Albright Knox Art Gallery Issue 2 pub.

Sorting through magazines, I discovered my own painting published in the Albright Knox Art Gallery's quarterly magazine AKNOW. This photo was taken at the opening of the Collector's Gallery Area Artist show last year. My close view of an orange tulip called 'Not Letting it Go' is on the easel. It was kept at the museum for a year & was displayed near the gift shop and also rented for a few months by a corporate client.

Sadly, the regional artists collection is ending soon due to economic woes. I call it a classic 'trickle down economy' effect. I have been proud to be selected to have work at the Albright Knox every year since I was first invited to participate.

We all need to continue to support local arts as they struggle to get beyond budget deficits and dwindling corporate support. This year, I will move my own membership to a higher tier as I appreciate & use the museum so often.

Plein Air at Erie County Fair

A plein Air competition on the hottest day of the summer!? I found a shady bench under a tree & worked with pastels to capture the feeling of variety & excitement at the fair.

On the right is the Time Warner Roadrunner-he has the goofiest face, but I may be the only person who spent any time looking at it-there was so much going on all around me. On the back side of my tree was "Mr.Guess", hawking for customers ALL DAY. He was very accurate guessing both weights & ages for $3 a pop. He had to be within two years or two pounds & didn't lose very often. Winners went home with a blow up Mr. Sponge-Bob.

It was a long way from my spot back to the car to mat my picture & then cross the fairgrounds to submit my entry. I returned my painting to the judges at the very last minute-none would be accepted after 4pm - and found a sink to wash up & a traditional lemonade to rehydrate. It wasn't long before the winners were posted & my painting had a big yellow ribbon-third place. What more could I ask for, I spent a hot summer day in the midst of crowds of happy people enjoying 'America's Fair' and also won a prize ribbon and cash for my art.

'Guess your weight, age or birthday', pastel, 12x15 2009

Fundraisers & vegetables

This painting will be presented to Canisius College & Art Dialogue Gallery for their joint gala fund-raiser auction next May. It was painted at the Saturday art event at Karpeles Manuscript Museum in Buffalo. I worked near the open doors to get natural light, but, lo & behold, there were no tomatoes....so this is a very rare example of a painting made from my photograph. I really do prefer plein air and real objects! I tended to look around the side of the photo to 'see more' & get the edges. Good thing it was a great picture to start with.  

This year my tomatoes aren't worth even a photograph-leggy stems, little tomatoes, brown leaves. It's been a weird summer for weather-too much rain & gray in June & July.

Karpeles Museum Tomatoes, oil 11x14 2009

Lewiston's Frontier House

I do like to have a photo of each my artwork owners, & have a lovely collection of photographs of 'satisfied art collectors' with their new paintings.

Jill mentioned Bradley took her picture looking at her new painting on her wall-she sent it to me-so, of course, I had to use it! This is the MOST UNIQUE one in my collection.

And it does look nice, too.

Lewiston's Frontier House, 1824, oil 16x20 2008 photo by California photographer Bradley Smith

Not Just Rain

Lewiston Art Festival is an annual juried fine arts show that has recently featured RAIN each year. This year, it was a monsoon. These pictures are from Erie County, south of our location.

I had a live connection to weather radar & it seemed that the narrowest part of the storm was headed our way. No problem there, Carl said 'It'll rain in 15 minutes' & I said, 'No, probably in five'. At that moment a bucket of water landed on me, my book, chair, etc & we jumped into the tent with our gear. Three walls were already safe & down, the fourth was clipped open. Several strangers-and friends- joined us as torrential rain beat on us, the roof & the tree over our heads. As the wind kicked up, Carl unclipped the fourth wall & we were zipped inside, velcroing all corners & battening hatches. We could hear the storm results in other tents & it did not sound good.

Oops, my internet connection went down, so I had no idea where we were in this storm. All the things on the floor had to be lifted, the table was soaked, prints cards & calendars were wet, and plenty of frames were also sprinkled. Fortunately the towel was large enough to salvage these things.

Nardene Bradt, at the back of the tent mentioned she was glad to be wearing jellies & we all realized that the water was rising, it eventually came halfway into the tent from the curb, Carl's shoes & socks never did dry. Richard Bradt is a lifeguard so we had some security. There was also a a small dog-shaking like a blender-a stroller & assorted others. Dollie, Carolyn & Jason Mallo were with us for awhile & we had a visit from Laurene Buckley as well.

Everything was just peachy until the storm really hit us-I thought it should be over by then-the local power was out, with amazing wind-we all grabbed tent parts- blowing rain, and simultaneous thunder & lightning. It was just scary, until it was mentioned that we were actually under a tree, in a metal frame tent-standing in serious water. Then it was REALLY scary.

Half hour later, it stopped although the thunder continued for an hour. Many artists had a great deal of damage & half of them packed & left. I didn't relish trying to pack the wet tent & decided to let the breeze dry us out a little. 

Then the sun came out-the public returned-& it became a regular festival day, except that it had been downright weird while it was storming.

It's a world wide web

This map is in my sidebar on the right so you can click to see where in the world my blog is read. I have had it here for just a few months & am still waiting for my first red dot from China. Apparently Sarah Palin is a fan, because there's a dot in Alaska, too. 

If you would like to share this blog with your overseas or out of town friends, just send them the link. You can drag & drop it into a note. It is ridiculous how happy I get to collect more countries!

Update for the Art Fest Sat & Sun

Lewiston Art Festival is this weekend-August 8&9- & I am looking forward to seeing a lot more people in the sunshine. My new tent location is near the front of the 'Orange Cat' Coffeeshop, on the corner of Center & 7th Streets. The festival has changed its layout this year, Center street will be closed from 8th to 4th & all the tents will face into the street. There will still be music & food & more! This is the only outdoor weekend show I participate in as my work shows best on walls rather than tents.

My calendars are fresh from the printer & there will be a few new matted prints as well, for hostess gifts & friends. This year, I selected 12 Niagara Falls paintings to celebrate the upcoming anniversary of the Niagara Falls State Park.

I plan to display a new interesting assortment of small original oils in a variety of frames for all decors. These original artworks are spectacular gifts for occasions like weddings & anniversaries & many people are starting to plan for the holidays as well.  Another new display will include a variety of oil & pastel artworks with backing boards or mats if needed that are ready for your own frame. If you are shopping locally, remember, all my work is Made in USA!

Composition With Ice, oil 10x14 2009