Debra Keirce

Venice/Inspiration - They go together like rain and umbrellas.

JUST in case you aren't planning to ever go to Venice, 

                      and for the record, I wasn't planning to ever go to Venice,

here are some photos you may find inspiring. 

As an artist, I get to take the best business trips!  First Tokyo, Japan, and now Venice, Italy? Is this even legal??

It really was a working trip. Here are the things I accomplished as an artist in Venice:

1. I went with my WAM - Women.Artists.Mentors. group. As pictured above, Carrie Waller, Helen Beacham, Maria Bennett Hock, Kim Minichiello and I explored Venice and surrounding islands together, like the tourists armed with cameras that we are. Helen hosts workshops there each year, and she showed us around. We even had a business meeting one evening, talking about our upcoming museum shows at WaterWorks Museum in March 2017 and in Customs House Museum July 2018. We also discussed retreats, and we may invite others to participate in those with us in the future. Our WAM group was on Linda Fisler's AMO Art Chat podcast today, and if you listen to the interview, you'll learn more about how to form a mentoring group like this of your own.

2. Obviously, I gathered enough architectural photo references to paint for a lifetime. But I also collected textures. I don't know if I will incorporate them as backgrounds or do a series of photorealistic paintings that are so hyper real as to appear abstracted. That's an idea I've had for awhile now. But the cobblestones, rusty gates, wood with peeling paint, patched brick - All these surfaces beg to be incorporated into my artwork.

Below is a glass baptismal font on the island of Murano, which is known for its 22 operational glass factories.

3. In traveling to a completely foreign environment, thoughts flow so easily. Every day I had ideas for new series of paintings I want to create. The door knockers in Venice are one of those. I've got to paint these critters!

4. There's a sense of calm, of zen even, that fills you when you plein air sketch in Venice. It's a feeling I want to begin to convey in my paintings. It's the sound of a place where no motorized vehicles are allowed and no planes fly overhead. You hear carts rolling on cobblestones, water lapping, children playing, and church bells ringing. I brought a bit of this feeling home with me, and a renewed interest in doing more plein air work.

5. Nocturnals are something I've always wanted to paint. I'm inspired to paint from these Venice references, but I also want to explore the D.C. area I live in. Light, reflections, architecture, objects - These are the things I love to paint and they all come out at night to play.

6. $$$$ That's another good reason to visit someplace new if you are an artist. I have no doubt that the new paintings swimming around in my head, the ones that are going to dribble down my arm and onto my panels, will pay for my plane ticket and expenses in Italy when they sell. I share my experiences in the art I put out into the world. I have to fill up my reservoir regularly, so I have fresh experiences to share. Right now, my reservoir is overflowing. Yay!!!

Please, if you visit inspiring places, leave a comment on this blog. I'd love to hear about your trips as well.

If you follow me on Facebook, you just traveled to Japan and back with me. You're not suffering the jet lag or head cold, but you got a taste of what it was like to stay with artist friends at Yokota Air Force Base, tour shrines and temples, shop at thrift stores and shrine sales, visit museums, navigate the mass transit system, and try to find vegan friendly foods. It was inspiring! 

Here are some photos of my time in Tokyo. When you see Lucky Cats and Kokeshi dolls propped against obies in my future paintings, you will know that I am remembering my time there. More importantly, I am thinking of the honor and fortitude of American military families on foreign soil, and the amazing, kind, efficient people of Japan. And, okay - I'm also thinking of how much it felt like being on the Small World ride at Disney the whole time I was there!

Living on an air force base in Japan is a great responsibility. The families at Yokota are not just serving America. They are the proud examples of Americans. For some Japanese Nationals, these are the only Americans they will ever meet. 

In Kamakura, The Great Buddha statue and temple, built in the 16th century, is a world icon. For 20 yen, which is about 15 cents USD, you can go inside and look up at the head. You cannot purchase buddha statues outside shrines and temples in Japan. (Unless you have internet access and go to Amazon.com of course.)

In this country, modern architecture dances with ancient constructs.

Storefronts that are familiar to western eyes mingle with Japan's love of ice cream and sweet shops.

