It's been pretty rainy lately, so the frogs and toads are a bit more visible! I watched a frog quickly hop into a storage shed at USM recently, but this little common toad was slightly more obliging in posing for a portrait when he visited my porch one evening.
More Houseplant Blooms!
I know there've been a lot of posts about my plants lately, but that's because they've been so happy! Here's my Mammillaria bocasana and Uncarina roeoesliana in flower.
Neofinetia Falcata Flowering
I can't take much of the credit for this, but an orchid I bought recently with partially grown flower buds has fully flowered! It's a Neofinetia falcata, which is apparently a very popular houseplant in Japan and was originally cultivated as such in the 1600's. I acquired it on a trip to Bird's Botanicals, a really cool orchid cave in Kansas City.
KCKPL South Branch Gallery Exhibition Press Release
in Articles, Exhibitions
I installed my solo exhibition at the KCKPL South Branch Gallery yesterday evening! USM's Marketing Department was kind enough to issue a press release on it (as well as on other recent shows). Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my digital camera along at installation so all I have is crappy cell phone imagery, but I'll definitely take some better photos before I deinstall.
LSU College of Art & Design Alumni Spotlight Article
in Articles
This was a nice surprise: recently the Louisiana State University College of Art & Design contacted me requesting to write up an Alumni Spotlight on me. Even as massive flooding was happening in the region, the lovely Communications Manager Angela Harwood wrote up this article entitled "Alumni Spotlight: Shelby Prindaville, MFA 2013" to be permanently available online but also to be included in their monthly e-newsletter Quad Mail which is distributed to over 5,000 alumni, friends, and media contacts.
Upcoming: Solo Exhibition at the Kansas Public Library South Branch Gallery
in Exhibitions
I've got a solo exhibition coming up next week! The Kansas City Kansas Public Library has booked me for a show at their South Branch Gallery. The exhibition will be titled Natural Narratives. I will be installing the show on Tuesday, September 6th at 6pm, so I'd probably start visiting it on Wednesday, September 7th despite an official opening date of September 6th.
Exhibition dates: September 6 - November 8, 2016
Location: South Library, 3104 Strong Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66106
Phone: 913-722-7400
Hours: 9-9 Mon-Thur & 9-5 Fri-Sat & 1-5 Sun
Neighborhood Yard Mushrooms
I like to walk to the local farmer's market, and on the way there's this yard that has some interesting fungi. I took some photos!
Summer Beetles
Speaking of houseplants, since most of mine summer outdoors they get frequented by a lot of insect life. Many are non-descript, most are difficult to photograph, but occasionally I manage to digitally capture a few! These two aren't ones gardeners particularly want to see, but hey. They were there, I was there, my camera was there. Behold the green june beetle, Cotinis nitida, and the Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica.
Don't Use the Bank of America Travel Center
I (and several travelers I know) have the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card, because it has no foreign transaction fees which makes it useful for international travel. The credit card is associated with the Bank of America Travel Center, which is advertised as providing double reward points on flights purchased through the Travel Center. I decided to buy my tickets to my art residency this summer at La Maison Verte through the Travel Center to take advantage of the reward points, but when a problem cropped up with part of the flight, Bank of America wouldn't help. Bank of America acts as a third party between you and the airline (much like reserving a car or hotel through a third-party site like Expedia) and everyone pointed fingers at everyone else when the problem arose that cost me a rather high surcharge to fix. I've actually had this third party shenaniganery happen before with a site like Expedia (and learned to book car and hotel rentals directly as well), but in that case I was still able to do a credit card chargeback to fix that problem. In this case, though, because Bank of America is both the vendor and the creditor, they found against my chargeback request as well as my refund request.
The credit card itself is still good for foreign travel, but I won't be using the Bank of America Travel Center to buy plane tickets again. My recommendation is to buy directly from the airlines.
Houseplant Photos!
I've been enjoying the end of the summer by spending more time with my plants. Here are some photos of my flowering plants from the past few weeks! They are, from left to right and top to bottom: Copiapoa hypogaea, Euphorbia platyclada, Gymnocalycium baldianum, Saintpaulia spp., and Senecio jacobsenii. Not pictured due to less impressive and difficult to photograph well flowers (but still appreciated!) are several Aloe and Haworthia spp. Not pictured due to missing the flowering entirely is Echinopsis "Dominos," though it has a second flower bud growing so we may yet get to see it this year!
