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.

Connections and Happenstances. . . . coincidentally!

Well, it's been a while since I've posted here. This is usually a very slow time of year, but this year it hasn't been. Since the ACA show went up almost a month ago in Visalia (and comes down tomorrow), I have had an Art Hop event at Planet Java in North Fresno. I was skeptical of how it would look because of the wall colors and the rest of the coffee shop decor, but when I hung it on March lst, I was actually very pleased with the result. I picked the paintings that had red in them, for one thing, rather than pastel ones with pinks etc. Most of the building is red, brown, dark greens etc. It comes down soon and next I will have a larger, higher (on the wall) and longer show at the Sanger Library in my own home town.

I want to reiterate one thing in this fairly short post that is going to be the first of many, as I get back to more regular blogging. People get discouraged when nothing sells at a small show or hanging and they often stop trying. I never have high expectations of a lot of sales at the actual event but I always keep an open mind that something will come out of the event at a later date.

And that's what has happened this week--over a month after the 3 month hanging at Ramos Torres Wine Tasting Room in Kingsburg. Last Tuesday when I was sitting at the Art Stand Gallery, a young woman came in to look around. It was so amazing to find out that she was trying to find the artist whose work she had seen at the tasting room over a month ago. She went back and the show was gone and she is leaving the area in a month. The amazing thing was that I was there the day she came in and I was the artist she was looking for. She wound up buying a 24" X 30" matted print of "Vino Vignette" to take back to West Virginia, where she is from. She is working in Sanger but is ready to move on to another assignment in Baltimore. Wasn't that a lucky happening?

And. . . . I had an email this week from someone wanting to take private lessons because they saw and loved my work at the tasting room also!

And. . . . a man who lives and works in Greece is coming back for a visit to the valley the end of this month. He bought a painting last time he was here (at the Art Stand) and I added him to my mailing/newsletter list and I just had an email from him saying he wants to see my work while he's here again.

So, the moral is:

Never, Never Give UP! Keep painting, showing, talking, writing, emailing. . . .  and expecting great things. And they will happen! :)

Hello to all on the last day of August, 2009!

Busy, busy, busy week(s) and weekend. I entered 3 paintings at the ACA Major Open Show at Chris Sorensen's studio last Saturday. My favorite of the 3, Pina Colada, received a first (out of 12 entries in Contemporary). "Giuseppe" got an honorable mention in the same class and "In the Name of the Rose" (brand newly finished!) got a 3rd.

Yesterday was a sitting day at the Art Stand Gallery and today Roy and I delivered 6 paintings to Fresno City Hall for the ACA Signature Members Show. Both the Sorensen Show and the City Hall Show will be up through September.

Art Hop for both of them is Thursday, September 3rd from 5-8 PM. Hopefully, some of you will be on the "Art Hop Trail" that night and will be able to come out to see both shows. See you then!

ACA Reception in Visalia

Tonight was the opening reception for the ACA show at Arts Visalia. The club was well represented and so was the community. The people came steadily throughout the evening and seemed to enjoy the well-arranged show in the attractive gallery. It's always interesting to me as an artist to watch people look at my paintings and then approach them to tell them a little more about whichever piece is their favorite. At this show, all 3 of my paintings are hanging together in one of the smaller rooms, viewable from outside. I talked to several people and gave some my card. It was good practice and good exposure. Now I need to get ready for tomorrow's Blossom Trail event at the Art Stand Gallery.

The paintings accompanying this post are "Fleur-y", made of almost all Japanese papers, "Coming to Terms", a watercolor of musical terms, and "Guiseppe", an abstract of all shades of green, blue, and yellow.

The last day of March

Well, the framing is done, the driving is done. . . .and the judging is done, too. The ACA show at Arts Visalia was judged this afternoon by the curator of the Bakersfield Art Museum. There were around 90 entries and the gallery holds about 55 paintings comfortably, so quite a few were turned away. The good news is that all 3 of my paintings were accepted and will hang through the end of March. The bad news is that I had hopes of a placement or 2 and there were none. Not even an honorable mention. Oh, well, it's just like when we were showing dogs for years and years--every day is a different judging situation. The judge is different, looking for different things, and the competition is different also. I am pleased with all 3 of the paintings and, to me, that's what counts . . . . but it's nice when the judge and/or other viewers like them also.

The reception is Friday night, March 6th, from 5-8 PM. Hope to see you there!

Thursday evening

I am still finishing the framing for the ACA Visalia Show at Arts Visalia, with receiving on Saturday. It is a beautiful gallery, in a very old building right across the street from the long famous Depot Restaurant. It is close to downtown which is home to many wonderful restaurants, the old Fox Theater and some other historic buildings. I will try to take photos to post while I'm there on Saturday and again at the reception on March 6th, from 5-8 PM. You are, of course, all invited!

The address for the gallery is 214 E Oak Ave in Visalia, California, 93291. The phone number is (559) 739-0905 and I would advise calling ahead to check on their open hours, normally on Tuesday through Saturday, usually with some evening hours during each week.