It’s FALL! With new workshops and exhibitions!
I’ve been noticing that when I open my blinds in the morning the clouds over the Sandia Mountains are often tinged with pink. Now that the weather is getting cooler, the relentless blue skies of summer are becoming more varied—softer, with cotton candy clouds with pastel tints.
With the coming of fall there is a flurry of activity before we in New Mexico tend to hibernate for the winter. Or head to warmer climes.
I have works in two exhibitions that opened this fall. One of them opened on Saturday, September 12, and runs through November 1. The exhibition, at the Museum of Encaustic Art in Cerrillos, New Mexico, is titled “Global Warming is REAL—Resilience.” This is the same museum where I have a piece in the permanent collection. The works in the current exhibition can be viewed online.
At the Museum of Encaustic Art with “Meditation on Planet Earth, #1,” plus a detail of the piece, encaustic monoprint with conte on paper
The second exhibition in which I will have work is “Pathways to Reflection: Where Stories Unfold.” The opening was on Sunday, October 4 at the first Unitarian Church, 3701 Carlisle NE, Albuquerque. The four pieces I have in the show were inspired by American poet, Timothy Houghton’s “A War Far and Near.” The exhibition is open to the public on Sundays from 9 to 1pm and by appointment and will be up through Thursday, November 12.
Images from the series, “A War Far and Near,” soil from Virginia, near Appomattox where the Civil War began and ended, mixed media and found object, on paper
Our collaborative, multimedia art project, “They Had No Time to Say Goodbye,” about the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) is progressing. And, sadly, the crisis of MMIW continues…
We held a paint get-together on Saturday, September 19, in my studio in Nob Hill, Albuquerque, to add red paint to the etched X-rays. Red symbolizes the MMIW movement. Please contact me if you would be willing to join us for our next paint-get-together in early December. Each X-ray has the face of an Indigenous woman on it. These, etched by artists throughout the world, represent the countless anonymous Indigenous women who go missing without a trace. The process of adding red paint is meditative. As I paint, I almost feel like I am bringing the image, hence that woman, to life.
We are still trying to trace the artist who etched the X-ray below with the red hand print. We would like to get their permission to incorporate this image into a design for a “They Had No Time to Say Goodbye” tee-shirt. If you are the artist, or you know who the artist is, please reach out to me.
These images depict an etched X-ray prior to having red paint added; an X-ray after red paint was added; etched and painted X-rays laid out, ready to be stitched together with red thread; and etched, painted and stitched X-rays hanging above a mound of desert sand in which antique doll parts and scraps of red women’s clothing are partially buried.
If you are one of the many artists to whom I have mailed an X-ray, PLEASE return it to me soon, whether etched or not. Please contact me for my mailing address. We have to purchase X-rays, then we have to cut them to size. And X-rays are becoming harder to come by.
Our next “They Had No Time to Say Goodbye,” arts and education workshop is at Juan Tabo Public Library, Albuquerque, on Saturday, November 21, from 2 – 4:30pm. Our workshops are free with all materials supplied. No art experience necessary. During the workshop participants will learn about the crisis of MMIW and, after a brief lesson in portraiture, they will etch an image of an Indigenous woman’s face into an X-ray to be incorporated into our installation. Our last two workshops, one at the Groove Artspace, and one at the International District Library, both in Albuquerque, were well attended. Every contribution of an etched X-ray will be acknowledged in our exhibitions of “They Had No Time to Say Goodbye.”
During the month of October we have a display cabinet at the International District Library filled with X-rays and the artists book that accompanies our exhibitions. If you’re in the area, check it out!
Our project is indebted to The REDress Project by Jaimie Black (Métis) and Jordan Marie Daniel’s (Kul Wicasa Oyate) red hand symbol.
The workshop flyer, plus photos taken at our recent free “They Had No Time to Say Goodbye” arts and education workshop at Albuquerque’s International District Public Library. The last two images are of etched X-rays created by participants in our two most recent workshops after red paint was added.
We are now working on holding our first “They Had No Time to Say Goodbye”exhibition in the United States. I hope to have news related to that soon. Our first exhibition was in Guadalajara in early 2024. Our project has grown considerably since then with over 200 artists, and non-artists, from around the world participating.
We are happy to announce that the annual arts and culture publication, Horizon Review put out by FUSION in Albuquerque, is once again available. It is now in its second printing. It features an excellent, in-depth article on our “They Had No Time to Say Goodbye” collective.
My Wednesday evening painting class continues both online and in person in my studio. I teach oils, acrylics, watercolors and mixed media from 5pm MT, and 7pm ET. Each class lasts two-and-a-half hours. To learn more about my classes, contact me at rosemarieprins.com.
While the cat belonging to one of my students finds my classes sleep inducing, happily her owner, Maria Chirico–who painted the red flowers, acrylics with collage elements on canvas–and the other students in my painting class tell me that they “love my painting classes, and our group.” The painting of the fish is by Ron Everest, oil on canvas. The painting of the very young artist is by Barnali Dey, watercolor on paper. The abstraction is by Andrea De Souza, acrylic on canvas. The portrait is by Colette Bancroft, acrylic on canvas.