The Blue Pig Gallery

For Jody Ahrens Painting Means Freedom

Artist Jody Ahrens avoids any preconceived idea of the canvas when she paints her bold, expressive abstracts. Painting, for Jody, means freedom and inspiration. When she discusses her process and her paintings it’s as if it is completely independent of her. “My work does not have a message. I have no conception. I think in doing that you limit yourself because you’re trying to make it conform,”she explains.

Jody considers it her job to listen to the canvas. Some paintings, she says, turn toward landscape or still life when you’re expecting to create abstract even though the approach to each style is so different. She enjoys the surprise of where an abstract might take you, though she will not discuss abstract, per se, as she considers it personal to each viewer. "It will either speak to you or it won’t," she smiles.

At the Blue Pig Gallery, Jody's work has spoken to many people. She has a dedicated following of collectors in the Grand Valley and beyond. Her work can be seen at the gallery Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 to 6:00 pm. She also offers Make Art! sessions at various times throughout the year. Watch our schedule for her next offering. A natural and generous teacher, Jody offers: “Let the painting have its own life, then whatever message is supposed to be will be there.”

Read more about Jody’s sculptural abstract paintings, education and artistic life in the Colorado Wine Country Inn Blog – Jody Ahrens Explores Natural Rhythms, Energy.

Lyle Nichols Brings New Light to the Blue Pig Gallery

A new sculpture at the Blue Pig Gallery represents one of a thousand ideas that run through the mind of artist Lyle Nichols. The results vary from amusing to provocative, eccentric and awe-inspiring. This new work, on display in the gallery courtyard, represents what the artist calls “functional art.” The subtle transitions and sensuous design, however, offer so much more.

Metamorphic Solar is, according to Nichols, a solar powered, oversized “night light.” The elegant form consists of twenty-eight layers of 2.5”slabs of Kansas Cream Limestone, which, in this form, looks as rich and smooth as it sounds. The stone was cut into half circles and fastened with over 50 steel pins – all hidden from sight inside and out. It stands 71” tall and is 21” at its widest part.

“It’s remarkable how smooth and pliable this stone looks,” said one viewer.

It was designed to offer two different experiences – one in the day and one at night. When asked what inspired the piece, the artist jokes: “I think it was a bottle of Merlot.”  He also found inspiration for some of the design elements from his past when he made very labor intensive items such as bowls and utensils.
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The Beginning

As I ponder the first entry of the Blue Pig Blog I am faced with the insistence of a blank page. It is the same daunting moment all artists face when intention and creative impulse must join to give birth to an idea that will communicate with an audience.

This is one of the many reasons I appreciate and love art. Whether it’s the seemingly free impulse of a child or the fortitude demonstrated by the advanced artist who bravely offer their conception, I feel alive when I experience the creative impulse in another. I would argue, in fact, that this is where we all feel most alive.

Sometimes we are blessed with an easy flow of ideas that lead even more smoothly to results. My experience with the creative process has informed my opinion that it is inception and conclusion that offer the most challenge. You will find more than 72 million results when searching the simple words Artist’s Block in Google.  Artists and intellectuals have written about art and fear for generations. There are myriad suggestions for resolving this conundrum. More often than not, however, the resolution for this crisis is as diverse as the results artists create on the other side of it.

For me the causes of such blocks vary, but some of the most difficult include:
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