Exhibiting in 2022

It felt so good to be showing my work in art exhibits again in 2022!

The double whammy of covid and moving across the country in 2020 made it feel like I was starting all the way over with exhibiting. In some ways I was - Denver has multiple art districts and I wasn’t sure where my art would fit, and I didn’t have an art community like I had started to build in Virginia before the move. But in some ways I wasn’t starting over - I knew where to look for opportunities, I knew what to look for in a Call for Entry to know that I wasn’t wasting my time, and I knew how to describe and price and display my work. I ended up taking my time before trying to get my art out of my studio, though, spending several days over many months in 2021 and 2022 exploring Denver’s galleries to see what was being created and shown here. Then I just needed to take the leap and apply. Looking back, I am a bit surprised at how many exhibits I participated in this past year.

Here’s a look back at my exhibiting experinces in 2022, in reverse chronological order:

Today is Another Story, an 18x24 oil on canvas painting by Monica Hokeilen, sold

My painting, Today is Another Story, was selected as part of the juried exhibit Finding Common Ground in an Uncommon World at the Collective in Lafayette, CO that ran November 8, 2022 through January 8, 2023. This exhibit by the Women’s Caucus for Art Colorado Chapter included artwork by female artists from all backgrounds across Colorado that represent conflict with people of different ideologies and how we find common ground on issues important to us. In addition to a fun opening reception, the organizers planned several community events, including an artist discussion on Nov 26 and two audience discussions on Dec 7 and Jan 4, making this a very special exhibit to have participated in. And I am delighted share that my painting sold!

Artist Statement for Today is Another Story:

The populations and habitats of wildlife in the west are in flux as our climate warms and water becomes scarcer, but many Americans still resist efforts to curb global warming. Bison populations, while recovered from their rapid destruction 150 years ago, are still threatened by low genetic diversity, changing food sources, droughts, and habitat loss. Will they continue to represent the recovery of a species from the brink of extinction, and in that way possibly become a symbol of American fortitude and perseverance? Might they even someday come to represent living all our lives in harmony with nature, as they have for many American Indian societies? Today is just a moment in the larger story of what was and what will be.

These artworks are created over older paintings while trying to leave a little of the previous paintings peeking through. By doing this, I'm letting these versions of the paintings be a moment in a larger story, just as the frozen poses of the animals they depict.

I was honored to be included in the Square Foot Auction at the Artworks Center for Contemporary Art in Loveland, CO in September, 2022. Two of my paintings sold, one in their Opening Gala on Sept 23rd and one through the silent online auction that ran during the week of Sept 24-30. Artworks Center for Contemporary Art is at 310 N. Railroad Ave, Loveland, CO 80537.

Artist Statement for artwork in the Square Foot Auction

These are from my daily painting series of floral still lifes in which I completed a new, small painting each day in the fall and winter of 2021. Each is painted in oil on 10”x10” canvas, framed to 12”x12”, $250.

Winter Solstice: In celebration of the shortest day of the year, and appreciation for the beauty of the night.

All Dressed Up: A single flower, a simple vase.

Missing Life in the Sunlight (sold): This particular day felt heavy, and this wilting rose, fading under my studio lights, seemed right when I painted it, as if it too was missing the life that was, that could have been, should have been.

Life Lessons in an Orange Bouquet (sold): While painting this I had to step away for a few hours and came back to find the flowers lying on the table had wilted, creating the challenge of merging what I had done initially with the new reality. Sometimes plans change, and we adjust.

Love is Messy: Love is like a messy bouquet, beautiful in its imperfection, bigger than the vase you thought you'd need.

Icelandic Meltwater, 14”x14” oil on canvas, framed in natural pine, sold

Two of my paintings, Icelandic Meltwater and Kirkjufellsfoss Flow, were in the Mountains and Rivers exhibit at R Gallery in Boulder, Colorado. Both paintings were inspired by my trip to Iceland in Nov 2019 and created during the covid pandemic in 2021/2022. Mountains and Rivers ran from 13 July through 28 August, 2022 at 2027 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302.

Kirkjufellsfoss Flow, 14”x14” oil on canvas, framed in natural pine $600

Artist Statement for Kirkjufellsfoss Flow:

The low light of a November day in Iceland reflects off snow and ice and water and casts a rosy glow to the sky as we stand at the top of a waterfall and watch the river flow away toward a bay and the mountains beyond.

 It was the end of November 2019, and the end of an incredible 10 day solo trip to Iceland, when I visited the Snaefellsnes Peninsula and took the picture that would be the inspiration for this painting. This trip, these photos, would inspire many more paintings through the covid shutdowns, and would help to sustain my wanderlust until the world opened up again.

