Tag Archives: Installation

August 10, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

I had a zoom meeting with a rep from Printree.com to discuss the specs I need to consider when designing my on-demand printing for the curtains of my installation. They were very helpful with clarifying the size of fabric I need to work with, the widths, and the number of yards. Also, the resolution they use is 200dpi rather than my usual print settings for 300 which is important they said since it might throw the design out of proportion. They will give me a view of how the design will look before the printing begins, which is great, and they can also supply me with a print sample to evaluate the color if I choose. They use the sRGB profile which is important to know for color accuracy. Following that Zoom, I went to Micro Center to buy the display monitor for the installation. It seems a bit smaller in height than I expected but it met the width requirement. The aspect ratio is scaled for video display.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.
It will feature digital artwork, oil paintings, and a multimedia installation.

August 7, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

Working with CapCut today to edit the videos that will be part of the installation project for the November exhibition. I like to capture close-up videos of flowers and features in the garden that I find interesting. I spend a considerable amount of time in the garden just looking. It is a place to regain balance and harmony in my life. A place to put stress aside and just be part of nature. To ponder why. Why are these flowers the way they are? What is the purpose of their existence? What is ours? I find these quiet conversations with myself calming and relaxing.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.

August 6, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist
In the close-up process of editing the Take a Minute video, I realized that I’ve painted a version of a hibiscus flower before so I went hunting through my archived documentation.
This painting of a Disco Belle Hibiscus was in an exhibition in January on Long Island and is currently in an exhibition in Poughkeepsie NY.

While I was editing my Take a Minute video with the hibiscus, I realized that a while ago, I had made a painting of another hibiscus flower I had in my garden at the time. This year it has been in two exhibitions. In January it was on view at the Art League of Long Island, and currently it is in the show, Portraits From My Garden, until the middle of September 2026.
You can take a closer look at the original Disco Belle Hibiscus oil painting on my website here.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.

August 4, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

Working on my installation project for my upcoming exhibition in November again today. This entire show’s theme and focus are about centering and staying calm in chaotic times. My own history comes into play with this subject. One of the many ways I stay calm is to meditate, another is to be in my garden, other gardens or by spending time in nature. I find the sounds of nature, birds, and water are calming for me too. One of my friends said that in that case, I need to add water to my installation. So today I spent hours looking for just the right water feature to fit in the installation space and have the aesthetics in keeping with my vision. You can lose hours of your precious life looking for just the perfect something or other, can’t you!

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.

August 3, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

I decided to work on what images I want to have custom printed on the fabric panels of the installation. Initially, I thought about my tall ornamental grasses since the panels will be about 24” wide and about 70” tall. Ornamental grasses would work well for those dimensions. But there would be no flowers or colors echoing the paintings on the four walls of the gallery. One friend suggested printing my paintings, but I didn’t want to put squares and rectangles. Then I pictured just parts of my paintings. Mostly the centers. That would pick up the theme and title of the show, Centering in the Midst of Chaos and echo the colors around the gallery. So, I spent the day working in Photoshop and masking some of the paintings just to see whether that might work. I still haven’t decided, but at least I’m experimenting.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.

August 1, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

I’ve now spent two days writing statements about each painting that will be in my solo show in November. Each statement is a personal remembrance of what I was thinking about, or inspired by, or reacting to when I began each painting. It took many hours to write the drafts and then came the rewrites and rewrites of the rewrites. I will be using these statements in a variety of ways in written, video, and audio formats, so it was important to create something that would work well in a variety of media. Not an easy task at all but very well worth the effort.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.

July 31, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

One of the things I have to decide is what aspect ratio to use for the video portion of my installation for the Nov exhibition. I had thousands of videos but had to do some sorting. First was to split the horizontal & the vertical videos. Then to sort them by subject. I was looking for how many usable videos I had available to edit into the video loop I plan to create. Even though I have far more vertical format videos, I’ve decided that for this project I want to use the horizontal format. Humans are used to seeing things horizontally. We view televisions horizontally. We read paper books horizontally. Our eyes are balanced horizontally. I believe more calmness is perceived if we see images in a horizontal format so that’s what I’m going to create.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.

