How it "Ended" with Fleury 2. . . .

. . . . actually, NOT how it ended at all! But at least a step in the right direction with a blog post for the first time since some time in July. Yikes! Where do the days and weeks go? I realize I've been doing too much on Facebook and not enough here so I'm going to try to switch that around and start doing my longer posts here because they will wind up on Facebook FROM here, anyway. Makes a lot more sense but it isn't quite as portable nor as easy as doing it on the iPhone or the iPad.

Since July, things have been pretty busy. I was painting for the Ag Show (judging is this week and the reception is Thursday evening in Madera) and for the Alliance of California Artists' Arte Americas show and for "Walk on the Wildside" which began at Timberline in Oakhurst last Monday, September 6th.

So, to back up a bit--I finished the paintings for the Ag Show and was working on 2 paintings for Arte Americas. After a great deal of contemplation, I decided that one would be a painting I did a while back but hadn't quite finished and the other one would be the Fleury 2 painting that I talked about and showed a couple of posts ago.

The first painting was an abstract but as I worked on it, it started looking more and more like an aerial view of patio umbrellas. I put it away for a few weeks and when I got it out again, I knew exactly what I needed to do to finish it. I needed to add a very dark "pathway" connecting the umbrellas, with some symbolic planter boxes and a fountain. So, I finished it, framed it and named it "Mai Tai" to go along with my earlier work called "Pina Colada" and my newest piece called "Strawberry Daquiri". (Can't you see what's coming next?)

Then I begin to add the flowers to the red origami painting. The first painting had white rice paper flowers but for this painting, I used embossed blossoms from a different handmade paper. Very beautiful, but more "structured" and denser in appearance and feeling than the flowers in "Fleury". As the painting neared completion, I posted some photos on Facebook and someone fell in love with it and will be the loving owner of the second Fleury painting. I asked some of my Japanese friends to help me with naming it and I'm so happy to say that Danny Okamura (trumpet playing friend in Fresno and Clovis bands) suggested "Origami Ohana" and that's what she is to be called. Some paintings are genderless but some are definitely masculine or feminine. There is no doubt that Origami Ohana is a "her"!

So, off they went to the show and off I went to sit at Timberline on that judging day.
The judge was Kevin Bowman, curator at Arts Visalia, and I love to watch the judging because I always learn so much from it. I was sorry to not see it and when I didn't hear anything from anyone, I assumed neither painting had done anything spectacular. But later that evening, I checked my email and I had a congratulatory note from Val Dann saying that "Origami Ohana" had received a second place in Mixed Media. . . and that "Mai Tai" had received a Best in Show!! Yippee! I was SO excited and I still am but I wasn't sure that I'd ever receive the top honors because often abstracts are less likely to be seriously considered by some judges. So, thank you, Kevin Bowman! I am so honored!

And if that weren't enough, when we went to the Art Hop reception on Thursday evening, September 9th, people were asked to vote for their favorite painting and "Origami Ohana" received the "People's Choice" award. Can you believe it? I've had a very exciting couple of weeks and I'm pleased and proud and happy! Thank you all for your notes and congratulations! They've meant a lot to me.

So, the saga continues. . . I surely can't stop painting NOW, can I? Next time I post, I'll show you my 3 entries for "Walk on the Wild Side" and tell you about the Ag Show judging and reception later this week.