Local fashion favors western trends, except that pink is the national color. Men and women alike love pink. Photo booths love pink. In many stores, you are asked to wear slippers provided, out of respect and to protect the floors and grass mats. 

It takes a bit of searching to find art in Japan, but if you look you will see Rodin statues, Monet exhibits, beautiful manhole covers.

And of course, the zen gardens, beaches and beautiful urban landscapes are an art all their own.

Dining in Japan is an experience. Little fish are everywhere. My food allergies are not severe, so I found plenty to eat, but Americans might find some of the items on the menu a bit entertaining!

Whether it is the Japanese love of bright colors, their adoration of Mario and Hello Kitty characters, toilets with lighted bowls and heated seats that sing and spray water at you, the fact that their Seiyu, owned by Walmart, has a 50,000 sq. ft. section for arcade games and slot machines, or the display of straw covered saki barrels donated to a local shrine each year to honor the gods... The Japanese culture kept me smiling and shaking my head in confusion/wonder/amusement/amazement the whole time I was there. I left shaken.

For example, crime...In the USA, show me a fully stocked pharmacy where narcotics are secured by a cloth net. All hours at night, the subway and train stations in the heart of the city are free of crime. Where are the homeless? Where are the pick pockets? Where is the graffiti? Why isn't Tracy Chapman singing to me while I wait for the train? Garages full of belongings have no doors or locks. Cars and houses are unlocked. There is NO litter - anywhere. There are lit up vending machines EVERYwhere, so you know there is the potential for litter. When you contemplate these things, it's eerie.

The Japanese love to give gifts. Even their magazines often come with little gifts wrapped inside. I consider this trip to the orient to be the gift of a lifetime. I feel so blessed. Thank you to the friends and family who supported me in this adventure!

Now I am as curious as you all, to see how Japan finds its way into my artwork!

"Pick Me" by Debra Keirce

3.5 inches x 2. 75 inches

Acrylic

Best of Show 2012 Council For the Arts, Chambursburg, PA

Pardoned from Death Row September 2012

How many winning artworks have a I burned at the stake? (Actually, the Weber grill) I will never know. Every artist experiences this, but it's happened to me three times now, so I wanted to share. 

I have this process, where I offer certain paintings to my galleries, and send others into various exhibitions. Tucked away in my bedroom, two floors away from my art studio, is where they go to die. Death row is a series of hooks on the wall, where I hang work that I am not happy with, or has not sold or performed in at least one, usually two galleries or exhibitions.  It's true. Sometimes there are pieces that could take decades to find the right buyer. It doesn't mean they are terrible works. It just means they haven't found the right home. Since I'm not a very patient person, if I don't find a place for them before I run out of room on death row, they end up in the trash bin. 

"Ahoy!" by Debra Keirce

2.5 inches x 4 inches

Acrylic

Best of Show 2015 Heartland Art Guild in Paola, Kansas

Pardoned from death row in May 2015 by David Cheifetz

HOW do these winning paintings get pardoned from death row, you might ask? Well, most of the time it is because I am entering a show, and the entry fee covers more pieces than I have in my studio. I have to be careful about this, because I try to enter work that has a consistent look, or theme. They show better that way in exhibitions. It could be that I need another piece with a black frame, or maybe it's a coastal venue, and I am sending ocean related subjects. In the case of "Ahoy!" I had picked artist friend David Cheifetz up from the airport for a workshop he was doing in Virginia. I showed him the work I was getting ready to burn, and he talked me out of turning "Ahoy!" to ash, before sending it to one more show. Thanks David!  I owe you one!

"Vanilla" by Debra Keirce

2.5 inches x 4 inches

Acrylic

Best of Show 2015 Prairie Winds Art Show in Grand Island, NE

Pardoned in March of 2015

The funny thing is, by far, the highest percentage of big wins for me, are with pieces I had given the last rites to. I don't know why this is, and frankly it shakes my confidence in being a good judge of my own work. But it's true. I admit, every time I sentence a painting now, I wonder, and ask it out loud "Are you the artwork that is going to earn me that next $1,000 prize? If so, speak now or forever hold your peace."

I know - I've become the crazy artist, speaking to inanimate objects. Oye Vey!

Please leave a comment, if this has happened to you too.