Coffee with the Authors: An Artist’s Pilgrimage

Frankfort painter Ellie Harold traveled to Paris in 2022, a pilgrimage to view an exhibition of paintings by Impressionist Claude Monet and Abstract Expressionist Joan Mitchell. The souvenirs from that trip weren’t T-shirts and tote bags, but questions, including: What does it mean to be a “real” artist? Harold explores that question in the resulting book, Monet, Mitchell & Me: A Painter’s Pilgrimage. She talks about how she answered that question at the September 29 Coffee With The Authors conversation, 1 pm at the Glen Arbor Arts Center.

Harold’s book is a meditation on her struggles with creative block, about practice, process, and why she’d rather make work than look at it in a museum. Monet, Mitchell & Me is the story of Harold’s journey into the valley of art historical giants, and the side trips into the interior of her own, artistic country.

Coffee With The Authors is a series of conversational interviews with local and regional authors about the craft and process of writing. This program is offered as part of the GAAC’s Shrines + Altars, an exhibition that explores what we hold sacred: To whom are we building shrines? At what altars are we worshipping? The program is free. For more information go to GlenArborArt.org /EVENTS.