Joy Murray

Gwenn Seemel on Art Accessibility

July 31, 2021Posted in UncategorizedLeave a comment

I was honored to read this great blog by Gwenn Seemel, an artist I greatly admire. My comments on accessibility don’t always lead to positive response or to positive action. I’m so glad Gwenn gets it — that making the world easier for people with disabilities take nothing from people who are able-bodied and it makes life easier for everyone.

It’s a different issue, but when I first started using a wheelchair full time, I didn’t know how important it was to call ahead when I planned to go to an art gallery. I understand that small galleries often are trying to find a space with cheap rent, so I know it’s not always possible or a priority to make their space accessible. And able-bodied people don’t think of it. I’ve encountered shock and embarrassment when people realize their space is not accessible. (It doesn’t always lead to action.)

I usually go to galleries with friends since I don’t drive. A few times, I’ve had to sit outside the venue because there were stairs. I’ve gotten offers to be carried up stairs, but I always refuse. It’s a dangerous offer, even though offered in kindness. Anyone attempting it can stumble or strain their back, and we’ll all end up hurt.

I always call ahead now and am often told the venue is not open to me.

It’s frustrating, so I’m always grateful when galleries and artists post their work online. And Gwenn is very public with her work, so I can always look at her deep and delightful paintings. Plus, she makes books of her works, so I can get my hands on them.

If a gallery is accessible, and the paintings or art are displayed at my eye level — a little lower for people in wheelchairs and children — it’d be like heaven.

See Gwenn’s blog about accessibility here: https://gwennseemel.com/blog/2021/0731-disablility/

Wordy by Julie Pashckis

July 29, 2021July 29, 2021Posted in UncategorizedLeave a comment

So excited to see Julie Paschkis has a new book coming out. I love her art — her combination of text and images is brilliant:

Books Around The Table

Hark! A new book!

The Wordy Book, published by Enchanted Lion is coming soon.

The Wordy Book, as you might have guessed, is bursting, babbling, mumbling and billowing with words, beginning with the endpapers.

The book is a collection of paintings that I made over many years. Each painting is paired with an open ended question.

A word can be savored for its sound and shape as well as for its meaning.

When you hear a word the meaning usually arrives first; sometimes the meaning obliterates the other qualities.

In paintings those other qualities have time to surface; meaning can be fluid. The words bump into each other and they bump into the images in the painting. They ask questions as well as giving answers.

Some of the paintings were created years ago, and they inspired new questions. The Sea of Words was used by the King County…

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How The Earth and Sky Conversed

July 25, 2021Posted in paintingLeave a comment

I started a new painting as a relatively realistic one inspired by my elephant ear garden, like the one I did a few weeks ago:

*Elephant Ears by Joy Murray, acrylic on paper*

For the painting on canvas, I decided to add the purple hearts and marigolds that are also growing in the garden but stick to the heavy outline and washy color style. But it didn’t seem dynamic enough. I didn’t take process photos, but I added many many layers.

I think the more I paint, the slower I get at completing pieces. I had hoped that I’d get faster but that’s not happening. (I do believe one of the lessons of any art is learning patience — with the medium, with yourself, with the world.) It’s become more important to me to add layers then set the painting aside for a while. It feels like the painting tells me what to do. Sometimes that means painting it over in white and starting again. But this one was a matter of adding one layer to another, and experimenting — blurring the lines and deepening the colors.

I hope this new painting captures the feeling of delight and uplift I get when I go out in the evening, after the day has cooled off a little and the sun is going down; and I know some magic will happen in the garden during the night that will greet me in the morning.