The Vote is In! On to Lewellen...

Thanks to all of you who voted on what I'd enter in the postcard contest with the National Collage Society.  I was amazed at the response.  The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of #4 Tropicalfleur.  This painting is in the mail to the gallery at Kent State University.  The other five collages are framed and ready for the exhibit at The Most Unlikely Place. It's going to be fun on Saturday night, April 2nd!  Come to Lewellen, Nebraska for good art, good food, good music!  Call 308-778-9557 for reservations if you are wanting to eat...dinner served from 5-7, George William Ray Band from 6:30-8:30.

Update: Artist Reception in Lewellen April 2nd

Fast planning happening here.  I told you last week my art will be in Lewellen, NE for the month of April.  Today, we decided the artist reception at The Most Unlikely Place will be NEXT SATURDAY!  They will serve an evening dinner that night.  AND, besides seeing me there, you will have the privilege of hearing the awesome sounds of the George William Ray Band!!!  This group includes three of the greatest boys in the world...my son, Lucas and two of his best friends, Tyler and Paul.  Check out the MUP website HERE...its a great day trip for breakfast or lunch Wed-Sat if you can't make it on the 2nd.

Thanks for voting on the postcard collages...one is way ahead of the others!  But I can't tell you which collage will be going to the NCS competition until Monday. The collage here is one of the six you can view on my website, where I'm asking viewers to help me decide which to enter.  It's title: A Rose Is. The rose image is a gel transfer.  It includes hand-painted papers and Zentangle-type doodling.  There's still time to vote. Be sure to let me know which one you think I should enter...either on the contact the artist link there, in a comment here, at my email, or on facebook.  You will be able to see the five pieces that don't enter the competition at the Most Unlikely Place!

Your Vote Will Determine My Entry

I've added a new page to my website, so you can let me know which of six postcard size collages I should enter into this year's National Collage Society show.  It has to be in the mail by March 26th, so hop on over to my site, HERE, and get me a message about your choice! 

The five that don't go to the NCS show will be included in the show at The Most Unlikely Place in Lewellen, NE starting March 31st and running through the month of April.  Make plans to see them in person, and enjoy a very special coffee break or meal!

Last Show, Next Show, Miles, and Memories

 Just had to share a couple more photos from the Nebraska Governor's Residence.  You can see how the space is used for a variety of meetings with a completely different table configuration when I took these photos compared to those I posted the week before.  The show came down last Friday.  It was such an honor to have my art in this space and a pleasure to work with the Residence Staff. 

The next showing of my art will be during the month of April at The Most Unlikely Place, a wonderfully fun art gallery, espresso bar, and luncheon cafe in Lewellen, Nebraska!  Tentative plans call for a reception on April 23rd...the Saturday afternoon before Easter...possibly with live music!  This wonderful space is owned by three sibling artists: Dennis and Rex Miller, and Jean Jensen.  I have painted with Dennis at the Autumn Art Workshop at the 4-H Camp near Halsey.  The cafe is open Wednesday-Saturday, with special menus that change every week!  They have parties once a month and host classes in art, dance and music.  Sure hope you can make it to Lewellen.  You will be amazed.

Lots of miles were covered last weekend.  After the trip across the state to Lincoln, I drove to south-central Kansas to paint a bathroom for my mother.  The extreme winter got the best of some pipes, which flooded their guest house, requiring new drywall and a restoration service.

I ran into a couple of high school friends while I was there.  It was fun to have my art along in the car to show Arlene, an active artist, who was in Richard VanSickle's art class with me--was that 38 years ago? (Yow!)  I found a trace of Mr. VanSickle on Google...teaching on the potter's wheel at Wichita Pottery.  I still have the large acrylic painting I did as a senior in high school--an impressionistic attempt to copy a painting I loved that hung in our high school library! I ran from the basement art room up the stairs to the third floor library many times as I tried to capture the composition...no digital cameras to help out!  After all the moves, it has a small hole in one spot, and is a bit warped, but is in pretty good shape.

