Art Interrupted

Okay that's a strange title but it came to mind as I started to work after an illness enforced break. Years ago I was asked to be represented by a gallery with the same name as the title of this post. Yes, the name of the gallery was "Art Interrupted". I believe that the owner's own art work had been interrupted by the usual life shifts and was eager to get back to art. I still thought the name a very unusual and perhaps not to promising a name. The owner was very nice. She was young and enthusiastic and sold a painting an hour after I delivered the first work to her. But alas not long afterward her life took another shift and she had to close the gallery. It's a tough business.

It is amazing to me how many galleries have represented my work over my art producing life span and how many are not in business anymore. Each one is special with its own stamp on my art career. I'm very lucky to know and have known so many art lovers who showed me something new about art and sometimes about life. And too, how much I've grown many times with their backing and encouragement. Artists do have fragile egos no matter their outward posing and demeanor. A good gallery owner means a lot. An artist is supposed to distance themselves from their work but that's way to hard when you invest so much of yourself into each artwork you create. A little piece of yourself is broken off and embedded or at least that is what you can hope for if the artwork is a success.

And I Can Eat it Too!

I thought I had finished a painting and THEN (actually nothing new) there it was a space for a pomegranate. This summer the apple tree outside my apartment was full of apples but, well they were a little sad to look at. Since I never ate one, I'm not sure they tasted good either. Nevertheless I really fell in love with this little tree as it tried to compete with space with the boysenberry tree which has truly taken over everything. I still took photographs of those apples and wanted to immortalize them just for their tenaciousness. Back to the space in the painting. I left a square unpainted and the color rather pedestrian until the other day the painting called me back for a finish after I heard a story about pomegranates on NPR. Someone had traveled half around the world to see a big grove. For me the trip was a lot shorter as the Whole Foods near my studio has many...so I can draw the lovely prop and eat it too.

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.