Pecking Bird - Jill Auerbach

Lately, I’ve talked quite a bit about “showing up.” I’ve been a no-show for recent scheduled events—though I have been out interviewing and working. Sometimes an event like the passing of Greg McHuron can just take over. You know it’s comin’ but finality is a new reality.  While I’m thinking about it, I’ll mention that the NEXT “Artist in the Environment” is Tammy Callens, that jumping sprite of a painter–she is a delight! Callens will be painting at Sawmill Pond, GTNP, on August 11th, 2:00-5:00 pm. 

Summer is busy; summer is compressed; summer is full of possibility!

Today I looked on Facebook and spotted John Frechette’s post about having artist Jill Auerbach and her bird paintings alight at MADE. Bird art speaks to our tribal selves—not in a drum-thumping way, but definitely in a spiritual, “reminding” way. In cultural “medicines,” most bird species represent some kind of human state of being or emotion. Auerbach relates her paintings of birds and other critters to petroglyphs. That word is derived from the Greek words “petro-,” a variation of the word “petra,” which means “stone.”  And the back part of the word, “glyphein,” means “to carve.” The original French word was “pétroglyphe.”

What I enjoy about Auerbach’s birds is their unbalanced tipsy-ness. They’re tilted and vibrating. And I love the way Auerbach has left these birds in a bit of a blur–suggesting their swift motion and the fact that, unlike larger animals, the time we spend in their company is often fleeting. These birds are “unfinished”—no eyes. It’s the core body shape of each bird filling space on the canvas Auerbach emphasizes. Check that flock of birds out!

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Lots more summer arts possibilites on the horizon! More about these soon, but a quick list of gallery dates to mark includes:

Altamira Fine Art’s Opening Reception for its newest artist September Vhay, and Jared Sanders –  The “Home Ground” and “Totem” opening party takes place Thursday, August 2nd, 5:30-7:30 pm. You can view the work on line now, and some of the works are coming into the gallery.  www.altamiraart.com.

Heather James Fine Art opens its new show of works by Robert Walker, on Friday, August 3rd. An opening reception takes place 5:00-8:00 pm.  www.heatherjames.com 

Kathryn Mapes Turner opens her summer show at Trio Fine Art on Thursday, August 9th. Opening party for “Between Heart & Place” is that night, 5:00-8:00 pm. www.triofineart.com

“Mountain Men and Their Legacy”, a multi-artist show, opens Thursday, August 9th, at the Legacy Gallery in Jackson.   www.legacygallery.com 

Tayloe Piggott Gallery welcomes new artist Paul Villinski on August 30th.  Says the gallery, “Villinski’s exhibition – ALIGHT – will take over the entire gallery space with miraculous butterfly and object installations. Of particular note is the 8-foot wide Piper Cub Airplane that will be suspended in the gallery, covered with over 200 yellow/orange butterflied made from the artist’s trademark recycled aluminum cans.”  www.tayloepiggottgallery.com

The Jackson Hole Art Auction continues to add great works to its 2012 Auction on-line catalog; 277 works are registered. To see what’s new, click here.

A quick “Who Knew?” :  Up until the 14th Olympiad, the Olympics included a “Sporting Arts Section.” Artists competed for medals! Unfortunately, no quality artists ever showed up, so the “event” was abandoned. Heard this story on NPR. “Artists are not always happy to compete against one another and when they do, they’d rather be judged by a jury of their peers,” said the commentator.