2 years and counting

GroundSwell Gallery, the gallery that Danette Montoya and I conceived in May 2011, has now been operating for over 2 years.  We had our 2nd birthday in May, celebrating aesthetically and skillfully advanced artwork by Denver's own artists; celebrating consistent and fair exhibition opportunities for professional rising artists; celebrating our own achievement as one of Westword's Masterminds for 2012; and celebrating all the positive and constructive relationships we've built with artists and designers, musicians and performers! 

The warm season began with color,

Andrew Huffman 4U2C, April 2013, yarn installation detail with drawing at back

with poignant, personal artworks by deep-thinking artists,

Jaimie Henthorn, Body Building, May 2013 and Evan Isoline, Poltergeists, June 2013

with new media exhibitions and with a new mural

alley-mural west of gallery, June 2013, Kevin Hennesy, Mario Zoots, and Ryan Ingersol

and currently continues with an exquisite exhibition of 39 local artists' postal collaborations - Exquisite Corpse : Stamped & Mailed.

please follow the Exquisite Corpse link above to see more images from the exhibition

To say the least, running GroundSwell Gallery for these few years has felt like a time-warp (Did that just happen?) and has pushed Danette and myself to utilize as many skills and as much energy as we didn't know we had.  We've realized that as artists running a gallery for artists, that we can provide a unique experience for those wanting to exhibit (as much as possible) on their own terms.  We've opened ourselves to the ideas of other artists, designers, musicians and diverse creatives and put our curatorial muscles to work.  The gallery makes us very proud of Denver artists.  The gallery has inspired us, taught us  many lessons and has helped us realize who we can be.

I am thankful for the history we've made so far with our 3,672 square feet granted to us by GroundSwell Cannabis Boutique.  All we did was get started...  and now our desire to provide aesthetically adequate and credible space for the art of Denver's own has been achieved... and then some!  I hope you'll visit (we're open every day) 3121 East Colfax Ave., Denver, CO, 80206.

I would like to extend heartfelt thanks to Danette Montoya, Don Novak, Christian Butler, Sara Guindon, Mario Zoots, Christy, Shannon and Mary of GroundSwell Cannabis Boutique, Susan Froyd, Mark Sink and to all the brilliantly talented artists who have worked with us! 

Milos and Crete, Greece - June 2013

For most of the month of June, Christian and I traveled in Greece.  The original purpose for the trip was to attend our friends, Marietta and Strati's wedding.  Ultimately, the trip became a much needed vacation, a time for recovering and renewal, disconnecting, slowing down, slower, slower...  slower...  As we currently embark upon big plans and big dreams and direct the creative drive of our life as Artist and Architect, this travel reminded us of the simplicity of living. 

We intended that the trip not only honor our own personal happiness and balance but also to honor the lost joy and adventure, lost love and union, lost family of Whitney Butler Dunlap and David Dunlap.

Truly a beautiful trip with beautiful memories, realizations, friendships, landscapes, food and culture - our travel to Milos and Crete:

whole missing person

Water-gazing - a must.  Milos, Greece (June 2013)

This Summer has been a real Summer.

What I mean by this:  Instead of amping up all Spring toward big summer projects and obligations, I spent the Spring recovering from this past Winter's difficult and emotionally stressful event, the death of my husband's sister Whitney and her husband David.  This past January, we found ourselves taken on a trip through horror and sadness that lasted through early Spring.  I started seeing a therapist with whom I've been able to rise out of sadness and the weight of evil that passed through our lives.  Because of this difficult period in my life, I have also had to deal with other personal struggles that presented themselves boldly in the midst of grief.  2013 has been a year focused on my deepest self and casting off the spells of pop culture, progress culture, and anything else that does not serve my happiness. 

We went to Greece (I'll make a post about that next) for our friends' wedding and for tranquility, timelessness, sun, salt-water and sand.  Since returning, it's been full steam ahead with GroundSwell Gallery (next next post) and with my own commitment to SUMMER for Summer's sake.

Like I said, this Summer has been a real Summer.  The trip to Greece was a good kick off - I got a taste for lying in the sun and enjoying the simple sensation of warmth.  I've been more focused on hiking and being outdoors, spending time with friends, reading novels, practicing yoga and running and making time to cook.  All of this is not that unusual for me - the difference is that I feel unhinged and committed to living and loving without the distraction of: GO GO GO life is moving along without you if you don't run and keep up with "them" and do as much as you can to show the world how AMAZING you are all the time, no stopping, no other priorities, don't be left behind, keep up the good work Rebecca, you really owe it to the world.

blah blah blah

This is all to say, I'm living.  I put this blog aside for a few months because each time I went to write or share a photo I felt the pressure of "Go Go Go" and just didn't need to participate in that run-around.  Everything has to be re-identified with this basis for doing:  I do this because I find fulfillment and joy for myself.