With Every Mark, I Move Forward
News from the Studio: March 2026
Welcome back to the studio.
In the first months of 2026 I have been busily organizing the logistics of my exhibitions occurring this year. Paintings once deemed finished have found their way to my studio wall again for some needed updates. Works are being sent off to the photographer.1 Digitizing old negatives and transparencies has allowed me to continue my inventory project. A new painting has been delivered to Somerville Manning Gallery and a few retrieved from their inventory in preparation for my exhibition at Susquehanna Art Museum opening in April.
Let us first visit the works in progress, or shall I say, works being revamped. I very rarely rework paintings that I considered completed, but are paintings ever truly finished? My 2025 hiatus left me thinking about works never made as well as works deemed finished that should have been, or could have been, taken further. Once I was back working in the studio regularly, my first intention was to revamp the light and structure of Rural Route. I consider this painting to be the cornerstone of my current trajectory. It already had its stamp of approval from the wider world, being exhibited at the New Britain Museum of American Art in the summer of 2024. However, when I walked into the gallery, first passing the galleries housing one of my favorite Frederic Church paintings, I wasn’t awash with pride that it was hanging in a museum whose collection I greatly admire. Instead I was overwhelmed with disappointment with my own painting. Maybe it was the fuchsia wall, no, definitely the fuchsia wall, exposed what I considered its shortcomings. The should haves and could haves were immediately apparent. When the exhibition closed and the painting was returned to me, the desire to attempt to make it better was overwhelming. I had to rework it.
In late 2025, I set my orbital sander to a number of paintings, including Rural Route. This was not something I did without hesitation. I simply couldn’t leave the painting as it was and the risk of losing it altogether was a risk worth taking.
When I was offered a solo exhibition at the Susquehanna Art Museum (SAM) it was with the intention that my exhibit, hung in the first floor gallery, would coincide with American Identity: Restoring the Susquehanna’s Artistic Legacy, installed in the second floor gallery. The works included in the American Identity exhibition are drawn from a growing collection, including one of my paintings, based along the banks of the Susquehanna River. When I began selecting work for my exhibition, I included many of my Susquehanna works from the past 12 years including my 2020 painting, Wake. It was one of the last paintings I completed from a series based along the banks of the Susquehanna. However, during my 2025 hiatus, it was one of the paintings that I longed to make a better version of. It too, had been out in the world, being part of my inventory at LewAllen Galleries in Santa Fe, NM. When we dissolved our relationship, it was one of the works that came back to the studio. In late 2025, Wake, also met with my sander.
I should point out that it is not typical for me to completely repaint works that have been considered finished and exhibited, but it is certainly not unheard of in the history of painting. Nonetheless, I set out to completely reinvent Wake. You will be able to see the newly completed version of both Wake and Rural Route in Presence: The Landscapes of Michael Allen opening April 10 at the Susquehanna Art Museum in Harrisburg, PA.
But before I exhibit in April, my work will be included in two group exhibitions opening in March. The first is at Somerville Manning Gallery and the second is the Annual Invitational at the Demuth Museum in Lancaster. Fresh from the Studio is the first exhibition of the year for the gallery and will open March 13. Typically, the first month or two of the year, the gallery hangs a selection of work from their gallery artists as they prepare for their upcoming exhibition season. When I delivered my new painting for the exhibition I was pleased to see my work, Midsummer, nicely nestled between works by Francis DiFronzo and Peter Sculthorpe.
Fresh from the Studio is a rare opportunity to see new works from a number of gallery artists all in one show. The exhibition will feature one of my latest paintings, a small one, titled Cut and Raked.
Cut and Raked is part of a series that began as quick memory notes intended to retain seasonal color. They are painted in the same manner as a plein air painting, quickly and usually all at once, but entirely from memory and sometimes slightly invented. On occasion, I have a phone photo to support my memory, but those usually get discarded for what is in my head or where the painting wants to go. Unlike the plein air works, I will continue working on these notes if I see potential in them. These works don’t always find their way to completion, but they offer me a chance to take note of something seen. They are often springboards for new work, but in all honesty, couldn’t that be said for every work? It is the whole nature of making paintings and drawings, each eventually reaching a pinnacle moment where my hand has rendered as best as possible what is in my mind’s eye. That moment inevitably leads to the next work. With every mark made, I move forward.
The 2026 Invitational Exhibit at the Demuth Museum commemorates the United State’s Semiquincentennial with a group of small works celebrating the American experience. In 1926,Charles Demuth participated in the festivities to celebrate the nation’s 150th anniversary. His painting, Plums, was included in the Sesquicentennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia. Demuth and other modern artists in the early 20th century went on to define an American style of art. My contribution is another small note called Rock Show.
As always, thanks for visiting. Until next time.
-M
Upcoming Exhibitions
2026 Demuth Invitational Exhibition: American Reflections
March 28 -June 28 2026
The Demuth Museum
Lancaster, PA
Presence: The Landscapes of Michael Allen
April 10 - July 26, 2026
Susquehanna Art Museum
Harrisburg, PA
The Agrarian Year: Paintings and Drawings of the Lebanon Valley by Michael Allen
October 30 - December 16, 2026
Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery at Lebanon Valley College
Annville, PA
Would you like to support the studio? Consider making a one-time contribution.
I have always taken my own photographs. It was something I was taught as an undergrad. In the beginning of my career I would send works meant for publication to a professional photographer to produce 4x5 transparencies of the work. When the digital age began he started producing high resolution digital images for me. Since his retirement I have let this practice lapse. The images of my recent work have been suitable for our current screen culture. Recently, an artist friend introduced me to his photographer who has produced high quality imagery for the better part of his career. Now I am slowly getting back on track with higher resolution, reproducible images of my work. It is truly a must for all professional artists.