Upcoming: Boston Children's Museum All Things Animals! Exhibition
in Exhibitions
My stream of good luck continues - I've had two pieces accepted into the curated All Things Animals! exhibition at Boston Children's Museum (the pieces are Temerity and Spirit).
Exhibition dates: September 23 - November 26, 2016
Public event: Date TBD
Location: 308 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210
Hours: Open everyday 10AM–5PM
Phone: (617) 426-6500
I'll update with more information as I learn it!
Global Environmental Problems with Eating Meat
The Washington Post recently covered this topic with some details I didn't know about before - like Denmark considering a tax on all red meat and the fact that of all the nations studied, the US could reduce its health care budget the most by cutting out American consumption of meat due to our country's ridiculous average diet. Check it out!
L'Est Eclair Newspaper Article Reviewing My La Maison Verte Exhibition
in Articles, Residencies
I'm so pleased - L'Est éclair not only chose The Slightest Disturbance as the illustrating artwork in their article about our upcoming exhibition at the Jardin Botanique de Marnay-sur-Seine, but their journalist who attended the show also highlighted my permanent door installation in her follow-up review of the exhibition!
The Jardin Botanique de Marnay-sur-Seine Is Now a Vendor for My Artwork
in Vendors
This is such a nice surprise - the Jardin Botanique (the Botanical Garden) of Marnay-sur-Seine, France, liked my greeting cards so much that they decided to purchase a bunch of them to sell in their gift shop! So there are now multiple locations where you can buy some of my reproductions in person - in downtown Leavenworth, KS, or in Marnay-sur-Seine, France!
Exhibition Photos from La Maison Verte Residency at the Jardin Botanique de Marnay-sur-Seine
Here are a few images from the La Mason Verte June 2016 Artists in Residence Exhibition I had in the Jardin Botanique de Marnay-sur-Seine. My exhibition was entitled Garden Lore. The door, obviously, is permanently installed, and was about 20 feet away from the display area I used for the rest of my pieces. Note how the garden staff tidied up the door's surrounding area for the exhibition and added a permanent sign with my details on it! Two of the photos below (the ones with a bit of an apricot tint) were taken by photographer Abril M. Barruecos.
La Maison Verte Travels Part 6
in Residencies
On Day 24, we went to Paris! We had wanted to catch the 9:46am train, but when we got to the station it was canceled due to the strikes so we had to wait around for an hour to catch the 10:46am one. Due to all the transit and weather issues, we all decided to stay overnight - I was coming back the next day, Ariel was staying another, and Melanie for yet another! We arrived around noon, and the weather was cold with occasional bouts of rain. Melanie and Ariel had to go to a photo processing shop, so we decided to all meet up for drinks at 5pm. I wanted to just wander around a section of the city I'd read had interesting concept stores and a vegan burger bar, so I went there. It was nice to walk around a big city again - it made me nostalgic for when I lived in New York City - but the weather was irregular and the store prices were all very high, and the Airbnb I booked had a check-in at 3pm so I basically poked my head into a few shops, ate a very nice vegan burger and fries, and then tried to figure out where I was staying. I ended up getting a little lost but eventually found the place which while centrally located was itself on a mildly sketchy side street. While I waited for the hostess to come let me in, a guy who presumably lived in a complex next to her building yelled at me in French and seemed like he wanted to fight but I just answered that I didn't speak French and ignored him. He kept yelling and I got the sense it was quite nasty, but since I had no real reaction given that I wasn't actually sure what he was saying, he got bored and wandered off to engage a more responsive audience elsewhere. My hostess then came down and got me, and once in her apartment it was really airy and nice. I dropped off some of my stuff (I didn't need to schlep my toothbrush around for the evening) and went off to meet the other artists. Both their boyfriends happened to be able to be there as well, so it was a nice opportunity to get to know each other better.
The following day I decided to visit the Catacombs. I had been torn as to whether I wanted to commit to doing so, which meant I didn't buy tickets in advance. I therefore had to pay my penance, which was waiting in line for 2 hours. It was very interesting, though, once I got inside and after climbing down 130 stairs, walking the 1.2 miles of mine shaft and ossuary, and then climbing back up 83 stairs, I felt like I got a workout in! I then had lunch at a nearby restaurant, followed by a street crepe, and then I decided that I wanted to see the Eiffel Tower again so I rode the Metro over to it. The Eurocup 2016 is going on this month, and there were a ton of British and Polish fans milling about on the way to the tower. And then I saw - the tower itself had a big inflatable soccer ball hung inside to celebrate as well. After I walked to and from the tower I rode back to the Airbnb, picked up the rest of my stuff, and then went back to Marnay.
