p e n e l o p e
Contemporary Still Life Paintings
art swap
Modern Day Vagabonds
ARTISTS AARON MEMMOTT AND PENELOPE MOORE have been traveling the
country on a painting adventure for nearly a year, while paying
next-to-nothing for their accommodations. They gave up their permanent
residence and jobs in Savannah, GA--where Memmott had a full time
faculty position as a professor at the Savannah College of Art and
Design--to set sail on what has become an unpredictable and rewarding
undertaking. They aren't homeless, and they don't live in hovels. They
have been trading their artwork to stay in vacation rentals and second
homes. With perseverance, planning, hard work and talent they have
successfully pitched a win-win art swap proposal to friends, collectors
and total strangers. Thus far, they have had a tremendous response.
The couple started their journey in Utah and made their first trade
in June 2008, when they swapped their paintings for a chic, downtown
Salt Lake City apartment. Next, they lived in an upscale condo at the
Canyons Ski Resort in Park City during the remainder of summer and
fall. They spent two weeks in Albuquerque in a rustic hillside retreat,
while they exhibited their work at the Downtown Arts Festival. Then
moved to a luxurious mountain hideaway in Heber City where they spent
three months developing a brand new body of work. They are currently
traveling through Northern California and Wine Country working on new
pieces for their exhibition in San Francisco. After their stint in
Northern California they will head back to Utah to participate in the
Utah Arts Festival and the Park City Food and Wine Classic this summer.
Then couple will spend five weeks in the South of France.
They are a busy pair; traveling to paint and painting to travel. "In a
world of uncertainty, it was a gamble," says Moore, "but we wanted to
devote our time exclusively to nurturing and building our fine art
careers." While they travel they keep their galleries, friends, family,
fans and collectors up to date with their whereabouts, stories,
pictures and even recipes via their various websites and blogs.
The couple decided to begin in Utah because Moore grew up in Salt Lake
City and Memmott attended the University of Utah where he received his
BFA in Fine Art. Before moving to Savannah, Memmott received his MFA
from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where he also
taught for three years. Moore also received her BFA from the Academy of
Art University.
Memmott's canvases are essentially urban. He uses a rich palette to
paint scenes of glowing streetlights, nightlife, neighborhood
intersections, wet reflective streets in signature parts of town, with
an emphasis on perspective and light. He frequently paints dynamic
diptych and triptych panoramas of the towns and cities he visits.
Moore also paints her surroundings, but instead of cityscapes, she
focuses on still-life and interiors. Her inspiration often begins in
social settings such as candle lit restaurants, wine bars and trendy
lounges. She often depicts the way a wineglass or table fork reflects
the surrounding atmosphere and light. By painting her subjects
larger-than-life, emphasizing abstracted shapes (usually found in
distortions and reflections of glass and metal), skewing the
perspective, and by pushing color Moore offers her viewers new and
interesting ways to perceive commonly encountered places and objects.
Memmott is currently writing an online course for the Savannah
College of Art and Design and teaches evening art classes sponsored by
the Park City School District to adults. Moore also teaches an advanced
painting online course for the Academy of Art University in San
Francisco. When they're not painting and teaching, they spend time
tracking their gallery representation, assessing upcoming art
festivals, shows and competitions, and working on their next
equal-value trade of high quality original oil paintings for a place to
prop their easels.
For more info please visit their websites:
Penelope Moore -- Contemporary Still Life Paintings
www.moorepenelope.com
Aaron T. Memmott - Urban and Landscape Paintings
www.aaronmemmott.com
Galleries:
Gallery MAR, Park City, UT--www.gallerymar.com
Chroma Art Gallery, Savannah, GA--www.chromaartgallery.com
Park Place Gallery, Leawood, KS--www.theparkplacegallery.com
Alpine Art, Salt Lake City, UT--www.alpineartinc.com
SUMMER 2009 EXHIBITIONS:
Utah Art Festival
June 25-28th, 2009
12:00-11:00 pm
Downtown, Library Square
200 East 400 South
Salt Lake City, UT
www.uaf.org
Local Fireworks
Friday, July 3rd, 2009
5-8pm
Gallery MAR
580 Main Street
Park City, UT
www.gallerymar.com
It's a Lush Life
A stop on the Stroll of Park CIty
Park City Food and Wine Classic
Friday, July 10th, 2009
4:00-7:00 pm
Gallery MAR
580 Main Street
Park City, UT
www.gallerymar.com
Park City Food and Wine Classic
Grand Tasting Event - Toast of Park City
Saturday, July 11th, 2009
3:00-6:00 pm
The Canyons Resort
Park City, UT
www.parkcityfoodandwineclassic.com
Vacation Home or Condo/Fine Art
After many discussions and long deliberations we decided that it was
time to say goodbye to our current non-art jobs and devote our time
exclusively to nurturing and building our fine art careers. We realize
the risk involved in walking away from our stable environment and into
a world filled with uncertainty but we feel that it was one worth
taking. For us it seemed to be the most natural option.
This decision inspired us to begin thinking creatively about where
we'll go and what we'll do with our newly freed time. We came up with
an interesting and simple idea: to offer a trade of our fine art for a
stay in an empty vacation home. So many of these homes go unused for
good portions of the year and neither party would have to do much
outside of their normal functions to participate in an equally valuable
exchange . We (the artists) get to travel and paint and the home owner
gets to collect high quality original fine art without having to write
a check.
Aaron received his BFA in Fine Art from the University of Utah and his
MFA in Illustration from the Academy of Art University in San
Francisco. I received my BFA in Fine Art from the Academy of Art
University. We most recently lived in Savannah, GA where Aaron was a
full time Professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
First, we presented our idea privately to friends, family and
collectors then, publicly on Craigslist. We've had an amazing response
already from our friends, family, collectors, and complete strangers
who have extended offers in places like Vail, CO, Big Sky, MT, Martha's
Vineyard, Salt Lake City, St. George and Park City, UT.
Since we (Aaron, our two studio pups, and me) began our westward
journey in May we've been to many amazing places. We spent two weeks in
Nashville, one month in Salt Lake City, where I exhibited my work in
the Utah Arts Festival, three months Park City where Aaron exhibited
his work at the Kimball Arts Festival and is teaching painting classes,
two weeks in San Francisco and Wine Country, New York, Santa Fe, and
Albuquerque. There are so many more beautiful places that we are eager
to know and paint.
Our goal is to seek and participate in opportunities in the arts such
as: juried art competitions, artists' workshops, artist residencies,
gallery exhibits and art festivals, while we explore each place. The
possibilities are endless.
We propose an equal value trade of our high quality original oil
paintings for the opportunity to visit and spend time painting your
beloved retreat. We are represented by several galleries across the
country and our prices range from $500-5000. We're flexible with
availability during the year and would be happy with off peek time. We
are hoping for a 2-4 week minimum stay. This would allow us enough time
to become familiar with the area and to create a small body of work.
We are open to consider all places and ideas and in turn
hope to make a trade that will be valuable and exciting to all. We look
forward to hearing from you soon.
p e n e l o p e and a a r o n
Penelope Moore -- Contemporary Still Life Paintings
www.moorepenelope.com
Aaron T. Memmott -- Urban and Rural Scapes
www.aaronmemmott.com