The Studios of Stacey Kirby

This month I’ve had opportunities to work on a variety of unusual projects, and surfaces!

I just got home from the Orleans County Fair, where I’ve been facepainting multitudes of little kids (and some of their parents) for hours. I started facepainting when I was about 12, and kept going through college as a fun way to earn that much needed collegiate cash. I also painted at the fair here in NY three or four times during that period. Even though it’s been several years, when the Fair Board suggested offering facepainting for free to the public- and paying me by the hour instead of charging customers- I couldn’t say no.

I created a sample board of generic things like daisies and sunshines, and then made a second one of some of my favorite bizarre creations like the fire-breathing green chicken and a flying carrot. I was truly surprised to find that there were hardly any requests for the generic stuff and I ended up painting about fifty fire-breathing chickens over the four days I worked. As well as five flaming skulls, a fire-breathing snake and a fire-breathing cow. People have a thing for flames I guess. It always makes me happy when people choose outside the box- I think the most creative request was an american flag-colored horse. That one came out really well. I wish I had a photo!

Here are the results of my participation in the Perry Chalk Festival, on the subject of “What Inspires Me”. Combining their weekly farmers market with the chalk event provided a whole other dimension then I would expect at an arts festival. It worked really well. And I was lucky enough to be working directly across from the music tent, which featured an awesome bluegrass band. (I was also fortunate to be working on the shady side of the street!)

The surface surprised me - I didn’t think we would be drawing on the street, so I had planned to work in my usual detailed style. But as soon as the chalk hit the asphalt, I realized that I had to change my plans. Such a rough texture demands simpler forms, so I found myself working faster and looser, making it up as I went. Which is my favorite way to develop a painting anyway!

All of the artists were well taken care - the organizers were offering us drinks and snacks every 20 minutes, helping us stay hydrated. Even though Perry is a pretty good distance from my area, I would encourage artists from Rochester/Orleans County to participate. The $50 stipend definitely takes the sting out of travel costs, and participating in a group arts event is always a refreshing change from studio or commission work.

About a month ago I went on a consultation for a couple that live on a sandstone quarry. They had installed a beautiful piece of sandstone as a sort of signpost by the road, with the intension of commissioning a mural for it. Initially they asked to have the painting done directly on the stone, but considering the porosity of the surface and it’s exposure to WNY weather, I definitely didn’t recommend it. Luckily they were not difficult to convince. I’ve struggled with clients on issues like this before, so it was a relief that my current clients are so agreeable! I’ve begun another large mural commission this week, so it may be a little while before I get to the sandstone project.

To tie up the subject of my title, I’ve also been asked to paint on an old metal saw. For some reason, requests to paint on saws have never excited me. I don’t know if it’s because it seems so crafty…. but I’ve avoided it in the past. Just like I used to avoid painting furniture. But the painted furniture commission that I accepted last winter taught me nhow much fun it can be when you try something new, that you may have been avoiding, so I accepted the saw commission. We’ll see how it goes, I think I’ll enjoy it.

The last entry in my catalog of unusual projects for July is my brother’s soccer back stop. Their summer team won the regional championship, so to commemorate the event I helped him paint the wall with about five of his friends. It’s actually the first truly collaborative mural I’ve ever done, and it was a lot of fun!

I’ve always felt a little trepidation about handing over the paint brush to someone else, especially someone with no painting experience, but this project helped me to realize how much fun it can be. You might end up with something totally different then expected, but that’s what makes it interesting. And you will also see someone connect with art, or a paintbrush, or their own creativity… maybe for the first time.

There are two mural projects in the works for next Spring that have a lot of collaborative potential. I hope they work out, I’m really looking forward to doing more group painting.

This year I was invited to participate in the annual Perry Chalk Art Festival. I remember reading about it online last year and thinking that it sounded like a lot of fun, so I’m excited to be participating. A bunch of professional artists will create 5′x5′ temporary works of art, and there’s a youth category (with prizes!). There’s music, food, crafts and entertainment too. Perry is right next to Letchwoth State Park, so I might even get a chance to check out some waterfalls.

This years theme is “What Inspires You”. Hope to see you there!

The chickens painted on the passenger side of the truck are portraits of two chickens that live at Kirby’s Farm Market. Photographing the chickens while they were roosting at eye level provided that direct avian stare that I knew would engage any observer that saw the mural. Their suspicious, inquisitive expressions made me crack up every time I looked at the photo.

It was a challenge trying to capture that character and life, but proof of my success was not long in coming. The Saturday after I added the chickens, Ted and his wife were driving the truck to the public market. As they were pulling away from a stop light, Paula noticed a woman driving away on the passenger side, laughing to herself. I guess there could be another reason for her laughter, but I’m pretty sure being under the close scrutiny of two chickens was the cause.

