Quick Update

Hi all,

I am trying my darndest to update this site a bit more, it's hard to blog when all I want to do is be drawing, grilling, hiking, camping, traveling or doing anything that involves being OUTDOORS now that it is finally nice out.  I have had the overwhelming task of balancing my day job with researching and applying for residencies and shows, drawing, cleaning, being outside, organizing my image inventory, blogging, keeping up on email, visiting galleries, visiting museums, and so many more tasks that I feel have become mandatory, when in reality all I want to do is draw, travel and be with friends! I wonder if I will ever get out of my own way.  

On a positive note, I finally sent out my application to the residency in Australia I have been lusting after and gave it a plethora of good luck energy before handing it over to the residency decision making gods. I am also completing an application to a residency in Georgia that would allow me at least a month hiatus from all the aforementioned duties!  I had the difficult task of finding two people to write reference letters for this particular residency, not an easy task! For a perfectly worded take on how annoying these letters can be to obtain and to write, visit Joanne Mattera's blog. 

As of now we have a good roster of artists contributing to the second "This Collective Pull." I will post the official roster after August 3rd when the invitations go out.  Save the date though, August 22nd! It is sure to be a great evening with really great art!

Alright everyone, I need to get to the studio! I spent the last month of weekends away from my beloved space and although I love Boston, D.C, Vermont and Canada trips, I love my studio time as well. So as I said before, I will do my best to post more often on here, even for a quick update. Maybe the next drawing you see will have a Maple leaf, a moose, a bean, some cheese and Obama's face in it! All the best!

Also, check out my friend Julie's blog, OrchidGrey.  It's new and it's fabulous! (She is also helping to co-curate "This Collective Pull")

Update

Hi All,

Quick post. I am in the midst of applying to lots of residency programs and find myself straying from the path with such nice weather. Balance is a hard thing to achieve. Below is a new drawing I recently completed. Also, the second This Collective Pull will be opening in late August. This time I am lucky enough to be collaborating with two dear friends, Julie O'Boyle and Chris Sharp. Keep your eyes peeled for the invite and roster of artist! All the best!

Bea Modisett. Charcoal and pastel on paper. 32" x 32". 2009
(If you click on the photo, you will get a larger image that will show you better detail and surface quality!)

Paint, Paint the Revolution

Hi All,

I just returned from an amazing trip to my place of birth, Washington D.C. for a whirlwind weekend trip. Although originally I made travel plans to go and visit a dear friend who is living down there, my trip also coincided with the Maya Lin exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and "Paint Made Flesh" at the Phillip's Collection. Both were amazing! Although the Maya Lin show is no longer on display (I caught it on it's last day) I encourage you all to make the journey to the Phillip's Collection. Jenny Saville's painting alone is worth the trip, but on top of that monumental piece are paintings by Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud, Cecily Brown, Eric Fischl, and Willem DeKooning! 

Jenny Saville. Hyphen, 1999. Oil on Canvas. 9' x 12'

It was so nice to see a show devoted to PAINTING! It seems that today so much focus is put on new media and cutting edge technology that often amazing painters and the beauty of paint is forgotten or deemed "dead." As a painter myself, this was an inspiring show. Between this show and "Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice" on view at the Museum of Fine Arts I can say that painting is very much alive and well! 

I first experienced Maya Lin back as a very young child when walking through the beautiful Vietnam Memorial that she designed. I was excited to see her work in a museum setting after seeing it in the form of environmental sculptures for the past 15 years.  I was not disappointed. I was greeted by a room sized installation that immediately told me I was in for a treat.  The curators did a great job of showing the scope of media in which Lin works. The galleries boasted installation, drawings, altered books, altered walls, and bronze castings.  I must say the installations and drawings had the most impact on me. I loved the imperfect edges on her drawings that were displayed in pristine frames.  With the majority of my works being on paper, I have to decide whether to crop them into perfect squares and eliminate holes, or to immortalize them as pieces of history, as artifacts from the whirlwind of activity that is my studio. I choose to treat them as artifacts, in all their imperfections, and I appreciate when I seea similar sentiment to that in museums and galleries. This idea of mine is growing and expanding, so more on that later! In the meantime get to the MFA and the Phillip's Collection if you'd like to see some real, honest to goodness paint!