striving for Freddie Mercury

I recently had the pleasure of sitting and talking with Kiera Miller Hodlik about making art, making a career while raising kids, and my, possibly unattainable, goal of making paintings that feel like what it must have felt like to watch Freddie Mercury perform.

Kiera was an pleasure to be interviewed by; prepared, comfortable, and insightful.  She was limited by a tight word count and wasn’t able to squeeze in a lot of what we talked about, but I am honored and impressed by the meaty article she put together.  Here it is:

Counsel Langley, painting like Freddie Mercury sang

where i have been

I haven’t posted in a very long time.  I haven’t had any desire to.  And, I’ll tell you why.   I am pregnant.

Pregnancy changes the system.  Chemically.  Your scope of the world shifts.  The intensity remains as strong, you just begin to operate on short-wave rather than long distance.  I think this may be what some call nesting, but I feel it is more fundamental than that.  One’s desire to broadcast decreases, and one’s reactions to information taken in is dampened.  Simply shifting interests from shouting into the wind to impacting the immediate.  This is where I’ve been.  At home.  Limiting my range, although not the strength of my output.

Despite, the very real results of these internal changes they are only a shift of focus; they have shades of effect on tendencies.  I remain actively working and exhibiting.  And, am very appreciative of those who are interested.  With that in mind I’m about to dish out a bit of a round-up of what I’ve been up to.  Please, bear with me as I catch up all at once; as I say less than I am thinking.  Like I said, my broadcast mode has been installed with a governor for the time being.

There was this great post at Beautiful/Decay.  Thank you Amir.  (I’ve been watching this blog for some time, and Amir’s posts consistently catch my eye and often take my breath away–it was an honor to discover his post about my work.)

And, another by a fabulous collector/lady I like:  The highlight of my day.

There were two three-person shows that I was honored to be a part of.  These shows went up back to back, one in October the second in November, and were packed with stunning work.   Both groups were thoughtfully brought together.  It was a great pleasure for me, as they each drew out quite different aspects that are present in my work.

The first show was shared with Gala Bent and Sharon Arnold, (so) Much (too) little, was at Northwind Arts Center.

About a year ago NAC invited me to have a show with them.  They asked that it be a two or three person show and I immediately began thinking about who I would like to invite.  Gala and Sharon came to mind quickly and I can’t say how delighted I am that the both agreed.  Our work is not immediately visually similar, which is exactly what I wanted for this show.  The places where we  overlap lies below and is rich territory:  repetition, pattern, and a reach for balance of geometry and control with fluid natural phenomenon is present in all of our work.  This is spiced with a serious crush on science and the approach of asking or why/how/what do we do and where do with do it, plus a healthy dose of storytelling.

Foreground left, painting by Langley, foreground right, drawing with ribbons by Gala Bent; background left, two peeks of Langley paintings and background right four from Sharon Arnold’s 1:1 series

Three framed works by Gala Bent, with one feathered Langley

Sharon Arnold’s Gutted

Far back wall work by Gala Bent, with Langleys to either side.

Emerald discussing Sharon Arnold’s work 1:1
About which she says, “I like that so little material was just pretty much transformed into awesomeness.”

The other show is still happening at Artisans on Taylor; it will be up until the end of November.  This time, grouped with Ollie Glatzer and Shellee Miggins.  The title You, Me & Geometry let’s you know that the primary focus is our shared love of geometry, which is strongly present in all our work, but also allows for a nod to oddly human interactions with structures, forms and how we use them to build relationships.  There are a ton of installation views and shots from the opening here.

There was also the realization that the daily photo habit I have going over at A Year of Days, has truly become just that.  A habit.  I no longer experience days of ‘ack, I’ve gotta take a picture!’  It just seems to happen.  Here’s some recent favorites:

This shot of an orchard at Finnriver Farm ended up gracing their newsletter.

Oh, and one other thing:  We have had the absolute most stunningly beautiful fall.

tiger burn

Saw this on the way to an opening.

marc giai-miniet

These images via

Marc Giai-Miniet’s work is now wedged firmly at the front of my mind.

profile

future ruins: palette

image via cracktwo
Please do click the link, choosing just one of these images was just about impossible.
They are all stunning, particularly as a group.

The palette and texture of objects that look like future ruins is inspiring me.   A futuristic form or structure worn with the patina of extreme old-old age; rubbed black, white and grey.  Again I love the long stretches:  I’ve worked with extreme scale shifts as if looking through a microscope or a telescope all at once; now am drawn to ancient/future reaches through time.

image via The Coolist
Again, as above, please do click the link, these images are all haunting and beautiful.

image via The Coolist
Definitely worth the link click; all interesting images, but this time only this one feeds my current focus.

back country

A recent piece, 2AM, has gone to the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center to be included in The Back Country.  2AM has been shown in Seattle, but this will be its first Olympic Peninsula outing.  About the show, from PAFAC:

Along with 2009’s Envision Cascadia and last year’s Safe Harbor, The Back Country will complete a trilogy of exhibitions intent on searching for a contemporary identity for this corner of Paradise. Inspired by the 1971 book of the same title by the seminal Cascadian poet Gary Snyder, The Back Country sets out to explore the hinterlands both of the earth and of the mind.