Between What Was and What Will Be, 20”x16” oil on canvas, framed in natural pine, $1000

Bison Study, 8”x10” oil on canvas, unframed, $240

Two of my bison paintings were on display in the August Members Showcase at 40 West Gallery in Lakewood, Colorado. Show ran August 5 - 26, 2022. Gallery hours are Wed - Sat from 12pm - 4pm. 6501 W Colfax Ave, Lakewood, CO 80214

Artist Statement for Between What Was and What Will Be and Bison Study:

In 2022, I’ve been following an impulse to paint elk and bison and other wildlife found in Colorado. Sometimes I create these by painting over older paintings while trying to leave a little of the previous painting peeking through. By doing this I'm letting this version of the painting be a moment in a larger story, just as the frozen pose of the animals they depict. In Between What Was and What Will Be, you can see the previous painting in the red lines on the face and in the lines and shapes in the upper body of the bison, with some yellow painted over the top. In Bison Study, the previous painting shows mostly in the painted sides of the canvas.

I am delighted that my piece, Time is Camouflage, was accepted to the juried exhibit "Animal Kingdom" at the Niza Knoll Gallery in the Arts District on Santa Fe in Denver! The opening reception on Friday May 13 from 5-8pm was a lot of fun, with a brewery right around the corner and other nearby art galleries also hosting opening receptions the same night! Other events during this exhibit included Sundays on Santa Fe (May 29) from 11-3pm and First Fridays on Santa Fe (June 3) from 4-8pm. Regular gallery hours were Thurs - Sun 1-4pm. Show ran May 13 - June 12. Niza Knoll Gallery, 915 Santa Fe Dr, Denver, CO 80204.

Two of my space-themed pieces were in the Evolving exhibit at NEXT Gallery in the 40 West Arts District of Denver, Jan 28 - Feb 13, 2022! Opening reception was Friday, Jan 28, from 5-10pm (masks required). NEXT Gallery is at 6851 W Colfax Ave in the 40 West Arts District of Lakewood, and is open Fri 6-10pm, Sat & Sun 12-5pm.

You can see my interview with NEXT Gallery about these pieces here: https://www.hokeilenart.com/blog/2022/2/5/interview-for-evolving-at-next-gallery

Late Summer Reflections

When summer arrived, we (like so many others) were ready to get out and travel, to see the people and places that we have missed these last few years of covid. So when a friend announced they would be celebrating their Air Force retirement after 22 years of service, we jumped at the opportunity to join them. When we stepped off the plane and out of the Orlando airport into the sauna that is Florida in July, I drank it up through every desiccated pore and follicle while my son and husband wilted in the flooded air. In the following days, we celebrated and congratulated and hugged our way through numerous reunions, five family and a fiance, two babies, three hotels, six towns, the beach, two breweries, countless ice cream cones, one fort, two swimming pools, three new board games, mini-golf, go-karts, and one Atlas 5 launch seen from a friend’s backyard. Instead of our usual travel pace, we found ourselves cramming people-visits and tourist-destinations into a jam-packed itinerary because, as we have all learned through covid, being able to visit people/places is not guaranteed.

The Cape Canaveral beach skies were full of clouds as we waited for an Atlas 5 launch that would ultimately be postponed due to weather concerns.

My son (and husband, not pictured) and I enjoyed a Florida evening in St Augustine near the Castillo de San Marcos Fort.

The Castillo de San Marcos Fort in St Augustine, FL was beautiful at night.

Our summer adventures did not start or end with that trip to Florida. The past two and a half months have been a whirlwind of trips and visits with family and friends: I have been through airport security more times in the past three months than I have in the three years prior. If we weren’t out of town, we had someone visiting us at our home in Denver - often with less than 24 hours gap between guests and/or trips. Fortunately, I love having a full house, and every friend and family who visited felt like a gift that filled our home with extra conversation and activity.

An early-June evening on my family’s farm in Missouri.

This picture was taken while hiking with friends just west of Denver, Colorado.

But now our trips are done, our guests have gone home, and the scheduled routine of the school year returns next week. I so welcome this coming quiet and the rhythm of daily life. The cats miss having laps to fill, the dogs long for routine, the neglected garden and empty birdfeeders await the attention of a present household. The pantry is full of food, forgotten in the escape to restaurants this summer, that will draw us back to our table, together. And, for me, the most longed-for return to normal is the regular, scheduled time in my studio that normal life promises, and all the paintings waiting to be made.

So cheers to all who had a freeing summer, and cheers again to what comes after!

