“Dying Arts” opening at Florida Gulf Coast University

FGCU ArtLab Reception 2.18.10

Feb. 18, 2010.  I have been behind in writing, as I have been busy preparing all of my paintings for the show that debuted last Thursday at the FGCU ArtLab.  This show  is titled: “Dying Arts: Batiks and Silk Works by Muffy Clark Gill and Nuch Owen” has been a labor of love for over a year since interim Curator Anica Sturdivant asked me to participate .  I met Thai artist Nuch Owen many years ago when she first came to the Naples area.  Her skill in painting on silk using Gutta resist is unbelievable, and very intricate. I enjoy her work and respect the talent that goes into creating it.   I brought 8 paintings to the show including “Seated in Silence”;” Hava Tampa Spirit”, and two of my pieces from the FGCU Steamroller project.  WGCU Public Media hosted the reception as a member event, and over 60 people showed up(there were RSVP’s for 107, and it was hard to track a true total).  Quite a few for a intimate gallery setting on the University campus.I really enjoyed talking to the students who were asked to do a report on the exhibition.    The show also featured the debut of my new silk hanging: “Influence”.  I have a web page of the show here:   http://tinyurl.com/ydmhbot.

The show  was part of a busy week that included a talk about how I use my Mac computer with my artwork, and two Batik demonstrations in the Southwest Florida area, along with the opening reception  February 12th for the 7th Biennial National Art Exhibition at the Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda.  The “Hava Tampa” painting was one of the 138 entries accepted from over 720 submissions.  By the time Sunday night came, I was worn out!

The Muffy Clark Gill Gallery Dedication

Roger, Gill and I in the Phyllis Clark Peace Garden

Looking towards the Muffy Clark Gill Gallery

Cutting the Ribbon for the Muffy Clark Gill Gallery dedication

Yesterday, the Board of Directors and the staff for the Shelter for Abused Women and Children of Collier County held a reception for me for the official naming ceremony of the Muffy Clark Gill Gallery.  When the new Shelter opened in 2002, I recruited my friends,Fran Mankiewicz, Jean-Marie Hendry-Friend, and my sister-in-law, Martha Gill(the original Martha Gill, as she puts it) to help me locate and hang artwork in the new building. This  process took several months, as we had to acquire artwork, and frame many of the pieces that were donated.  Roger Gregory of Gregory Frame Shop was very kind in assisting doing the framing and mounting of some of the pieces.  It was a challenge finding enough artwork for all of the rooms and interior spaces in the building.  I hung a large group of My Seminole Indian batiks in the widened hallway outside of the shelter’s library.  this became the basis of what was called for years”The Muffy Clark Gill Gallery” .  I had not been back in the building for over 4 years, and had not met Executive Director, Linda Oberhaus.  Cyndi Fields of the Shelter gave my family including my husband Gill, my brother Roger Clark, and my friends Kathy Ruch and Suzy Dorr the grand tour, including a viewing of the Phyllis Clark Peace Garden, which was named after my mother when the Shelter was opened.  My parents were the first large donors to the construction of the new building, and we were pleased to see how well the plants had grown in the courtyard.  A large purple ribbon was draped around the Batik that had been my Mother-in-Law Betty Gill’s painting”The Red Chair”.  I was given a pair of scissors to cut the ribbon after Linda read a small speech about my work with the Shelter, and how I had served on the Board and had been a past President.  I was then asked to give a quick talk about the paintings in the room.  When the ceremony was order, we went to the Machu Pichu Peruvian Restaurant and had a nice Cerviche dinner.  It was nice to be remembered!