A lot of people are curious about our choice of adding chickens to the mural. First of all, we just like chickens. We think they’re delightful and entertaining critters. But the most significant reason would be the adventure of Rochester the chicken.

In the summertime, the market truck is loaded for public market the night before and the back door is left open for ventilation. One night, unbeknownst to anyone else, a particularly curious and adventursome Rhode Island Red decided to roost in the market truck. She slept very comfortably all night, and didn’t make a sound when Ted closed the door at 6am the next morning.

But I guess the 45 minute trip into Rochester got her a little excited. When Ted opened the back door to what he thought was a truck full of plants and produce, that chicken blasted by him in an explosion of feathers, and headed right to the roof. All day long, she toured the public market from the rafters, flying here and there, evading everyone that tried to catch her. A week later, a ten year old boy finally managed to get his hands on her and she was returned to her home in Brockport, where she lived a long and much less adventurous life. From that day on she was known as Rochester, and I’m sure you can still find plenty of people at public market that remember her. That’s a pretty good reason to have chickens on the market truck isn’t it.

Here is the latest mural! I don’t have any recent pictures: this one was taken a couple of weeks ago, before the chickens (and a few other details) were added. Yes, chickens! The idea here is to illustrate what Kirby’s Farm Market offers for their wholesale customers. We wanted to avoid very typical imagery, and create something fun and eye catching. After struggling with a composition divided into three pieces by those metal bars, this is the solution I came up with. The chickens complete the effect because they are painted as a trompe l’oiel element, and they appear to be sitting ON the bar.

It has definitely been interesting so far, and I’m still in the middle of it. The first thing that struck me as being different about this project is the possibility of moving the surface whenever I wanted to - and often when I didn’t! This is my family’s market truck so every Thursday and Saturday it makes the trip into Rochester to the Public Market. This means that I only have Monday and Tuesday to work on it, since they load the truck on Wednesday and Friday night. Painting has been progressing steadily nonetheless and it is very close to finished. It should be done by July. One side effect of this situation is that the mural grows in pieces. It takes about one day to prep each section and then paint two of the fruits and vegetables.

The second thing that struck me as unique is it’s duplicity. Two sides! I was finishing up the first side, feeling that sense of satisfaction you get when you’re close to finishing up a big project. There were only a few details left to tie up. I walked over to turn off the lights and as I was walking back, I saw the other side. It seems so obvious, I’m just not used to painting a mural twice. The benefit is that I learned a few things painting it the first time, and the second time round gave opportunities for improvement.

If you live in the Rochester area, you can see the truck at stalls 49 and 51 in the A Shed at Rochester Public Market. And often at Kirby’s Farm Market in Brockport . Hopefully I will be able to post updated pics by the end of this week!

The weather was beautiful last Saturday for the opening, a perfect Spring day. We dropped off some hanging baskets from the market - they added some great color to the building - and then we headed over to the Nature Center. That’s a very pretty spot with a nice little pond full of newts, frogs and turtles. I’ve never seen so many newts before! They were fun to watch. The selection of native plants they had at the sale was really pretty comprehensive - I had a hard time choosing!

As for the opening, there was good sized crowd and later I heard one of the museum gentlemen (I don’t think it was the president, but someone like that) say that it was the most successful opening they’ve had to date… I think that the number of people involved in the show had something to do with that, but even so it was a great event. There was a harpist and a classical guitarist playing music, and the show itself was hung beautifully.

The most exciting part, for me, was winning a Merit Award. Very pleasantly unexpected, and my first plein air award! The museum was generous enough to add a one year membership to each prize, which already included a really neat ribbon and a gift certificate to Rochester Art Supply. I’m looking forward to taking advantage of the membership, I hear the classes they offer at the museum are interesting. Hamlin Sycamore won the prize - it’s always been one of my favorites.

The mural project I’m working on right now is pretty interesting! Definitely an unusual surface… I will take some photos tomorrow to post, so you can watch as it progresses. It will actually be accessible to the public pretty frequently.

The GVPAP show opening at the Genessee Country Village and Museum will take place on May 10th from 4-6 pm. There are directions on the museum’s website (along with lots of other information about GCVM). GVPAP has provided an impressive array of paintings. The range of style and subject is always refreshing, the skill of the painters impressive.

If you can’t make it to the opening, the show will be up in the Wehle Gallery until October. It’s worth a trip - the museum is a beautiful place just to walk around and enjoy the outdoors. And of course there are all of the educational exhibits, reenactors, architecture, etc. As I was purusing their calender, I noticed they’re having a wildflower sale on the 10th too! What more can you ask for? History, nature, art, a little exercise, and native plants.

