checking out the neighborhood

This evening I'm heading out to the local Badlands Gallery here in little Dinosaur-capital-of-Canada. It's a co-op of about 25-30 artists; ranging from self-taught-at-the-kitchen-table to having a FA degree and earning a living from their art; ranging from painter to sculptor to photographer, etc. They meet every third Wednesday evening. It will be my first visit to the group. I think I'll join. Fees are only $50/year (prorated to $25 this late in the year). Membership responsibilities include taking time to "man the gallery" a few times each month. I think that would be fun.

Considering the small size of this town, and the small size of the gallery, and the small size of the pieces of art, they generate quite a respectable amount of business throughout the course of the year. Apparently there is even an Art Walk in September in the arts district. Oh....I may have already missed that....but I haven't heard anything about that. I guess I'll find out tonight.

Hmmm.

Could be fun.

she knew it was easy to find

Remember that one day art fair* during the blizzard in December 2009? Well, will wonders never cease? I received an email from one of the guests that stopped by that day. Some had glanced through my portfolio and took a b'card. I don't usually expect anyone to contact me again--but she did! She wrote to say that one painting, the one with the gem stones, wouldn't leave her. She asked if she could "meet it in person." She was trying to decide if she needed to purchase He Said It Would Be Easy To Find or not. We made an appointment. She came in and was smitten. That's all I can say about her reaction. She could barely take her eyes off of the painting and wanted to know everything about it--why did I paint it, what does it all mean, is there a hidden reference, what are all the stones, etc.

Eagerly she made the purchase and took this beauty home right away.

I was astounded.

Just like that, she bought my work.

Just like that, I sold art. It's been a long time.

*See posts: Nov 28, Jan 5.

down in the dinosaur dump

So....nearly half a year since my last blog. We have settled nicely in Dinosaur-capital-of-Canada, in our new home (Well--we are still surrounded by towers of boxes, though. How could we possibly have accumulated so much?). We finally made the move here at the end of June. Our house in our City-of-1.2million hasn't sold yet, and it continues to be a concern. Life here is amazing. I wonder why everyone doesn't move to a little town? City-of-1.2million (though I've heard that it has diminished somewhat) has news headings about local shootings and torture victims. A recent front page report here was a two car pile-up to which EMS and police were sent, but it was happily reported that no one was seriously injured.

Sweetie-pie-love-of-my-life and I pruned our hedge. The top reached the eaves of our house. We felt we lived in a shrub box. Four feet (1.1m) less later, we filled the truck and headed to the dump to dispose of the branches.
Well....
Who would have expected that we would be overwhelmed with a sight of incredible beauty at the local dump yard? I had never seen such a thing! As we drove in, we passed an area of level ground FULL of hundreds of gulls squished together, all facing the same direction, as if waiting for further instruction from their master. Then we rounded a mound to the area we could dump. At the end of this lane was the wall of dirt and trash to which we headed. Gulls! Hundreds! No...a thousand or more! All were flying in a circle over the lane. As we neared the back dirt wall, hundreds of gulls flew off the wall, right over our truck, only about 4-5 feet (1.5 m) overhead.
It was stunning. All these birds flying right over us, so close, so in unison with each other. It was magic to behold. Oh, where is a camera when you need one?
I was moved by this gift of unexpected beauty in a place where most would not think to look. Indeed, next to us a mother hollered at her daughter to help unload the trash so they could hurry out.
Both of us were present at this same event, yet she was totally oblivious to the wonder that circled above us both.
I don't ever want to become so complacent or jaded or even just too busy that I fail to see the wonder and majesty that is all around us every day in even the littlest things.
P.S. The above photo was taken at a later date. I hoped for a repeat scene, but the gulls just weren't there in the same numbers. This picture only gives a taste.

left turn at the next exit

You know how sometimes, you just go through the motions of life--generally being not particularly aware of time passing, and then suddenly out of nowhere a curve ball (no...an asteroid!) hits and your life takes on a new course?

Well....so it is. I suddenly (yes, it was that quick) find that the Lord God has decided that Sweetie-pie-love-of-my-life and I should leave the city we've raised our sons in and lived in for most of our lives to move to the Dinosaur capital of Canada.