The next two days were entirely devoted to working in the studio.
Day 28 was the Fête de la Musique - an annual event celebrating music. I worked in the studio in the morning, but in the evening we all went over to the fête. I made popcorn on the cooktop then added some salt and brought this along with a bottle of wine; the popcorn was a huge hit. I'd previously tried some other dishes, but I now understood the French way of slowly picking at things over the course of several hours so bringing something that stays tasty and is easily sharable yet also not brought by others is the way to go. Ariel and her father Adrian played the guitar and sang a couple songs, and Erica sang a solo, a CAMAC artist did a poetry reading in Mandarin which was then laboriously translated into French by way of English, and a local resident named Cecil DJed. Group songs were also sung by a number of the townspeople, and there was a fair amount of dancing. A little girl gave me some leaves to put in my hair, which I did, and Patricia was so enamored of how it looked on me that she decided we'd all wear the leaves at our reception a few days later.
The next two days were again completely focused on studio work.
Then it was our exhibition day! It felt like it came so fast; I had been working on the door this whole time and we finally installed it the morning of the exhibition. It was nice to have it back in its home again. I spent the day hurrying up and waiting; getting my pieces ready to go but having to wait for the space they were to be installed in to clean up, for instance. Everyone (particularly Guillon, Patricia, and Kinga) was really kind in helping me set up. By 4pm, everything was installed and we all went back to gather the special leaves to put in our hair, clean up, and get dressed. The exhibition opened at 6pm, and Didiot gave a speech. It went well, and Mathilde even bought five of my greeting cards to frame and hang in her properties! I will make a separate post with images from the exhibition.
Upcoming - Juried Animals in Art Exhibition at Mills Pond Gallery
in Exhibitions
I've been accepted into yet another exhibition this summer! The Smithtown Township Arts Council is holding its Animals in Art - Our Partners on the Planet Exhibition and juror Tim Newton has chosen to display all three of my submitted pieces (Perspective, Lambs in Field, and Little Brother of the North).
Exhibition opening reception: Saturday, July 30th from 2 - 4 pm
Exhibit dates: July 30 - August 28, 2016
Gallery hours: The gallery is open Wednesday through Friday 10am - 4pm; Saturdays & Sundays 12 - 4pm.
Location: Smithtown Township Arts Council, Mills Pond House Gallery, 660 Route 25A, St.James, NY 11780
Phone: 631.862.6575
La Maison Verte - Artwork 7
My seventh piece at La Maison Verte was my intervention in the garden - my conversion of the water-pump door into a piece of artwork. The door is 41x31x6" and is a mixed media installation including the original door materials, a poplar plank and back braces to replace the rotting base, 3P Quick Cure Clay, acrylics, screws, epoxy, and satin polyurethane. It's titled Genius loci. The piece is meant to be permanent, but of course the eye stalks and tentacles of the snail are relatively fragile so they may break if visitors to the garden are not gentle with it; that's in keeping with my overall message about the environment. Nature provides us with so many rewards but in turn requires some human consideration and restraint.
Below is documentation of the project from start to finish!
And finally, a panoramic view to finish the post off:
Upcoming - The St. Augustine Art Association's 7th Annual Nature and Wildlife Exhibit
in Exhibitions
Whew, I've got a packed exhibition schedule coming up - not that I'm complaining! Here's another confirmation that just came in. I've been selected to exhibit two pieces, Perfect Form and Balancing Act, at the competitive 7th Annual Nature and Wildlife Exhibit held by the St. Augustine Art Association.
Opening reception and awards ceremony: Saturday, July 23, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Exhibition dates: July 23 - August 28, 2016
Gallery hours: Tue-Sat: Noon to 4pm, Sundays: 2-5pm, Artwalk: First Friday of every month 5-9pm
Location: St. Augustine Art Association, 22 Marine St., St. Augustine, Florida, 32084
Contact: 904-842-2310, www.staaa.org
La Maison Verte - Artwork 6
in New Artwork
I was bound and determined to finish a sixth piece in time for the exhibition in the Jardin Botanique de Marnay-sur-Seine, and I did it just in time! This is 3P Quick Cure Clay and acrylic on an 8x8" birch panel. I'm calling it Climber.
