New year, new work, same determination
Tim McFarlane Studio News: January 2026
Happy New Year! Welcome to the January 2026 edition of my studio newsletter. Some of you may have looked for my December newsletter and wondered why you didn’t see it. The simple answer is that I never wrote it. December is one of those months where if I don’t have an update ready to go out by or before the first of the month, I can pretty much forget about it. Every time I thought I had time to sit and write, something else would come up, and the truth is, there were some personal challenges to contend with, so I let it go. I chose to start fresh with this one, now that the holidays are over and things are a bit more calm.
I’m not big on making year-end wrap ups in the way that have been popular on social media. I tend to do my reflecting on my own, in private. However, I do want to acknowledge a few big moments for my art work and the people who helped make these opportunities possible in 2025:
Museum acquisitions at Clark-Atlanta University Museum of Art and the Zillman Art Museum . Many thanks to Clarke Brown and George Kinghorn, respectively.
Inclusion of my work in “The ArtShow” . My thanks to Craig Stover for curating my work into this strong group show.
Inclusion of my work in “Materiality” at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery. I’m deeply appreciative to Bridgette Mayer for taking a chance and curating several works from a new, experimental series of fabric-based pieces made from my collection of studio rags. This work began as one of my far-flung ideas and took almost three years to finally reach a physical state.
Green Room Garden, 2025, acrylic on canvas, 36 inch diameter, Soft Poem 17.1, acrylic, acrylic marker on panel, 30" x 24" Last, but not least, I’m really thankful for having been able to complete two commissioned pieces (seen above) for clients of the Bridgette Mayer Gallery.
New work!
One of my favorite small sizes and surfaces to work on are 9” x 12” panels. As fall moved into winter, I made several new pieces in the 12” x 9” orientation and again expanded my ways of using marks and materials.
The “Sent” series is one that originated with the thought of an idea, message or other news that has dissipated from our influence and has entered the world just beyond our control; a word or phrase that you wish you could instantly grab back from the ether once voiced but it’s too late or that note of admiration or love that you hope reaches the one it’s intended for and so forth…
All of the above works are part of new ideas that I’m looking to expand on in various ways this year. If you’re interested in adding any of these to your collection or want to start a collection of my work, please contact the Bridgette Mayer Gallery directly.
Currently on view
You can see my new body of rag-based works in the group exhibition, “Materiality”, at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery until February 21, 2026. The gallery is currently open Monday-Friday by appointment only in January, so it’s a great chance to experience a private viewing of the show. As a bonus, if you are in Philadelphia in January and would like to arrange to meet me at the gallery for a tour of my works there, I have some availability so feel free to contact me directly to schedule a gallery visit: tim@timmcfarlane.com or contact the gallery by sending an email to: Emma at eburke@bmayerart.com.
One last thought…
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they're deciding, make even more art" - Andy Warhol
I was well on my way to writing out a couple of paragraphs about this, but I’m going to keep it short: If you can, make whatever it is in your power to make without reservation or judgement. Just do it. Keep it for yourself if you don’t want to show it to anyone else or if you don’t think it synchs up with your current main creative pursuits. Make the thing for yourself, anyway, if you can. Make it and let the world catch up.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in February!
- Tim
Super helpful right now/thank you!
Thanks for another inspiring newsletter. Your optimism is refreshing. Love the 9 x 12 series. Feliz Ano Novo!