| | | | Exhibition Opening in Lansdowne, PA | | | | Dear friends, family, colleagues and art-lovers:
Announcing my first solo exhibition since the Pandemic!
I am so excited to share that the remaining 40 watercolors from my Houses of Lansdowne watercolor series (my "pandemic project") are currently on display at the Utility Works Kiosk Gallery in Lansdowne, PA, just beyond West Philadelphia. While the exhibition is already open, the official reception will be held on Friday, July 28th from 6-8 pm! In tandem with the exhibition I have also published a small book/catalogue entitled Houses of Lansdowne: An Artist's Pandemic Project, Vol.1 that features photos and essays about my work on this project. Available for pre-order soon!
It's been a busy few weeks: in addition to my full-time studio practice, writing a "book" and preparing for my exhibition, I've taken on some projects with a fabrication company that I've worked with in the past, painting museum displays! It's always an adventure.... ;)
Also in this newsletter: new paintings, new commissions and previews of upcoming projects. If you're interested in more behind-the-scenes images and insights into my practice, please follow me on Instagram (@erica_harney_artist) or Facebook (Erica Harney, Artist).
As always, thank you so much for your continued interest, support and enthusiasm. I couldn't do it without you!
Erica
| | | | | | Houses of Lansdowne- Artist's Statement
In March of 2020 I had been working as a scenic artist on the HBO limited series Mare of Easttown starring and produced by Kate Winslet. The series took place in and around Delaware County and was being produced Sun Center Studios in Aston as well as filming on several locations in the surrounding area. (I had been working as a scenic artist in the Greater Philadelphia region since moving to the city in 2011, mostly painting scenery and backdrops for opera, theatre, ballet, commercials, TV and film as well as displays for museums, schools, hospitals etc). However, shortly after lunch on March 13th, the crew of Mare were gathered for a meeting where we were told that we’d be shutting down production for “two weeks” and I went home excited for the chance to catch up on some personal projects in my own studio. I quickly began to think of these two weeks as my “Quarantine Artist Residency.”
As two weeks turned into three, and then four, my (now) husband Ted and I spent a lot of our newfound free time going for long walks in and around our neighborhood where we just beyond West Philadelphia. We are extremely fortunate to live in a very walkable community (of the best neighbors!) filled with beautiful old homes, most of which were probably built before 1940. One evening after a walk, a few weeks into my Quarantine Artist Residency, I came home and decided to make a few watercolors of some of the houses that I liked. What ultimately became known as my Houses of Lansdowne series began with three paintings and no long-term plan. However, I got hooked on the project almost immediately and it wasn’t long before I found myself feverishly “collecting” photos of houses I wanted to paint from our long, meandering walks.
During those early weeks and months of the Pandemic I spent a lot of time thinking about the meaning of “home,” when our homes were quite literally at the centers of our lives. I’m the kind of person that is sensitive to their physical environment- and my experience as a scenic artist causes me to think a lot about how space is used. As Ted and I walked, I liked to wonder who lived in the houses we passed and imagine what was happening inside. How many of these homes were currently also serving as schools, offices, yoga studios, hospitals, sanctuaries or personal prisons? How has being home affected our relationship with our personal space and our neighbors’ spaces? I especially liked to reflect on the character of the physical house itself- I appreciate old buildings, the physical evidence of their history, and how they evolve over time. Like living things, buildings display visible evidence of their history including the simultaneous existence of both deterioration and upgrades. In so many ways, our homes are like organisms themselves, complete with their own personalities, charms, eccentricities and secrets.
Between the spring of 2020 and the fall of 2021 I created well over 100 original watercolors of homes and buildings I admired in and around Lansdowne, Upper Darby and Drexel Hill, all within walking distance of my own house (I consider my “neighborhood” to be anywhere that I can walk to!). These paintings serve both as portraits of a place and the backdrop of my experiences navigating a specific moment in time.
Image: 76 Ardmore
| | | | | | I Wrote a Book....!!!
