13th Annual Drawing Discourse

 

Color Spots, 2021, chalk pastel on paper, 15x15"

installation photos courtesy of Tamie Beldue

I'm absolutely delighted to share that my piece, "Color Spots" received a Juror's Choice Award from Catherine Murphy in this year's Drawing Discourse Exhibition. 

Catherine Murphy has long been an artistic hero of mine; I deeply admire her particular vision and passion for perceptual work. It means more than I can say that she spent time looking at my drawing, let alone that she also thought it deserving of such a generous honor. 

Humbled. Honored. Still in shock, a little. There's a lot of good work in this show. If you're near Asheville, do yourself a favor and go see these pieces in person. The show runs through February 11th. 

The exhibition catalog will be available soon through Blurb. I'll post a link on my website as soon as I can.

Thanks for reading. Love you all. See you back here next month.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Happy new year, friends. I hope this finds you happy and healthy, wherever and whenever you're reading this. 

Studio-wise, 2021 was a productive and exciting year. After a year or two of casting a wide net and skimming the surface of various imagery and content, I took a deep dive into one particular facet of my research and started a new series of still lifes: single object portraits of various packing materials and containers. I started the series thinking about the word "containment" and its myriad applications... which seemed especially relevant during our shared experiences of lockdown and quarantine. The work grew from that into an exploration of void fill, fluff freight, and dunnage. Or, to put it another way, "the things we use to fill empty space."

Bubble wrap, air pockets, and other kinds of recycled paper are temporary objects by design. They are critically important while in transit - offering a kind of cushioning, protection, or armor to something precious - but once they reach their destination, they are almost always immediately discarded. How many times have you gotten a box in the mail, only to immediately rip off the tape and dig through the "filler" to find the prize inside? What do you do with all that filler once it's in a pile on your floor?

I'm thinking about the things we surround ourselves with, both the literal and the metaphorical. I'm thinking about the protective spells we cast, the magical thinking we employ, and the 6' air pockets we've been maintaining around ourselves and each other of late. And, always, I'm thinking about the duality of absence and presence, the inevitability of emptiness, and the volume of silence. 

And with that, we're back to our regularly scheduled monthly blog posts in the new year. That's my intention anyway, and I'll make every effort to stick to it.

Here's what's on tap this month. If you're in any of these areas, and have a chance to stop by the shows, please let me know! I'd love to hear from you. And if not, I'll be sure to share photos here as well as on instagram - follow along (at) samantha.haring. 

Immaterial Things 

solo show 

The Ohio State University, Lima, OH

January 20–February 17, 2022

13th Annual Drawing Discourse 

juried group show 

University of North Carolina, Asheville, NC 

January 14–February 11, 2022 

Juror: Catherine Murphy

Miniature Show 

group show 

Southside Gallery, Oxford MS 

January 9–February 19, 2022

Cheers,

Sam

Old and New Friends

Back in June, Williamsburg Paint ran a special offer on Instagram. They said: make a donation in honor of Pride Month to an LGBTQIA+ organization, send them a copy of the receipt, and in turn they will send you a small gift at the end of the month. 

Imagine my surprise when that "small gift" turned out to be a shiny new palette knife, heavy-duty painting apron, AND a set of nine Williamsburg oil paints.

July was a teaching-heavy month for me, so it was only just last week that I had the chance to open this set of colors. Two were old friends - King's Blue and Courbet Green have been on my palette for years - but the rest were brand new to me.

Whenever I add new colors to my palette, I like to spend some time getting to know them before leaping into a painting. My favorite way to do that is with a color chart like the one above; it's the fastest and clearest way for me to see how a color behaves and how it interacts with the rest of the palette. 

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not usually a fan of the color pink... but this Persian Rose just might change my mind. It's a lovely, creamy mix, opaque with a good tinting strength, and it makes beautiful violets and greys when combined with Kings Blue or Courbet Green. 

Alizarin Orange was an interesting surprise. It's a deep, rich transparent orange out of the tube... but it behaves surprisingly like Indian yellow in tints and mixtures. 

French Ardoise Grey was a lovely treat as well. It too is shockingly transparent, and its tinting strength is roughly equivalent to Terre Verte, if not a bit weaker still. Still, when used in the right proportion it makes truly delicious transparent tones. 

I'm still getting acquainted with these colors, but I think they'll play especially nicely with my current still life set up. Here's a glimpse at part of what's on my easel. Bonus points if you can spot the new colors I'm using. 

Thanks again, Willamsburg Oils! And if you're looking for places to support the LGBTQIA+ community year-round, here's a place to start: 

The Trevor Project

Lambda Legal

The Marsha P. Johnson Institute

Studio, July

 

Just a few beautiful studio moments from the past week. I'm working towards a solo show next spring, and I'm very excited about using my current series as a starting point. There will be so much more pastel dust on the floor before I'm through... 

Recently I've been reading The Sleeve Should Be Illegal  - a beautiful collection of writing about the Frick collection - and there was a quote early on that really resonated. 

"Listing the absences in a picture is a losing proposition, since the category of absences is always infinite." (p.10) 

Something to meditate on, while I stare at the empty space around my still life objects. 

RECENT WORK

 

Unwrapped, 2021

chalk pastel on paper, 15x15"

Tender, 2021

oil on paper, 15x15" 

private collection

Plastic Wrap, 2021

oil on paper, 15x15"

private collection

Color Studies and and Demos

 

Color swatches and class demos... thinking through color, and getting acquainted with some recent additions to my palette. I'm especially excited about those violets. Egyptian violet is one of those colors that I have longed for in the paint aisle for at least a decade. I finally bought a tube last week, and it's even better than I'd hoped. Expect a myriad of violet-greys and grey-violets in future paintings.

Tender, 2021

oil on paper, 15x15" (framed size about 22x22")

I'm delighted to have this piece and another in an upcoming exhibition at Southside Gallery! This group show originated at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA early last year; however, the second installment of the exhibition was postponed because of COVID. With that in mind, I am especially grateful to Joseph Holzapple and the kind people at Southside Gallery for making this happen now. 

Thinking Through Things: A Still Life Invitational

Southside Gallery

Oxford, MS

Curated by Joseph Holzapple

May 2021

Studio, April

 

This south studio light is endlessly inspiring. It's such a simple yet powerful reminder of the inevitability of change and the gift of being present.

Buona Pasqua a tutti. Ti amerò sempre.