Welcome to the World, my Book!
Thank you to everyone who showed up at Sunrise Coffee’s Art & Lecture series last night, for the launch of “Notes from Next to the Bed: A caregiving love story in words & pictures”. It was a packed room (overflowing into the outside area!) – full of community, love and listening. This kind of sharing is exactly how I wanted the book to enter the world. Folks have asked how they can buy a copy. For now, I am doing it very old school, please send me an email requesting the purchase. I will accept cash, check or Venmo (will provide Venmo info to you directly, if that’s the way you want to go). I have a limited number of books left, and will be printing another run after this batch sells out. Books are $35 each. If I am mailing it, shipping is $6 per book, sent media mail.
Book Launch Event on September 27
August 26 edition of The Jefferson County Beacon features a warm and in depth interview about my process, journey and the upcoming release of my book, Notes from Next to the Bed: A caregiving love story in words & pictures. Angela Downs led the interview with me in my studio, asking wonderful questions as I shared the art and the sketchbooks.
Don’t miss the book launch event at Sunrise Coffee on September 27 at 6pm. I will read an excerpt from the book, accompanied by visuals, and moderator Kerry Tremain will help introduce and guide a conversation after the reading. Audience responses are encouraged. Books will be available for purchase and signing.
Coming Soon! Port Townsend Artist Studio Tour
August 24, one day only, 10am-6pm. Come see my studio space, and enjoy a retrospective of my work (all for sale, take one or two home!), including acrylic enamel paintings, monographs, limited edition prints and cards, oil paintings, sketches and books from my 2022 exhibit, Some Mornings. I love talking about process, my soon-to-be-released book and what’s next in the studio too, so stop in and let’s chat. Get a map, and learn more at: rawartcollective.org/artiststudiotour
July 6, 2024: “Favorite Things” at The Grover Gallery, Port Townsend WA
Summer arrived in Port Townsend and the town and visitors enthusiastically showed up for Art Walk, when the galleries stay open till 8, so folks can meet and greet the artists, and see new work fresh on the walls.
As a guest artist at The Grover Gallery, I am premiering a new collection of oil and charcoal paintings called “Favorite Things”. The exhibit opened July 4 and runs through September 2. Most of the pieces are painted from my daily practice sketchbooks, which often reflect my most comforting daily objects and scenes. Two of the paintings in the collection are from my forthcoming picture book memoir, Notes from Next to the Bed. Also featured in this group show is Max Grover, Remedios Rapoport and Kay Gaul. The Grover Gallery is located at 236 Taylor Street, in downtown Port Townsend. Hours are Thursday-Monday, noon-5.
January 2023: Just announced! Abstract workshop at Playa At Summer Lake, Oregon
I will be teaching a new workshop, “Inspired Abstract Desert Landscapes” at Playa at Summer Lake in Oregon, September 5-12, 2024. I enjoyed a self-directed residency at Playa in October 2021, and the experience was transformative. The landscape, the studio space, and the camaraderie of fellow artists is my idea of heaven. This workshop is based on my popular Make It Abstract workshop, but your source material will come from the desert environment around us. I will teach you different ways to see abstraction, provide lots of examples, and guide you through an iterative process in making your original art, based on your photos and/or sketches of the Playa and the Ridge. The workshop runs for three days, then you have 2 days of self directed studio time, and we will gather for a community meal. Learn more, and register today to join me in this marvelous adventure.
August-October 2022.
I am always happy to see my art hanging at Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend. For this rotation, “Madrona Hill Grove” was in the lobby, and “Neighborhood Bouquet” was in Oncology. In all, 10 large paintings of mine were located throughout the hospital facility. As you know if you read this month’s blog post, experiencing art in medical environments is especially meaningful for me.. I believe original art is a restorative force.
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May 16, 2022.
Update! Listen to KPTZ Larry Stein interview with Meg and Linda. 10 minute listen.
On Exhibit: Some Mornings, paintings by Meg Kaczyk from poems by Linda M. Robertson.
March 17 – May 30, 2022. Northwind Art Grover Gallery, 236 Taylor, Port Townsend. Gallery hours: Thursday-Monday, 12-5.
Kaczyk seeks to move the legacy of abstract expressionism forward by focussing conscious attention to heartfelt experiences of loss, guided by Robertson’s evocation of these tender places.
“The paintings are not intended as illustration—this is an important point,” says Kaczyk. “The painting is a furthering of the poem, a sense of impression beyond the obvious narrative, a wordless felt experience.”
ARTISTS TALK was held via Zoom on Wednesday, March 23, 7pm. Watch the recording of the talk here.
LINDA ROBERTSON POETRY READING: Saturday, April 2, 3pm
On Exhibit: Resilient & Creative at Port Angeles Fine Arts Center
August 14-September 26, 2021. Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Esther Webster Gallery, 1203 E. Lauridson, Port Angeles, WA 98362. Open Thursday-Sunday, 11am-5pm.
“The works of art in this exhibition remind us that we are not alone in wrestling with existential questions, and that compassion and connection can help us navigate even the darkest facets of human experience.”
Sarah Jane, PAFAC Gallery & Program Director
Read the full curatorial statement
Now that galleries are back open (albeit with limits on hours and occupancy) you can find my work at Northwind Arts Center, Grover Gallery, and honored to be gracing multiple areas at Jefferson Healthcare, where I have gotten wonderful comments like this: “When I am in our clinic and hospital building I am often at least a little anxious: inside my mind, fretting over my physical self. When your wonderful paintings come into view I can fly right outside that fret and be elsewhere, in a bigger world, touched by nature or memory, or the joy of color – in touch with a bigger me…” Art as a powerful force for well-being is near to my heart.
Founder & Faculty Exhibit, June 6-July 28. PtSA Grover Gallery, 236 Taylor Street, Port Townsend. Max Grover, Meg Kaczyk, Kim Kopp, Julie Read, Chris Witkowski.
Showing February 17-July 10 2020, Carnegie Reading Room, Port Townsend Public Library. Landscapes and Trees, eleven paintings from Madrona series, Water Ways and new work from a sense of place.
Four paintings are currently showing at “Contemporary Northwest Landscape” Exhibit at Lynnwood Convention Center. 3711 196th St. SW, Lynnwood, WA. January 6-June 28, 2020. Artists Reception will be held February 19, 6-8 pm.
Centrum Artist in Residence, Fort Worden, Port Townsend. May 20-31 2019.
The Intersection of Art and Environment. A discussion led by Meg Kaczyk with panelists David Eisenhour, Lisa Gilley, Margie McDonald and organizations Jefferson Land Trust, Organic Seed Alliance and NW Straits Foundation. Northwind Arts Center, May 22, 2019, 7 pm.
PtSA Faculty Show at Phyllis Lamphere Gallery, Washington State Convention Center. April 17-July 7, 2019. Showing selections from Water Ways, Madrona and Big Fruit series.
Northwind Arts Center, 2019 Artist Showcase. Every month Northwind’s Jeanette Best Gallery (701 Water Street) exhibits a selection of work from Showcase artists. I bring new paintings for rotation on a regular basis, so it’s a great gallery to see my latest work.
You can sign up for my once-in-a-blue-moon newsletter, by sending me an email. And, follow me on instagram, where I post work in progress, sketches and various inspirations: @megkaczyk