Chicago Trip Day 3: Studio Visit with Joyce Polance

Joyce & I in Front of Her Painting: Proffer. 72 x 60. Oil on Canvas. © 2008 Joyce Polance

Here’s the post you’ve all been waiting for: The second half of my recent trip to Chicago!

While visiting the city, I had the pleasure of meeting in person one of my new favorite artists, Joyce Polance. I discovered Joyce online and, through the wonders of social networking, made contact with her. She is a fellow encaustic enthusiast and oil painter (not to mention incredibly talented person). You may remember her from my post about Encaustic Workshops in Chicago.

I met her at the red line stop and enjoyed a brisk, chilly walk together to Dayton Street Studios. This converted warehouse was one of the coolest spaces I’ve seen in a while. It was filled with giant, red industrial metal doors and huge windows. All the walls were covered with paintings from the 10+ artists who share the space. It was quite a treat – like stumbling through the looking glass. I had no idea this place existed in Chicago! Furthermore, one of the first things I see is a painting I recognized from the 2008 Midwest Edition of New American Paintings. Apparently Nancy Albrecht has her studio there as well! (As far as I’m concerned, anyone who will paint plein air in Chicago is worthy of respect).

Joyce & I hit it off immediately and start talking like we were old friends who needed to catch up. I picked her brain a bit about the local art market and we compared our favorite artists. It’s no surprise that massive paintings of naked women are a niche market. Like a lot of artists struggling through this economic downturn, she’s turned to working on a smaller scale in the hopes she can find a balance that works. You can see some of her smaller reproductions on the side in the picture below. You know me – I prefer the larger than life version! What I wouldn’t give to have one in my living room… *sigh*

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing her works in person, especially those that I had only admired from afar (including My Favorite!). Up close, Joyce’s oil paintings are even more fascinating. Her work is so tactically appealing, both with the textures and layering as well as the luscious color palette. There’s something primal and intangible about it. Yum-Yum! Her encaustic works are also astonishing in their detail. Who’d have thought it was possible to paint so realistically with wax?

Nicole Gordon Standing in Front of Her Work-In-Progress.

Joyce gave me a tour of all the other artists studios and introduced me to her studiomate, Nicole Gordon. Nicole was kind enough to let me snap a picture of her even though she was completely covered in paint. With my background in art history, I couldn’t help but fall in love with Nicole’s work, which is the perfect blend of social commentary and art historical references. The strong influence of Hieronymous Bosch and Pieter Brueghel was apparent, particularly in her interpretation of a modern day “Tower of Babel”. Brilliant!

Bedrock. 111 x 72. Oil on Canvas. © 2008 Nicole Gordon.

Joyce and I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out, shopping at the Gap, browsing art books at Borders and chatting about art. It was great. I also had lunch with my old buddy Ned Record, who is currently working a gig with the Lyric Opera! He’s a master of acrobatic feats and has been hired to walk on stilts. You gotta love Chicago for bringing together all my strange friends in one place!

Ned & I After Eating a Second Breakfast at Clarks on Belmont.

However, the highlight of the day was my husband‘s doctoral recital at Northwestern University. The creme de la creme of Chicago area organists came out to offer him their support and congratulations. I’m so proud of you Z!

Everyone Turns Around to Admire Zvonimir!

P.S. Yes, I did skip a day. I don’t have any fun pictures from Monday and wanted to go ahead and give you some long overdue visual sustenance. I did have the best lunch ever with my girl D on Monday though. She took a peek at my MFA application to Columbia College and ood and aahhd over my supplemental materials at all the appropriate places. After I dropped off the application in person, I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to visit museums… only to find out they are all closed on Mondays. What a stinker!