New Painting

Hi Friends,
I finished this painting a few weeks ago and have been letting it sit. It is bittersweet that I sold it yesterday and it has already left my studio. It's in a better place now, and I just went and bought myself a lot of canvas and paint.

A Cairn Out West 24" x 30" Oil on Canvas. 2011

I'm excited for winter hibernation and lots of painting.

On a Roll

I had been working on this painting for about a month, and I thought it was finished when it looked like this:

I put it away for a week or two and when I looked at it again it just seemed SO busy. It stressed me out - not what I am going for in my paintings. So I made a few big decisions and out came:

Across the Bowl, 24" x 30" Oil on canvas. 

I feel good. Working away on a few more canvases which I'm just as excited about. I'll keep you updated...

Studio Tour and Open Studios

Greeting friends! 

At the end of June I moved out of my old studio...

...and into a new one! 

Ah yes...heaven! Bigger, brighter, more wallspace, clean, organized, and best of all, smack dab in the middle of the biggest (and coolest) artist building on the North Shore - the Studios at Porter Mill!  (I'm also the manager there!)

Walking into the studio I have a number of small works hanging up.

My larger paintings (finished and in progress) are hung on the longest wall of the studio, which I can step back from. *BONUS* I sold the painting in the middle during the Open Studios!

My big, awesome palette - and my brick wall view!

My "sit down" workspace where I work on smaller drawings and paintings.  Also - a lot of inspirational photos and "rejects" are hung on the wall. This is right next to my little office area - lucky me!

Below are a few images of the studio space, and a few from the Open Studios at Porter Mill that happened on Saturday September 24th. It was a blast! And don't worry if you missed it, there's another one coming up on December 3rd.

In my studio at the beginning of the event.

If you'd like to see more images from the Open Studios, including the Gallery Reception, check out the Studios at Porter Mill Blog!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Thrill of it All...

I've been making some small paintings.

I am also making a raisin.

I'll see you this Saturday right?

Open Studios and Grand Opening Celebration at Porter Mill

Saturday, September 24th 2:00pm - 8:00pm

95 Rantoul Street Beverly MA 01915

95 Rantoul Street, Beverly MA - Porter Mill, the newest artist studio building on the North Shore is pleased to announce it’s first Open Studios and Grand Opening Event! On Saturday, September 24th, from 2:00pm – 8:00pm the doors of this renovated 19th century factory will be open to the public. Over twenty-five artists will be in their studios from 2:00pm – 6:00pm to display and answer questions about their newest ceramics, illustrations, paintings, photographs, letterpress prints and more! Afterwards, beginning at 6:00pm, we welcome you to the first floor Gallery at Porter Mill for an opening reception of an exhibition displaying works of art by each of the thirty artists at Porter Mill. Enjoy art, live music by SWAY, beverages and refreshments.  Please join us for a lively day celebrating the North Shore’s newest artist community. Free and open to the public.

Participating artists:

Sandy Belock-Phippen, Jessica Michelson Berger, Laura Clark, Ivy Dever, Randi Dubnick, Heather Dubnick, Danielle Dugan, Jordan Elquist, Ken Goldstrom, Melissa Gruntkosky - Pressbound, Andrew Houle, Adam Kalogy - Kolodziej Violins, Jason Lapham, Tan Lau, Michelle Kenna, Jon Madden, Siobhan McDonald, Bea Modisett, Lisa Neville, Chris O'Brien, Mary O'Malley, Anne Pofcher, Jesse Potwin, Katharine Shairs - Phillips, Jacob Thomas, Jennifer Toler, Jim Vaughey, Angela Yarian, Adam Ziskie

Contact Bea Modisett at studios.portermill@gmail.com with any questions and visit our Facebook invite for more information! 

95 Rantoul Street, Beverly MA 01915,

  www.studiosatportermill.blogspot.com

Image Credit: Mary O'Malley, Ken Goldstrom, Sandy Belock-Phippen, Laura Hazard Clark

Interview with Lydia Gordon

I hope you will take a minute to check out my interview with Lydia Gordon, Lending Artist Coordinator with the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum's Corporate Art Loan Program. Thanks Lydia!

