Come see my work at the two-person exhibition coming up this April. The work is up on April Fool's Day (the Universe handed that one to me, see the show statement below), April 1 - May 6, 2019. The reception will take place on Thursday, April 11th, 5:00 pm in the Rouse Company Foundation Gallery in HVPA building on Howard Community College's campus, in Columbia Maryland! Please note: this is the BIG gallery, and was therefor, a chance for me to make BIGGER work. I will be having an artist talk on April 12th am, but more details on that will be forthcoming...

Shana R. Goetsch & Danielle N. Garzelloni

Bats in Belfries, refers to an old colloquialism which presents bats as an allegory for mental illness. It relates architecture or structures to that of the mind’s own framework. In related histories, both artists have experienced unexpected, physical confrontations with bats inside their homes. If a house or building is seen as a symbol for the Self, what is it like to discover the bat inside the Self? To be inhabited by the bat? Terror, repulsion, exhilaration, fear, wonder, surprise? The nature of the work is layered in psychology and Jungian archetypes, paying particular attention to the Shadow and the Trickster.

WIP piece

A little bit more about my work

Primarily sourced from the series “Spit Fire”, the work deals with base emotions, aspects of power and control, and an influx of Trickster energy being experienced through that of the Animus. Fire, antagonism, unmitigated rage, and trauma emerge through the dualities of the image and its shadow, as well as the written word. 

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I know it's a hike, but I could set up some ride-shares to Columbia, if need be...I would LOVE to see you at the opening! Artist Alfonso Fernandez (MFA Hoffberger) is showing down the hall, on the same night, so it's a twofer of great #micamade exhibitions! 

Bats in Belfries at HCC

Upcoming 'FYE: Empathy' Student Exhibition! December 8th!

In this shared exhibition, FYE students in both Forum (with professor Goetsch), and Drawing: Tradition & Innovation (with professor Fernandez Vazquez) approach the subject of Empathy from differing perspectives within their artmaking. Participants actively gathered source materials for this challenge: "embarrassing" objects and "broken" objects, and/or old artworks deserving of another chance. By using "elevator speeches" to facilitate collaboration and interest, they ultimately generated acts of empathy for their found materials. Each artist has taken significant creative risks within their choices, thoughts, and actions in order to search for context, communication, and connectivity in their work.

Major Concepts include: ALCHEMY!

Context & Content, Visual Communication & Narrative, The Economy of Visual Language, Emotional Vampirism in Artists, Ethics in the Art World, Kintsugi (gold joinery), and Wabi Sabi, among other topics, such as Shame, Privilege, and the difference between having Sympathy and having Empathy.

Shared Curricula Resources 

"Brene Brown On Empathy", RSA Short

"Picasso's weapon against fascism: Why 'Guernica' is the greatest of all war paintings", Salon.com article

Paul Rucker's 2014 exhibition, "The Empathy Project", MICA's Riggs & Leidy Gallery

"Pain and Sympathy", Art 21, William Kentridge

"The Life of Death" student film by Marsha Onderstijn

Please join us, in celebrating our students, on the evening of Saturday December 8th! Hope to see you!

Been a Minute...

Yeah, I am getting worse and worse at remembering to post things on here. My apologies. Here's a recap:

So recently: Faculty exhibition at MICA

Before that: Sold this piece to my former student

Before that: My first time participating in the School 33 Open Studio Tour

Spring & Summer Shows

As usual, I am a day late and a dollar short on documenting the exhibitions I'm in...

This photo was taken during the reception for the juried show, The Modern Landscape, at RedLine Milwaukee in June. It is a very far away image of my two, tiny pieces you can see in the middle there, right above that person's head-- courtesy of Jake Hill.

And this photo is from the Faculty Exhibition at Howard Community College, which is still up! My mandalas are in the middle.

Earlier this spring was the exhibition Our Words Will Be Heard, at the Modell-Lyric in Baltimore. Here's a photo of me in front of my work, at the opening reception!

That's it for right now, Cheers!

"Our Words Will Be Heard" Exhibition!

