

Please direct any inquiries to Danielle Beach at 79 New Montgomery.

Group Show Reception at 79 New Montgomery

I finally stopped procrastinating and uploaded photos from the reception at 79 New Montgomery onto www.megwolfe.net. "Follow Through" went really well, two pieces sold during the reception, and within the first hour, we ran out of food and sketch postcards. Exciting!

Check out the reception photos!

If you missed out on the reception, you can still check out "Follow Through" at 79 New Montgomery, San Francisco throughout the month of April.

Drawing In Progress (Continued)

Just finished the first half of this piece late last night. This image is 9.5 x 12 inches, and there's a second image directly below this one that I'm about to start. All together, the piece will be 22 x 30 inches.

I also updated megwolfe.net with a cafe sketch for 04/09/08. There have been some minor typepad issues with the original Sketch folder, but hopefully it will soon be resolved.

Preserving Time in the Studio with Routine

In "Letters to a Young Artist", artist Gregory Amenoff advises a fictional 'young artist' to "let the studio be your sanctuary". That statement particularly resonated with me this month. Between pulling together the two shows, "Missing Time" and "Follow Through", and working two part time day jobs, I've really missed my sanctuary.

But my sanctuary is something I need. On a regular day, it's difficult fitting it in, and I have to give up a lot of other things in order to do it. I rely heavily on routine. Every morning I wake up, grab a latte from one of the local coffee shops, and sketch. Off to work. During lunch breaks, I buy supplies, take photos, or listen to podcasts about blogging. Sometimes, I make notes.

When I get home, I answer e-mails, surf the web, and then around eight pm I start working on my art. I might break for dinner, but usually I work until one in the morning. I might do some minor tasks after that (ex: making more postcards), but then I punch out for the night. The cycle repeats the next morning.

My rule of thumb for my routine: it has to be comfortable. Something that isn't too big for me to accomplish in the time I have. It's also like body-building, or jogging. You start with easy weights, and then build up from there. I used to fit in a half-hour of morning sketching, but now I can manage an hour.

My routine helps me preserve my studio time, my sanctuary. I don't have to think about what needs to be done, because it's there, it's a habit. It feels weird NOT to do it. It's also the one time of the day that no one but me, the artist, controls. That's why Amenoff referred to time in the studio as the artist's "sanctuary".

First Thurs Group Show at 79 New Montgomery

This Thursday is the "First Thursday" of April, and the date of my group show at 79 New Montgomery. I will be showing eight of the ten blackbirds and a new triptych. Other artists include: Josh Hursman, Chrystal Jez, and Danielle Thomas. Come check it out!

Reception:

Thurs. April 3rd, 6-8 pm

79 New Montgomery

Solo Show Reception at Mars Bar SF

I've finally organized my photos from the solo show at Mars Bar SF and uploaded a few onto www.megwolfe.net. The show was a lot of fun, and I'd like to thank everyone who stopped by, and thank Mars Bar for hosting the event!

Go check out the reception photos! :)

If you happened to miss the excitement of the opening, the show will be up through April. Click here for the address and info.

In Progress..

I thought I would take a little break from the shows and post up some in progress work. I've been working on this one for a few weeks now, but it's been off and on due to medical emergencies, upcoming shows, and everything else.

I've been working it piece by piece (like a puzzle), and this is just a snippet of a much larger whole. As usual, the medium is wax pencil on paper.

Pics from "Delicious"

The reception at Studio went off without a hitch, and I'd like to personally thank everyone for coming. I'd also like to thank Jennifer and Rab Terry for allowing me to shoot some photos for the blog. I am also thrilled and pleased to announce that the paintings I had in the show sold out quickly, even before the reception. Unfortunately, if you stopped by specifically to see them, they had already left with their collector (I admit, it was a little strange being at my own reception without my work!).

I have to thank my buddy and fellow Studio artist, Chur Park, for snapping this photo of me with Jen and Rab. There have been shows past where I did a horrible job getting pictures, but I'm trying to be more diligent about it now. I also snapped a standard crowd scene.

And, just for kicks, I'm going to throw in this one of artists James Lee and Troy Nowak, who were also showing tonight in "Delicious". Somehow this pic reminds me of Sailor Moon.. maybe it's the hand gestures?