Happily, four of my paintings were accepted. Entering my paintings into a juried show definitely has an element of stress to it. There are just so many little details to remember! And if you forget something, then it’s that much work wasted. It certainly is a relief to have the entire process over with, and the satisfaction of knowing my work will be seen by such a wide audience is worth a little stress.

The photo above was taken at the museum, after all of the paintings were checked in. I volunteered to help with that process, and it certainly was interesting. I’ve never really thought about what artwork goes through when it arrives at a museum or gallery, so I definitely learned something. Every painting was carefully wrapped in bubbles for the trip, so unwrapping each one was a task in itself. All information was documented for each piece (artist, title, dimensions, and condition) then it was photographed, rewrapped and returned to a box for safe keeping until it was time to display it. We all wore gloves, and each painting was handled with the utmost care and respect. It took about 10 of us most of a day to get through all of the paintings.

About ten days ago a gigantic box came in the mail, all the way from Florida. It was full of glorious gold frames, destined to compliment my plein air paintings. I immediately set to work matching frame to painting and had intentions of photographing the results to post here….But never got around to it until they were all boxed up, ready for the trip into Rochester tomorrow. All but two fit so neatly into a large box, but the 36″ painting needed it’s own contraption. The contrast of cardboard and duct tape portfolio to gold frame is just… delightful.

I’ve always been perfectly satisfied to hang up unframed panels and canvases. (Honestly, I still prefer to hang my artwork that way. The composition was not designed with a frame, so it makes more sense, to me, without it.) There’s no doubt that these frames will meet the standards of the Genesee Country Village & Museum. In any case, the frames are beautiful. So perfectly square and softly golden. I would almost hang them on the wall by themselves…

My subconscious is also entertaining me. I had one lonely painting left on the wall, so I snapped a shot as an example of the frames… when I noticed that this piece was in fact a show entry. I had packed up the other half of the diptych by mistake. Since they were both from the same scene, it wouldn’t have made much difference, but I do like this painting better so I’m glad I noticed.

This show is quite an event! There will be 310 paintings to jury, I think 100 will be accepted. An article is featured in American Artist. Wish me luck, I hope I get a couple in!

What could be better then painting to The Decemberists? Maybe the Decemberists followed by Flogging Molly and Iron & Wine. I’ve recently found Jango.com and I’m having a grand time learning about new bands that I like, the names of bands I’ve always liked, and bands that I know. Music takes painting from the level of enjoyable right up to great fun.

The light is a little low, I will have to post a less grainy one of this painting later on. Oh, if you’re interested, it’s a painting of a cobblestone schoolhouse not to far from my house. There is a photo here of the front of the schoolhouse (my painting is of the back). Just click on buildings, and then the schoolhouse. The Cobblestone Museum Society has lots of interesting information on this unique building material.

I’m so very nearly finished touching up these plein aire paintings I can taste it! Or is that a stray stroke of cadmium yellow?

This spring the Genesee Valley Plein Air Painters have been granted a unique and interesting opportunity. A combined exhibition of 19th cen. plein air paintings, and paintings produced by members of GVPAP, will appear in the Wehle Gallery at the Genesee Country Village and Museum from May 10th to October 31st. The theme is country life in Genesee County, with the idea of drawing a comparison between the historical and modern day life of this region. Please read all of the details here.

For my paintings to have a chance at hanging in such a beautiful, professional gallery is thrilling for an amateur plein air painter like me. I remember walking through that gallery as a kid, awed by the quiet dimness ensconcing beautiful works of gilt-framed art. Just think, I’m about to place an order for my own gold frames! I hope one of my paintings gets in. I think this scene from Albion of the barge canal has a good shot.

For the past two weeks I’ve spent a lot of extra time with my oils, trying to get a small collection of paintings ready to be juried. In the past it’s been a real challenge for me to ‘finish’ my plein airs. They seemed to exist so much in the spontaneous ephemeral moment of outdoors creation that to edit them in the studio was to create a completely different painting…. I’m beginning to get over my obsession with that idea. After touching up three or four, I’ve definitely noticed improvements and these changes don’t alter the original experience. The lively character of a plein air painting is not dampened by painting out little bits of white canvas that I missed, 0r adjusting a little bit of contrast. I think they’ll be ok. In fact, they really do look better.

Thanks to Jolene for sending me feedback and a photo of the canvas sticker she received for being the first to respond with the correct answer! Jolene chose a yellow swallowtail butterfly canvas sticker.

“The girls helped me decide that it should be flying away from the doorway, not toward it. It went up so easily! I applied the glue with a brush (careful to coat the edges) and it’s smooth and up there perfectly. Thanks again, it’s a really unique/accessible/beautiful way to have art in one’s home, I wish you the best with them! - Jolene”