I recently sat down with Morningside University’s multi-talented Alex Watters to chat about my research, LSU Vet Med residency, and exhibitions as well as the art department, students, and opportunities on the Inside Mside podcast, complete with video (I didn’t know about the video part, for better or worse!).
I’m excited to share I have yet another solo show coming up very soon! Later this week, I will drive down to the St. Louis suburbs to install at Longview Farm House Art Gallery in Town & Country, MO. This show will run from October 6 - November 17, 2022. It will be viewable during gallery hours, which are weekdays from 9am-4pm.
The opening reception will be held at Longview Farm House Art Gallery on Thursday, October 6th from 4:30-7:30pm. The address is 13525 Clayton Road, Town & Country, MO 63141.
After I return, I’ll share some photos with you!
You may remember I attended an artist residency at Whiterock Conservancy outside of Coon Rapids, IA, in summer 2021. My good friend and colleague Terri McGaffin had already completed a residency there that spring 2021, and turned me on to the opportunity. Another Sioux City artist, Pauline Sensenig, then followed suit this summer 2022.
All of us will be exhibiting our work in a three-person show called Whiterock Art at the Betty Strong Encounter Center in the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Sioux City, IA, from October 2 - November 13, 2022. The reception will be on Sunday, October 2nd at 2pm, and I hope you can join us - there will be a reception and presentation by Whiterock’s own Liz Garst, co-founder and Board of Directors member of Whiterock Conservancy.
I designed our show logo, postcard, and poster (viewable at the exhibition) - below you can take a look at the digital postcard.
If you haven’t checked my solo show at Lauritzen Gardens (Omaha’s Botanical Center) out yet, you have a bit more than a week left to do so as it closes at the end of the business day on September 24th! If you plan to check it out, make sure to pick up an image list from the entry kiosk to reference while looking at the artwork as well as a rack card - both for my own artwork on the face, as well as the show info and future exhibition information on the back.
Here are some photos of the installation for those of you who aren’t able to see it in person!
Late last spring, I budgeted for and acquired two types of color-blindness-alleviating glasses for my design class in specific and the Morningside art department in general. Today was my introduction of our first color theory project in that class, so I brought the glasses out and said that if any students were having trouble either grasping the assignment or seeing colors change, they should try the glasses out to see if they could make a difference.
One of my students told me that he was not seeing the colors change in the project examples, but he was sure he wasn't color blind. I shared that there's a spectrum so it doesn't have to be all-or-nothing color blindness, and he could just test out if the glasses would help or not. He tried the deutan pair on and saw no difference. Next he tried on the protan pair and was surprised as he immediately registered color changes. I sent him outside just to check the world out and he came back after a few minutes and said he had no idea how much red was in our bricks or that there were maroon/brown moments mixed in the grass. Then he rocked the glasses for the rest of the class period while working on the color theory exercises.
You guys. I knew the glasses would help some students eventually, but on their debut they are already making a difference to a student for this project and more meaningfully for his general understanding of and experience with the world around him. I am so happy.
If you’re curious, the company I bought them from is EnChroma, and by coincidence it also happens to be International Color Blindness Awareness Month, so I’m both doing my part by raising awareness but also if you wanted some yourself, EnChroma is currently celebrating with 20% off.
The Morningside University News just got in on all the excitement - “Associate professor of art Shelby Prindaville uses skills towards historical process” was published on August 26th! The image on the right is a screenshot of the introduction, but check out the whole article in the link above or take a look at this PDF.
Country Roads Magazine just published a fabulous article on my LSU Vet Med artist residency in both their digital and September print edition! On the left, you can see a screenshot of the beginning of the write-up to whet your appetite.
You can read the digital piece here, see a full PDF, or pick up a physical copy if you’re in the Louisiana/Mississippi distribution zone!
Though we began having faculty meetings and events last week, classes start this Wednesday here at Morningside University. I will be teaching ART 103 Design, ART 210 Graphic Design I, ART 405 Advanced Studies in Graphic Design, and ART 470 Graphic Design Internship this semester!
Just a reminder that I will be installing my solo show at Lauritzen Gardens (Omaha’s botanical center) today, and you can see the show in person from August 17-September 24, 2022! I’ll publish some photos from my installation and of the exhibition itself in a subsequent post for those of you unable to visit in person.
I’ve been getting some nice Louisiana press for my summer LSU Vet Med artist residency, and now there’s great local coverage as well - with more in the works! Here’s the Sioux City Journal digital article “Morningside professor participates in first-ever artist residency at LSU vet school” by reporter Dolly Butz, and here’s a PDF of the print version!
Louisiana Public Broadcasting Service’s The State We’re In did a televised feature on my artist residency and exhibition at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine - you can watch it here!