Solo Show at Mars Bar SF

There's a lot going on with my work this month, but if you happen to miss all of the other receptions, don't miss out on this one! This Wednesday, the 19th of March, will be my first solo show! Here's the specs:

Reception: Wed. March 19th, 5-8 pm

Mars Bar SF, 798 Brannan st. (& 7th st)

Mars Bar will also be doing a special on Fat Tire Beer from 5-7 pm, with $1 off Fat Tire pints (normally $3.50 at happy hour). Hope to see you guys there!

Megwolfe.net converts to Typepad

After a lot of back and forth, I decided to just jump in (as I do with all of my decisions) and go for it. I've been wanting to upgrade the blog significantly, both in terms of content and design. Typepad seemed like just the thing. It's simple, I can easily update with new sketches, upcoming shows, photos, and more. And I really hope you guys find it more interesting, and interactive.
As to why I made the switch.. It's my personal mission statement, as an artist, to become more accessible. I want to be as hands on as possible, I don't want to just plop my work in a gallery and ask you to speak to someone else. I want to be able to share my work and my life with anyone even slightly interested in art. Because art is fun, intellectual, challenging, and necessary. Art is my pride and it's my joy, and the old website felt too dead in this age of Web 2.0 to convey that. :)
So, without further adieu, the new MegWolfe.net
P.S. I'll keep Afterthoughts up to speed with updates, along with MegWolfe.net. For those of you on my Feedburner newsletter, I'll eventually move you over to megwolfe.net, but I'm going to try and do it in a way where you won't get double of everything. :) Maybe by next week I'll have it sorted out. In the meantime, let me know what you think!

"Delicious" at Studio Gallery

Inspired by food and drink, "Delicious" is a yummy show at Studio Gallery where you can find a couple of my oil studies (note that the image on the postcard is NOT mine). :)

Opening Reception: Sat. March 15th, 4-8 pm Studio Gallery 1718A Polk St. (between Clay & Washington)

You can also check out one of the pieces on their website: StudioGallerySF.com

Postcard offer (for Mars & 79 NM)

For my upcoming solo show at Mars Bar, and for the show at 79 New Montgomery, I decided to do something a little different. :) I'm creating a limited number of original sketch-postcards. Each one features an original pen drawing of a bird, a Care Bear, or whatever else strikes my fancy. Each is also numbered and signed. Some will be distributed throughout the city of San Francisco (some are at Mars Bar already), but I want to offer a few to my fellow bloggers and readers. I'm also offering the choice between a bird and a CareBear (in case you received my Christmas cards with the birds), so if you would like a postcard with one of my sketches, please e-mail me with a mailing address, and I'll pop one in the mail for you shortly.

The Lab Auction..

Contact the Lab for ticket information

Two of my pencil works will be up for bid at the Lab two weeks from now. Auction admission price is between $10 and $25 (includes refreshments), and the preview days are free.

Mushy, personal post.

I disappeared again for a week or so, this time, because my husband (Albert) was in the hospital for a few days. You wouldn't think food poisoning could be life threatening, but when I called 911 his blood pressure was low, he was dehydrated, and running a fever.. It was scary enough that when they were supposed to move him to a regular hospital room, they instead moved him into the ICU. Of course, Albert's fine and is at home now, but I wanted to note Albert's most recent blog post.. which was posted a couple of days before this happened (which I find a little eerie). He featured a lecture by a dying man, a final lecture about following your dreams. Here's the link: Al's Brain Blog It's a subject that's quite personal, and some of you guys have heard Albert's story before (probably from him directly). In 2001, he left medical school for art school, and started working for Fluid Animation a year or two later. At Fluid, he was the Art Director and character designer for Lucy: Daughter of the Devil. There are t-shirts at comic book conventions with HIS designs on them (yeah, I'm bragging). He took a huge gamble and he worked hard; look what happened. My bottom line is this, life happens suddenly. It can end, suddenly. How many people get to look back (at any point) and say "yeah, I did what I wanted to do"? You just can't measure how priceless that is. And I'm super proud of him for doing what he does. :P Anyway, yeah, mushy stuff.. I posted a link to the blog, so you guys can check it out if you like.

