Our pieces in the TAG show: Side Conversation and Liminal #1. These were made by my co-collaborator Liz Kalloch and me during our New Ground residency this summer.
What an extraordinary time in the Bay Area a couple of weekends ago! The TAG pop-up show was such a blast and a huge success. Joyce Conlon did a fantastic job curating the exhibition and the walls were pure eye candy! I loved watching people walk the rooms and take in (and respond to!) the artwork, asking great questions along the way. It was a wonderful evening and a spectacular personal experience.
For me, one of the highlights of participating in a group show is developing relationships with the other artists ~ and standing side-by-side with them in the gallery (with all the trepidation, excitement, and anticipation that comes with exhibiting one's soul work) while sharing our creative stories (the good, the bad, the ugly, the ups and downs, the techniques that worked and didn't, and everything swirling about in between!). This group was no exception. Talented, funny, curious, open-hearted and open-minded ~ my 48 hours with them I will cherish.
Most of the participating artists: Kimberly Rowe, Joyce Conlon, me, Liz, and Bill Russell.
One of the questions Liz and I got asked most was, "So, how does this collaboration thing work?" And the simple answer is...it just does. Liz and I don't put a lot of effort into the structure of the collaboration. In other words, we don't have regular meetings to establish goals or rules or expectations. There is no pre-nup that outlines who gets what should our collaboration abruptly end. We didn't sign a sacred contract and we didn't do a personality test beforehand. We simply became really good friends and then decided to create something together. We didn't know exactly what that would be but we were both willing to take the journey together.
And that was how New Ground started.
Liz and I have been collaborating together for over a year now and our work has taken us in several directions and on several adventures as we learned (and continue to learn!) how to work with each other and our two mediums. And it was the summer residency, which pulled together all the effort and energy we've put into the collaboration, where things really took off. If you'd like to see more of what we've been doing, head on over to www.NewGroundCollaboration.com and check things out.
Thank you to all who came to the TAG show. You're support, encouragement, and enthusiasm are received with so much gratitude. Liz and I are excited to get back into the studio together again (next month!) and continue to travel down the creative path together.