An actual newsletter
Hello out there.
An actual newsletter
Welcome to my first newsletter since I can’t remember. Thank you for taking an interest in my work - it means a lot.
The past three years of the Covid-19 pandemic have been a little rough, in many ways big and small, for all of us. Whatever this new phase of the pandemic is, somewhere between the isolation and fear of 2020 and the less restricted reality we now inhabit, I’ve found myself changed.
Like every artist I know, the pandemic experience had me asking, does my work matter in the face of this, what is the point of it all? While I wished I had more time for existentialism, making 50 paintings, or baking sourdough bread, I was taking care of a preschooler. I’m still processing my answer to that question, but I have some ideas: deeper meaning, connection, growth, learning, authenticity, service, community.
So where have I been? After 14 years in San Francisco, and the last few years there looking at unaffordable housing, watching people and businesses we loved move away, my family and I asked ourselves why we were fighting so hard to stay. So we moved… a few times. For more space, affordability, ease, a patch of grass. And here we are now since 2020 in Portland, putting down some roots.
I have this fear that I will squander the moment, however fleeting it may be, to shift. I don’t want to lose the lessons and possibilities to change in my eagerness to move forward. The pandemic left me feeling disconnected and burned out, yet also nudged me to reach out, to friends in different cities and far away, back into the past, even back to different versions of myself. I guess that’s why I’m starting a newsletter, to reconnect. Thank you for coming along.
These photos are one of the two public art projects I’ve been working on since before the pandemic, for probably over 5 years, but who’s counting. My piece for the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, is coming to fruition, and I’m excited and proud of the work. It’s ultimately been a really rewarding experience despite the delays of the pandemic. I’ll be fabricating it over the next year with a studio I’ve always wanted to work with, so more on that in an upcoming newsletter.
I thought it was time I tell people when I have shows and projects coming into the world rather than relying so much on Instagram, where I am conflicted at best. Maybe then I will see some of you in person.
I plan to send a newsletter once a month, maybe less, maybe more, depending on what I have to share. I like this format, it feels more personal and real. You choose to unsubscribe if it’s not for you, or share if it is. I’ll have news about my own work and studio, plus three things I’m into at the moment to see, read, and listen to…
Looking at, listening to, and reading
The soundtrack to June, well, most of the summer, was all Smiths.
Last summer’s obsession and still catching up on everything she’s ever written. Start here.
Bonus read: an actual newsletter with Actual Air. A good one.
I updated my website with new work.
My work in Reclaimed: The Art of Recology is on a national tour.
I’ll be in NY in October installing another public project I’ve been working on for five years, yes five years. I’m excited to share it soon when I’m able to. What should I see and do when I’m in NY?
Thanks for reading. Don’t be a stranger -
Val
⋰ Website
⋰ Email : val@valbritton.com (or respond to this email)