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Keep up with the latest art and adventures from Rene Shoemaker Art!

New Beginnings in the Studio

As work in my studio begins for the new year, I’d like to invite you in, show you what I’m working on, and invite your feedback. Let me know what you think about my designs for this new series, and what advice you have for me. (Select any image to enlarge)

I have an exciting new project: An art exhibit in France! The exhibit opens June 21st in Felletin, midway between the cities of Limoges and Clermont-Ferrand in central France, at the heart of the French tapestry production area. Felletin is located on the river Creuse, dating back to before medieval times. 

I have already visited this area several times (and fallen in love with it!), so I have a collection of photographs and sketches to work from. I love exploring its streets, traveling on foot or bicycle from the main square down the hill towards the river, where an old railroad station sits amid a budding arts district of studios, workshops, and restaurants. Fewer than 2,000 people live in Felletin, so it is a cozy if sprawling town. Meander up the hill from the square and you’ll find sheep and cattle grazing in beautiful open fields. In a section of town called Beaumont (“beautiful hill”) one hilltop offers spectacular views, while another hill’s narrow, winding streets feature small houses with doors and shutters in beautiful muted colors.

The town slowly reveals itself to me. I love the feeling of discovery as I peek into backyards and courtyards. Is that a goat living in the middle of the city? A horse in the front yard of that small chateau? What a beautiful garden hidden behind that sturdy stone wall! There are monumental buildings and modest ones, historic churches, homes belonging to workers, artisans, and bishops. I am excited to meet the people of Felletin through this new project and exhibit, and to learn their stories along the way. And I look forward to sharing them with you.

Thanks for coming along for the adventure!

MORE GOOD NEWS:

NEW WORKSHOP > Saturday, March 11th @ KA Artist Shop

Hand painting on silk is an ancient art with a rich history from India, China, and Japan. The process of silk painting begins with stretching silk on a frame, sketching / transferring the design onto the silk, mixing dye colors, and painting. This is exactly what we will do in the class together. Silk painting is a fabulous technique that makes the silk come alive with color as you apply the dye to the silk.

Each workshop participant will create (and take home) a painting on a 22” square hemmed silk that can be worn as a scarf or displayed as a wall hanging.

All supplies will be provided & no experience necessary

Click HERE to sign up!

 

NOW ON VIEW

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Gratitude, Thanksgivings, & Plans for the New Year

I love the New Year.

I love New Beginnings.

I love the anticipation of something marvelous just around the corner, and I love setting goals for the new year. 

In 2017, my goals include entering a number of juried shows, both here and abroad. I plan to contact art galleries with the intention of finding one to represent my art. I intend to make art all year long, while keeping a schedule and finding a work/life balance that allows me to do what I love and minimize stress. And I intend to become financially stable as an artist, selling enough art to keep buying supplies for my new work – and to fund travel, of course. 

As much as I love looking ahead, I also love looking back: reflecting on the year that has ended and taking stock of what worked, what didn’t, and what happened in my family, my art, and my relationship to the world. Reflecting allows me to express gratitude for all that I have: my family, my friends, my health, and the ability to share my art with the world. I am grateful for my team, those who support me and help me pull together the many strands of the life and career I am trying to create. I am grateful to live in a beautiful house in a beautiful place, and to call the woods my home. And I am grateful and excited to have purchased a modest house in rural France that will become a satellite home and studio for Harvey and I. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - >

So, you may ask: 
 What HAVE I been doing all year? 

This, my dear reader, is my artistic year in review:

MUSEUM PERMANENT COLLECTION

1a+b. My art is now in the permanent collection of the Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA
       

EXHIBITS, AUCTIONS, FUNDRAISERS, & RECEPTIONS

Clockwise L-R                                                                                                                                                            2. The year-long exhibit of Discovering the Chattahoochee Valley: Silk Paintings by René Shoemaker continued through July 2017 at the Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA                                                                                         3. Columbus Museum Discovering the Chattahoochee Valley closing party
4. Unveiling party at a collector’s home celebrating her acquisition of work from the Columbus Museum exhibit
5. Exhibited prints on paper in New York City at Grand Central Terminal, NYC, and Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY
6. Invited to exhibit at the 10x10 Art for Education exhibit and fundraiser at the Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA       7. Exhibited in the Portrait exhibit at KA Artist Shop Gallery, Athens, GA
8. Invited to exhibit at The Cultural Landscape Foundation annual fundraiser in New Orleans, LA
9. Invited to exhibit at the All About Art fundraiser for the Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA

 

SALES, COMMISSIONS, & SPECIAL ORDERS

Clockwise L-R                                                                                                                                                         
10. Large Columbus silk paintings purchased by collector and patron                                                                          
11. Holiday cards commissioned by Columbus resident
12. Nano, a bird portrait commissioned by his human "grandmum"                                                                          
13. A Double Bass instrument portrait created for a Professor of Double Bass and his special family

 