July 30, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist
This 8×10″ image on the table is just too small to make a statement.
I’m thinking that this 12×16″ image would make a good size for a monitor given the restricted space. Standing in the confined area, looking at the images on the monitor of this size would be comfortable and even a bit cozy.
A 16×20″ monitor would make you want to step back and that would not be feasible in this structure since it would make the space too claustrophic

The next decision I’m contemplating is the size of the monitor I want to put on the table. Too big and you want to stand back from it, which won’t work in a tight space. Too small and it won’t have gravitas. Not having a variety of monitors in different sizes to trial, I put different sized prints on a stand on the new table inside the structure. I think the middle size is the Goldilocks decision since it has the right amount of screen space and will encourage the viewer to stand at an appropriate distance and not feel claustrophobic.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.

July 29, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist
Here’s a screenshot of the table I found on the Ikea website. Fortunately, there is an actual store about a half hour away so I was able to pick it up immediately, and assemble it to see if it worked well for its use. It did and that’s another item to check off my To Do list. BTW, it will be easy to transport to the gallery for the exhibition since the legs unscrew from the bottom of the table.
The simple white table from Ikea fits perfectly and has adjustable legs, which allow for standing and working. I moved the curtain further back to drape behind the table and will have another solution for the front of the structure.

For my installation project, now that I have the structure and the fabric samples, I turned my attention to the surface I need in order to put a monitor on for the video I’m creating. The table had to be taller than a desk and wide enough to fit well into the back of the display. Once I had the structure assembled and the curtains attached, I felt the space was too claustrophobic if I added the necessary table. So, I didn’t want one that was too deep but just enough so that the curtain could be draped behind it and thereby extend the floor space beyond that footprint of the structure. I spent hours upon hours researching possibilities. Desks were too short for the viewer who would be standing, and standing desks were beyond the budget. There were so many things to consider, such as color, simplicity of style, height, depth, width, and, of course, budget. I finally found one on the Ikea website, and it fit all the specifications. So off we went to pick it up at the store, which is about a half hour away, brought it home, and assembled it immediately. And Bingo! It fit perfectly, just exactly as I had envisioned what would work. Yet another part of the installation falls into place. Now on to the next task.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.

July 28, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

Now that I have received fabric swatches from three different on-demand fabric printers, I’m deciding to work with the one located in Long Island City, since they are closer to me than the North Carolina and Canadian companies. Their prices and shipping are very competitive, which doesn’t hurt either. I spent quite a bit of time looking at the fabric samples I’m considering from PrintTree, and I like the way they print images, color, grayscale, and text on their samples so you can see the full breadth of color and text printing quality. My thought is that I’d like to have my own art printed on fabric to use as curtaining for my installation at my upcoming show at Ceres in November. I’m leaning towards using a translucent fabric which might intrigue people if they see outlines of what is inside and decide to enter and view the entire presentation display.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.

July 27, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

I’ve been doing more tutorials on how to use CapCut. For years I’ve edited with iMovie but found it limiting when working with vertical formats. So, on the recommendation of many friends, I decided to try this, new to me, app. I’m using the desktop version since editing on my iPhone isn’t appealing to me, although I’ve been using InShot for some social media posts. But I wanted to up my game a bit so I’m biting the bullet and working with the Pro Version of CapCut. It has too many TikTok-style effects that don’t interest me, but I’m coming up with ways to streamline my workflow around them. Here’s my first “Take a Minute Video”.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.

July 25, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

The fabric swatches I ordered have arrived. This is for the installation project I’m designing for my upcoming show in November. I’m thinking of having my artwork printed on fabric and using that instead of the curtain that came with the frame I ordered. These printable fabrics come a wide variety of material and weights. Some are sheer and see-through and others thick and opaque. Once I decide on the fabric and the cost of printing, I’ll decide if this part of the installation is feasible. Lots of steps yet to go. I’m enjoying the process, it’s very creative since there are so many variables.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.

