Much news in March 2015.

Meet Erma Turnip Doering Fisher
She is the new Boss of the Doering Fisher household.

It's been an interesting transition from the "Fall" Semester of 2014 and the "Winter" Semester of 2015. This past summer energized me so much that I was having an incredibly productive Fall. I am sure many of you experience this when you are productive you can never imagine not being productive and you automatically assume that this state of being will go on forever. Christmas break came and it was wonderful and quite creative, though a lot more laid back. When we returned and settled back into teaching three classes in January it was a lot harder getting any kind of productive Rhythm back. It's a strange experience when boundless energy is in such recent memory and it confounding to feel lethargic always tired and very very slow. The biggest difference of course has been that winter finally hit Nova Scotia  at 1 AM New Years Day and has been a relentless mix of ice, snow, freezing rain. Layers upon layers of concrete hard ice and snow that has to be hacked out of the driveway for hours on end. Leaky roofs are followed by days of shovelling rooftops and decks. Rainy bathrooms, frozen pipes, extremely slippery side-walk conditions, constantly disrupted public transit, and of course the list goes on. Who wouldn't want to go into Hibernation? But of course I don't settle into creative hibernation without putting up a fight. So despite it all I struggled my way back to a somewhat creative routine and am focussing on what seems to currently work. I am printing Screen prints full of colour and energy.

As much as we say that when it rains it pours, good news seems to come in clusters as well. So last week I received news from Zea Mays Printstudio in Massachusetts that they would like me to do a residency in the Fall.

What makes Zea Mays especially exciting to me is that it is a non-toxic print facility which is exactly what I am working towards setting up myself. I am hoping to absorb a huge amount of information and inspiration on the topic during my stay in their studios.

So if I can raise the substantial funds that it will take to partake in this incredible opportunity I will be printing linocuts at Zea Mays in November of this year. I might have to sell a kidney to raise approximately $3000 to cover the residency fee, food, travel and materials. But this is to fantastic to say anything but YES!

On that note, if you are interested in purchasing any of my work all proceeds will go into my Zea Mays residency fund. And will be enormously appreciated! Please get in touch with me with any requests at: contact (a) maria-doering.com

On other news ArtZone Gallery in Halifax offered me a solo show for August of this year and I am thrilled. I will finally be able to exhibit the cellular formation drawings. What a great opportunity!

I pulled them all out of my drawer today and realized the stack is significantly tall! I can't wait to see them installed in the beautiful Gallery space.

A stack of almost 100 drawings.

Artist/Sculptor Rosemary Metz, (left), me, Chief Curator Brandt Eisner and  his right hand Jenn Maguire during my visit to Artzone Gallery last week. 

Visual Voice in Truro has been exhibiting my Anne-Marie painting as part of a large works group show. And Nuri has sent me a few great photos of Anne-Marie "hanging out" during the Brogue concert at the Gallery.

And finally I am organizing a Portfolio Exchange project for and with the Nova Scotia Printmakers,

The exchange themed "Local Culture and the culture of Local" which has been a fascinating observation since we arrived in Nova Scotia. The province has an interesting mix of culture but it also has a strong movement towards supporting "local" whether or not it is under the slogan of buy "local" or "hire local". Coming into the province it's been interesting experiencing this sense of community. I am looking forward to see what people come up with for the exchange.

We have already four exhibition venues booked and hope to make it a travelling exhibition around the Maritimes.