More on Etsy!

Visit www.meghanhenley.etsy.com to see my newest works for sale!

New Birth, Rebirth

Since the recent birth of my daughter, I have had images exploding in my mind but can't find the time to get them on canvas or paper. Here are the very few that I have found time for. Plus, I have added many larger (old) pieces to my store. Visit www.meghanhenley.etsy.com to see what's new!

Aneliese Blaire has arrived!

Aneliese Blaire Henley was born at 10:27 am on Wed March 14th. She was so sweet to only require 3 pushes and has been an absolute delight since entering the world. She weighed 7 lbs even and was 20 1/2 inches long. Her big brother, Collin could not be more proud and we are all in love with her. Will post more art soon but for now my focus is on our newest arrival!

36 weeks and counting...

At the present time, I feel like this...

This is a fantasy oil painting I did several years ago that leaves some viewers uncomfortable, my brother especially. He even removes it from the walls when he comes to visit. It is entitled, "Gestation". It is a bird from my imagination with masculine features but clearly gestating... I just love "him". Anyway, as I near the end of the pregnancy, I felt compelled to post my bird since I feel about as big as "he" is portrayed. Okay, bigger.

Donations...

This is a piece that I recently donated to Knoxville Montessori School for an auction to raise money for the school.

Feeling girly these days...

Perhaps it is because I am into my final two months of pregnancy with a baby girl, but I am feeling extremely drawn to the "feminine" lately. As many of you know, I was originally interested in the female figure in both painting and sketch. This eventually developed into my painting extremely exagerated hips and breasts. And then into pregnant figures and fertility goddesses...

After feeling very comfortable in my skin as an artist, I decided to expand on my abstraction and that has been my focus for the past couple of years. This change of direction all started when I picked up my paintbrush again after my son, Collin was born. I for some reason was no longer as intrigued by the fertility figures and pregnant body as I had just gone through all of that. I painted abstract forms and added more linear elements to my compositions (although one could still find many rounded forms within the painting).


Well, here I am, being drawn back to the fertile images again. I am wanting to create feminine compositions and lean towards the roundness I used to be so fond of. I am actually excited about revisiting what I once loved. So although the featured image is one I did a while ago, it is the feminine aspect that I will hopefully "draw from" again. Wish me luck!

Back to work...

Although I am truly enjoying the holidays, I will be happy to (hopefully) next week get back to the normal pace of life and work on some new paintings. I have been dreaming up compositions while tossing and turning in bed at night but haven't had the time or energy to put these images into production thus far. For now, I will simply show some older works.
"Softening IV" 12x12 acrylic Sgraffito Painting from "Softening" Series. Created 2006 and featured in "The Other End of the Brush: Sgraffito Paintings and Other Works by Meghan Henley", Tomato Head, October 2006.

Holiday Showcase of Artists this weekend!!!

I will travel to South Carolina this weekend to be a part of the Walhalla Auditorium Holiday Showcase of Artists which will be held both Saturday and Sunday in the Auditorium in historic downtown Walhalla, SC. Please stop in and say "hi" if you can!
I will be selling small original watercolors, acrylics, metallic paintings, handpainted gift cards and tags, and much more. Although most of my stock is original, I also have prints of older larger works and of works that have been sold. For more info on the Showcase, email me at artnoufauxbymeghan@gmail.com.

Eva Magazine's New Issue is out!!!

Meghan is Eva Magazine's Featured Artist for December. Please pick up your December issue of Eva Magazine beginning today all over downtown Knoxville. Please note that shown to the left is not Meghan's artwork. This was last month's issue.
Distribution list of Eva Magazine found at: http://mail.google.com/mail/?realattid=f_eue66e29&attid

=0.1&disp=vah&view=att&th=10ed79f576274e6d

Jumped on the Etsy Bandwagon!

I was referred by contemporary artist, Jessica Torrant, to a fabulous new site for all things artsy called Etsy! I will soon be closing up shop with Ebay and moving all large works to my Etsy store. I have already met tons of wonderful people and have had such fun breezing through all the wonderful stores featured there. In the meantime, you will be able to find some of my smaller most recent works here,
Link

at www.meghanhenley.etsy.com. Check it out!

Featured Painting: "Eye Candy", Watercolor and Ink, Meghan Henley, 2006.

Making Original Art Affordable!