The impending removal of the Elwha River dams brings to the foreground a renewed awareness of the Olympic back country that will again be open to returning salmon runs. Trees, peaks and fast water will certainly play a major role in the art that finds its way into the show.

But what of other back countries? Where are the wild lands of the psyche and the intellect? What untamed corners might be turned up in the political landscape? Are there remote island refuges in the turbulent economic seas?

The Back Country
July 10 – October 9
Opening Reception July 10 from 2pm to 4pm

at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center
1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
Port Angeles, WA 98362
360.457.3532
www.pafac.org

Contributing artists:

Mitchell Albala, David Berger, Michael Berman, Jean-Marie Clarke, David Eisenhour, Karen Hackenberg, Newell Hunter, Bob Kaune, Suzanne Lamon, Alan Lande, Counsel Langley, Peter Malarky, Jeremy Mangan, Holly Martz, Pablo McLoud, Michael Paul Miller, Randall Page, Polly Purvis, Erik Sandgren, Tom Schworer, Ken Smith, Jeffree Stewart, Sharon Strauss, Christian Swenson, Harry von Stark, Charlotte Watts, Eva Skold Westerlind, Anna Wiancko-Chasman, Steve Wilson, Helga Winter, Dave Woodcock, Suze Woolf

the zoo

The first time I was taken to a zoo I cried.  The cages were small, barred squares with cement with drains in the center.  The animals’ misery and pacing mild insanity was clear to see.

Even at a lovely zoo like the Woodland Park Zoo I can’t quite shake the fact that it is all still just a series of cages.  If it meant I never got to see them and they forever got to be wild I’d have it that way.  But, there it is and there they are, so gorgeous and fascinating.  So we go.  And really have a rather good time.  Crying only over the incessant bad jokes people feel inclined to make at a zoo.

It is also possible that I have missed my calling as a natural history museum display/diorama creator.  I love the odd, earnest, dim lit, humble theater of these things.

filter literary journal

Filter III cover, designed by Kate Fernandez

Filter Vol. III has arrived. This 3rd issue of the entirely handmade journal is a box of wonder:

The cover has a paint-by-numbers theme, and the box structure is letterpress printed by Kate Fernandez of Fernandez and Sons (I absolutely adore this image). The book will be filled with brilliant work in individually bound chapbooks of prose and poetry, with art postcards and posters that you can remove and display.

the contents of Filter III, as seen from above

About Filter Literary Journal:

“Filter is a literary journal made entirely by hand. Each issue contains erasures and other literary art alongside unaltered poetry, fiction and visual art. Filter seeks to represent the work it holds on a visceral level, so that the book is as carefully crafted as the poetry, fiction and art that it contains.”

There are many things I love about Filter, including:  the slow deliberate process of the handmade, which results in an object of sheer beauty and strong physicality; that it is its own record of the intense labor that went into creating it; the cross discipline inclusion of literary and visual art; and, possibly above all, that it “seeks to represent the work it holds on a visceral level.”  Filter is a rare treasure.

I am honored to contribute artwork to Filter for the second time. This time around my presence in Filter is in the form of recent painting, Dusk, which is included as a poster which can be removed and displayed!  This is especially cool since the original painting has very quickly gone off to a good home, so I’m super happy that the piece will get this ‘bonus round’ as a poster.

Dusk, acrylic, ink, graphite, paper, 30 x 30″ completed in 2011

FILTER RELEASE PARTY!

Friday, June 17th, 8p.m.at the Fremont Abbey, 4272 Fremont Ave North, Seattle, WA 98103

An evening of readings from Zachary Schomburg, John Osebold, Stacey Levine, Maged Zaher, Karen Finneyfrock, Ed Skoog, Elizabeth Colen, Elissa Washuta, Susan Rich and Sarah Bartlett.  Freshly letterpressed copies of the book will be available for purchase.  Bring cash or checks to buy copies.

Tickets for the Filter release party are on sale now through Brown Paper Tickets:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/178844

Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door, and $5 for students and seniors.

Can’t make it to the party but still want a book?  You can find them on tickerfinch.etsy.com

The Filter folks will be posting videos and photos of the Filter making process on their blog:  http://filterlit.blogspot.com/

The contributors in Filter III are:

Yusef Komunyakaa, Zachary Schomburg, Stacey Levine, Amanda Manitach, Maged Zaher, Sharon Arnold, Martha Silano, John Osebold, Rebecca Brown, Counsel Langely, Ed Skoog, Karen Finneyfrock, Sean Ennis, Sarah Mangold, Gala Bent, Rachel Contreni Flynn, David Lasky, Elizabeth Colen, Sandra & Ben Doller, Brandon Shimoda, Ben Beres, Brandon Downing, Sarah Kate Moore, Dan Rosenberg, Susan Rich, Susan Denning, Sid Miller, Sarah Bartlett, Shawn Vestal, Marie-Caroline Moir, Lucy Corin, Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, Jill McDonough, Jessica Goodfellow, Jessica Bonin, Friedrich Kerksieck , Erika Wilder, Elissa Washuta, David Bartone, Chris Dusterhoff, Britt Ashley, Becca Yenser, Anne Gorrick

outtakes 6

Outtakes 5
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Outtakes 3
Outtakes 2
Outtakes 1
A Year of Days