In the spring of 2021 I began outlining a manuscript about my work on the Houses of Lansdowne series. I had so many ideas and great intentions when I started, but I quickly remembered that I don't enjoy writing (oops) and abandoned the project after a few chapters. It remained an item on my daily To-Do List for a good two years, until this particular exhibition opportunity presented itself back in the spring, prompting me to pick up where I left off. Physical copies will be available to purchase later this summer!
| | | | | | Other Paintings from the Series
Houses of Lansdowne is comprised of over 100 watercolor paintings of houses and other buildings in and around Lansdowne, Pennsylvania during March 2020 and November 2021- not including custom painting requests! Many of the paintings have since found new homes, all over the country. Visit my website to browse the entire series.
Images: Four paintings from the series that are no longer in my posession. Each painting measures 10 x 8" and is made of watercolor, pencil and ink on paper. | | | | | | | | | | Studio Floods in June!
I'm extremely grateful and fortunate that my studio (located in the basement of my home) almost NEVER floods or leaks. However, when the circumstances are just right and there's just enough rain, sometimes it happens. During the last week of June my studio flooded an *unprecedented* 3 days in a row, thanks to excessive rainfall and not-the-best-gutters-in-the-world. Anyway, it took me a good full work week to clean up after three floods (fortunately nothing was damaged- I've had an underground studio for long enough to know to keep things off the ground and/or stored in a plastic bin....but it WAS a huge mess!). Anyway, THIS is my excuse for not having my Houses of Lansdowne book ready in time for my opening ;)
Image: in the midst of cleaning up after the third flood | | | | | | | | Custom Watercolors
Meanwhile, I've been keeping busy as usual with custom painting requests! If you're even *remotely* considering ordering a custom watercolor as a December Holiday gift, please think about taking your reference photos and ordering now while demand and costs are lower (holiday pricing will take effect on November 1st). You can either order directly from my website (recommended if you're local to Greater Philadelphia and want to pick up your painting from my studio) or from my Etsy shop (recommended if you require shipping).
(To my personal friends and family: if you love me, please place your orders no later than Halloween! :) )
| | | | | | New Philly Watercolors
Earlier this spring I created a whole slew of new Philly-inspired watercolors especially for the InLiquid Art for the Cash Poor event (which was originally scheduled for June but was postponed until the fall due to the Canadian wildfires). Check out this trio of 10x8" watercolors that represent different homes around 5th and 6th at Fitzwater in the Queens Village neighborhood of Philadelphia. Check out more new and recent watercolors on my website!
| | | | | | New Oil Painting(s)
In the limited liminal space between my client work and other responsibilities, I have been working on a body of small, square oil paintings on canvas for personal enjoyment. These paintings call back to my history as more of an inventive painter but unfortunately, they don't receive nearly as much of my time or attention as I'd like to pay them. This body of work (which I THINK I am calling "The World Without Us") focuses on nature, environmental and climate issues. I've been thinking about this series more and more over the past few weeks as I've been personally feeling the effects of climate change: in June, I had an art fair cancelled (postponed until October) because of air quality as impacted by the Canadian wildfires. Later in the month, my studio flooded three days in a row (unprecedented) largely due to excessive rainfall. Man-made climate change is real and it's affecting us every day.
This is the first painting of the series that I've started to share- it was inspired by a trip to Minneapolis so the painting is (creatively!) named Minneapolis.
Click here to check out some more of my independent studio work.
| | | | | | Call for Artists:
In addition to my own practice I also serve on the Lansdowne Arts Committee (formerly known as the Lansdowne Arts Board). We're excited to begin the fall exhibition season with an open call for fiber and textile-based artists! Please note- the submission deadline is August 18th!
Click for prospectus.
| | | | | | | | | | THANK YOU!!
As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read this newsletter- especially if you've made it all the way to the end!! I truly appreciate your continued support. Please enjoy this photo of the purple calla lilies in my backyard garden :)
Erica | | | | | | | | | | Our mailing address is: Erica Harney Studios Lansdowne, PA 19050
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