The Good, the bad and the beautiful

This was a most unusual Thanksgiving. Since I had the flu, I was in bed sniffling, coughing and sneezing and just feeling generally miserable. It was such a shock to get sick this time of the year. We were supposed to be vacationing in the mountains and then having a family dinner at my sister's house. Didn't miss the turkey since I'm a vegetarian but I did miss my family. We'll catch up at Christmas.

Here at the studio I began preparing for Open House and my trunk sale of oil paintings the weekend before Thanksgiving. Well part of the weekend went well. I made it till Saturday afternoon before I had to give in and go home to bed. I was so pleased that four of my very large abstract oils went to excellent homes...very nice collectors. They were as pleased as I was for those paintings to have permanent homes. I can't wait for the photos of them installed. The best part of course is that I now have more room for the large encaustics that I am continuing to work on.

Yes today, it's beautiful to be here in the studio working on these paintings. It was all I could do to stay away from the studio but much better to feel better! I'll post photos soon.

Time to get ready for my photo exhibit with my stepson Charlie. The day after Christmas we're launching an exhibit of our photographic work. Charlie is an excellent photographer (musician by profession) and I'm sure we'll put together a great exhibit. Can't wait.

Hambidge Residency

The news was very good yesterday. I was accepted for a residency at Hambidge. So long I have wanted to apply but there was always some reason I could not be away for two weeks. I can now only imagine how great it will be to have two weeks to work in solitude in a beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain location right at the close of winter. So many vistas to visit, draw, photograph. Staggering to think how excited I am. The prospect of the hours to just luxuriate in the quiet cabin on my own. So grateful for the opportunity.

Georgia National Fair

I took a trip to south Georgia on Saturday and it was a great trip. Two of my encaustic paintings were delivered to the Georgia National Fair Fine Arts Exhibition. Immediately I met an artist who was volunteering and had just bought encaustic paint. She had not used it yet and we had a good talk about the project she was planning.

The trip itself was interesting because we decided to travel home via Fort Valley and Pine Mountain. The weather, of course, was hot but the ride was great traveling on a four lane at 65 mph almost all the way. No traffic either which was a pleasure having made the trip down in a whole lot of traffic on I-75. We stopped in a town called Junction City...nothing there anymore though it had been a thriving railroad stop at one time...now almost deserted.

The trip across Pine Mountain was stellar and a dinner at the Country Store topped off a most enjoyable day in the state of Georgia. The State has so much to offer with its rolling countryside.
Should mention a stop in a "junk" store in the town of Pine Mountain that yielded me two more items for a sculptural project that will soon start.

Always A Nice Surprise

I've been very lucky to work with wonderful gallery owners. One of whom is Rick Griffith. He serves up a treat with each sale, a yellow sticky note with info on who bought the painting(s) and where it will now reside...oh yes and why the painting was the right one for this client. Besides that info, there is always a funny line or two from a guy who has a great sense of humor. Over the years I've saved these gems and often display them by my computer just to remind myself to have fun.

The image to the left went to Florida with a man who bought it for his wife as an "I Love You" gift. Nice huh? "Sunflowers II" a 24 x 24 inch encaustic painting.

Commissions

I just remembered today that I forgot to post photos of the two commission paintings that I did for Griffith Art Gallery. Each was 37" x 72". This was the great commission for the summer and I enjoyed very much the challenge.

So Cool

Right now I'm sitting at the computer and enjoying the cool air. Yes it is very humid outside but my air conditioner is keeping up with the temp and humidity inside very well. So many days it has been too hot to work but of course I have anyway. Firing up the grill on those 90 degree days, not something to look forward to but on the other hand fusing the wax was faster or it seemed so.

I just finished the accompanying painting yesterday and love it. The photographs of the apples were transferred to the encaustic surface and then I had fun doing my usual creating and destroying as I make the painting. The apple tree is right outside my apartment and I've been taking photos for a few weeks now in anticipation of doing something with them. The finished product says what I wanted to say. What more can you ask?

Art Forger

For the past three weeks I have been working on a commission for one of my favorite galleries. The assignment sounded impossible but I agree to it! A client loved two of my paintings so she decided she would take them home on approval. The next day she brought them back and requested that the artist (that would be me) create for her two paintings that were almost identical but much much larger...I'm talking about very big. The original paintings are created in a multitude of layers and frankly I don't remember how long it took me to finish them. The other stumbling block was the fact that the client mentioned a month deadline which was shorter than that by the time I got the necessary photographs of her daughters. Oh did I mention she wanted the figures to represent her daughters.

Well I did it. The paintings are finished and photographed and now are drying..oil paint of course. But I had the strangest sensation on one of the painting days that I was an art forger as I studied the originals and did my best to recreate the touch, color, and feel of those paintings. I think this may be the most complicated commission that I've ever done. I will await the client's response coming next week.