Email trouble

I've been having some problems with my apple mail program.. specifically, when I e-mail people and they reply back, I don't get the replies at all. So if anyone has e-mailed me in the last two weeks, and didn't get a response, please e-mail me a second time. I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience. :( Anywho, I'm also sorry for the lack of posts. I've had a lot going on in my personal life, as well as trying to stay on top of my art stuff. It's been a struggle, but I've found that as long as I stick with my daily routine, things still get done (it just might take a little longer). (Note: I feel guilty when I don't post new stuff, so here's a couple of sketches from the coffee shop)

Site updates.

Just updated my biography pages with a new biography and artist statement, and I updated my resume with a list of upcoming shows. Also, sorry I haven't blogged any new pieces lately. I'm working on a large scale triptych right now, and I'm also pulling things together for three different shows (all of which are coming up in the next two months), and trying to negotiate a fourth, and I'm also donating some work to the Lab for their upcoming auction. It's going to be a busy spring! In terms of Podcasts.. I'm addicted like crazy. I've been downloading marketing podcasts, and also psychology podcasts. My work has always had some psychological nuances mixed in, so anything that ties into my concepts (even remotely) I devour. Anywho, I'll have a list of dates and times for the upcoming shows shortly. If you're interested in attending the openings, or know someone who might, feel free to subscribe to the blog. It's the best way to ensure that you don't miss out. :)

"Afterthoughts" is 2 years old, with 100 posts!

With school started back, my second (third?) job will be kicking in soon, so I thought I would note it. This semester I'm doing a painting workshop at the Academy of Art University, on Mondays, starting February 11th. I'm looking forward to it. :) So if you're still in school, stop by and say "hi". The other thing I wanted to write about, is that Albert upgraded my Ipod for my birthday, so I've been downloading tons of podcasts. Actually, I found a lot of neat art related ones, especially for San Francisco, so if you like gallery hopping, or visiting the MOMA, I have some recommendations: "SFMOMA Artcasts" (show the MOMA ticket takers that you have this on your ipod, and they knock $2 off the price of admission!) "KQED Gallery Crawl" "KQED Spark Art Video Podcast" "Art Talk with Richard Kamler" (specifically the interview with Kenneth Baker - haven't listened to it yet, but he is our resident critic) And lastly, one I recommend to illustrators and fine artists (and my personal favorite); "Answers for Freelancers" So far that's all I've got. There's plenty of other ones though, SFAI, DeYoung, the Asian Art Museum. It's a great way to stay tuned into what's going on behind the scenes of our art galleries, and to hear what other artists are doing.

Commissioned work

I just realized that I can finally post this. It's a commission I did at the end of '07 (a Christmas gift for my client's wife). It was fun to work with, and I was able to choose from a number of photos. I tried to pick the one closest to my personal aesthetic, just in case I wanted to use it in my portfolio. (this painting is 9x12 inches, oil on masonite)

Great Art

In this week's "Deep Thought Thursday" article, Alyson B. Stanfield raised the question "Is all risky art great?". At first I was inclined to just answer that question with a simple "yes" or "no", but then it made me think. On one hand, to the artist who took the risk, any "risky" art they create is great, because it took some degree of guts and creativity to produce. Hence why it was a risk. On the other hand, a lot of contemporary art is touted as being risky, a word tossed in to proclaim its immediate brilliance. Plenty of "shocking" or "risky" art gets attention, but does this make it great or memorable? But going back to the individual artist taking a risk, not knowing if the experiment will work, or if the gallery will accept the piece, or if the piece will sell if it is accepted. Even if the artwork falls short of being "good" and is ultimately rejected, the artist at least learned something new from creating it.. There was some bit of information that could be carried over into the next piece, or maybe not at all. So, I suppose I'm split down the middle on this one. If "risky" is being used as a trendy word to tell me that smearing poo on glass is great art, then perhaps I disagree. However, if risky describes the artist's struggle to grow and develop themselves, then yes, all risky art is great (despite a good or bad outcome). Either way, I think Alyson's question is a fun one to consider. :)