From their own website: “Louisiana: The State We’re In, Louisiana's only statewide news magazine, is in its 45th season on the air. The program airs Fridays at 7PM and Sundays at 4:30PM on the six-station LPB network that includes stations in Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, and Shreveport. It also streams at lpb.org/livetv and airs on LPB’s sister station WLAE-TV32 in New Orleans on Fridays at 7PM and on WYES-TV, the PBS station for New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, at 7:30PM.
This award-winning show combines in-depth coverage about the important issues in the state along with expert analysis. […] It is one of the longest-running television programs in the nation.”
Here are photos from my solo exhibition and opening reception at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, co-sponsored by the LSU School of Art! The reception was amazing; over 80 people attended and they were all very engaged throughout the evening. We began with a welcome speech delivered by LSU School of Veterinary Medicine Dean Oliver Garden, followed by speeches from LSU College of Art + Design Dean Alkis Tsolakis and LSU School of Art Director Rod Parker, and then my artist lecture!
By the end of the evening, 6 of the 8 paintings/relief/sculpture were sold (only Hosts and Singularity remain available), and 3 of the 13 ceramics were purchased in addition to countless prints and greeting cards. Through the course of the rest of the exhibition, 3 more ceramics sold along with additional prints and greeting cards. I was a little surprised at how popular the mosquito reproductions were as they sold out quite quickly, but I’ve since learned there’s a well-known joke that mosquitoes are the state bird of Louisiana!
In the slideshow, you’ll see that in addition to the artwork walls and reproduction sales table, I also had a display table of some of the veterinary materials - medicines, chemicals, stains, tools, bones - I used in each of the pieces of artwork!
Here are a couple of photos of the in-progress Vulture Sculpture! In the first image, you can see how I built an internal armature out of pink styrofoam insulation, wire, and disposable chopsticks. Armatures are really helpful for a few reasons: A) they provide structure and support to bolster strength and keep the clay from sagging, B) they weigh a lot less than clay which makes the piece-in-progress lighter so it puts less stress on weight-bearing areas while wet/uncured C) if you leave the armature inside - like you can do with QuickCure Clay - the finished piece is lighter than if it were solid clay which is typically desirable, and finally D) the armature materials usually cost less than using an equivalent amount of clay.
Then in the second image, it’s midway along; I’m still sculpting the QCC (note the head and wings are unfinished) but it’s taking real shape and I’ve already incorporated the artificial turf, though I have yet to “mold” it with the heat gun. Finally, there’s the finished piece in a similar orientation for comparison!
This is the final piece of artwork I completed on-site at LSU Vet Med during my two-month summer 2022 residency! I think finishing 20 exhibitable pieces including mixed media paintings, a relief, ceramics, and a sculpture in 7 weeks is a remarkable feat, so I am very happy with my productivity.
I worked right up until the day of the exhibition opening on this piece, but I managed to get it “finished” in time - I put that in quotes as I still needed to briefly borrow it back from the exhibition midway through to put a protective varnish on top!
I had wanted to do a sculpture this whole time because A) I’ve always liked putting on exhibitions that have multiple disciplines and media on display to more deeply engage a broad viewership, B) I wanted to really highlight QuickCure Clay, as I’d helped create it with Dr. John Pojman at LSU a decade ago and it felt right to use it in at least a couple of pieces this summer, and C) I had been given a couple pieces of artificial turf from the wildlife hospital that I wanted to incorporate into artwork in some way, and relatively early on I had a lightbulb moment wherein I thought the astroturf had vulture neck-feather vibes! It worked very well, in that a lot of people couldn’t figure out where the artificial turf was used and at least one viewer told me she thought I thought the gravel I used as an installation aid was astroturf. Another viewer asked me if this was a taxidermied piece, which made me feel really good about the likeness!
I titled this piece Vulture Sculpture mostly because I didn’t have time to think about titling it when I had to make the show labels (I didn’t even think it was likely to get finished for it!), but I also do like the rhyme and the clear identification of the species of the bird. I sold this sculpture that same evening to the fabulous Dr. Mark Mitchell from Wildlife and ZooMed and his partner Dr. Lorrie Hale Mitchell from Integrative Medicine! They very kindly were willing to let me take it on exhibit first (as I’m doing with the rest of the sold paintings), but I made some delicate choices with this piece - the claws, the beak tip - that meant I thought it best to let them just take it after my LSU Vet Med solo show came down instead of potentially injuring the piece in shipping.
This is Vulture Sculpture, a mixed media sculpture of a black vulture including QuickCure Clay and ZooMed’s artificial turf, 13.5" x 7.5" x 20.5", 2022.
Here are a few of photos of the in-progress work for Skeletal Ceramics. The first image has some of the bones used in their respective vessels, followed by two more images of the raw ware or green ware. I didn’t take photos while glazing because I was doing it outdoors in 98*F weather so I was sweaty and covered with glaze - as well as acutely aware that I probably needed more glazing time than the shop would be open for!
This is Skeletal Ceramics, assorted handmade stoneware vessels imprinted with or formed around various canine, equine, and swine bones from the anatomy lab, 2022.
I made this body of ceramics start-to-finish on site at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine and with purchased supplies and firing assistance from Southern Pottery Equipment. The canine, equine, and swine bones used include skulls, jawbones, various vertebrae, scapula, femurs, and sacra. The glazes used were an Amaco Shino Cacao Matte Cone 5-6 Glaze (SH-32), a Spectrum Satin White Hi-Fire Cone 5 Glaze (1121), and a Spectrum Satin Mottle Hi-Fire Cone 5 Glaze (1122). I applied the Cacao Matte to all the textured/impressed areas and then sponged off the outer surfaces, then put on a generous two coats of the Satin White, and then painted a little of the Satin Mottle on kind of haphazardly and then more carefully at the lips. I fired to Cone 6. I was really happy with how this combination performed, as they do look like bone themselves! Seven of these pieces sold during the exhibition to three different buyers.
The anatomy lab allowed me to take the bones I’ve been using back with me so that I can continue to develop this collection, so stay tuned for more.
After I was able to return to the studio from COVID, I felt a lot of self-pressure to complete all the work I had envisioned prior to getting sick and losing access for several days. I prioritized my mosquito painting, ceramics, and pig board piece first.
My very kind host Rob Carpenter had helped me order a raw poplar frame from his own framers, and he showed me how to assemble it that weekend. We ran into a bit of a snafu when the museum glass was 1/8” too long, but Michael’s was willing to trim it down (and shared that if it broke in the process they’d also be willing to recut a new piece at no additional cost since it was their error in the first place). I also have to give Michael’s, specifically one of its workers, huge credit as they mounted my mosquito netting to the matboard for me! I was willing to do it myself if need be, but the most logical process was to get the whole matboard in, apply matte medium to the whole face and press the netting on top with a large flat weight (like a piece of plywood) until dry, and then cut the matboard down to size and with the window. They agreed with me about that being the simplest way, and said that they’d take care of it since they’d be doing all the surrounding work to it anyhow! I feel like I got a little taste of what it must be like to have a professional studio assistant, and it is a very nice luxury… They also gave me free foamcore backing and put little metal tabs in as well. Once it was all assembled, Rob helped me wire it and it was finally done!
Switching gears, I was lucky that I had brought all my raw ware down to Southern Pottery Equipment to be bisque-fired just before I came down with COVID, and we decided together that given my timeline I’d go there to glaze it on site so that it could then instantly be put in the glaze firing. So on Tuesday, I headed over!
I had purchased three different glazes which in my head when combined together would give a bone-like appearance. The catch is that I was just guessing based off my previous experience with completely different glazes, and as I believe I mentioned before this was a one-shot, que será, será situation. It took me four hours to glaze all 17 ceramic vessels, but honestly I stopped because the shop was closing - I could probably have glazed for another hour more!
Much of the rest of the week was spent planning out how the show would be installed, tracking down pedestals, and finishing up the pig piece. I also recorded the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge podcast. Then I returned to fetch my glaze-fired ceramics! Unfortunately, none had been stilted as the shop hadn’t felt there was a need, but the satin mottle seemed to behave more as a hi-flow gloss and it ran enough to fuse a number of my pieces to the kiln shelf. A large bowl I had impressed with a pig skull fragmented into pieces, and another four pieces had pretty severe damage. One had moderate damage but was still displayable, and then another five or so had varying bottom detritus; I did the best I could to smooth them all out, but I only had a Dremel rotary tool on hand so I was much more limited than if I’d been back in the Morningside studio with our diamond grinders. Despite the damage, about half were completely unscathed and I think I ended up displaying 13 total in the show.
That weekend, I put the pedal to the metal in racing to finish a vulture sculpture I had begun weeks ago but then deprioritized. The one non-art event of the week I did sneak in was to get a haircut! I had looked at the Baton Rouge subreddit for curly hair specialists and there was a woman recommended at the local Supercuts - I decided to try her out, as the rest of the options were all $80+ and I was feeling tapped after outlaying $400 for my isolation housing on top of all the other costs of the residency.
Here are some in-progress photos of Seeing Double!
I was a guest on the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge’s podcast “AC23” this past Sunday which was aired on iHeart Radio Stations and WHYR and is available for download on Apple Podcasts.
They’ve kindly shared the recording with me for my blog as well, so here it is for you to check out!
