Well, I goofed.

Well, I goofed. I should've let you know about this show last week because the opening was Friday! But.... the show continues until the 26th of this month so, if you're in the area, you can check out the Small Works show at Macon Arts Alliance. Sadly I couldn't be at the opening so maybe that's why the date zipped past me. I am excited that the gallery used my painting on the show announcement. Cool!

Scroll down to see a few of the pics from their site. The first one lists the other artists in the show. All the pieces in the show are available for purchase online so if you can't make it to Macon, you can click the link above and still see what's there, maybe grab a small art piece for yourself or find a gift for someone you love. 💝

Can this painting be saved?

An update post..... since I was here last I've shipped 10 paintings to the Signature Art Gallery in Tallahassee and I have 8 more boxed up and ready to ship to Macon Arts Alliance in GA. You have no idea what a relief it is to move some paintings around! Since leaving Gallery B brought many pieces back home, I needed to make room for new stuff. Thankfully, Macon Arts is having a special small works show in November so it's perfect timing. And the wonderful people at Signature wanted some new work for the holiday season. Yay all the way around and doing a happy dance. 💃

Shedding Light

16x20

The painting above is one of the new ones. I love playing with paint like this. It brings my two favorite things together - landscapes and abstracts. After painting that one I decided to try doing something a little different by toning the canvas yellow instead of red orange like the previous one.

so far so good.....

ugh!

now I really hate it....

maybe it's salvageable.

This is as far as I've gotten today so you'll have to stay tuned to see what happens to it. So far the only stage I like is the very first one. In the latest stage it's just starting to come together but boy, it's hard to get past the ugly stage sometimes. When you hit that point you have 3 choices - 1. trash it (gesso over it and try again)  2. grit your teeth and push on through. or 3. take a break, work on something else for a while and come back to it later.

I think I'll take door #3.

See you next time. Hopefully by then this will be resolved and I can share. 

What's up 2017?

Was there a January? I don't know. It's just a blur now. I know some amazing stuff happened like having some good sales from my oh so wonderful Signature Gallery. I can't even tell you just how much I love them! Thanks to them, I had to get busy painting some more - oh darn.

Paynes Prairie

20x20

The locals know this place. Sometimes on trips between Ocala and Gainesville I'll stop and walk out on the dock on 441 and take pictures. When I have more time I'll go into the park and climb the lookout tower for a different view.

Garage Apartment

12x24

Since starting this bird nest series I've been gifted numerous nests from friends. This one came from my neighbors garage. It really is this shape. It was high up in the rafters in a corner and it looked like the bird wanted to fill the entire beam. It included bits of white fuzz that looked like batting and some pieces of blue and pink yarn.

White Feather

6x6

I've also been given lots of feathers so I thought I'd play with those. This is the first one- starting small. I'm not sure yet where I'll be going with these so stay tuned....

So those are 3 of the 10 pieces heading up to the gallery in the next week.

Then.... I was contacted by the Macon Arts Alliance Gallery asking if I would send some work to them for their upcoming show in March. Yay! They specifically asked for nests and florals so....... 

These are 2 of the 9 pieces heading that way later this month. And in case you're wondering, no, I did not paint 19 paintings last month. I was busy but I do like to sleep too. Some of the work is inventory I already had here in the studio.

Cubby

8x8

This is a crazy little nest made from horse hair. My friend Jean brought a couple of these in to class one day. She said she can tell which of her horses sacrificed hair for the little bird by the color of the nest.

After the Blossom

18x18

This was actually done from a friend's photo. I don't usually work that way but she had some beautiful shots and she gave me permission to use them. I wanted to play with the combo of pink and gold. Gold, anyone surprised? 😁

So there ya have it. That was January. Unfortunately the first week of February kicked my butt. I was sick in bed with a rheumatoid arthritis flare up. Any other artists out there dealing with a chronic condition that likes to interfere with your life? I'd love to hear from you. How do you deal? Anyway, now I'm back to feeling human again and ready to go. It's time to get some work boxed up and out of here and then back to the easel. Next time I'll share the landscape diptych I'm working on. Would you believe it doesn't include gold leaf? 

Painting what I love for people who love what I paint

The last couple of weeks have been good in the art world. I want to just take a moment to say thanks!

