This is an archived copy of the {news and the muse} letter that went out to subscribers on October 18, 2024.

Hello dear one,

Did you know? I’m having a show!!

One Friday in late September, I loaded my car with 28 pieces of art (mostly painting, but also assemblage), and drove through the twisty roads under a rainbow of changing leaves to drop it all off for a two-month solo show.

It’s called RE•CLAIM and it’s at the Grassroots Gallery within the New Dawn Arts Center located at 84 Main Street in Ashburnham, MA. It runs October 1 – November 30. I am so, so pleased with the space and how the show came out.

As usual, skip on past the waxing and waning about show preparations until you see pictures if you want to get straight to the facts of the matter.

There is always such relief and sadness in the clearing space of releasing a show. 

The first days that follow, I am out for the count on the couch, and then the next days, I go through a cleaning frenzy, before eventually returning to normalcy and wondering what next within about a week.

The month leading up to it is pure insanity… seeing to the framing, the building, the stories of each and every piece, the wiring, the varnish, the titles, the pricing, the millions of final touches. I’m naturally a chaotic and messy being, but I’m also a Virgo rising, so there is a piece of me that is fastidious when it comes to work and project life. 

It makes for an interesting prep month. 

From the outside, artwork large and small floats around everywhere (and I do mean EVERYWHERE!), in piles that (I know) are finished, or still need signatures, or need wire, or aawaiting the last layers of paint, or need clamping, or have just been started. 

There are staging areas for staging areas, and each day I’m lifting heavy artwork to move it around this way or that. It looks like pure madness, but it is all functioning within a specific, intuitively shifting system that only I know. 

At the same time, in my computer, I have checklists upon checklists upon checklists. Internal checklists that make sure I have everything prepped, and external checklists that include things like dimensions and prices and titles and materials and pricing and year made. It’s all exact and precise and I’m looking to make sure absolutely nothing goes missing.

And then I drop it off, and it’s all out of sight, and in my exhaustion, I forget… now is the time to share what I did! 

Because the point of all of it (beyond the doing and the making, which has its own internal satisfaction) is really the sharing! I LOVE to share my artwork and see it for the first time through other people’s eyes!

So, I’m emailing today to tell you when and where you can find the work if you are local! Plus there are a couple other news things I wanted to share with you.

I’m also working on a webpage about the show for those of you who cannot see it live, so that you can still get the experience of seeing the work and reading the stories, as well as a blog about why in the world I put myself through the intensity of putting together a show. I’ll share that in a newsletter in November.

Now Showing!

RE•CLAIM: A Solo Show

Now on display! 28 original pieces of artwork: most brand new, most created with reclaimed wood and building materials!

Visit the Grassroots Gallery (ground floor) within the New Dawn Arts Center.

84 Main Street
Ashburnham, MA

Open Tuesday-Saturday 9-6 and Sundays 10-2.

The show runs October 1 – November 30.

The NDAC is a quintessential New England style converted church, which is quickly turning into *the* place for creative community in Ashburnham, MA.

They host poetry readings, open mics, art workshops, community fundraising meetings, piano concerts, and much, much more.

There is also a sweet little produce shop called Spice & Grain located on the ground floor if you want some fresh fruit or a bit of gourmet chocolate while you’re there.

More pictures and a designated spot on my website for those who can’t attend in person coming next month.

Reminder: Archival Prints

Papernoten

Thank you to all who purchased prints through Papernoten, an Astoria-based small business devoted to creativity and the arts community! 

I’m so pleased to share that there are now six varieties available to shop online. These are 12×12 inches and very high quality, ready for standard or custom framing. 

Perfect for a spotlight piece, or a small grouping… a treat for yourself, or a gift to the tree lover in your life.

Shop the collection here. And while you’re there, check out awesome books, greeting cards, and more by fellow artists!

Juried Group Show

Flora & Fauna

I’m so happy to share that the piece on the left, “In Bursts and Fragments,” was juried into the Flora & Fauna show at the Mary Cosgrove Dolphin Gallery located within the Ghosh Center at Worcester State University.

The show runs October 24-December 14, with an opening reception on Thursday, Oct. 24 from 4-7 pm.

486 Chandler St
Worcester, MA

Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Friday 11 – 5; Saturdays 1 – 5 or by appointment

Small Works 2024 + Podcast Planning

Two things: unrelated.

One (Looking Ahead): 

I’m participating in the ArtsWorcester Small Works Members’ Exhibition, which has traditionally included small pieces (max 10x10x10 inches) by 150+ artists just in time for the holiday season. That show opens November 14.

Two (Dreaming Big): 

I’ve been planning and plotting an interview-style podcast for years… wanting to offer an unedited, unscripted way to get to know artists and creative folks.

It’s everything I wish I could have shared in my days of journalism… the behind-the-scenes background of information that got curated and boiled down to fit into a few hundred words. Plus a healthy dose of where and how the arts intersect with activism that I didn’t get to insert into my journalism practice.

I’m calling it Artist. Maker. Revolutionary.

I can feel strongly that the time is finally getting closer to make it and launch it… so I want to put out feelers… and reveal the cover art for the podcast (above) as it looks right now.

I’m looking to talk with people about how devoting a life to creative practice changes everything. This doesn’t mean full-time professional practice. It truly means devotion, not financial sustenance.

If you are interested in being interviewed, or you know someone else who I should interview, please use my website contact me page or email me at alana@ofloveandlight.org and let me know. I’d love to start assembling a list and be interviewing people by the new year, if not before. (I’ve already got one episode recorded, thanks to impromptu talks during a hike with a fabulous human earlier this year!)

That’s it for now. I’ll be back next month with more about the show and the podcast and anything else that may come up between now and then.

As always, THANK YOU for reading and for welcoming my words and images into your inbox. I appreciate you more than you can ever know. Feel free to forward this to a friend, and until next time…

Sign up for your own copy of {news and the muse} as it comes out!

If you enjoy this type of longer-form content (part news, part muse, part essay)… and you want discounts and first dibs on all the art and workshops and creative fun, you can subscribe here. 

I would LOVE to have you!