Erin Brott-Holtzman to Discuss New Works Inspired by Breathing Exercises & Nature
There’s something fundamentally meditative about just gazing at artwork. We find similar moments of quiet profundity when we’re outdoors, away from the cities and surrounded by nature. Ferndale-based artist and visual arts educator Erin Brott-Holtzman created her latest paintings to celebrate the inherent tranquility of nature while tapping into the therapeutic qualities of breathwork--a conscious control of breathing to improve our whole state of being. Brott-Holtzman will be discussing these new works and so much more on Thursday, June 10, where she’ll be live on Zoom for a virtual Q&A session hosted by the Ferndale Library.
Brott-Holtzman’s latest paintings comprise her new exhibition, “Inhale~Exhale,” currently on display inside the Ferndale Library’s west entrance hall. There’s a virtual walkthrough of the exhibition featured on the library’s YouTube page, but art connoisseurs can view the pieces in person starting Monday, June 7, when the library opens for limited indoor services. Meanwhile, the library will host a virtual Artist Talk with Brott-Holtzman that same week, on the evening of Thursday, June 10. Anyone with an interest in art or meditation should join the conversation.
Brott-Holtzman has recently exhibited inside Galerie Camille in Detroit, but most Ferndalians will know her as the creator of the 60-foot mural on Livernois, sprawling across the former location of Long White Beard furniture manufacturers. Her style is distinguished by a proclivity for bright, warm, vivid colors and an aesthetic that feels both tactile and dreamlike. “I am driven by curiosity to investigate the nuances that exist in daily life,” said Brott-Holtzman, “and strive to visually express and capture these occurrences. I’m constantly inspired by my surroundings and enjoy the creative challenge of trying to convey the colors, compassion, conversations, and energies of life into my work.” As a teacher, Brott-Holtzman has engaged students in a variety of mediums and techniques through foundational lessons in drawing, painting, ceramics, printmaking, and art history.
Over the last few years, a wave of visual aids was created and shared over the internet to help facilitate breathwork and meditations. Brott-Holtzman decided to create her own variation on these, which often employ geometric shapes like pyramids and spheres--but she’s overlaid those calming configurations onto pallets of wood with dazzling images recapturing her memories of hiking through state parks and other natural landscapes encountered during camping trips. The results maximize that sense of serenity, focus, and rejuvenation.
The Ferndale Library invites art lovers of all ages, as well as fellow artists and gallery directors, to join Erin Brott-Holtzman live over Zoom on Thursday, June 10.
