I’m excited to announce a new feature on my work! Morgan King of Visionary Artistry Mag did a feature, very thorough at that, on my art. There’s a mix of paintings featured including some of my most recent work from my “In Our Veins” series. To read the article, visit this link: http://visionaryartistrymag.com/2011/07/amy-guidry-inspired-by-nature/.
After waiting for the (delayed) results, I’ve finally received word that my work was accepted into the upcoming Art Melt at the Louisiana State Museum in Baton Rouge, LA. My painting “Trophy” (from my “In Our Veins” series) was selected. The jurors for this year’s competition were Rachel Wolff (Brooklyn-based critic, writer, and editor); Benjamin Hickey (Curator, Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA); and Kelli Scott Kelley (Artist and Associate Professor of Painting, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA).
There will be a Preview Party on July 14th from 6:30-10pm in which there will be an open bar, food prepared by Heirloom Cuisine throughout the entire evening, and live performances by the band King James and the Special Men and Of Moving Colors dance troupe. Tickets are available through www.ArtMelt.org. The opening reception will be July 16th from 5-10pm and is open to the public. The exhibit will be up through August 28th.
For a close-up view of “Trophy” as well as my other paintings, visit my website at this direct link: www.amyguidry.com/trophy.html.
At last, I have finally finished another painting from the “In Our Veins” series. I’m always looking for ways to improve, no matter how big or small, so I really focused on the textures in this piece. Though you can’t really tell here, so be sure to go to my website for a better look, in addition to a zoom-in feature (the magnifying glass icon on the top right)- www.AmyGuidry.com/sequence.html. The title is “Sequence” and it is an acrylic on canvas, 6″ wide by 12″ high.
Much of this series, as stated in my artist statement (which is posted on my website), deals with the life cycle so the title is in reference to that process. Both life and death are represented, new life- plants, animals- are seen building upon each other, one leading to the next, which is also why I opted for a long, vertical composition. The animals I chose follow, for the most part, a hierarchy of sorts as seen in nature. Though it may be odd for a vegan to discuss this, but the animals depicted follow each other in the food chain (side note- as a vegan, I realize this is a fact of life, however I have a choice when it comes to what I eat). The roses were an almost subconscious choice at first, but seemed appropriate for the piece given that we use roses to celebrate life as well as to honor those that have passed.
I did an interview for Meaning-full recently and it is currently posted online! For those of you that don’t know me personally, this interview gives a little more insight into my work, my process, as well as a little more about me. And there are lots of images, so be sure to check out the second page of the post in order to read the interview. Just go to http://meaning-full.com/05/meaning-full/painting-amy-guidry/.
There’s also a link to my site from the interview, but in case you don’t know, my work can be found at www.AmyGuidry.com.
I’ve received more good news recently- my work was selected for inclusion in the 54th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Art at the VACI (Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution). The juror for the exhibit is Jim Kempner of the Jim Kempner Gallery in New York City. My painting “Renewal” from my New Realm series was selected and it is an acrylic on canvas, 48″ wide by 24″ high. The exhibition will take place in the Strohl Art Center of the Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York. There will be an opening reception held on Sunday, June 26th from 3-5pm. The exhibit will remain on display through July 14, 2011.
To view more of my work, visit my website at www.AmyGuidry.com.
So excited- I came across some good news just after it was announced (apparently I was on the web at the right time…). I have been selected as one of the artists to be featured in the Brooklyn Art Project’s BAP Quarterly #1. This is their first full-color publication and will be out this summer. Featured on the left is one of my paintings to be included- “Symbiotic.” “The Wild West” has been selected as well, so my excitement is doubled. The publication was guest-curated by Samantha Levin (Anagnorisis Fine Arts, Curator for White Rabbit, NYC). 100 artists have been selected, including some of my personal faves- Carrie Ann Baade and Caitlin Hackett.
For more information and a list of the 100 artists to be featured, visit http://blog.brooklynartproject.com/2011/05/100-artists-selected-for-brooklyn-art-project-quarterly-1/. And to view more of my own work, visit my website at www.AmyGuidry.com.
As a busy artist, I am always updating my resume to add exhibitions or press items. One thing I can’t stress enough is the importance to stay on top of updating your resume. You never know when a gallery or a collector may ask for it and you don’t want to hand over an outdated resume or keep them waiting while you work on one. And it’s easy to forget to include something. So here are a few guidelines that I follow for my own resume (or CV) that may come in handy for those of you in need of an update or those just starting out. These are the categories in order of appearance:
Birthdate and Birthplace: I just put my year of birth, but you can use your full birthdate. This is important to collectors and galleries since they are interested in how your age and where you are from may influence your work.
Exhibitions: Depending on where you are at in your career, this may be one category or two. In the latter, you will have a Solo Exhibition category and a Group Exhibition category. Some like to put 2-person shows in with Solo. In that case, it should be clearly marked as Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions and list each exhibit as such.
For those of you just starting out, don’t fret. Everyone has to start somewhere. If you have ever shown your work in a coffee shop, restaurant, library, bank, etc. now is the time to list it. If you were the only artist, list it as a solo exhibit. What if you haven’t shown at all yet? I would start small- ask owners of businesses (if you know them personally, even better) if you can hang your work there for a month. If you know of a vacant space that you can use, put up an exhibit of your own and invite people for an opening reception. Even if it’s for one evening, it’s still an exhibit. These opportunities are easier to come across since no one is expecting you to make money for them, so they are more willing to let you use their walls. However, once you start getting exhibits at galleries, you should remove these previous shows from your resume. It’s okay when you’re just starting out, but once you start moving up the ladder, you will need to omit exhibits that are of “less importance” in the gallery owner’s eyes. This rule goes for everyone.
