Sea Change - Deanie French Retrospective

THIS AUCTION IS CLOSED.
Please go to https://www.32auctions.com/DeanieFrench75 to view the collection and make your purchases. Prices in this new online exhibition are BUY NOW. There will be no bidding wars. Not as exciting, but we've been down that road. If you find something you love, there is one price as listed. Buy it now, while you can!

This exhibition will run for 2 weeks, from January 16th - 31st

Proceeds from this exhibition benefit Art & Soul Nashville.
Thank you for your support. Truly. Thanks to Deanie, and thanks to the team of Art & Soulers that made this happen, and thanks to YOU for all your bidding. It was great fun. Now, go visit our website to listen to Deanie's Talk: https://www.artandsoulnashville.com/post/deanie-french-artist-s-talk

Copy and paste the link above into your browser and it will take you directly to our blog where you can listen to Deanie's talk.

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FROM THE ARTIST

The invitation for this retrospective at Art & Soul has given me the opportunity to go through decades of artwork that I have accumulated, and bring it out to share with you. Recurring themes are the search for home ... touch, connection and transformation ... water, climate change ... nature as solace, comfort, and mother.

The only child of a figurative sculptor and Monuments Man who rescued looted art during WWII, and his wife, the second daughter of 12 children born to Finnish immigrants, I grew up hearing different languages and music, learning a variety of customs, and understanding art and nature as fundamental.

I drew a lot as a child ... doodled in all the margins. I tried to depict accurately what I saw, though it would be years before I knew the longed-for depth of connection to what I was making.

Cape Ann was a magical, colorful place to grow up in the '50s and '60s. From my home in the woods, it was a few minutes bikeride to sandy beaches and rocky coves. Cousins were just a short walk away. Summers were spent around, on, in, and under water—freshwater quarries and the cold Atlantic. The rocky shores were a magnet for artists, musicians, and writers.

I was lucky to spend several years in Italy with my parents. Immersion in Italian culture fueled my love of languages. So, in college I studied French, Italian, and art history, and I stayed away from studio art.

While I was working in Boston after college, a roommate introduced me to a school which opened my eyes—Shady Hill. There I found an inviting art studio for 3rd through 9th graders that galvanized my desire to explore artmaking and learning along with children.

Once launched, I found fulfilling work in public and private schools in Philadelphia and Newton, Deerfield and Conway, Massachusetts. While in Boston, I married a family physician who loved the outdoors, travel, dancing, and singing as much as I did. We did transformational work together, practiced Vipassana, and sang with friends on Sunday nights.

We adopted two Korean infants and embarked on a lifelong adventure of “learning by doing.” We raised our familly in a hilltown in western Massachusetts which turned out to be home to artists, meditators, and back-to-the-landers.

Through friends in a toddlers’ playgroup, I learned a practice called Authentic Movement, a doorway into the inner self, its mystery and grace. It was the meditation form that came most naturally to me.

My aging parents were several hours away on the coast. My mother’s unexpected death hit me hard, and I entered a dark period which led to a serious longterm depression. Several years later, at an art educators' retreat, I met Arunima and suddenly felt plugged into what felt like a source of vibrant aliveness.

That revolutionary moment began a long rolling wave of changes: painting with Michell Cassou in San Francisco, hospitalization, my father’s death, managing his estate, stays at Isha Yoga Centre, Tamil Nadu, moving from the coast of New England to middle Tennessee, life with Nima and Parkinson's, rediscovering singing and art with children at Abintra, participating and facilitating at Art & Soul, and becoming a grandmother.

Now, on the eve of my 75th trip around the sun, it appears that my lifelong question, whether I am "an artist," may be a moot point.

My deepest thanks and appreciation to Sadhguru, Walker and Saima, Arunima, Kit, Jonathan and Anna, Suzi, and to all the Art & Soul community, in particular my hand-holding team who helped make this exhibition possible, especially Robin, Roberta, Karyn, Amanda, Donna, and Doris.

Art & Soul is an arts studio dedicated to supporting individual creativity, personal growth, and artistic development. We foster a safe, stimulating, and rich environment for both beginning and experienced artists to connect with their capacity to create, explore, and discover the beauty and power of personal expression. To that end, mediums and practices that address the whole person—meditation, sound, breath, movement, music, writing, painting, drawing, and other visual arts—are offered through classes, workshops, and individual sessions. Membership to Art & Soul Nashville is available to anyone who is looking for the ongoing connection and depth of an established, supportive community. If you are looking for a studio where playful, authentic, and meaningful artistic exploration can happen, you have found it!

***IMPORTANT TAX INFORMATION FOR ALL WINNING BIDDERS:
Art and Soul Nashville, Inc. is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization. Tax-deductible contributions are limited to the excess of any money contributed by you over the fair market value of the goods and services that you received, and to the full extent of the law. Please retain this receipt for your tax records. Art and Soul Nashville, Inc.: EIN #45-4104005