2015 – Page 6 – Deidre Adams

Composition IV – Sold!

Composition IV, 42 x 42 inches, acrylic paint on stitched textile. ©Deidre Adams

Just a quick one today, to celebrate some good news.

I had a lovely trip to Portland last week to attend the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) Fiberlandia conference in Portland. It was fun to see old friends again and meet some new ones. The presentations were all quite excellent, but the standouts for me were hearing Namita Gupta Wiggers talk about the position of the quilt in the context of history and the larger art world. She definitely got me thinking about trying some new directions in my work, one of which would be to consider working at a much larger scale. I tend to work within a narrow range of sizes, mostly due to the convenience of shipping and storage. But Namita made me see how working bigger could open up some new opportunities.

Maria Shell also gave a great talk on researching and applying for grant opportunities. I’ve had that on my to-do list for a long time, but for some reason always find other obligations more pressing. And still, I’m thinking, when I get done with X, Y, and Z, I’ll get right on that!

Then I had a great time exploring Portland, which is my new favorite city.

Yesterday, I received word that Composition IV has sold to Methodist Mansfield Medical Center. This piece has always been one of my favorites, and I’m so happy it has found a new home. Now, off to the next adventure – another trip to New York.

May 5th, 2015|Career and focus|5 Comments

That was actually quite fun!

gSomniloquence, 48 x 72 inches, acrylic & mixed media on panel

Last night was the opening reception for “What Lies Beneath,” a two-person show featuring me and artist Kim Gentile. As an introvert, I have to say that as a general rule, standing around for a couple of hours talking to people is not my first choice of entertainment. But last night was great; several friends I’ve not seen in a good long while showed up for it, and lots of people were very interested and asked me about the work. I have been making these long enough now that I’m quite comfortable talking about my process and inspirations, and no longer get that deer-in-the-headlights feeling that used to wash over me when someone would ask me about my work.

I got to meet Kim Gentile, the artist who painted these beautiful, lyrical abstract oils. I love her color sense and the balance between freedom and structure she achieves in her paintings. Go see some better photos of her work here.

And, icing on the cake – one piece has already sold! I’m so grateful to Point Gallery for giving me this opportunity!

April 4th, 2015|Exhibitions|5 Comments

Sometimes things have a way of falling into place

It’s been so long since I’ve written a blog post, I’ve almost forgotten how to do it. With all the other things we as artists must do to keep our work in front of people, like posting on Facebook and sending newsletters, and so on and so forth, it sort of feels to me like everyone already knows what’s going on in my world, and I don’t want to make it all about ME, ME, ME all the time! But if ever there was a good reason to do a blog post, I have one at this very moment, and it is: Hey, everybody, I have a gallery now! And a two-person show with artist Kim Gentile, opening on April 3.

After a long and rather less than optimal experience in this realm, the details with which I shall not bore you, the reversal in my fortunes was unexpected and swift. If you would like to know how I accomplished this, I would have to say I’m certainly no expert. The ways and motivations of gallery owners are variable and mysterious. But I will say this: Having a good inventory of finished work ready to go is unquestionably a strong factor in one’s favor. Having a complete physical portfolio with images, bio, resumé, and price list ready to go at a moment’s notice is also critical. The time between when I had the first phone conversation to the actual time of the meeting would not have been long enough to pull all of this together. It also helped that I had visited this gallery many times and had a friendly relationship with the curators, so asking them if they would take a look at my work wasn’t nearly as daunting a prospect as a total cold call would have been.

So yay, that’s it, then. I hope all of my Denver-area friends can make it to the exhibition. Details:

What Lies Beneath
Deidre Adams & Kim Gentile

April 3-25, 2015
Artist reception April 3, 6-9 pm

Point Gallery
765 Santa Fe Dr.
Denver, Colorado

A few other things did happen between last September and now: A book cover, art going to the U.S. Embassy in Albania, a show or two, and other good stuff.

My studio newsletter has all the details. If you’d like to sign up for future editions (they aren’t terribly frequent, so no worries of me overloading your inbox), there’s a form at the right.

March 21st, 2015|Exhibitions|6 Comments