Thank you to my friends and family who give me so much encouragement about my work and support what I do.

Thank you to my Facebook friends who cheer me on and "like" my work, who tell me which paintings are their favorites.

Thank you to my students who show up every Monday ready to learn and practice and make me laugh in the process.

Thank you to the Signature Art Gallery and the Macon Arts Alliance Gallery for their help in connecting with collectors. Vera at the Signature has been amazing. I very much appreciate all she does for the artists.

And a big, giant, squeezy hug to my collectors. Without them I couldn't keep doing what I'm doing.

This is what my collectors make possible - days that are like Christmas in the studio - when art supplies come in the mail. New supplies means new paintings and new paintings mean new ideas and the cycle continues. I'm able to keep on doing what I love to do.

This is my dream right here, right now. I'm living it. Painting what I love for people who love what I paint.

Thank you!

Goings on

What the heck happened to February? It was a busy month and looks like March is going to be even busier! Lots of projects to work on. Getting started on the project for this month's Friday Painting Party.....

We're going abstract this time. Some of the ladies want to loosen up and try something different so I'm having them play with tissue paper to texture their canvas and then we'll play with color and design.

This past weekend I went back to Macon to pick up the work from my show. While there I met with the gallery director at the Macon Arts Alliance Gallery, Heatherly Wakefield. She checked out the show before we took it down and made a selection of pieces for me to take to her gallery so she'll be carrying my work there. How cool - I now have a gallery rep in Georgia! Since I brought some work back to the studio I had to rearrange, of course. I did a new arrangement on the studio wall...

So what else is happening this month? Working on my entry for the CPSA International Exhibition which is coming up this summer right here in FL. The convention activities will be in Daytona Beach and the exhibition itself will be in Ormond Beach at the Ormond Art Museum. I'm so excited! This is the first time the CPSA show and convention will be in Florida. The deadline for entries is March 31st so if you're one of my colored pencil followers, get coloring.

And...... I'm teaching a 2 day workshop down in the Villages the first week of April so I need to get busy prepping for that. It's all about painting landscapes in acrylic. It'll be a fun time. There are some very enthusiastic painters down there. :)

So, that's what's going on in my studio.... what's happening in yours?

Art, Lamps, and Beer

Last Friday was the opening reception for my show at the 567 Center for Renewal in Macon GA. Beth did a wonderful job of hanging the show and I met so many great people!! I'm also very, VERY grateful that the opening of my show happen to be in between the 2 snow storms that hit Georgia! Talk about good timing.

Anyway, we arrived the day before to deliver the work and hang it, although Beth had most of it done by the time we were available to help - she's amazing! She also fed us that night. We had a lovely time hanging out with her and her hubby. Friday we spent the day exploring Macon. We found more artsy stuff, antique shops, lamps, great pizza, an eclectic paper store, lamps, neat architecture, more lamps, a really cool toy shop where we found a chunky puzzle for our grandson, banana bread beer.......

really, banana bread beer, and it was good.

Not kidding about the lamps. There's something about Macon. We pulled into one parking lot because we saw a sign that said "art". It looked like it would be an art gallery but in the windows all you could see were lamps. We walked inside and it was full of paintings and reproductions and lamps - table lamps all over the place. Every style and size you can imagine. Later when we went to the pizza place, where we had the banana beer, what did we see hanging from the ceiling? Lamps. The whole ceiling was covered with lamps and chandeliers. Strange.

Anyway, back to art. Here I am with Beth Smith, curator at the 567.  

After spending the evening with the friendly folks who came by the reception, we walked around the block to the Contemporary Arts Exchange. What a hoot! This place is an old building where part of it is left un-renovated and the city leases rooms to artists to use as studios. During the First Friday Art Walk they open the building and it's party time. Kids are running around the halls, artists are hanging out, a band is playing downstairs, there are buckets with ice and beer, and tables with wine. If I lived in the area I would definitely have a studio there.

Earlier in the day we visited the Macon Arts Alliance gallery. It's a beautiful space and I'm happy to say that when my show at the 567 is over at the end of February, my work will then be included at the Arts Alliance gallery so this little Macon/Ocala art connection will continue. Yay!