July 24, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist
One reason I chose this particular booth set-up was that the front was circular. Considering that so much of my iconography is about circles and spheres, this was a great addition to my quiver of ideas.
I rolled one of my smaller tables into the booth but kept it out back beyond the frame. This allowed me to add another foot or two to the interior and make the interior far less claustrophobic.

Today I focused on the structure of the installation I’m making for my next solo show.  I hung the curtain that came with the frame to see how I would be hanging the fabric. The curtain that comes with the frame is the perfect size for the use it was designed for but proved to make the interior of the space too claustrophobic for my unique project. I put a table outside the frame footprint and draped the fabric to the outside of the table which proved to be a good solution because it gave more freedom to resize the interior.  A 12” by 40” table or shelving would be the perfect dimensions so it’s going to take some research to find that size. The table needs to hold a small monitor. Today I got some important factoids which moved the project forward.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.

July 21 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

Using Art Placer, I created a mock-up of all the walls in the Ceres Gallery based upon the site plan they provided. Of course, the room is rectangular, not one long wall. Then I used Artwork Archives and my Excel spreadsheet to begin “placing” the images of each available painting on the “walls”. The Art Placer app adjusts each image based upon the size dimensions you put into the inventory category. This provided me with a visual approximation of how many pieces and what sizes and colors will work together to make a cohesive display. This type of planning helps me considerably since I am, of course, a visual learner. Now that I have somewhat of an idea of what my space for my November solo exhibition will be, I can be comfortable with the next stage of planning, which is designing and creating the installation piece for which I still don’t have a title, just an idea.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for three exhibitions. My solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, on view from June 5 – September 15, 2026, and my work that was on view in the June, 2026 group show, “Raising Women’s Voices” in Chelsea, NYC.

My next solo exhibition titled “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” will be at the Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, November 3 – 28, 2026.

July 18 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

Today was a research day on my computer, another of my “studio spaces”. I wanted to learn more about the options for getting my own artwork printed on fabric. This is part of the installation I’m working on for my upcoming solo show at the Ceres Gallery in November, titled Centering in the Midst of Chaos. I’m designing a type of meditation space that replicates the calmness offered by an engagement with nature. I am hoping to have my flowers printed on sheer fabric to hang from the frame to enclose the space. A number of different vendors are sending me fabric samples which should come next week. I hope I’ll find something that will work for what I am envisioning.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for my solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, from June 5 – September 15, 2026, my work for the group show, “Hearing Women’s Voices” at the Ceres Gallery in from June 23. to July 18, 2026, and my upcoming November 2026, solo exhibition titled, “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” in Chelsea, New York City

July 9, 2026

Mary Ahern Artist

I had this idea to create an installation for my solo exhibition at the Ceres Gallery in November. The show is titled Centering in the Midst of Chaos and opens on November 3, 2026, which is the midterm election day. I needed an enclosure for the project so looked online and found a small 6’x6’ greenhouse which seemed perfect for my garden based installation. When it arrived, we set it up and realized that it was too big for the space and would overshadow so much of my artwork that will be hanging on the four walls, so back it went. Looking some more, I found these curtained enclosures for trying on clothes in a temporary setting. It arrived, and once it stopped raining here, we put it together in the garage this afternoon. The size seems like it will work with some modifications, so I brought the frame upstairs to my studio, where I can work on the dimensions and fabric design. I’m really enjoying expanding my thinking beyond two dimensions for a bit of time. The ideas keep percolating in my head. What fun!

I almost kept this cute little greenhouse for my own use in propagating but decided I’m too busy at the moment to take on another project so back it went.
I found this little dressing room online and thought the size might work for my installation project. With modifications this might be just what I need.
The frame for the dressing room, now renamed, the installation, is lightweight and very easy to put together. Since it’s freestanding, I won’t have to disturb the walls in the gallery, which is a big plus in my estimation.

I began this daily journal in February, 2026 as I prepared for my solo exhibition, “Portraits From My Garden” at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, NY, from June 5 – September 15, 2026, my work for the group show, “Hearing Women’s Voices” at the Ceres Gallery in from June 23. to July 18, 2026, and my upcoming November 2026, solo exhibition titled, “Centering in the Midst of Chaos” in Chelsea, New York City