I'm soooo excited! I can't wait. We move from a community with a population of 1.2 million to one of 6,000. I called the post office there and immediately got a human being on the phone. Wow. I expected to be greeted by a recorded message  that would guide me through way-too-many options only to be frustrated because there is no 'change your address' option.
The biggest news on the town paper's front page was whether the main street should stay with diagonal parking or change to parallel parking. I can't wait.

The Lord God provided a job for Sweetie-pie-love-of-my-life, and we found a great house that has--gasp--a studio for me that is more than twice the size of my current studio! If anything will jump start my art career, it is having room to move!

The only thing is that we still have to do is sell our house here. We're trusting that that will happen too.

Soon, I hope.

let your yes be yes, and your no be no

I saw The Interpreter the other day. The main character stated that she became an interpreter because too many wars were fought based on words that were misinterpreted.

Years ago, Best-in-Laws wanted to know what I would like to receive from them for my birthday gift.

"Oh, I would love to have a wall clock in my studio," I replied. "I want one with a clear face so that it's easy to read at a glance!"

My birthday arrived, and they were very pleased to present me their gift. "We looked everywhere for this, but we finally found it!"

I was a bit confused at it being such a difficult task. Their faces beamed with delight at the success of the venture. I was so surprised when I saw the clock. The clock was transparent!

Wow....

When I asked for 'clear' I meant 'unobstructed' as in no design clutter among the numbers and hands like flowers, or fruit, or dots, or checks, or texture, or....

They heard 'transparent' when I said 'clear.'

No wonder it was difficult to find! I hadn't the heart to say 'transparent' wasn't what I meant.

The trouble with the transparency, though, is that I've had to put paper behind the clock so I could read it!

yellow and blue make pink

About 15-20 years ago I worked part time with a design company. They'd hand me swatches of fabric, and I had to copy, exactly, the color and pattern onto accessories such as picture frames or plant pots--in acrylic paint. This meant that I had to mix paint colors lighter than the actual color required and anticipate how much the acrylic would darken as it dried--and yet match precisely.

Friend-who-encourages asked how do I know what colors I need to mix the color I want? She often ended up with a muddied version of her desired hue.

I replied,"I dunno. I just look at it."
"But how do you know?"

I shrugged,"I just see it."

"But what's your method?"

"I just look at it and know." How in the world to I explain something I know so well intuitively, but have absolutely no idea how to explain in words!

Last week I discovered how. While perusing my local library, I stumbled upon this gem of a book: Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green by Michael Wilcox. This book clearly explains in words what I've intuitively known all along. Thank you Michael! Highly recommended.

what a day!

What a day the art fair was! There was a blizzard the night before. The roads were loaded with an average of 8-10 inches(25cm) of snow with drifts up to 4 feet(1-1.5m) high. And it kept on snowing. Few roads were plowed. As soon as one main road was cleared, it had to be plowed again immediately. The snow was relentless. It accumulated faster than it could be cleared. Those who did venture out inevitably came head on with an oncoming car. The problem was that there was only one set of tracks, so one car had to plow into a 2 foot snow bank to allow the other to pass through. Buses were sliding sideways down streets. Semi trucks were left stranded in drifts. The news later showed photos of people who were kneeling beside the roofs of their cars, trying to dig them out!

And we had an art fair today.

Man......

Who would go out on a day like THIS to visit an art fair?

I live quite close by, so Sweetie-pie-love-of-my-life and I loaded up the 4 wheel drive and headed out. It was a journey alright, but I made it. I tip my hat to my fellow artists who had to travel much farther and yet braved the elements to uphold their commitment. Yes, we artists are a tenacious bunch.

What truly amazed me, though, was the reasonably significant volume of people that came to this little, out-of-the-way, off-the-beaten-track (literally!) fair.

It was a good day. Connections were made. I sold a few art cards. More took my b'card. I met another artist whom I had known years ago when we both were members of the FCA. This venue was fun. I may come back for a show of my own at some point.

But I think I'll plan for a warmer season!