Aqueous Open

This past weekend I was back in western PA and to the opening reception of the 63 rd Aqueous in Pittsburgh. This is an exhibit I recall my watercolor proff ( Robert Hild ) talking about when I was in college. ( Must have been a new one back then !)

The juror was Frank Graff, AWS,NWS,TWSA. From 221 entries from 26 states and Canada he had the task of choosing 60 pieces for the show and 12 award winners. I was honestly astounded when someone called last week to say that Indian Corn #8 was to receive an award ( They wouldn't say which or what kind of ). Turns out it was

the "Winsor Newton Award". The English

company is known for it's profesional grade
art supplies and the prize was a great travel set of watercolor paints.

The show is up through the 28th of November so if you find yourself in the Pittsburgh,PA area, stop in at the BE galleries on Buter Street.

Norman, New England and the Darling Clarice

....Or "What I did on my Summer vacation".

Yes, I realize it is the end of October but we are now in the stage of life where vacations are not dictated by the public school calendar. So, last week we headed up to Connecticut and Massachusetts to retrace steps in one of our former neighborhoods and to check out the Fall leaves. Yes, MD has colored leaves in the Fall, but the grass is always greener or the leaves always colorfuller...yadda, yadda.

We passed through Litchfield, CT and stopped to visit a college friend, meet her family and talk to the animals. Clarice is a beautiful llama, one of two, and queen of the farm. ( I won't mention what Louise's husband calls her. Not flattering but funny. ) Shy of hands, she welcomes you with warm fuzzy kisses. Love is a warm fuzzy llama kiss.

We continued on, (in the snow ) to Stockbridge, MA our base for the week. One of our day trip destinations was the Norman Rockwell Museum, just outside of town. Now, Norman gets a bad rap for being a self professed illustrator and too American quaint, but I like his work. Call me sappy but I do. And it was a thrill to see one of his studios that had been moved to the museum location. With the use of older photos the staff had arranged the studio as it was when he used it, including the order of the placement of the books on the shelves. One photo reveled a napping Rockwell curled up on the green sofa perhaps recharging after a morning of painting. Another reason to like him, justifiable naps !

I of course sent the link to this blog to my friend and her response follows. I thought others would enjoy it ! One obviously needs a sense of humor with a llama.

.... the pic is lovely, and the words capture the essence of llama. One loves the llama for just being a llama.... nothing more. How simple life is when you break it down that far! Dogs demand (sun connures, I guess, take demand to a whole new level....) kids expect,
and so it goes. The llama just enjoys life for the moment, spits when the need arises to resolve conflicts and arguements, then goes back to relazing and enjoying life. They do pause for "tea" daily at 3, retreating to their shed for an hour of quiet(er) reflection, then back out by 4:30 to await dinner service. Queen though she is, Clair is a benevolent dictator. And yes,the only thing better than a soft llama kiss is one followed by the sweet scent of grassy-burp right in your face.

Friends

Yesterday was a day for friends. An old one : The Little White Girl (Whistler)

A new one: Vickie Branas (above right) and getting to know better

one whom I've come to know through the world of water color ( Debi Watson) . The three of us spent an enjoyable day at the National Gallery in DC. The crowds were gone, the weather was miserable and it was a perfect day to spend inside surrounded by art. These little trips always get the juices going, to keep painting and renews my interests. It is especially nice to have friends along to share the expeience.

Saturday Morning at Steven's Studio

I just returned from a delightful morning at Steven Dobbins studio in Mt. Airy, MD. He opened his studio for anyone that wanted to drop in and see what was going on. He is in the final preparations for an upcoming show in NYC at the Cuasey Contemporary Gallery , Brooklyn. Steven is a fellow member of TAG (The Artist's Gallery ) in Frederick, MD where he last year had a "trial run" of this show. Hey, if it plays well in Frederick take it to New York ! Upon entering the studio one comes face to face with more than a few paint cans that he has emptied,dried, treated, some repainted the insides, cut or bent, drilled, wired and anything else that the muse tells him to do. He is planning to stack the cans in a couple free standing pieces and another piece will cover a large section of wall space as it did at TAG. New to the mix is at least two pieces consisting of the can lids wired together as almost a fabric to be draped or hung. While I was there a couple other colleagues showed up and it was a great time discussing art and materials, shows, studios, etc. Times like this are inspirational. Whenever I'm with this group I feel like a "real" artist and I want to run home and make stuff. Thanks Steven !

Back to the 'Burgh

We were back to Pittsburgh,PA a couple weekends ago to my husbands 40th high school reunion. Actually Hopewell,PA but it's close enough to the 'Burgh. My friends know me to like to "knock" this part of the country and I figure it's OK because I come from around there myself. But it does have a lot going for it, too. Besides the obvious championship teams, there was a lot of history happened here during the settling of our nation. An important crossroads ( or rivers ) for commerce and departure for people heading west during the 17/1800s to the high tech industry which continues today, as well as notable schools of higher education and top notch medical centers. Not to mention the G 20 meeting held there last week. Pittsburgh knows how to make a great "first impression". First time visitors traveling from the airport to down town are greeted instantly to one of the most beautiful city skylines as they come through the Mt Washington "tube". The view jumps right atchya. The trip was topped off by bringing Milos mom back with us for a visit to the DC area. We took her to see the Space Shuttle near Dulles and in to the District to the American Indian Museum. She also got to spend some time with Henry ( Nicks Sun Conure ) but only through the bars. Henry has issues . Described as a two year old with a can opener on his face, he has trouble making new friends.

Corn, corn, corn

My "rural upbringing" is showing again. One of my favorite activities as a girl on my grandparents farm ( besides jumping off the roof of the grain room into the broken bales of hay ) was to run through the rows of corn, slapping the leaves. I don't know what it is about corn but it does seem to grab my attention in any form. Some day I plan to revisit the Indian corn series, but for now I have to do some paintings of the lush fields of corn that are every where here. It was a wonderful spring with the rainfall making up for the drought of the past summers and the farmers are reaping the rewards. I had to stop along the road and take photos of the sun and shadows patterns on the broad leaves and the abstraction of the way the leave overlap and lead in varying directions. This is the first one in what I hope will be series as successful as the Indian corn. I also made an effort to see what greens I could mix. There are a bizillion greens in the world and something special about the greens of a corn leaf. Is it me or as artists are we all dealing with a challenge to mix green ? Or are we confined to what the manufactures are able to make for us? I am determined to find my green without blue dominating the painting. It did creep in here but hey, it's a start.

My sincere apologies to all that posted comments on the past two posts ! It was only when I went to compose this post that I noticed I had comments to monitor. Pryor comments always came to me via email and I'm not sure what happened this time. I just thought everyone was away on vacation and not checking in on me. Thanks again to all !

Becca and Jared Are Married

This past Saturday our niece Rebecca and Jared were married on the beautiful grounds of Hartwood mansion near Pittsburgh, PA. Of course everything was out of this world gorgeous; the bride, the groom, the setting, the day. Well, it was beastly hot but that's just one more memory for the book.

I snapped more than a few photos and a good many will be put in the "to paint " pile which grows higher each day. Hope you see one or two of these sometime soon.