Coming up, next week at the Modell-Lyric! Stop by and see some great work from kiddo artists, and some adult artists too, like me! ;)

OOPS

I entirely forgot to post photos of my WORK, from my last exhibition. Here are just a few, I took these at the Healing Fair in September...from Come As You Are...

Mailed!

Today I mailed this off to Arkansas to the Dead Bird Mail Art show...

...first time in a very long while that I have done some mail art, it was macabre Victorian fun! Plus there's a quote from a song I've been listening to recently. Anyway, it's mailed, BOOM.

Wrapping Up This (Crap) Year!

I am happy to welcome a new year soon, and I'll have a bit more time next semester to make my art. I have a big exhibition scheduled in 2019, so I will be working on that, and checking on another artists' work to compliment mine in the show, over the holiday break. I have some fun "building" to do, some work with architectural details as well as getting back into drawings.

I know this is a rather anti-climactic send-off to the year, but honestly....up yours, 2017.

Exhibitiony Stuff

THE BEST PHOTO...

Photo by Rob Clatterbuck, from the opening night of the exhibition, "Come As You Are: The Spectrum of Vulnerability" at Creative Alliance at the Patterson, August 2017. Incidentally, I had just gotten done crying a little. It was an emotional night. I was actually watching my friend/curator, Allison Gulick, watch me cry on the screen and it was a little too meta for my tastes. Hit me like a ton of bricks, and I fled the scene for about a minute, and had a run-in with an old lady in the hallway who asked me if I was meditating. I sucked it up and replied, "Yes ma'am, I'm 'meditating'" and came back into the gallery, where the photographer caught me with this. I can't say that I'm at all mad at the result, and now I have a lasting memory of that particular string of moments. This is an honest photograph.

On an even better note: I just found out this week that I now have an exhibition lined up at HCC's RCFG (the big gallery) for Spring of 2019! WOOHOO!

Artist Talk THIS Saturday, 9/30/17

Join me at the Artist Talk this Saturday at 4pm!

UPDATE! Tomorrow! Catch Me On Sofie's Parlor!

ETA: The original date was rescheduled!

Tomorrow! I was invited by the incredible Brenda Hayes, whom will be subbing on August 16th, guests will be singer/songwriter/activist Maimouna Youssef and ME! Tune in 3-5pm WPFW locally or streaming online at www.wpfwfm.org.

Sofie's Parlor is the longest running radio show for and about women! 

Here's the archive link for the show!:  http://archive.wpfwfm.org/mp3/wpfw_170816_150000jjsophie.mp3

The Big Show 2017!

I have one of my pieces in The Big Show at the Creative Alliance again this year...my piece is still available for purchase: only $150!

While I was there I also picked up a nice stack of postcards for the show in August! I am the red slice, because duh.

Come As You Are: The Spectrum of Vulnerability

Exhibition

I'd like to invite you to see my work at the Creative Alliance, on August 26th (main gallery)!

 "The eight artists in Come As You Are: The Spectrum of Vulnerability offer their individual vignettes and artwork as evidence of their personal struggles and the power of resiliency. Working in a variety of traditional and non-traditional media, the artwork addresses essential themes of the human condition and moves beyond individual perspectives and particular stigmatizations."

I'll have some older work to show, some newer work that has only been seen by about 30 people, and one piece that has never been shown in public (!). You'll get a real wealth of my guts in this showing! Tempting, amiright??? ;)

What: Come As You Are: The Spectrum of Vulnerability

Where: The Creative Alliance, Baltimore MD 
When: August 26 - September 30, 2017
Reception on August 26, 6-8pm

CTP

Something that seems adjacent to my art practice, but is really much more integrated, is my relationship with trauma. I had some extra time this semester and paid for something I really wanted and really needed. I took a series of five classes which resulted in a Certified Trauma Practitioner (CTP-Clinical) designation. I received the certification from The National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children yesterday, but completed my work on Mother's Day. Kismet.

How this will work into my community arts practice will be another story, but for now I am very proud and content with how far I have come.

All for you, mom...

The Angsty Arts

Watercolors, for peace of mind (just a few of the many postcard size pieces I have been making lately)...