"Converge" Benefit Exhibition at BMG
Plus, a new mural for Orlando, website updates and even more!
“Converge” Benefit Exhibition at Bridgette Mayer Gallery
“Converge”, the 9th BiAnnual Benefit Exhibition by the Bridgette Mayer Gallery is upon us and once again, I’m honored to be one of the many participating artists. This year, Converge brings together artworks by 300 artists from all over the country to help support two nonprofits: HelpUsAdopt.org and the Dina Wind Art Foundation.
Help Us Adopt is a New York-based, national organization that helps families with financial grants in order to make adoption accessible. The Dina Wind Art Foundation, based in Philadelphia, works to provide opportunities for women artists. The Benefit Exhibition provides a rare opportunity for collectors to purchase work by their favorite artist at a fixed price, discover and collect new artists, and give back to the community through our nonprofit partners. Panels will be available for $500 for a 10 x 10-inch panel and $1,000 for a 24 x 24-inch panel, and a portion of proceeds from the exhibition will go directly to HelpUsAdopt.org and the Dina Wind Art Foundation.
“Converge” will be on view at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery from Tuesday, June 11 to Saturday, August 3, 2024. There will an opening reception on Thursday, June 13 from 4:30 to 7:30 PM.
Gallery hours: Tuesdays – Saturdays, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM.
Gallery information: Bridgette Mayer Gallery is free and open to the public and is located at 709 Walnut Street, 1st Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106.
For Converge, I have two 24 x 24 inch panels (seen above) available for purchase at $1,000 each. Under the Bush, Sidewalk Side (left), is a meditation on childhood memory and beauty found where no one else has seen it yet (or so we hope). Roused By The Sound of Distant Clouds, as a title, spoke to me of being in nature, zoning out or taking a nap and being brought back to our present state momentarily, not fully aware of where we are. It felt right for this piece.
I hope you can make it to see the show!
Poolside paradise in Orlando
It took several months and a few mock-up revisions, but I finally got to make my first mural outside of Philadelphia recently. The commissioned mural is located at a new residential community in Orlando, Florida. The wall was in a covered patio and common area for residents and guests to gather next to a pool. My main goal was for the mural to evoke a sense of the local color to contrast with the whites, tans and light olives of the building and pool walkways. My immediate thought was to brighten the enclosure by bringing the colors of the pool and sky and that’s what I stuck with.
No project like this is without its challenges: I had a relatively short amount of time, the humidity was pretty aggressive (thank goodness for the roof cover and tons of water and snacks) and the slated nature of the wall, which made the overall work take a longer time to complete. What helped was keeping the design fairly simple, although still layered and visually engaging. Like most things, the reality of a space is never the same in person as it is in photographs. This wall was 11 x 25 feet and felt much larger until I started working on it, getting into a work rhythm and bringing the image together.
You never do anything new without learning a few things. The lesson this time? I’m now an evangelist for the simple foam brush. Near the end of painting, I needed something other than my regular paint brushes and house paint brushes to lay down a final layer of color in certain areas. Thanks to Bridgette Mayer, who lives not too far from where I was working, bought one while out for other supplies. That little foam brush literally changed my whole perspective on how effective they can be for applying color evenly and with clean edges. Beyond that, I’d like to thank Bridgette for bringing me in on this project that I hope will resonate with the residents, guests and staff there for a long time to come.
Conversations With Artists Interview
Several months back, in January(?), I had an interview with the online platform, Conversations With Artists. I promptly forgot about it because the publishing date was way in the future at that time. Well, that “future” date just passed and the interview is now live! It’s a great starting place for anyone who might not be familiar with my work and I think there may be a surprise or two for those who *are* familiar with me and my practice.
My deepest thanks to Serena at CWA for including me and giving me a platform for my thoughts. You can read it here: Conversations With Artists: Tim McFarlane
Website update!
My recent solo exhibition at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery, All Of This Is True, featured a selection of mostly paintings that I’d completed over the past year and-a-half. But like most of my studio practice, the making of those paintings was accompanied by many works on paper that didn’t make it into the show.
These pieces aren’t studies for the paintings nor exercises, but exist alongside the other pieces as singular works on their own. In my studio practice, I’m usually moving between mediums all of the time. In between working on paintings, I’ll also make works on paper, mixed media pieces and more. Aspects of those may make it into the paintings and some may not, but there’s a constant cross-pollination of ideas happening when I’m working.
I’ve chosen a selection of new and recent works on paper from 2023-2024 to refresh the “Works On Paper” folder on my website: TimMcFarlane.com-Works On Paper. These pieces and others are available through the Bridgette Mayer Gallery.
Between returning from our trip to Spain and going to Orlando a week later, I’ve had little time for much catching up on anything. I have yet to continue going through photographs of the Spain trip and so many memories to catalogue. As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I’ll probably post some of those photos and stories on my studio art blog, Art & Life Stirred Vigorously in the coming weeks. One place I’m really excited to share images of is from our night time tour of The Alhambra in Granada, Spain. It’s a marvel of architecture and culture and is amazing to see at anytime, but especially at night.
Summer hours
It’s that time of year again, when I take a summer hiatus from social media. During this time, I’ll usually not post much on IG, FB, LI, etc…but will probably check in here and there. Most of my attention will be offline, living life, making art and preparing for events coming up in the fall.
As for this newsletter, there will probably be one for July but not August. Unless something worthy of a full newsletter happens over the next couple of months, I’ll be back with a new one sometime in September.
In the meantime, I’m posting to my studio blog, once or twice a week, so you’ll find me in your inbox or online at Substack, if you prefer to keep up that way. It’s free to read, no pledges necessary. No obligation, of course. It’s there whenever you feel like peeking in.
Summer contact
If you’d like to contact me directly, feel free to email me at: tim@timmcfarlane.com. I check emails regularly, but please allow for a 48 hour window if it’s not an emergency. I’m also available for studio visits if you happen to be in the Philadelphia area over the summer. Let’s connect!
For artwork inquiries and purchases, please contact the Bridgette Mayer Gallery directly: Email: bmayer@bmayerart.com or Phone: 215.413.8893.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you soon!