Two of my bison paintings are currently in the August Members Showcase at 40 West Gallery in Lakewood, CO. Show runs through August 26, 6501 West Colfax Ave, Lakewood, CO 80214. Gallery hours are Wed - Sat from noon-4pm.

Winter Elk, a 24"x18" oil on canvas framed in natural pine, sold in mid-June.

My piece, Time is Camouflage, was in the Animal Kingdom exhibit at Niza Knoll Gallery in the Santa Fe Arts District, Denver, CO.

Icelandic Meltwater sold in July in the Mountains and Rivers exhibit at the R Gallery in Boulder, CO. A similar painting of mine, Kirkjufellsfoss Flow, is now on display in this exhibit, which runs through August 28, 2022. 2027 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302

Interview for Evolving at NEXT Gallery

I had the fun experience of giving an interview about my artwork in the Evolving exhibit at NEXT Gallery. It was the first time I’ve done something like this, and I was pretty nervous. But it was great to be able to talk about my background and how these paintings combine my education and work experience with the subject matter of my art. Check it out!

How I Create: Sketching in Wet Paint

I am sometimes asked why I prefer working with oil paint, and the answer is always multifaceted. Top of my list, though, is that it is slow-drying and therefore moveable and blendable and markable. If I need to move a line or a shape, I can literally push the paint with my brush or palette knife, or scrape it off altogether. If I want to change the color, whether in value or hue, I can paint over a layer of wet paint with white or black or another color and it will mix in with the layer already on the canvas. Likewise, if I want a soft edge or a gradual change in color, I can go over the paint on the canvas with a clean brush or knife to blend it until it has the effect I want.

One of the most fun outcomes of the slow-drying characteristic of oil paint is the ability to sketch in the wet paint. I have a rubber-tipped tool (sometimes called a wipe-off tool) that I use for this.

Inevitably there will be a point in the painting process where I need to adjust a shape or location of something in my painting, or mark where highlights need to be applied, or remove a precise bit of paint, or reveal the color on the canvas beneath the wet paint recently applied. So I pull out this handy little double-sided stick and carve out the image I want, like sketching in the wet paint.

This editing typically happens about halfway through a painting, and usually I continue to paint over my sketch marks to the point where they are no longer visible. But sometimes I like to leave a few marks in the final painting, revealing bare canvas (white) or toned backgrounds (blue, red, or orange).

Sometimes I stop after sketching in the wet paint, leaving the sequence of applying paint and then taking it away starkly visible.

And, almost always, I sign my paintings with this tool.

Daily Painting, take 2

As I have done before, I am returning to the practice of Daily Painting to get myself in front of a canvas again every single day. Its not that I don’t want to create, its just that it can be difficult to paint on command when I am out of practice. Sometimes it feels overwhelming, sometimes too rigid, sometimes uninspiring or in conflict with my mood. Daily painting eliminates all that by giving me the freedom to paint anything I want, in any medium and style. Every day I create a new piece with the intention of finishing it on that day, all in one sitting if possible. Canvas sizes tend to be small, and not everything is a keeper, but it allows for a lot of flexibility and experimentation and fun.

The first week of my return to painting after taking an extended break because of child care and covid-related issues, I painted outside every day. It was therapeutic for me to be “out of the house”, even if I was on the back deck with a dog at my feet. I painted trees, imagined and real. Plein air painting (painting outside, in front of your subject, with the changing light and weather) is really hard for me - it is difficult to translate a 3D object into 2D on a canvas and have it still have depth. And it is hard to not make stuff up - to not change the color to suit my mood, or to ignore value as I tend to do, or to add a happy little tree over here and a friendly little branch over there… Not that that would be against the rules for plein air painting - the artist has creative license to change things up however they want. But I aim to improve painting from real life, and as the weather cools down this fall I plan to get out to some parks and nature spaces to practice this more.

The second week, battling a virus (that thankfully wasn’t covid), I moved indoors to my dining room table and played with abstract painting in acrylics on paper - a far cry from the representational paintings in oil on canvas that I typically do. This is another area that I am wanting to improve my skills - I am way too logical to easily create abstracts. I understand the elements of art (line, shape, form, space, texture, color, and value) and how they relate to make an interesting painting, but creating a painting of something that is not actually anything is wayyyy hard. But that makes it wayyy fun, too! It feels good to do something different and hard, and I feel that improving my ability in abstract painting will benefit my representational painting as well. Time well spent.

The third week I finally moved up into my studio. I had an itch to paint still life of flowers - kind of like painting plein air but with a controlled light source and composition. I set up my space with a black background, a bright lamp, a bunch of flowers (fresh and silk), and have been painting still life flower arrangements ever since.

