ARTRUMPS: under attack, pushing back

A fellow artist recently echoed a sentiment I've expressed to others privately: "It's a paralyzing feeling when everything you value is under attack." Fortunately, I know some people pushing back against the paralysis, and they've invited me to help.

I'm honored and grateful to contribute to an invitational art exhibit: "ARTRUMPS: Resistance and Action." In two weeks, BONFIRE Gallery hosts a show that supports artists as well as activism.

Here's how it works. Half of the artwork sale price goes to the artists. The other half will be donated to organizations working for justice, equality, resistance, legal support and change. If you purchase one or both of my collages, you and I will help the Equal Justice Initiative keep children from dying in prison.

Watch my Facebook Page next week: I've got the list of other artists contributing work to ARTRUMPS. I hope our contributions will help in some way. Otherwise, we're reduced to counting the minutes until the current administration leaves office.

New work: some sort of unity

I had two whole studio days in a row to myself! One was even in my actual studio space! I made the most of it.

I'm going to submit this piece for an upcoming group show that speaks to the theme of "unity." But I have to say the unity I see in the world right now is more the (en)forced variety.

At best I see a clenched, we're-all-just-FINE kind of unity that seems to hold together by sheer force of will, or maybe just habit. So I've titled this collage "Reconstruction," after another (more visibly) chaotic time in United States history.

Photo credit: New York Public Library

From what I've read, historians think people were desperate to forget the horrors they endured during the American Civil War. That war is still the deadliest in American history. Not surprisingly, the South's version of what happened (and why) didn't line up with the North's narrative.

That divide continues here and now. Why else is there a Confederate soldiers' memorial in a place that wasn't even a state at the time?

Jefferson Davis Park, Clark County, WA. ©Lisa Myers Bulmash

No idea if this piece will be accepted or rejected. But it's worth the effort if the collage makes people think about the long-term, widespread unity requires.

"Like Mother...": babysitter optional

We're about to put the current iteration of "Like Mother" to bed (see what I did there?). But before the show closes at Art Xchange Gallery, let's talk about making art while parenting.

The gallery is hosting "ProCreators: Navigating Motherhood in the Art World" tomorrow afternoon. At 1pm, we'd love you to take a(nother) look at the art before we sit down to talk at 2pm. We'll chat about being parents in an industry that rarely acknowledges the existence of family life, as well as how parenthood can transform and shape one’s artwork in inspiring ways.

And if you have children -- no need to scramble for a babysitter before you join us! Art Xchange will have games, drawing and DVDs set up in their upstairs Loft area for kids. Looking forward to talking art with you in person!