Oil Painters of America Western Regional

"Anticipation" Oil 16"x20"

I just received word that this painting was accepted into the Oil Painters of America Western Regional Show. It is being held in Kirkland Washington at the Howard/Mandville Gallery. I wasn't expecting to notification until July 22 because that is the date printed in the prospectus for the show. That is a misprint, it should have been June 22. I was contacted by Art Collector Magazine, they want to include my painting in an editorial article about the show in the August edition. I will also run a quarter page ad featuring another painting. I contacted my gallery, Rive Gauche in Scottsdale and they will be running a full page ad inside the front cover (prime real estate). All of this happened so fast my head was spinning, they all needed images of the artwork, quotes and layouts and approvals. I loved every minute of it. This is the first time I have spent money to run an ad in any publication so it will be interesting to see what happens. I am told that you really have to put your name in front of people in consecutive ads to have any effect, I don't know that I will be able to do that, as advertising is pretty costly, but this is a start.

Got My Groove Back

" Spring on the Illinois" 11"x18" Oil

I thought my post show would only last a couple of weeks, that's how long I had it scheduled, ha! I guess the saying "it takes as long as it takes" is true for me. I had made plans about new ideas and projects I wanted to start on as soon as the show was over, and I made a bunch of starts and stops, but nothing seemed to gel. I came to realize I just needed time to play, to be a student and to try different ideas. I didn't need to turn out a "product" every time I put brush to canvas, that's a lot of pressure and I had just been under a lot of that, (the good kind of course.) So I did lots of small paintings, experimenting with lighting, subjects and color. I also went outside this spring and painted plein air. What a joy it is to be privileged enough to do what you love to do everyday. My battery is now fully charged and I am working on some bigger pieces again. This painting was done from a plein air study with photo back up. I have to say though, the photos were so different from what I saw that day, I really used them for drawing and detail.