Back to Our Previously Scheduled Programming

With my son back to in-person school a few weeks ago and the routine of our daily lives returning to a normal pace, I have finally been able to return to my work as an artist. The first week of school especially felt momentous and important for both my son and me.

However, now that I am “returning to work”, I’m finding that I’m having to find my creative mental space all over again. Picking right back up where I left off pre-pandemic doesn’t feel genuine. The world is a different place, and the time that I’ve spent away from my art has let me re-evaluate where I need to focus my time. I am still excited about my art and many of the pieces that were in-progress when everything shut down, but I am more excited to experiment, to focus on improving my paintings in the areas that I know I need to grow. Then I will continue on the important pieces that wait for me on my studio wall.

With this tenuous break that, for now, allows me to return to my work, I am focusing on being in this moment. I am painting again, almost daily, with my music playing in the background and no interruptions. I know I have to put in the miles (in paint) to get to where I want to be, and I can’t wait to get started!

Finding advice and inspiration in art books and magazines as I prepared for my return to work.

Finding advice and inspiration in art books and magazines as I prepared for my return to work.

Hokeilen Art is now coming to you from Denver, Colorado!

My family and I moved this past summer to Denver, Colorado - a destination we have waited a decade to return to, and we feel relieved to finally be “home”. Moving during the pandemic was more tricky and stressful than normal, and moving my art business added a whole other layer of complexity. But, I am happy to say, Hokeilen Art is now coming to you from Denver, Colorado!

With every move comes chaos and distraction and a chance to reset. A new house to fill with our stuff and daily routine, a new community to learn and find our place. And for me, a new room in which to set up my studio, organize my supplies, figure out lighting and fresh air and mental space for art. It takes time and patience and optimism. And now we are here, settled, and ready to get on with life.

But this pandemic stretches on. Getting “on with life” doesn’t look at all the same as before-covid. Time to create is no longer mine alone in the house but shared with time to help my 5th grader with online school, time for added household responsibilities, time with family in the house. This leaves little time/energy to find a new artist community to get involved with, and no time/motivation to find exhibiting opportunities. All of this is harder and frustrating and depressing. But not impossible. It is just a new routine within this new reality. And all things considered, being able to paint at all sometimes feels like a luxury. I’ll take what I can get.

from top left, 1: The room that would become my studio was a bedroom at the top of the stairs. The carpet and soft blue walls would need to be changed, but the lighting, ceiling fan, space, and location was perfect!

2: We had a month in our new house before our stuff arrived, giving me time to put down a more mess-friendly rubber flooring and paint the walls a neutral white with gray trim.

3: Household goods delivery day was in late July. But unpacking and organizing my studio was a task that got pushed down in priority (it is better to eat and sleep and function, especially when everyone is at home all the time).

4: One of the first paintings I finished while in my new studio was an abstract. I find abstracts sooo challenging, but much more interesting and expressive. I still have a lot to learn, but am encouraged - figuring out how to paint abstract will help me with composition and color and value in all my art.

5-8: My studio today in all its messy, cluttered glory. I set up my art festival gallery walls (dark gray) to hang pieces-in-progress. Unfortunately, many of the pieces that were in progress 6 months ago are still in progress, but such is life during covid. I now have three easels/stations on which to work (two in the 5th image and one in the 7th), complete with several pieces-in-progress.

8: I’m not completely set up in my studio, but someday this space on the other side of my gray walls from my easels will be a small gallery to show visitors what I have been working on (without the clutter of my workspace). For now it works as storage.

Adapting to our Socially-Distanced World

While we are staying home through the Covid-19 pandemic, daily life has shifted to focusing on staying healthy and adapting to a new normal. Old routines and all plans have come to a screeching halt. Our calendars have shrunk to this week, or this day - there are too many unknowns beyond that to make plans, and the weight of worry and unpredictability and loss have left me with little motivation to deal with what isn’t right in front of me in this house and on this day.

For nearly five weeks, I have avoided my studio. A dozen paintings in some state of progress, many very nearly done, wait patiently for me to return. But the fear of messing something up when so many things in life are messed up right now, and the energy required to fix a mistake, which is a normal part of painting, seemed too exhausting, too hard. I haven’t had the mental space or energy for painting during this pandemic, but I miss it, and my break to focus my energy on just surviving is ending.

Yesterday I sat down at an easel, squeezed out some paint onto my palette pad, and finished a painting that was in-progress. Done! It was a big victory for me, a little bit of getting my life back to normal.