List exhibitions by most recent first. List the year, name of the exhibit, and the location. If there is an exhibit catalogue, put “(catalogue)” at the end of the listing. If there was a well-known curator or juror, list them as well.
Experience: I use the term “experience” here, but really this will depend on you. This spot should be reserved for any jobs, lectures, workshops, etc. that you may have (or had) pertaining to your art career. ONLY list something if it is relevant to your career. Even if you are an Executive Director, 20 years going, at a major department store chain, do not put it down. Unless this is evident by looking at your art, it is not important to your art career in any way other than a paycheck. If you are an art teacher, list your teaching experience, or if you’ve ever been a guest artist lecturer, list lectures, etc.
Education: This is an important category, but as I have learned from various sources, it shouldn’t be at the top of your resume. Your exhibition history is more important. So obviously this area won’t need much updating unless you are presently in school or going back. You should name your university, location, degree received, and the year. If your degree is not art related, or does not influence your art, you may want to leave off what your degree is in. More than likely, no one will ask anyway. From experience, only other artists and art professors ever ask where I studied.
If you have not attended college, don’t worry about that either. Many artists are self-taught. You may list such on your resume or if you’ve ever taken another artist’s workshop, you can put this under Education as well. As you move up the ranks, you may want to eventually remove the workshops unless they were conducted by well-known artists (i.e. nationally or internationally recognized). As your career progresses and you gain exposure, no gallery is going to care about a workshop you took 10 years ago. Not to say it wasn’t important to you, but galleries want to know what is most significant to your career.
Awards: Again, this is a category that depends on you. This may not be a blue ribbon award category so much as it is a list of grants received or residencies you were selected for. If you have received an award ribbon, certificate, etc. be sure to list the name of the competition and what placement you received. If you received a purchase award, be sure to name the award- for example, most are a person’s name such as the Betty Sue Purchase Award. If you don’t have any awards yet, just leave this category out.
Bibliography: Well, back in college, I learned the proper way to list press articles, etc. from “The Little, Brown Handbook.” I assume it still exists, but no two artists ever list their bibliographies the same. Some group everything by year, some alphabetical by article name, some alphabetical by author name, etc. I list by author name, but to each his own here. Regardless, this category should include any magazine articles, newspapers, radio interviews, tv interviews, and even blogs. Back in the day, blogs weren’t even in existence in “The Little, Brown Handbook.” Our books were stone tablets… just kidding.
Collections: Again, if you don’t have anything for this, just omit it. However, if your work is in any public collections, list it here. If your work is in any private collections (which is more likely the case), you can list the names and locations of the collectors if they are well-known (i.e. celebrities or famous patrons of the arts). Sorry to say, but no gallery is interested in knowing that your next door neighbor owns your work even if it’s 50 pieces. However, if the person is seen on national television or they are a famous artist, well-known curator, or a major art collector that loans their collection to museums from time to time, then you’ll get a gallery’s attention.
Representation: Another category you can omit if needed. If you happen to have gallery representation, list it here.
So that’s it- you may find in your career that there are other categories you could include, which is fine, just be sure your exhibitions stay at the forefront. Oh, and be sure your contact information is on every page of your resume. And no staples.
Two more of my paintings have recently found new homes. (They are my babies, so I do think of them as growing up and finding homes of their own.) Both are from my 2005-2006 series of portraits- “Sandhya” and “Man in the Park.” They are both acrylic on canvas, and the same dimensions as well- 26 inches wide by 22 inches high, framed. “Man in the Park” is actually now in the permanent collection of the Alexandria Museum of Art in Alexandria, Louisiana.
As you may know from an earlier post, my website will be getting a makeover (it’s just going on behind the scenes so my site is still currently up and running). And since my portfolio is always expanding and there are very few portraits still available, I’ve decided to remove the portraits from the new site. You will still be able to enjoy them online elsewhere, though- such as this blog as well as my Facebook Fan Page. I’ll be revealing the new look soon, but in the meantime you can still check out all of my work at www.AmyGuidry.com.
Another addition to the “In Our Veins” series! I’ve recently completed “Synergy” and it is now online. This is an acrylic on canvas, 8″ wide by 10″ high. These paintings have been smaller than some of my past works due to the detail. I spend so much time on them as it is, for me to go any larger would require several months just to finish one. That said, I’ve been working as large as needed for all the “visual information.” This is another piece pertaining to the life cycle- something I am fascinated with- and the original concept was something I visualized in that half asleep/half awake state after going to bed. This is why I keep a sketchbook (and pen) on my bedside table.
To view the painting (at a much larger size) as well as the rest of the series, visit my website at this direct link: AmyGuidry.com- Synergy.
Here’s a taste of my event photos from my show at the Schepis Museum in Columbia, LA. More on my events section of my website www.AmyGuidry.com. The show is a solo exhibit of my “New Realm” series and is up now through the end of June, so be sure to stop by if you are in the area. The News Star, the Monroe local newspaper, also ran a short article about the show. Read the article online at http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20100528/LIFESTYLE/5280303.