Booth Museum

On Tuesday I took a trip to Cartersville, Georgia, not far from my studio in Marietta. It was my first visit to the Booth Museum. It's a very interesting museum filled with Western art and artifacts. The building itself is striking and the interior is modern and well appointed. One of the chief reasons for the visit was the Ansel Adams photography exhibit. I truly spent almost two hours looking and just taking in the beauty of so many black & white photographs made by the master himself. I think the last time I saw so many of his photographs was on a visit to Carmel before he died. It was also confirmed that AA dried his test strips in a microwave...I saw him do it in the video presentation.

It's hard to explain just how much I am in awe of those stunning photos. One reason of course is that I learned his method of making photographs and processing the film at the Southeastern Center for the Photographic Arts in Atlanta (Neil Chaput et al). My fondest memory of that time was spent in Brevard, North Carolina learning to use a 4 x 5 camera in the rain, hauling my big camera and Majestic tripod around and having Buck Mills as my mentor...I was his only student for the workshop, lucky me.

I do miss the darkroom, the beautiful B&W papers, even the chemicals. There is certainly nothing like that experience now with digital photography even though I enjoy it for its ease of use.

My second reason for visiting the Booth was my presentation and demonstration to the Booth Museum Artists Guild. It was a very positive experience as the group was a good size for a more relaxed discussion and lots of questions and answers.

I must go back for another visit when I can go earlier and stay in the galleries longer. I only scratched the surface.

Winter Solstice

For the first time in many years, I have had a creative surge during the holidays enabling me to finish three large paintings. I'm not sure where this surge came from and I am happy to report that there was time for friends and family too!! I always think of spring and summer, mostly summer as my creative time and have always had difficulty continuing any project this time of the year. So welcome this time as January and February look to be especially busy next year. Very grateful for that too.

The day after Christmas, Charlie, my stepson and I had an exhibit in my studio. We exhibited his photographs taken in Sweden, where he lives now and my photograph taken here in the States. I was amazed at how our similar points of view merged for this show. Charlie is so creative both in this music (his real career) and his photography. I have been watching the progress of his image making for a long time and admire his ability to see. We were hampered by such horrible weather and his long journey from Sweden (43 hours) but we managed to have a great exhibit and great conversations with all those who were able to make the trip to the studio.

As an addendum, I have to say that I found out today that some paintings I like so much, I don't want to finish them. I delay and delay their final layer or whatever it is that needs to be done to put a final touch. I'll now watch that.

Southern Living Publication

Received a note from "Southern Living" magazine on Friday that one of my paintings will be included in the Christmas with Southern Living 2011 hardcover book. Not due out till July but I'm psyched already. A rather nice Christmas gift.

Working in the studio today to get ready for Charles and my photo salon on Sunday, December 26. Charles has been taking photographs for years and I've always loved his work but it's never been shown anywhere. So he'll be here from Sweden during the holidays and we're putting together an informal exhibit to introduce his work. He's such a wonderful musician it'll be fun to see another side of his talents.

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.