#heimaerbest

[amytavern]

I want to do something special to show the work I made during my residency at Bær... I’m thinking some kind of online exhibition and I’m planning it right now. I’ve got lots of ideas! I’ll open up my sketchbook, show process and inspirations images, and include some writing, all alongside finished pieces from drawings to collages to videos. My little show will “open” Thursday, September 10 and I’ll post a few previews over the next couple of weeks. 

Also find me on Instagram: @amytavern

Thanks for reading. 

[amytavern]

I’m back in the US now. The month I spent in Iceland was amazing... I visited new places and familiar favorites. I spent time with friends. I walked. I made new work. 

My residency ended July 20, those 14 days flying by, as I knew they would. I was immersed at Bær--days in which the sun never really disappeared, filled with studio time and walking. I took advantage of every moment, yet lived in such spaciousness, a rare combination. I could walk and work for countless hours. I could labor over a drawing and leave another in an instant. I could stay outside longer just because it was too beautiful to be indoors. 

I worked with color, finding inspiration in Icelandic flora. I used watercolors and pastels to translate the memory of these colors, trying different methods to convey my observations and to learn new materials. I recorded sound and made a few videos as well. I will share more soon. 

Bær was bookended with a week in Reykjavík, travel in the North, and a few more days in RVK. Throughout those four weeks I would often pause to think about how and what I was feeling and this simple but complex idea repeated itself: everything I was doing, every place I was visiting, every friend I was spending time with was so special, but it was all so wonderfully normal, or natural. One day I went to the pool in the morning and got a coffee from my favorite café. I went for a walk and visited an art gallery. I went shopping for a gift for a friend’s newborn. I stopped in another store for a card. Then I took a bus to the suburbs to meet this baby and spend time with her family. That night I thought about what a regular day it had been and I said, “I very much have a life here.” I know my way around. I have a pool I prefer and a coffee shop I frequent. I have baby gifts to give. 

When I got on that plane last week I was sad, but I wasn’t as sad as I usually am. I’m usually a total mess. This time I also felt calm. After three years away, the only thing that’s different is the addition of new babies. My relationships with people and place are as strong as ever. And I know I will go back again. I very much have a life there. 

Thanks for reading.

[amytavern]

Blálilja/ Blue lily, Paint sample cards, gesso, powdered graphite, pencil, colored pencil, 24 x 20 in., 2019 I’m pleased to present a collection of works and images from my residency at Bær Art Center in Hofsós, Iceland. Over the next 14 days I will share finished works, process pictures, inspirations, and thoughts. Pictured here Blálilja/ Blue lily, a collage inspired by blálilja, a plant that grows along gravel surfaces near the ocean. The sea foam green and periwinkle blue, those heart-shaped leaves, the delicate flowers, all set against the dark grays of the beach… This beautiful ground cover, a perennial that “exists for a long or apparently infinite time,” thrives amidst often harsh conditions in the North. 

I look forward to sharing more over the next two weeks... 

Thanks for reading.

[amytavern]

In one month I will finally travel back to Iceland. It’s been three years since I was last there, which feels like a lifetime considering the fact that I was going there every 6-9 months at one point. I will be spending two weeks at the Baer Art Center in the north, a place I’ve had in the back of my mind since the first time I saw it in 2013. I went to an open house there with friends from Skagaströnd and was very impressed. It also happens to be next to my favorite pool on the island in nearby Hofsós. While at the residency, I plan to work en plein air. I will study color and light, experiment with a variety of materials, and record sound. I want to spend as much time outside as possible and walk for hours on end. The trip will be bookended with time in Reykjavík to be with friends as well as to travel to a few new-to-me places. I am counting the days...

Thanks for reading.

[amytavern]

Summer solstice in Iceland, 2013...midnight sunlight and a Super Moon #summersolstice #solstice #midnightsun #supermoon #skagaströnd #iceland #heimaerbest (at Skagaströnd)

[amytavern]

I spent a lot of time thinking about Iceland yesterday so I started a new drawing of an imaginary island... powdered graphite, gesso, & pencil on newsprint, 18 x 24 in.

[amytavern]

The sea in other places... the view from the cliffs in Skagaströnd, North Iceland, May 2013. (Can you see the curvature of the earth?) (at Skagaströnd)

[nanotopian]

Farewell, Windsock #iceland #heart #heimaerbest (at Atlantic/Reykjavik)