the 100 day project

I’ve been participating in the 100 day project, which is a free online “project” started on Instagram by artist Elle Luna. It is meant to encourage you to be creative for 100 days in any what you feel fits your creative process. This year I’m focusing on exploring sculpture because I’ve had this idea to make more hanging sculptures for a while but kept putting it off due to feeling like I didn’t have the materials I needed to make what I wanted to make. Instead of waiting I decided to come at the idea from a different angle so now I’m working with processes I didn’t think I’d be comfortable with and experimenting with reclaimed wood.

I’ve been using the hashtag #100daysofprocessexperiment to keep track of my progress. I haven’t been able to be consistent every day but I’m close, my kids sometimes take priority especially on the weekends. I’m having a lot of fun experimenting with this new process and can’t wait to share more pieces soon!

If you’d like to follow along my Instagram page has all of my recent work at @amyrterlecki

Untitled • 2019 • approximately 8x12 inches • reclaimed wood

New work!

I have been working hard on some new wall sculptures and can’t wait to share all of the pieces on my website. So far, I’m exploring different processes and experimenting with new materials. Previously I have worked in various materials for wall sculpture but never made more than one or two pieces, but right now I’m working on a series and I’m very excited with how the work is turning out so far. The process I’m having the most fun with is charring wood in order to bring out the grain and add texture and depth

cancer series

For those of you who did not follow my journey on Instagram I wanted to share here as part of my goal of awareness. When I found the lump I had no symptoms and no reason to think I had cancer. I’m 38 yrs old with only a distant relative with breast cancer so my risk factor wasn’t higher than the average. The biggest thing I learned since finding the lump is to try to stay calm and to be proactive. If I hadn’t found the lump when I did I might not have been so lucky and it could have spread outside the duct, then possibly to my lymph nodes and further.

Here’s the thing, when you hear those words, “you have cancer,” it is scary. The unknown is scary, was scary, but as I learned more, and learned what type of breast cancer I had, it made me feel empowered. I am not defined by my cancer, I define my cancer by how I react to and deal with it, and I was a survivor even before I had it removed and received treatment.

I was lucky because my cancer was contained and small, I caught it early, it was non-invasive, and required minimal treatment after it was removed. My thought process was to get as much information possible to make the best treatment plan and get it taken care of asap so I could move on to the next chapter. My surgery to remove the tumor was on November 28th, 2018, and I’m happy to say it was stage 0, so it hadn’t spread outside of the duct. I underwent 34 treatments of radiation but was lucky enough to avoid chemotherapy.

I saw this as an obstacle not an impasse and I came out on the other side stronger and more informed about my body. I am back to being the mom I need to be for my kids, the wife I need to be for my husband, but most of all I am back to being the best me I can possibly be. I am a survivor.

As for my artwork, I made a small series of paintings inspired by my journey, which is what inspired the piece in this post. The pink dots refer to the small, bright pink tattoos I have that were used to guide the radiation treatments.

All the pink dots, 2019, acrylic on canvas

Why circles?

“Why circles?” is a question I am often asked about my paintings. I used to reply that it was a comforting shape, especially within the square canvases I typically use, but after more thought realized how I came to use this shape so often in my work.

caribbean waters, 2018, private collection

In 2015 I needed a way to get through my grandmother’s passing, so I decided to start painting as a way of therapy to process the loss; I hadn’t really touched a paintbrush regularly during the previous 5 years so I didn’t have any big plans other than using the artwork as therapy. I was thinking of time, how long we feel the days are but how short the years really are in the grand scheme of things. Having young children I often feel like the days are very long but seeing how quickly they grow I realize how little time a day actually is, and losing my grandmother magnified that feeling for me. Watching my children play with their art supplies inspired me to set my expectations low, to simply play with the materials and see what happened.

It started with tree rings, believe it or not, and evolved to what my paintings are today. Before this my work had often been representational, still life or figure mostly, so this was also my first foray into abstraction, but I didn’t realize that was where I was headed. For me the circle signifies the cyclical nature of the world, the time we spend in it, and the comfort we find by wrapping ourselves in nature and being with loved ones while they are here.

I am still very much drawn to the circular shape, but now my work varies depending on what I’m inspired by or what I am going through. I have a whole series, the surface series, which has very few circles and is more about the effects of nature on our world over time. The underlying theme of all of my pieces/series is time and process so the circles are a symbol. Sometimes it is very sad for me to think that my blossoming as an artist came out of the loss of my grandmother because she would have been so proud to see me finally making something out of my artwork but with loss there is growth and in this case it was because of her that I am able to make the work I am making today.

inspiration

What inspires you?

I am inspired by so many things but the thing that inspires me the most is the natural world. I love taking in the nature that surrounds me and using the colors, patterns, and textures found in nature in my work. Sometimes it is the simplest things, such as a leaf or flower, and other times it is more complex like how our human lives impact the natural world.

The other main inspiration for me is my family and life’s struggles. I often process what I am going through, through my artwork. Even from a young age as a little girl whenever I was going through something emotional or stressful I would turn to my artwork.