Three years ago, January 2021, I participated in an invitational group art show at Bountiful Davis Art Center in northern Utah.
I was contacted just three weeks before our home was to be boxed up for our move to Japan about the show. I am still amazed at the crazy timing. I just had a baby and I was going to put all my inventory—except two pieces—into long term storage.
With the lucky timing of being contacted and promised help from family and my dear artist friend in Utah, Emily C. Fuller, I was able to put aside 10 pieces the curator—Dr. Alexandra Karl— wanted for the show: Wildfires in Utah Art, Homes and Lands.
There are two wonderful videos up on the Bountiful Davis Art Center website. You can listen to a discussion on wildfires in Utah with a professor and the curator and see a tour with the curator. You can see most of the pieces I had on display at these time stamps.
7:25 — three mini gold wildfire paintings from the 2018 collection.
10:30 —2 medium tile pieces, a 9 piece and a 4 piece.
27:55 — Triptych from 2018, It was one of the opening pieces but was last to be talked about in the tour.
https://www.bdac.org/wildfires-in-utah
I was honored to be one of the 18 artists selected for that show. There was a lot of talent and concepts shared by everyone. It was a really special experience and I only wish I could have seen it in person, but due to life circumstances, the video tour and photos was what I held onto in appreciation.
I am grateful for another fellow artist, whom I’ve never met, Nancy Andruk Olson that referred my work to the curator of the show. The art community never ceases to lift one another, cheer each other on, and stay connected. It is one of my favorite parts of being an artist—meeting and making friends with other creatives.
Wildfires in Utah Art, Homes and Lands. Exhibit at BDAC, Bountiful Utah. 2021.
The Way of Holiness, 24x 66 inches, 2018. Oil on Canvas.
The Way of Holiness—created in 2018, depicts before, during, and after a wildfire. It was chosen as one of the opening pieces to that show. I had several ceramic wildfire paintings and a few mini gold paintings that were also part of the show. I was happy that several pieces found a permanent home after that.
A few months after the show was over I was contacted by Ann Bernstein of the Salt Lake County Art Selection Committee about acquiring a piece for the Salt Lake county art collection. A video chat interview from Japan to Utah, several emails and a selection meeting later, the triptych was chosen over one of my ceramic pieces. It is hung at Salt Lake Government Center, South Building—4th Floor— 2001 South State Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84190.
I have not been able to visit it yet and take pictures at its location but I hope to next time I visit Utah. If you’re in Utah and come across it I would love to hear about it!
Artfully,
