Lucy goes North
Jenny Dowd
A few months ago I was invited to participate in an art exhibition with the intriguing theme: Lucy goes North. It was good that I had a few months to mull this over…
Curator, David Klaren, of Mystery Print Gallery in Pinedale, WY said this of the theme:
“A few years ago I had Wyoming Public Radio playing in the background as I moved between the shop and gallery preparing for a new exhibit. I wasn’t paying attention to the Friday afternoon magazine segments, but as I walked into the shop, the narrator stated, “and after the break, Lucy goes north.” I caught myself wondering, who is Lucy? And why was she going north? I had no idea, but I thought it would be interesting to throw the idea out to a group of artists to build an exhibit around.”
I kept thinking about old maps and mysterious journeys and finally decided that Lucy was considering an adventure to catch some of those big stars that she heard hang low in the Northern sky.
I decided to make this more of an illustration than a ceramic piece, so I rustled up a pad of watercolor paper, thin black pens, India Ink, and my favorite entomology pins. Oh, and I found a little wire net that had been made years ago for another project - looks like it could catch some stars!
Each morning while working on this project, I grabbed my favorite starry mug, a 2nd from a soda firing a few years ago.
The final piece, hastily photographed before packing up for shipping, is a shadow box. The compass rose sits out a bit in front, and the stars are all pinned in place.
North is where the stars hang low
Lucy had heard stories of the North.
That the sky was vast.
That the stars hung low in a big big sky.
She wondered if they could be caught.
She picked up her star-catching net.
Lucy went North.
The exhibit will be on display at Mystery Print Gallery & Frame from Nov 3 - December 30th. The opening reception is November 3 from 5-8pm. Check out the Facebook page for photos of the exhibition (coming soon), I can’t wait to see everyone’s interpretations!