“Fireweed Field” selected for Alaska Contemporary Art Bank
I just found out that my painting “Fireweed Field” was one of only 22 paintings selected for purchase by the Contemporary Art Bank in its most recent cycle of acquisition. The Contemporary Art Bank was created by the Alaska State Council on the Arts in 1975 to address two primary concerns: to expose more Alaskans to high quality work by contemporary Alaskan artists through the provision of outstanding art to public offices throughout Alaska, and to provide support to professional artists in Alaska through purchase of their work.
Here is the painting! I’m framing it and sending it to Anchorage at the end of the month!
I submitted 6 images for consideration at the beginning of the year and received news that 2 of my paintings had made it into the second round last month. Then on Monday, I got news that “Fireweed Field” was picked as one of 22! Whew, I am rattled now that I found out how selective the process was! Here is what I was told in the email:
The selection process was extremely competitive; we received 901 submissions and were only able to select 22 pieces for purchase. Please know that being one of the 85 pieces that advanced to the second round of review is a significant accomplishment in and of itself! Many of the jurors noted that all of the works from round two would have been great additions to the collection, so we strongly encourage you to apply again in the future.
Being selected is so encouraging and affirming. It gives me confidence that I might be heading in the right direction, and that I should continue to follow my nose. When you are a visual artist, especially with the landscape, you must work to find your way through the literal beauty to some kind of personal view and perspective. Painters are not photographers, I am not trying to copy what I see, but I do try to find something real about what I am seeing that I can use in the painting. It’s a really hard, intellectually and emotionally to work through to that truth. (What you see is only the final layer of pigment, there are many revisions and changes under that top layer of opacity!)
“Tree Rhythms,” 24″ x 18″, acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, ($395) made it into the second round is below, it is available now at Kaill’s.
Thank you for visiting!