Sneak Peak!

(can you spot two of my paintings?)

I hope to see some of you tonight at the Opening Reception for X! 

Kingston Gallery

450 Harrison Avenue, Boston

August 3rd through August 28th

Opening Reception: August 5th 6pm - 8pm

Save the Date!

Bea Modisett @ Kingston Gallery

X: 2011 Associate Members' Exhibition

August 3 through 28, 2011

Opening Reception: First Friday, August 5, 6-8pm

I am nervous and excited to be a part of a First Friday Festivity!!! Oh won't you please, please be there? I will be exhibiting some new, never exhibited before paintings. (There are a lot of other cool shows opening that night too.)

I love you!

The Wall

Well hello there friend! Take a look see at the progression of my most recent "out of the studio" project. My first ever mural. Biggest lesson learned: there is no room for subtlety in an outdoor mural on a cement wall. 

Know what is weird? I can see the mural from my studio window - hopefully I can fight off feelings to want to constantly change things as I tend to do with my paintings. Or maybe it can be an evolving mural? Like I go out every night and just add one or two marks and see if anyone notices when it's completely different by this time next year? Maybe.

Let me know you what think ch'all and thanks for reading! 

Hey We're Just Fooling Around!

Today it is raining. Here is a photo of my recent painting but with a TWIST! 

When I work on a painting for a really long time I have a few practices that help to see it anew: 1) Flip it in all different directions, this helps me see areas that I've paid too much attention to, or not enough 2) Take a nap in a chair in front of the painting so it's the first thing I see when I wake up 3) Drink a beer 4) Look at it through a mirror and now...drum roll...5) Make it black and white in Photoshop. 

Rainy day fun comin' atcha! I'll be back soon with a color image once the painting is complete. 

You're the best! Thanks for reading.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! What?

My head is SCATTERED! Here is a painting that I stopped working on about one month ago - does that mean it's finished? That's the question of my life. It feels...crowded. It began as a painting of what I imagined the Pacific Coast Highway would look and feel like. Unfortunately (or not)  I didn't finish it until after I had seen the PCH. So it became a big mash up of imagined and remembered elements of that big, beautiful seaside highway. I'm still reeling with ideas from my road trip. I am painting on a lot of canvases at a time to get all the ideas out...hopefully some clarity will come soon. But probably not. 

 The Imagined Pacific Coast, oil on canvas. 30" x 40". 

 Detail

Detail 

Also, this letter was introduced to me as a senior in college and I still have it printed out and floating around my house for me to find and read when it is most needed. Read it, it will do a body good. 

Upcoming Exhibition

PLAY AT WORK

Curated by Adam Kalogy and Christopher Stepler

(Justin Durand)

17 Cox Art Space 17 Cox Court | Beverly MA | 01915 Opening Reception: Tuesday, April 5 · 5:30pm - 7:30pm Check out the Facebook page for a list of artists. (I'm in great company!)

Artists I Love

It's been a while since an update so I thought I'd let you all in on some of my biggest sources of inspirations. To me there is almost nothing better than coming across a new artist whose aesthetic, approach, ideas, or story jive with my own and inspire me to create something. I feel the same way about travel - something that never ceases to fill my head with ideas.  Here is just a sampling of images I keep in my "inspiration" folder. 

Japanese Landscape Painting

 Leslie Vance

Sigrid Sandström

 Jane Fox Hipple

David Brewster

Paul Gauguin

All of that absorbed into my head, milled around a bit and combined with ideas that come from I don't know where, and then put down in paint makes this:

Piles in the Hallway, 16" x 20". Oil on canvas. 2011

I'd love to know what inspires you! How do you find new artists to love?

That's Outrageous!

Actually, it's Artrageous! Artrageous!25 to be exact, Montserrat College of Art's annual art auction. And I'm pleased as punch to let you know that my drawing Rahda's Garden was juried into the live auction by jurors Destiny Barletta of  Pucker Gallery, Kristen Dodge of DODGE Gallery in New York City and Randi Hopkins of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston.

 

Radha's Garden 30" x 40" Charcoal, pastel and collage. 2009

I will definitely be in attendance on April 30th to watch as people (hopefully) bid on my work. I'm also happy to say that my friends Bradford and Chelsea will have work in the live auction as well. 

Thanks for reading my friends. 

ALSO - I'm updating my link list. If you don't see your name over there and you'd like to, leave a comment with your blog/website URL. 

Studios at Porter Mill

Hi Friends, 

If you've been wondering why I haven't updated in a while I can tell you it's because I have been busy, busy, busy! Yes I've been painting - but I've also recently been hired to manage the Studios at Porter Mill. Porter Mill is and old factory building in Beverly MA - first inhabited in 1895 - that has had many uses and is now the home of twenty two artist studios.  Formerly the RedBrick Art Center, Porter Mill is poised once again to be a center of creative energy north of Boston. We are making a number of improvements on the building to ensure the best possible experience for our artists - Studios at Porter Mill is slated to open May 1st, 2011. Big plans include having the studios brimming with activity, gallery exhibitions, a print lab, public lectures, master classes, demos, film screenings and more! 

If you live on the North Shore and are in need of a studio space this could be the place for you! Contact me with any questions or if you would like to tour the building. I promise to begin posting again more regularly once I get into the swing of things - I have two paintings that are nearing completion, so stay tuned!

Fan us on Facebook! 

Time is Running Out!

Kingston Gallery will be hosting a closing reception for Dialogues on Sunday, January 30th at 3pm - won't you join us? While you're at it you can check out all of the other wonderful exhibitions that were up this month at 450 Harrison, it's a great way to spend a Sunday. I promise. You'll also get to see my painting The White Mountains: Remembered.

What a treat. 

Thanks for reading, 

Bea

Books, Magazines, Art Supplies, More Books, Paintings...

Hi Friends, 

I haven't finished a painting in about six months. Oh, I've been working. I've been working like crazy. Pretty much all day, everyday (except when I was doing this) I just couldn't seem to get to that point where I felt like a painting was resolved, it was okay, but not. quite. there. Do you know what I mean? I've made the analogy that I feel like a vulture, I keep circling, and circling, and circling. I can see it (the resolution/prey*) I just can't get it!  Well, I'm happy to say (in one case) I finally got it...and I ate it. And here it is:

Piles in the Hallway, 16" x 20". Oil on Canvas. 2010.

And it's entrails:

 

I think one of the reasons I've been having a hard time finishing a painting is a lack of conversation. Want to come visit?  I take criticism well and have been known to offer visitors fun drinks and hilarious jokes. Think about it. I'd be happy to visit your studio as well. 

Thanks for listening friends. 

*Now, now, you don't think I'm saying that finishing a painting is all I care about do you? Because I'm not...it's the journey not the destination, but closure is good too. 

Just the Numbers

Thirty days

Twenty-six states

Two countries

Two coasts

Eight thousand miles (total including the Zephyr, buses and detours)

Sixty-seven hours in the car

Fifty-two hours on a train

Eleven hours on buses

Four time zones

Four cell phones (drama)

One lost credit card

Nineteen tanks of gas (Sorry Mama Nat)

Twenty blog posts (Twenty-one if you include this one)

Seventy-six pounds of luggage (including camping equipment)

One thousand five hundred and thirty four photos

Six videos

Zero car problems (including speeding/parking tickets, flat tires, running out of gas, etc)

A million memories (awwwww)

One happy camper (me!)

I also stood at the lowest point of elevation in North America, crossed over the Continental Divide, stood at the one hundredth Meridian West, hung out at the highest point of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and probably passed over a few other imaginary lines along the way. 

Big thanks to Eli, PJ and Heath, Jen and Bre, Chase, Nate, Samantha and Andy and Laura for your couches, beds and aero-mattresses.

Thanks for coming along for the ride!