I am going to be back at the Park Trades Center after an almost 10 year hiatus! I will have a table of work (prints, paintings, and art supplies for you). Check it out in the Saniwax Gallery, #209 on the second floor. They will also be open for Art Hop on Friday 5:00-8:00. See the full details below!
Kalamazoo folks, I’m finally doing it! I am opening my doors to the public! Come visit and see what I have been up to! Bonus, I live down the street from Texas Corners and it is opening day of the Farmers Market. Sign up for my newsletter for a reminder and more info about the day!
I had a lovely visit with my apprentice Michelle Bradway last night. Here are some photos she took while visiting. I have began to set out my palette for my next collection release.
Photos by Michelle Bradway Photography
Other photos from this part of the process:
“Alexa Karabin doesn’t buy tubes of paint at the art store for her unique paintings. She makes her own pigments – and not out of the usual materials...”
“Poets of Southwest Michigan engaged with the Equinox Exhibition artwork under the direction of Elizabeth Kerlikowske, President of Friends of Poetry.” Poets responded to the exhibit that was curated by Maryellen Hains and Anna Z ILL. View the exhibit at Ninth Wave Studio. See Elizabeth Kerlikowske and Scott Bade respond to my pieces Equinox: Day and Equinox: Night in the videos below. Videos were produced by Linda Rzoska of Ninth Wave Studio.
Elizabeth Kerlikowske / Soup
Scott Bade / Equinox: Night
I had hoped she would travel around to exhibitions, but now I can only hope she finds a home where she can be enjoyed and reflected upon. Read about the Deer…
The Deer/ Original Painting on Wood Panel
$5,000.00
Now that my large originals are home, I am able to drop the price a bit! When they are in a gallery I have to share between 40%-60% with the gallery! I spent 3 months making this piece and several months before that conceiving and planning for it! It is made with a LOT of 24k gold and a variety of other materials. Read the story about the Deer, below!
I so believe in omens, whatever name you want to give them. For me, they usually involve animals. And sometimes they come at me in quite dramatic ways, unfortunately. This one happened when I was standing outside my studio in the spring taking a smoke break and enjoying the sun, when a gunshot came out of nowhere. I live in what I would call residential-country. I have an acre and 1/2 of land. There are houses all around and my kids play outside (they were at grandma’s at the time). A police officer then rolls up my driveway to inform me he had just shot and deer on my property. I was taken aback and still in shock. He caught me smoking pot, something that had just become legal in Michigan. So, let’s just put it this way—I didn’t ask questions. The officer left without saying more, and I was left with a body ( I assume the deer had been hit by a car first). I knew I was meant to watch over this deer. This piece was inspired by what I saw over the next few months. I collected fur when that was all that was left, and a few days later an old oak tree fell on where the body was. When I made this piece, I mostly thought about how humans interact with nature. How we impact it with our actions. And how the cycle still wants to happen, even though our impact created a ripple. How fragile nature is. How beautiful and perfect it is. How broken we are.
The deer is made out of the handmade watercolors that I make out of my grandmother’s antique jewelry. It has embedded crystals, moonstones, beads, glass, and a lot of 24k gold. The piece is 3 dimensional. A real cicada husk was embedded and gilded with 24k gold leaf, and the fur of the deer that inspired this piece was used in it, as well. The piece is sealed to protect the organic components. I include a non-static brush for occasional dusting (once or twice a year).
It is 30’’x30’’ on a 3 inch thick, cradled birch panel. I had a white, wood custom frame made for it. The frame is included in the price. The price also includes shipping within the United States. Please allow for a couple of weeks, because I will have to make a custom box for shipping.
I am so super excited to participate in this wonderful event near Gun Lake, at Natural Walk Studio!
You can now find my work at a new shop called Elevated Grand Rapids! Grand Rapids folks especially, this is worth the trip to check out! It has something for every kind of collector--antiques, handmade, art, jewelry, plants, clothing. Everything you are looking at is either handmade by someone local or pre-owned and super charming. It really has something for everyone.
