Category: Events

An Art Show and A Commissioned Piece

I will be attending the Peppertree Art Show this coming weekend, Lord willing and the creek, et cetera. This will be the last ever Peppertree. It is a huge privilege to visit this show, to see the work and meet the artists. To learn about it, go here: http://www.peppertreeartshow.com/ Meanwhile, remember this piece? It embodies many of the principles followed in my art business, particularly the commissions. 1. Take your own photos. There are many little parts to a subject, and unless you really know the subject, you won’t know which little parts are necessary until you begin drawing. 2. Real life is messy and artists get to clean it up. 3. Plan, sketch it out, try different arrangements, and have your customer approve the plan before beginning the picture. 4. Communicate with the customer. This customer has been very gracious about allowing me to put this giant project (3 18×24 collages) on hold while dealing with other urgent and inflexible deadlines. 5. If I can’t see it, I can’t draw it. Whenever possible, work from photos printed on photographic paper rather than plain paper. I want the sharpest clearest photos possible, and the older my eyes get, the more necessary this becomes. 6. Add the color last, after the piece has been spray fixed so that the graphite doesn’t smear. (yes, I know there is no color in this yet)

Exeter Exposure

This is the Downtown Gallery in Exeter, California. Isn’t it cute? And it was very very well attended last night – took me a long time to be able to take this photo without folks walking past! See my painting of oranges in the front window? Those little scenes beneath it are also mine. The unfortunate thing is that I had to climb in the window with my back to the audience to arrange things. (Sorry, Ron, Nina, Jim, and Patty!) I talked to many people whom I had not seen since my studio was in downtown Exeter, and met some new people. Events like this are mostly for the purpose of exposure, to remind people that I still am making art and teaching drawing. My paintings, reproduction pencil prints and cards will remain at the gallery through the month of December, and then Cousin Chris and I will decide if this is a good location. (His wife and my husband are cousins, so I enjoy calling him “Cousin”!) Tonight is another meet-and-greet, this time at Arts Visalia, which is in (bet you can guess!) Visalia! I’m trying not to hyperventilate at the thought of 2 consecutive trips down the hill. Nikki the weaver and candle maker will be with me – this means I won’t be practicing the Christmas musical at the top of my lungs. (Try to be polite if you witness this phenomenon while encountering me on the road.) Anyway, this is the reception for Arts Visalia’s Holiday Art Show & Sale, which runs until December 20. It is open to the public, of course, and goes from 6-8 this evening. From the looks of the postcard, I think there will be a wonderful assortment of beautiful affordable items for gift giving. (this includes some little fruit/vegetable paintings by me, but remember all the citrus is in Exeter) The address is 214 E. Oak Avenue; phone 559-733-0905; eddress – artsvisalia@sbcglobal.net; hours Wednesday-Saturday Noon – 5:30.

A tradition

The Annual Christmas Open House in Exeter, California, is one of the nicest December traditions around our area. Businesses in downtown Exeter stay open late on Thursdays in December. The first one is the busiest, and it feels so old fashioned to walk the main street of a small town when it is bustling, lit up, and includes carolers and a carriage! I will be at The Downtown Gallery, 179 East Pine Street. This little framing gallery is alongside The Book Garden, which is connected to Exeter Flower Company. Come say hello and if you are lucky, maybe you will get to see Boo Kitty too! Lacking a photo of Boo, we’ll have to settle on Zeke today!

Good Show!

Neat old building, hunh? It seems as though I have been painting like a maniac for months, and when my work is all up on these screens, it looks like very little indeed. We had low attendance on Friday and I sold a lot of work. On Saturday, I scooted the paintings together and then used clothespins to attach prints to the empty screens. There was a steady flow of lots of people all day, and I sold less. Go figure!

More happy trails

See what I mean? Trail In Fall – oil on wrapped canvas – 8 x 10 – $80 You can see this and more on Friday and Saturday, November 28-29 at the Three Rivers Arts Center from 10-4. Go East on 198, turn left to cross the Kaweah River on the North Fork Bridge, and the Arts Center is the first building on the left.

Thankful and busy

On Friday and Saturday, I will be joining about 10 other artists at the Three Rivers Arts Center for “The Perfect Gift Boutique”. There will be a jewelry maker, a candle maker/weaver, a furniture painter, a photographer, and I can’t remember who else. The hours are 10-4 both days. The Arts Center is in a nice little old craftsman style home that functions as a ballet studio, place for plays, art shows, and other artistic endeavors. (I used it once to teach a beginning drawing workshop.) The hope this week is to paint about 6 more paintings to take with me, along with putting prices on lots of reproduction prints and card packages. Thanksgiving? I’m too busy to think about that right now. Thankful, yes, very, for lots of things, for how wonderful my life as an artist is, how much fun it is to blog, for the rain coming tonight. Although I won’t be able to photograph my completed paintings in the diminished light tomorrow, I can see that having rain is much more important than my little plans! Meanwhile, enjoy a look at this door that I drew a few years ago. It is in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, where they decorate for Christmas using no electricity! Last year around this time, Michael and I had the wonderful privilege of visiting our friend Janey there and got to see this style of decorating in person. I was astonished by how much I loved the place! Californians don’t have much architecture with age, outside of our missions. Someday I will tell you the story of visiting Alexandria. Today (and tomorrow and the next, et cetera. . .) I am too busy. Thankful, but busy!

A good time was had

You can see the easel on the left contains the painting of the new card. It was on the easel for less than 1/2 hour and then it sold! Lots of paintings sold but not too many, which is good because there is a 2 day show next weekend. What you can’t see in these photos is that there is a yarn store to the left of Sequoia Gifts & Souvenirs. I celebrated today’s good sales by buying some yarn to match what I wore, and then I made a scarf. Life is Good!

It Is Here!

This is a Christmas card inspired by the ornament that I painted for the White House Christmas tree last year. It was printed from an oil painting titled “Snowy Sequoias II” and will be with me at the Holiday Open House today, Saturday, November 22. (It is for sale, but I’d rather sell it in person than over the internet.) The cards are 5×7″ and blank inside. They are available through my website on the Notecards page https://www.cabinart.net/notecards_new.shtml $10 for 4 cards and also available through Sequoia Gifts and Souvenir.

Event on November 22

Here is the ad that is appearing in today’s Kaweah Commonwealth, the weekly paper of Three Rivers, California. And tomorrow, you will see the picture in complete fullness, living color, the Real Deal!

What IT is

IT is a Christmas card, but I bet you figured that much. . . you don’t get to see IT yet! This is just a little reminder that IT will be revealed on Saturday, November 22 at Sequoia Gifts and Souvenirs, 41727 Sierra Drive, Three Rivers. Please join us from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. for the annual Holiday Open House! There are discounts, 20-30% off store merchandise, but you’ll have to ask at the store how that works, because I’m just the “Guest Artist”. Doesn’t that sound prestigious?? 😎 Have another little peek: