2018 Christmas Letter

Dear Family & Friends

2018 was an action packed year for the Bosbyshells. Here is an update.

Maura is a data scientist at Cardinal Innovations Healthcare which manages behavior health for Medicaid in central North Carolina. Wil joined Communities In Schools in the fundraising department. This organization adds counselors and support staff to Charlotte public schools augmenting the city’s resources. Both jobs are a big change from arts education.

Allen graduated from Georgia State University with a degree in public policy. While there he interned with US Congressman John Lewis. Allen now lives and works in Atlanta for a consulting firm that helps cities with public housing projects. For a graduation present, Allen and Wil snorkeled with the whale sharks, manta rays and sea turtles at the Georgia Aquarium. Swimming with a whale shark is like swimming next to a bus.

Wil and Maura are still heavily involved with the arts. Maura is focusing her efforts on fiber art and printing. Wil has an exhibition of drawings & paintings going on now that features veteran artists and themes at the Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art. After 20 years in Charlotte’s SouthEnd Arts district, Wil’s studio moved to the NODA Arts District.

Allen and Wil both broke bones and recovered: Wil two bones in his foot and Allen his shin bone. Allen has a fancy titanium rod in his leg as a memento. If Disney needs a replacement actor for Wolverine, Allen is available.

Our sad news is that Helen Kelly, Maura’s mother, passed away this September at 92. Maura and her siblings visited her in Louisville over Labor Day just before she died. Helen was very active until recently; still driving a car with manual steering and transmission.

Maura has a new cat named Athena, following her last cat Apollo. Athena is a tortoise shell cat with lots of attitude or tortitude. She is an outside cat who comes when Wil’s whistles.

Merry Christmas   &   Happy New Year

The Bosbyshells              
Wil, Maura & Allen

Weight Series at Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art Vicarious Exhibit

Five drawings from my Weight Series are on exhibit in the Vicarious Exhibition. Three of the five are 6 x 3 feet in size. That was one way I challenged myself in this drawing series. The other was to build empathy for woman in the middle of the financial crises. The series uses metaphor to convey the weight of society on people.

I worked to simply the foot and rock to fade out with less detail.

The light and shadow on the forward hand is my favorite part of this drawing.

This figure is victorious over the weight or pressure of society.

Charlotte Observer Article on Vicarious Exhibition

Vicarious Exhibition catalog Back Cover

Vicarious Catalog pages 3 & 4

New York Times Article: Vicarious

VICARIOUS NOVEMBER 1, 2018 – JANUARY 5, 2019

Vicarious Exhibition - Opening November 1st.

VICARIOUS
NOVEMBER 1, 2018 – JANUARY 5, 2019

Through the theme of empathy, Vicarious invites dialogue around issues related to veterans and the veteran experience, using art as the vehicle for discussion and reflection. This multi-disciplinary exhibition will feature paintings by San Francisco-based Dan Bayless, drawings and paintings by Charlotte-based artist and Army Veteran Wil Bosbyshell, glass work by Pomona, California-based artist and Vietnam veteran Michael Aschenbrenner, prints, objects and sculpture by Drew Cameron, installation work by Charlotte-based artist and Navy veteran Suje Garcia, a documentary produced by Susie Films, a virtual reality project produced by writer, academic, speaker and Army veteran Paula Broadwell, and artworks from graduates of the Chicago-based CreatiVets Program. The exhibition will invite conversation around the power of art to reach into the psyche in a way nothing else can.

The gallery is partnering with Veterans Bridge Home, which will receive 5% of profits from art sales from the exhibition.

ITINERARY OF EVENTS

Thursday, November 1, 2018: Exhibition OpeningArtist reception from 6p – 8p, program begins at 7p with remarks, introduction of artists, the premier of the Susie Films documentary at 7p, followed by Paula Broadwell’s presentation on the use of virtual reality to create empathy, and an opportunity to experience her virtual reality project.

Friday, November 2, 2018: Lunch and Exhibition Walk-Through with the Artists | 11:30-1:00pmDan Bayless, Wil Bosbyshell, Paula Broadwell, and CreatiVets graduates Angela Cole and Bart Crowe will share their work with attendees. $20, RSVP required, limited seating.

Wednesday, November 28, 2018: CLT Millennial Art Program Exhibition Experience | 6:00-7:30pmCreatiVets presentation; “Last Letters” participatory performance with Suje Garcia; VR experience with Paula Broadwell.

Fire Light - Vicarious Exhibition

This painting is titled Fire Light, it is an acrylic on canvas, 14x11 inches. It appears as if I painted on black canvas, but no. This started as a white canvas. I then painted transparent layers of red, blue and green over each other three times for a total of nine layers. So the black is actually layers of red, blue and green which creates a depth to the "black".

Vicarious Exhibition: Fire Series

The Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art is hosting an exhibition of art by Veterans. I am one of the featured artists and veterans. These paintings from my fire series will be in the exhibition. The above watercolor is titles Cave Fire. The fire in this painting illuminates petroglyphs from the American Southwest. It is 18 x 24 inches. I used a layering technique which resulted in over 20 layers of color.

Fire Light, Acrylic on canvas.

Flame, watercolor on paper.

Drawings at Veterans Bridge Home

Until the end of November, these drawings on exhibit at the Veterans Bridge Home in Charlotte. The link to the VBH is: http://veteransbridgehome.org/. You can visit any time during normal business hours Monday to Friday.

The drawings in this post are ones I did recently in the Blue Ridge Mountains. They are close up details of pine trees on the Arrowmont Art School property. I used a lot of texture on these, even going so far as to rub the paper onto the tree itself.

 I drew these from life, sitting outside with a drawing board. During the week I was drawing we saw a few bear wandering around. Once I thought a bear was walking down the trail I was on, but it was just a human running.

 All of the drawings are 18 x 24 inches. I used 2B to 8B pencils. The texture is offset by a few delicate small branches.

BOOM Sponsor

Bosbyshell Art Studio has sponsored Charlotte's BOOM Festival! See you there.

http://boomcharlotte.org/sponsors/