"Reflections" at the Montgomery Ward Gallery, University of Illinois at Chicago

My solo exhibition "Reflections" opened yesterday at the Montgomery Ward Gallery in Chicago. What I really like about this space is that students hang around there a lot; it's a good place for studying or taking a break between classes. This way a lot of people not only see my work for a few moments, but actually spend some time around it as well.

I like openings in general; you always get some interesting feedback. Some comments surprise me because of their similarity to my own views, others give me insight into things that maybe wouldn't even cross my mind. Naturally, it is always the greatest reward to see how some people you've never met before connect to your work instantly and really enjoy it.

32nd Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition

Two of my watercolors were selected for the 32nd Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition, at the Bradley University in Peoria, IL! It is the second-longest-running juried print and drawing competition in the country. From about 1 700 works submitted by 600 national and international artists, my two pieces were not only among the 126 selected, but one of them got among the 38 works juror Lynwood Kreneck chose for the preview show, that starts a month earlier.

Zarko and I went to the opening (Peoria is about two and a half hours drive from Naperville, where we live); after the opening Lynwood Kreneck gave a talk, and I got a chance to meet him.

He's a Texan! He got both his BA and MFA from the University of Texas at Austin, and has been teaching printmaking at Texas Tech University for nearly forty years!

I even started missing Austin a little when he mentioned how the sky in Texas inspired him a lot...
I must admit - Texas has the most beautiful big blue skies I've seen!

Here are the two selected pieces "Small worlds (in sepia/cerulean) no. 1" and "Maroon nebula" and some photos from the opening.