Our wonderfully talented artist Bridgette Meinhold just returned from an artist workshop in Canada, and is brimming with excitement and new ideas for her process and work. We are excited to see what new themes will come out in her work, and have a show planned for her in November — so you will be able to see it too! View her entire post about the excursion, here. Her written piece is excerpted, below.

 

At the end of July, I spent a week in Canada as part of the 2016 Legendeer Expedition and Workshop. I found out about Legendeer right before their 2015 workshop and was so sad to miss it, and so I was determined to make this one. Legendeer was started by artist and illustrator, Sterling Hundley, the freaking nicest man you will ever meet. His goal was to help artists live out their best story, make awesome art and then share it with the world. What I knew about it beforehand was that a whole bunch of artists (painters, photographers, filmmakers, writers and many more) got together in an amazing place, learned from some fantastic instructors, and made art in the woods. Sounds great, right? This all, in fact, did happen on our expedition, but it was so much more than that.

In the evenings, back at camp, we would sit around talking about our work, the directions we want to head, our problems, fears, and our dreams. We chatted with mentors, asking questions, pitching ideas and getting feedback. Over the course of the trip, I grew to love each and every person there. Sure they are all quirky – we’re artists, of course we’re quirky – but their passion, dedication, intelligence, and warm hearts made me appreciate them for who they were. Every single person on this trip is incredibly talented, but not one of them is pretentious. We became cheerleaders of each other’s work, and even now that we’ve gone home, we’re all communicating regularly, asking how things are going, and reminding each other of the excitement and stoke we had on the trip. This is my tribe and I’m so grateful to have found them.

 

I learned so much this week about myself, about other people, about artists, about art. I learned that the end result of a painting isn’t exactly the point, but the process it took you to get there is pretty damn important. I learned I am doing great and I am exactly where I need to be. But I also learned where I want to go with it all, or at least the general direction. I learned community really [f*&%ing] matters and that I should stop being an island. I learned I want to collaborate with people.

I learned art is important, especially now when things are scary, and hard, and changing so fast. We artists are the torch bearers, shining our light into dark corners; making difficult things easy, making easy things beautiful; showing what is, what was and what can be. We rehash, retell, relive, revive. I believe we can all be artists too. It is important to share your light with the world, no matter what your skill set is, no matter how bad you think you are, no matter if you don’t know how. Legendeer taught me this. Our voice, perspective, and experiences make each of us unique and that means we do actually have something special and unlike anything else to share with the world.

Tags: art workshop, Bridgette Meinhold, Encaustic, Legendeer, Park City Art, the artist's way
Posted in Gallery News