Annually, I travel to the quaint town I grew up in, Walhalla, SC, to be a part of the Walhalla Civic Auditorium Showcase of Artists. I am so proud to be a part of this wonderful, charming holiday exhibition. The Showcase features artists and craftspeople from all over the world during the holiday season. The Showcase is to support the Holiday "Tour of Homes" for historic downtown Walhalla. It is such a beautiful, quiet german town with the famous "Steakhouse."
Each year, I try to create small works that are afordable to most everyone so that I can extend an offer of quality, original fine art to anyone with $10 in their pocket. I even go further to make sure they will fit in standard frames and matboards. This way the customer won't take it home and place it on the dining room table and never actually have their original, signed artwork professionally framed and hung. They can just put it in a frame found most anywhere and hang as soon as they get home. Original art is also such a wonderful idea for a holiday gift. Just thought I would share some of the small Sgraffito paintings I have done recently in preperation for the show. The paintings are acrylic on 4x6 Metallic Wallcovering with pencil. For more, please visit:
Link

"Rockettes", Meghan Henley, 2006.This year's holiday card design is ready! Please contact me if you are interested.
www.meghanhenley.com

I do hope I am not boring you people with all this "Sgraffito" talk. Just thought I would share some more...


I am working with Eva Magazine, Knoxville's local Women's magazine, on a piece about my Sgraffito work. Thought I might post how my scratching started.

I had been struggling for a long while with my style; not really knowing which direction I needed to take, when I realized that I was most interested in actually including the viewer in the process of my painting. I just didn't know exactly how to go about this.

In a fit of frustration in my studio one day, I took my palette knife to the canvas and began removing the oil paint from the canvas. Below the paint was my underpainting using oil pastel and pencil. The effect was marvelous. I realized this removal of the paint added much more interest to the overall effect of the painting. I also decided this was how I would be able to involve the viewer in the process of my forming the work. The viewer could actually see the technique; layering, removal and final result in each of my paintings. I even began to transform the images in front of my eyes by removing the paint and surprising myself with a fresh viewpoint that I was previously unaware of. After much research on the internet and books on painting techniques, I realized I was interested in Sgrafftio Painting. The word sgraffito derives from the Italian word "sgraffire" which literally means "to scratch". Although I began using a palette knife, I started to explore different ways to remove the paint. I have used old credit cards, paper clips, forks, pens and pencils.

I now actually use the scratch marks as the linear elements in paintings. I also sometimes scratch away portions to reveal shadowing. My latest focus of sgraffito is what I refer to as "building and painting out." Layers of glaze and paint are built in steps. I usually end up painting out most of the composition in the last stage of work to reveal what I think of as the final piece. I enjoy the freedom of Sgraffito and each time I create a work, I feel more involved with the composition because I work in stages with the glazes. I am glad I am finally able to show the viewer the process in which I am so interested.

I am greatly inspired by Austrian painter, Hundertwasser, who was also intriqued with the Austrian Baroque era's voluptuousnous. He broke away from the spirit of the human form and began focusing on the pieces that make up life and shaped and formed compositions from his ideas. Hundertwasser's compositions are compelling, mainly geometric type forms and based on his idea of "vegitative painting" and organic inspiration.

http://www.kunsthauswien.com/english/hundertwasser.htm


Klimt, of course, may also come to mind as his style can sometimes be seen in both my work and Hundertwasser's. Klimt's mosaic styled geometric collections seem to interest me. I enjoy his use of repitition but feel it is sometimes too much for my own style. I prefer to paint landscaped compositions including the geometric designs.

http://www.expo-klimt.com/

And now I am able to breathe again...
The show was a hit! A great turn out, tons of great food, wine, and conversation. A big thank you goes out to all of you who helped me out for my big day. A super big thanks to Katherine for her fantastic PR skills! Now for some pictures...

Cover for Delta Fashion Apparel's Dealer Book. 2006

Although I was drinking decaf when I worked towards this, I felt the uncomfortable buzz I get sometimes while anxiously working away while drinking coffee. For hours I forced pages into crumbled balls on the floor until finally I realized I was trying too hard. Just paint as you normally would...It worked. They loved the final piece.

"The Other End of the Brush:Sgraffito Paintings and other works by Meghan Henley"

Please come check out the opening of my Exhibit at The Tomato Head in Market Square, Knoxville TN. The show opens this Saturday October 7 and runs through November 3. An Art Reception will be held on Sunday October 29, 2006 from 5:30-7 pm. Food and wine will be served and 4 of my paintings will be away! Please come support your local artist!

Meghan Henley Modern Fine Art


I have been working hard to create some new sgraffito paintings to enter in my upcoming solo show as my most recent work. I am focusing on abstracting even further and creating patches of color from my memory of working closely with fabric swatches for so long. This series hasn't been quiet the abstract struggle. I can identify with the subject matter and form the paintings from the combination of past sgraffito works and a memory filled with colors and textures of fabric swatches. I am finally able to take what I have learned about my sgraffito style as an artist and merge it with my everyday. This has not only been a maturing experience as a painter, but a sort of release as an individual.

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Meghan Henley Modern Fine Art
So, now I am expecting another angel. There are no words to express how I have been feeling; well, okay I will try:
Alive again, sick of course, secretive, mysterious, the opposite of sexy, as excited as I remember being with my first. I am sure next trimester, I will be able to think only positive, sexy, loving, bonding, maternal thoughts...but for now I am just trying not to throw up.