exhibitions
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Monday, June 30th, 2008
White Pine Bows, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, trim frame, just accepted into the 125 Mile Exhibition July 24th – August 15, 2008 presented by VAST in partnership with the Department of Visual Arts at Texas Women’s University (TWU).
Opening Reception on July 31st, 2008 5:30p.m. – 7:30p.m. July 31st, 2008 at the TWU Arts and Sciences Building, Denton, TX.
Post-dated note: Sold in 2010.
White Pine Bows
Friday, April 18th, 2008
White Pine Bows, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. (sold 2010)
Some paintings take a long time and change dramatically from start to finish. Others have a clear direction and seem to flow out in a day, as this one did.
Post-dated note: showcased in Visual Arts Society of Texas’ 125 Show July 24th – August 15, 2008.
Also, Debby Davis a local Denton TX poet wrote a poem inspired by the White Pine Bows painting
Bouncing branch to bough within stiff white pines,
finding my eyes uplifted; what a show!
Violinist gently pulls; taut bow whines.
Bouncing branch to bough within stiff white pines,
like the beat of an orchestra playing.
Violinist gently pulls; taut bow whines
raining harmonies; colors displaying.
Like the beat of an orchestra playing,
my thumping heart strings tug me into now!
raining harmonies; colors displaying,
I am an audience of one somehow.
My thumping heart strings tug me into now!
It is the secret that only I shall know.
I am an audience of one somehow.
Fragile notes fracture light into rainbow.
Eastern Redbuds
Saturday, March 29th, 2008
Eastern Redbuds, Coppell, Texas USA, 14 x 11 inches soft pastels on paper.
Showcased in Artjury.com’s 2007 Spring/Summer Online Exhibition.
Emerge
Monday, March 24th, 2008
Above: this morning’s emerging Myrtle leaves, an addition to the Heart Shapes in Nature series.
Upcoming exhibitions:
1. Polypore Fungi is on exhibit at the VAST 40th Annual Spring Exhibition in Denton, Texas April 10 through May 29, 2008. Opening Reception Thursday, April 10th 6:00 – 8:p.m. at the Meadows Gallery 400 E. Hickory, Denton.
2. Firewheels, 18 x 24 x 2 inches Acrylics – Texas and Neighbors Regional Art Exhibition at the Irving Arts Center, 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving, Texas April 26 through May 24th, 2008. Opening Reception Sunday, April 27th 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Updates
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
* The acrylics/mixed media painting Polypore Fungi is accepted into VAST Arts 40th Annual Visual Arts Exhibition April 10- May 29, 2008
* The Heart Shapes in Nature photographic series are available as 3 x 4 inch framed prints, matted white or black with black frames – $7.50 each or 3 for $20 at Studio 2600, 2600 Hibernia, Dallas. http://www.studio2600dallas.com/
* The Oil Pastel work Eastern White Pine is showing at the AVAA 32nd Annual Regional Juried Art Exhibit in Arlington, Texas February 15 – March 28, 2008
Trees paintings updates
Thursday, December 6th, 2007
Sun Shower 01 is now sold! Above: central detail of the 85H x 45W x 2D acrylics on canvas.
Morning Light shown below, 48H x 36W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, narrow frame. Also sold but a similar one can be replicated. Please allow up to 14 days to create before shipping.
Morning Light, $1,100.00 special order 
Now showing and available for purchase at Studio 2600 until January 2, 2008. 2600 Hibernia, in Dallas:
Sun Shower 03, photography, Moon over Cypress, oil pastels, and Dawn, acrylics on canvas
Exhibition Opportunity
Tuesday, December 4th, 2007
Galahs in Traffic, Australia. 14H x 11W oil pastels on paper, has 3-inch-wide white double mat and 26H x 22W inch white custom-built white wood frame with crackle finish.
Flocks of Galahs fly in front of cars… unfortunate fatalities along the highway to the Kangaroo Island ferry, South Australia. The trees illustrated are Norfolk Island Pines.
One of the pieces showcased in the AJAS Fall/Winter Online Gallery.