Governor's Residence

I am so honored to be showing my artwork in the Nebraska Governor's Residence Exhibition Program this month.  The show was hung on February 8th, and will be there until the afternoon of March 11th.  My daughter toured the Residence today and sent these photos.  The colors in the drapes coordinate so well with six of my sunflower paintings on the north wall!  On the South wall, along with a fireplace and two china cabinets, the photo shows eight of my non-objective paintings. The show includes a total of 18 works.

This program, sponsored by the Nebraska Arts Council, awards exhibition space to 10 Nebraska artists each year. I am grateful for all the efforts of Arts Council and Governor's Residence staff that have made this opportunity possible.  If you can get to Lincoln before the 11th, try to get in and see it.  The Residence is open to the public on Thursdays 1-4 and at other times by appointment when it doesn't interfere with meetings scheduled in the room.  Call 402-471-3466  for more information on tours.

What's the best part of your day?

My daughter is starting a nanny job and called to ask how I  worded the question that always annoyed her to pieces every day when she came home from school.  "What was the best part of your day?"  It works because I always require an answer...not, "I don't know", or "nothing".  Even on a terrible day, there is always one thing better than something else and for which we can be grateful, even though the scale may be low.  Their answers provide insight that helps my relationship with my children. It's good to know that she values that attitude after so many years of frustration.  It's also good  to ask myself this question for a check on my own attitude of gratitude.

Last night's Oscars show was the best part of my Sunday.  I loved sharing it with my son, and a major part of the world!  It's fun joining in the comeraderie of the acting community, laughing with 94-year-old Kirk Douglas presenting Best Supporting Actress, rooting for the movies we've seen, hearing great music (we loved the closing medly).  I adore the dresses.  One of my favorites was Cate Blanchett's architectural creation from Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci.  The Washington Post put her in the worst dressed category.  The Today Show said that men hated it and women loved this dress.  I thought it was extremely creative design, although not terribly flattering...and I would not have included the strange yellow at the shoulders!  But, I can see it inspiring some paintings....  The colors of the stage set and lighting were amazing...lots of quinacridone gold!  I loved Christian Bale saying, “[Thanks to] my wonderful wife and our little girl, who’s taught me so much more than I’ll ever be able to teach her.”  Isn't that the essence of what it means to be a parent?

It's sort of the same with teaching art classes.  My students teach me so much more than I'll ever be able to teach them.  They make me want to be a better artist, a better person, and to be more purposeful in using the time in my days.  Last week we created some 4 x 6 inch "postcard" collages inspired by the National Collage Society postcard contest held every year.  Small, quick, and inexpensive, it's a great format that lowers the intimidation level, making it easy to get started.  Here is one of my students' results...all the beading is reminiscent of Cate's dress!  More student work will be posted soon.

Synapses

Last week I found free painting videos on the website for Jerry's Artarama, and could hardly wait to get to my studio to try a diptych in context, a la Joe DiGiorgio.  He talks about 4 basic elements of abstract works: line, color, shape, and texture.  Joe's Black Bag video shows him using only 8 supplies, including equipment...so just a couple of colors were utilized.  The Liquitex purple jumped right out of my paint box, and of course I had to use my favorite: Golden's Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold.  I tried some Gesso, copper wire, and buttons for texture. As this painting evolved I was intrigued, but frustrated that the purple was just something I "never" use (although the collaged tissue paper was painted a couple of years ago!)  Then, in the smARTist conference I've been involved with, a speaker talked about keeping your body of work cohesive by using the same color palette even when working in diverse mediums or genres.  After a while with that thought, I realized my diptych needed some Cobalt Teal to bring it in line with my other works.  Now it doesn't seem quite so separate from the other paintings on my gallery wall.  It's definitely a different genre from my last post with the watercolor/collage sunflowers, but the palettes are closer.  Thank you Jerry's!