STORAGE CLOSET GALLERY PROPOSAL by Denise Driscoll March 2023

(working title only, I feel a better one growing on the tip of my tongue)

May/June 2023 or later

I would like to fill the walls of The Storage Closet Gallery with large canvases-in-progress and to rotate them in and out of my studio as I work on them. A visitor will find very different layers of work from week to week and across two months great change will be visible. This exhibit about making an active creative process visible more than finished product, the journey instead of the destination.

Paintings go through many stages that might be called finished before I am satisfied with them–a painting can go from lovely and resolved to awkward and unfinished in just a few hours, or vice versa. Currently, I am working on unstretched canvases that have grommets arranged around the edges. These allow me to hang them on my wall to work vertically or view from a distance. They are equally likely to be thrown on the floor or my table when working on a horizontal surface is preferred. These canvases can change dramatically from day to day.

The images below are of two types. The first three images are of one current canvas across a week, and this will be included in the show. The following images are of previous work that has been completed in past years and will not be included, but is present to demonstrate the evolution that is visible from day to day. The work that will hang in this show will be completely new, and in process.

A May installation/beginning date is very comfortable. Six or more canvases, each about 55 x 66 inches, will hang from a simple wooden bar that will be installed about 7 feet from the floor. They will attach to the wall with screws, and will hold the nails that the grommets will slip onto for hanging, This will reduce wear and tear on the walls as the canvases are rearranged across the exhibit and the walls will be very easy to repair by myself with spackle and paint once the show has ended.

Antoinette, I would also like to confirm that this is not overly ambitious in the context of my current health challenges. I am not teaching, and avoiding most social contact, so I have lots of time to paint and am getting 30-40 hours in weekly. So far, we have opened for every Open Studio since we moved in a year ago, except for July when we were traveling, and we will continue to do so. I understand that you hope to elevate artists who might not have exhibit experience, but this idea flashed through my head when I read your call for proposals and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It could be a good solution, especially if no one else is ready for a May install.

Denise Driscoll
508.561.0306
dd@denisedriscoll.com