RETAIL LOCATIONS

Clockwise L-R                                                                 
14. Columbus Museum gift shop, Columbus, GA
15. Aurum Studios, Athens, GA                                                 
16. Avid Bookstore, Athens, GA                                               
17. KA Artist Shop, Athens, GA
18. Jittery Joe’s Coffeeshop in 5 Points, Athens, GA
19. Jittery Joe’s Roasters, Athens, GA
20. Treehouse Kid & Craft Handmade Artist Market, Athens, GA                 
and always: reneshoemaker.com/shop

 

PUBLICATIONS

Clockwise L-R                                                                                                                                                           21. Compendium of Craft & Creativity included my artwork with an interview, Uppercase Publishers, Calgary, Canada
22a+b. Published art review of Scott Pope exhibit, Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA; with the artist Scott Pope
23. Published blog posts all year, the most popular being about travel and adventures, i.e. Brooklyn Bound!, Bonjour de France!, Why I Love France, Part II, and A Sense of Place: The Completions of a Museum Exhibition

 

TEACHING, ARTIST TALKS, AND PRESENTATIONS

Clockwise L-R
24. Featured artist at Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance for High Museum members, Atlanta, GA
25. Reading at Avid Bookshop from Compendium of Craft & Creativity, Athens, GA
26a. Professor Spooner, host of my visiting artist lecture at the University of Georgia’s College of Environment & Design: “Ways of Seeing”    
26b+c. Me lecturing and an image from the presentation
27. Taught Silk-Painting Workshops at the Columbus Museum, GA   
28. Taught quarterly Silk-Painting Workshops at the KA Artist Shop
29. Taught private Silk-Painting classes
30 (left). Taught Silk-Painting at the University of Georgia Lamar Dodd School of Art, Athens, GA            

GATHERING OPPORTUNITIES

31. Co-founded a new hand-sewing club                                                                                                             
32. Joined a new artist studio round-robin information exchanging club        

 

OTHER CREATIVE ENDEAVORS

33. Designed and hand-painted a silk dress, delivered to a patron in Paris
34. Created a beautiful hardcopy portfolio in French (with help from my friends) 

 

Opportunities for Which I Applied But Was Not Selected

35. Cité Internationale des Arts Residency in Paris, France

36. Lyndon House 41st Annual Juried Exhibit, Athens, GA

37. World of Threads Festival, Toronto, Canada

TRAVEL

Clockwise L-R   
38. New York City, NY
39. Asheville, NC
40. Paris, France
41. Felletin, Limousin, France

 

UPCOMING EXHIBITS

42. Scheduled exhibit in Felletin, France - Summer 2017                                                                                           43. Scheduled exhibit at a museum in Mississippi, USA - Summer 2019

 

It’s been a great year, but this was only the beginning! Stay tuned for more events and news. 

Wishing you a prosperous, creative, and healthy New Year, 

 

 

 

 

Art After the 2016 Election

Full disclosure: I voted for Hillary Clinton. I believed, from the bottom of my heart, that she was the best person for the job, and that what she genuinely wanted to do was take care of us—all of us.

The day after the election, I couldn’t imagine that the world would continue to turn, and that our normal everyday lives would go on.

But they have. And I think now that what I need to do is to help bring peace and positive energy into this world. I believe the way I can do that best is to continue making artwork that brings more light and beauty into our shared environment. So that is what I will do.

And on that note, I’m happy to announce that just in time for the holidays, a new collection of my hand-dyed, colorful silk scarves are now available at Aurum Studios in downtown Athens!

 

 

& HOT OFF THE PRESSES!

A new t-shirt is available at the Jittery Joe’s in 5 Points. This design depicts my favorite cup on my favorite table at my favorite Athens coffee shop. Stop in and get one for everyone on your list or order online HERE.

I am excited to be participating for the first time this year in the Handmade Hollyday Artist Market on Dec. 11th, hosted by Athens’ Treehouse Kid & Craft Store at the Starlite Showroom (750 W. Broad Street in Athens). I’ll be there with lots of René Shoemaker goodies: original silk art and linoleum prints, fine art reproductions of my most popular work, photographs, silk scarves, and t-shirts. 
 

Finally, if you want to bring color, beauty, and light into the world with your own hands while creating a special work of art for yourself or someone you love, I invite you to join me at my next silk-painting class on Saturday, Dec. 10th at the KA Artist Shop, 127 N. Jackson Street in Athens. I am offering two classes that day; come to one or join us for both to create two silk scarves or paintings! To register or for more information, visit https://kaartist.com/products/silk-painting-with-rene-shoemaker

 

With much love,

 

-René

 

Why I Love France, Part II

The last time I posted here I was in France. Now I am safely at home in rural Georgia - dreaming of rural France.

Why do I love France? Rather than tell you, I will show you. Here are additional photos* of my personal impressions of France. Let me know what you think -- comment below or contact me. I hope you enjoy my survey!! 

* see my last blog post if you missed the earlier posts about traveling in France.