Show and Tell

So...I was advised by a good friend and amazing artist that even though I don't feel my work is really ready (and I may never) to go ahead and start a blog to post my creative undertakings in case one day I want to try to show my work or sell it. This is that blog...

I received a BFA from VCU back in 2001 and spent several years as an art teacher but never spent any time focused on my own artwork or ever felt like attempting to show my work. I became a stay at home Mom in 2007 and had been mainly living in "Mommy Land" when 2011 hit me. In February of 2011 my Father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer...In April I had my appendix removed...in May they told me I had appendicial cancer (one of those 1 in a million cancers) and it had spread within my abdomen...in June I went to Pittsburgh, PA for a major surgery and chemo treatment called HIPEC and came out "cancer free"...In July my Dad died 4 days before my 37th birthday...in August I was told I had thyroid cancer...In September they removed my thyroid...October was the first month of 2011 that I could take a moment and process. In February of 2012 my family relocated to Memphis, TN and I decided it was time to rededicate myself to art as a healing tool. During my 2011 ordeal I did artwork for The Sketchbook Project and submitted a sketchbook about my hell year that is now part of the Brooklyn Art Library's collection. You can check out that work here: http://www.arthousecoop.com/users/Amymarkham/artwork

 

It felt good to make art again after all that had happened and it gave me a sort of purpose I had been lacking as a stay at home Mom (I love my boys but need to have a life outside of them too). Over the Summer of 2012 I started to make some new work...for the first time in a long, long time. Here are some pictures of those pieces:

 

 

In college I had mainly worked with oil paint but with two young kids in my house I felt that a medium that was easier to clean up would be a better choice so I discovered inktense blocks and prismacolors and created these pieces. It has felt like I am kind of on a roll with ideas and have been happy just to be making images again. These pieces were an attempt to connect to unconscious ideas and archetypal images. I'm never confident in my work and even though I like to share it with people I am not sure other people would want to buy this kind of work.

So this is my blog...that is some back story and I plan to post all things Amy art here while I develop my work and look to share my images with anyone interested in viewing them. Feedback is welcome and meaningful to me.