I’m taking a break from my art blog for an exciting new effort… Gallery 209! This beautiful 12-artist art gallery cooperative is in #209 of the Artists & Makers Studios 2, located at 12276 Wilkins Ave., Rockville, Maryland 20852.
Our local artists
I’m thrilled to join with local artist Cathy Hirsh, our co-op’s instigator. Our artists create contemporary art in acrylic, collage, encaustic, ink, mixed-media, oil, pencil, sculpture, and watercolor. The other member artists are:
Artists & Makers Studios 1 and 2 just celebrated its second anniversary and is part of Rockville’s emerging and vibrant art scene. Three re-purposed buildings include studio and gallery space for about 150 local artists; there’s even an art school and special events, too!
Hours
Gallery 209 is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 AM – 4PM. Our artists will greet and meet you in person from 6 – 9 PM the first Friday of each month as we launch a new exhibit; other A&M Studios 1 and 2 will also be open then and with a reception. Our artists will also be there in person every Saturday from noon – 4PM, for other Artists & Makers or Gallery 209 special events, and by appointment.
The 2016 Kensington “Paint the Town” Labor Day Weekend Art Show is September 3-5, 2016. One of the requirements for artists participating in this annual show is to create a painting inspired by is Maryland town. The town co-sponsors the event with the Montgomery Art Association.
My 2016 “Paint the Town” entry is based loosely on a map view of the streets around the Kensington Town Hall / Armory, at 3710 Mitchell Street. I fused several layers of green and yellow shapes, in paper and encaustic representing street blocks in a map view. The green and yellow mirrors the colors on many of street markers and signs around town as well as the town clock.
This painting will be at the MAA’s “Paint the Town, 2016” Labor Day Weekend Art Show. If you’re in the area then, stop on by. I’m also showing 5 other encaustic paintings and many new pieces in my black art bin. Plus, you’ll find many other artworks by artists from the Montgomery County, Maryland region.
⇒For information about this artwork,contact Janet Fox.
Turn the Page | encaustic, mixed media 3-D journal art
Dream energy in a journal
Looking around, I see countless things created by people. Everyday items, clothing, furnishings, vehicles, buildings, highways, technology and so much more… all human made. Starting with an idea or inspiration, people collaborate to develop the materials, tools and processes to translate ideas into physical objects. As a society, we invest much in our human creations.
Likewise on a personal level, I’ve worked hard and invested time, money and energy on the things that enliven my life, experiencing the creative process and learning along the way. For example, I’ve filled many a dream journal, capturing decades of dreamtime stories along with the wake-time reflections from my individual study and within dream groups.
When is it time to let go?
After I finish a creative project, I enjoy the fruits of my labor for some period of time. At some point, though, my focus drifts and shifts to something new. And after a while, I wonder what to do with all of the things I’ve accumulated, especially those things I no longer need?
Many items, like photos, school mementos and art I created back when, I’ve stored away. I rarely look at them but when I do, they help me remember special parts of my life journey. I suppose that is why I’ve found them valuable enough to keep.
With other accumulated things that don’t rise to that level of meaning, I feel that my closets and living space are too crowded. And, no, I don’t want to find a bigger space to grow into.
When I feel too crowded, I sometimes teeter back-and-forth thinking of how much I’ve invested in those things versus my desire to simplify. Do I have the time and energy now to sort through them? How do I prioritize my time? Do I procrastinate or fall into the mode of when something is out-of-sight, it is also out-of-mind.
In my art studio, when it’s too crowded, I have a hard time starting something new.
Cleaning, sorting, reusing, recycling, recreating
Growing up, my mom taught my siblings and me to clean out our dresser drawers, closets and desks several times a year. We often did these house-cleaning rituals over school breaks when seasons changed and as we outgrew our cloths. We didn’t have the luxury of a big house, so we learned to let go of outdated and outgrown things. It usually felt great after the clean-out, as we were also creating space for new things.
I also worked professionally for many years in the recycling field. I thought a lot about ways to reduce, reuse and recycle the materials of daily life. Whenever a new technology became popular, recyclers received the outdated discards to be reused or re-created into something else. Or if there wasn’t a market for the items, they were disposed of.
And how do I manage my personal things? Am I a pack-rack, sentimental, procrastinating or too busy to sort through things I no longer need (or all of the above)? I’ve invested much of my energy creating, but it also takes energy to hold onto things. In a desire to simplify, I know I need to let go of things.
I’ve found joy in giving items to friends and family. I’m thankful to live in a neighborhood with a very active list serve; people daily post items to give away or ask to borrow infrequently used things. I’m also thankful for the many charities that make it super easy to schedule donation pick-ups.
In my art studio, it’s time to go through my stash of dream journals. I’m revisiting especially vivid dreams. Other more ordinary dreams, I turn the page over.
About Turn the Page
My dreams represent a chunk of my life and a bit of my creative energy… first the dream, then the writing of it, then thoughts and discussion. I especially enjoy creating art inspired by my more vivid dreams.
Having studied my dreams for almost 20 years, I’ve accumulated a large shelf full of dream journals. In them, I’ve written many dreams and wake-time reflection from on my own or from others in a dream group.
This 3-dimensional art, Turn the Page, was once a dream journal covering 99 days of my life from back when. I re-read the pages and saved the ones I wanted to work on again. After, I folded in the remaining pages, inserted colorful papers with encaustic, and sewed the folded edges together using my favorite color of embroidery floss. This piece is the first in a series of dream journals I’m letting go of. Somehow, this feels really good to re-create.
How do you part with personal things you no longer need?
⇒For information about purchasing this artwork, contactJanet Fox.
Janet Fox is the Featured Artist for July 2015 at the Bethesda Public Library in Bethesda, MD.
I’m thrilled to be theBethesda (MD) Public LibraryFeatured Artist from July 1-31, 2015! I invite you to stop by to see a selection of 12 art pieces. In addition to the art, I have included companion text about each piece.
This solo exhibit “Dream Themes and Art Flows” focuses on four themes: water, crossings, balance and energy.
I chose these themes because I often dream or think about them. And while making art, I often find myself lost in the creative process, losing track of time in a sort of “art flow,” similar in many ways to what others describe while exercising or highly focused on other activities.
The 3-D piece shown above, Turn the Page, is part of a new series transforming some of my dream journals into art. My next post will explore more on this topic.
Dreamtime Journey to Somewhere, focuses on crossing over the boundary from waking consciousness into the realm of dreams. More about this art piece is in my post “Dreamtime Journey to Somewhere.”
I’m thrilled to be the Montgomery Art Association’s Featured Gallery Artist from May 5-31, 2015! I invite you to stop by to see a larger selection of my art and also come to the reception on Sunday, May 17 from 1 – 5 PM at MAA’s Gallery in Westfield Wheaton, in Wheaton, Maryland. I’ll also be at the Gallery several other times in May, so if you would like to meet, send me a message so we can coordinate a time. Hope to see you there and thanks for all your support and best wishes! Note that MAA’s previously announced Gallery closing has been reversed.
Janet Fox is the Featured Artist for May 2015 at Montgomery Art Association’s Gallery in Wheaton, MD.