For Artists interested in juried competitions and online gallery exhibitions, the American Juried Art Salon (AJAS) gives helpful feedback and critique whether your work is accepted or not. For information about their Spring/Summer 2008 competition visit http://www.artjury.com/art.html Artists whose work has been accepted twice in a row receive a website page for one year.
Gold In The Mountains 01
Sunday, November 4th, 2007
Gold In The Mountains 01, finished – 20H x 16W inches acrylics on canvas. Has 28H x 24W inches dark-stained antique frame with gold trim
Started late in 2005, Gold In The Mountains 01 has evolved through many changes to achieve the finished painting above. The first thumbnail shows the painting at a stage where I thought it finished so entered it into Artjury.com’s 2006 Spring/Summer online exhibition. It was accepted, and at the time I liked the larger areas of flat orange-gold, but about six months later I thought the work needed more depth, and the dark branch across the upper portion stood out, so I began a long process of scrubbing off, building back up, scraping and layering paint, repainting, etc. The piece reached a few different stages where it could have been called finished, but I was not entirely pleased, so kept searching. Here are a few stages in the transformation of Gold In The Mountains 01:
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Firewheels
Saturday, October 13th, 2007
Firewheels 18H x 24W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted with scene extending onto the narrow frame.
Thumnails: masking medium, usually used for watercolor paintings, was applied with a toothpick, first image. After being painted it was rubbed off, revealing abstract scribbles and areas of pure color. A time limit was set for this one to be done by the end of today, something I don’t normally do, but the restrictions ensure that it doesn’t get overworked.Next, Firewheels finished and successful in that I was able to stay away from the desire to perfect everything.
This painting was showcased in The 23rd Texas & Neighbors Regional Art Exhibition, April 26 – May 24, 2008, Irving Arts Center, Irving, TX.
Acceptance
Monday, October 8th, 2007
Competitions, online galleries and juried exhibitions
Three works were accepted into Artjury.com’s 2007 Fall / Winter National Online Juried Exhibition: Galahs in Traffic, Mayan Bowl Chair, and Linden Sunset.
There’s controversy that entering competitions is purely about vanity. For us who need to self-promote, we understand that it’s more about career stability and advancement than the ego. Still the question of ego exists, so a little devil-artist on the shoulder is good to have because we need to stay tuned to our arts’ original meaning and purpose. Evaluation is always in order. For the most part, self-promotion is personal, often uncomfortable, and a very humbling and enlightening experience rather than an egoistic one. We need to search deep for our very best, and stay open to every opinion.
Acceptance by peers means a lot, but accepted or not, honest feedback and interaction with those who also love what they do and know what they’re talking about, or hearing from those who appreciate art and enjoy discussing it, is really beneficial. We encourage each other, and straight-forward critiques go a long way. Any kind of response helps us consider the direction we will take moving forward.
Recognition and validation are helpful because faith in this vocation waxes and wanes. Many of us ask from time to time: What am I doing this for? or: What’s the big deal about Art anyway? We are so closely involved with it as daily work that the personal and the professional are one and the same. Art is our life, and monetary or “ribbon-ary” validation is encouraging! Primarily though, motivation must be self-perpetuated. For work to work, we need to love what we do. No amount or content of external comments affects the genuine drive to create it.
If we haven’t yet captured our big break with gallery representation, it takes a long time to learn the do’s and don’ts, and it’s surprising that there are so many expectations. We need to have confidence to be articulate about our works’ intentions and messages portrayed. Self-promotion, for artists who can’t afford outside management, is the other necessary half of the job and is time-consuming, but vital.
Temporarily it seems distracting, taking precious time away from creating the art in order to write gallery proposals and exhibition entries, but since sharing and selling are the main goals, who knows more about the heart of the art better than the artist? Practice meeting deadlines, and familiarity with managing all the details means we are in control of our destiny as much as possible, helps focus clarity of purpose.
It takes diligence and fortitude to wear all the hats. We need to take advantage of every open door whether it shuts in our face or not, and a few cash awards to supplement sales doesn’t hurt a bit!