New Year, New opportunities

As the year is coming to a close I am filled with hope, and I eagerly await all new that is to happen in 2014. I always look at the new year as if I were looking at a path in front of me full of opportunities; never with nostalgia or regrets for the time passed.

"Voyage Beginning" 1 and 2, watercolor on paper 12"x12"

 The end of 2013 has been especially abundant for me; I got to visit my sister and her family in New Haven, CT for Thanksgiving; they recently moved back to the States after living in Germany for the last six years. It was a lovely reunion especially since my parents where there too. After visiting my sister they came here to spend some time with us, over Christmas and New Year.
While in New Haven, I got a chance to make a quick trip to New York and meet with Debra Marcoux, Gallery Director at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts Gallery that is showing my work. I was thrilled to check out this wonderful space, and now feel even more confident that I am in great hands and in great company!

Another big change for me and my family at the end of 2013 is moving to a new place - a house in St. Charles, where we will be much closer to Zarko's work at Fermilab as well as my studio. I am looking forward to having more time and commute less.

Moving is a big task, but also filled with joy and excitement. What makes me really happy is our new large back yard with gorgeous tall trees, and I am already imagining gazing at rows of cosmos and cleome flowers while I am painting some fresh watercolor sketches and sipping ice tea ;-)

Not forgeting that this is my art blog after all; my 2014 is starting with a solo show at Governors State University at the end of January, and I am dedicatedly preparing for this exhibit, but more about it in my next post...

Until then, Happy 2014 and may it be a glorious year for us all!

Live the Questions 

Trail to Arcadia, watercolor and ink on paper, 12"x12"

I wanted to mention something I believe is a crucial part of an artist's life. I am not thinking here about exhibitions, galleries, open studios, awards and recognitions (though these are important too), but rather about- questions and doubts. I often find myself in a state of uncertainty about what it is that I am creating; why, how, does it make sense, does it matter in any way...and then I find what helps the most are inspiring works (and words!) by great artists, who surely struggled and wondered and pondered, and continued doing what they were doing...because they really had no other choice.

Here is a beautiful quote from the great Rainer Maria Rilke (from his "Letters to a Young Poet"):

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”

I guess I'll now go back to living the questions...

Printmaking in the making

After eleven years without printmaking (while in art school I had several printmaking classes and really enjoyed them!), last week I started this drypoint adventure together with my dear friend, artist Greta Bell, and our amazing printmaking tutor Kim Fredricks at PrintLab in St.Charles. Here are some shots of the process, and my today's print, in a drying phase.

                                        "Voyage Triptych", drypoint print

 Greta and Kim

 And lastly, here is a nice blog post from my New York Kathryn Markel Fine Arts gallery about what collectors should look for when buying prints.

New Work @ Kathryn Markel Fine Arts

Here are some of my new pieces from the "Trail to Arcadia" series, that are now available through Kathryn Markel Fine Arts gallery in New York.

Trail to Arcadia, watercolor and ink on paper, 18"x24"

 Trail to Arcadia, watercolor and ink on paper, 18"x24"

 Trail to Arcadia, watercolor and ink on paper, 18"x24"

 Trail to Arcadia, watercolor and ink on Arches board, 20"x30"

 Trail to Arcadia, watercolor and ink on Arches board, 32"x40"

Trail to Arcadia, watercolor and ink on Arches board, 32"x40"

A VIEW FROM MY GARDEN

Here is a couple of photos from our garden, taken a few days ago. They are not connected with my art in any direct sense, but I wanted to share them anyway. The beauty of nature never ceases to astound me. Now that the summer is gone I hope I will carry these images of light and color in my mind until the return of spring..

Red Hot Red Dot

Art Spree and Silent Auction @ Women and Their Work Austin, TX

September 12, 2013

Like many times in the past, I am again participating in the silent auction at Women and Their Work, a wonderful visual and performing art organization located in Austin, that showcases contemporary art created by women. 

When Zarko and I first moved to the United States, we settled in Austin, and we stayed there for five years. Back then I was a member artist at Women and Their Work, and also had my artwork featured there.

Though we no longer live in Austin, I still feel a connection to this gallery and to Austin, in general; it's still a home to some of our dearest friends, and I hope we'll visit Austin again sometime soon...

Here is the piece that will be at the Red Hot Red Dot auction, September 12.

Origin, watercolor and ink on watercolor paper, 14"x17"

TRAIL TO ARCADIA

NEW WORK

Here are some of my new works from the Trail to Arcadia series:

all images below: Trail to Arcadia, watercolor and ink on paper

 MY UNLIMITED CONFINED SPACE

Photographs by Georgia Schwender

Recently I was featured in a wonderful book " My Unlimited Confined Space" by a dear friend and an amazing artist - Georgia Schwender. 

Georgia is a professional photographer and this book is a collection of photographs of artists in their studios, along with their stories about motivation and reasons behind their artistic practice. Thank you Georgia for this wonderful project!

"...The artists allowed me to glimpse into their creative spaces, their own worlds. Each person is an individual through the ways they imagine, create and display their art: but there is a common thread. It weaves together the sculptor, the painter, the photographer, and the potter. It's the juxtaposition of the unlimited scope of the artist's creations against their confined studios. A definite location of boundless artistry."                                                                                           

Georgia Schwender

Many of my childhood memories are connected with scribing, drawing, painting, or playing with clay. As early as I can remember, there was a sensation of pure joy that had to do with creation of something new. Making something from nothing. Observing that birth of "new", participating in its growth, and making a decision when a piece is finished. A feeling of complete presence in the moment. Or better yet; complete abandonment..That feeling has stayed with me all these years, and is always there in my process of creating. I cannot imagine being myself without it.

Ana Zanic

Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York

 Picture of the Week

" Origin", 20"x30",watercolor and ink on Arches board, 2013

I am proud to say this painting is currently featured on Kathryn Markel Fine Arts' front page as the Picture of The Week. It belongs to my Origin series, and is among eight pieces that are available for purchase through Kathryn Markel Fine Arts in New York. 

So if you are planning a visit to New York this summer, please make sure to include a trip to this prominent gallery (established in 1976!) to your itinerary. Here are my other seven paintings there.

                                         

"Through the Smoke, the Water and the Clay"
Batavia Fine Arts Centre
June 7th- August 4th, 2013

On Friday, June 7th, from 6-9pm was the opening reception of the three person exhibition titled: "Through the Smoke, the Water and the Clay", at the Batavia Fine Arts Centre.
I have over twenty of my watercolors on display, and I am honored to be featured alongside two extraordinary artists; Anna Kenar and Tim Kowalczyk.

at the opening night with Tim Kowalczyk and Steven Lockwood

  

Here is a sneak preview of some of the work that am showing. All of the pieces below belong to my new series "Trail to Arcadia" (watercolor and ink on paper).

This exhibition was curated by Steven Lockwood.