A little painting and a little news

“Joy”, or maybe, an “ode to spring” even though it’s based on a photo I took in the fall?

I like to keep my Aquabord™ titles to only one word–don’t ask why, just some arbitrary decision I made years ago–which is how this one came to be titled “Joy”. I finished it over a month ago but it was buried in the bottom of one of my traveling booth boxes–only needed some varnish–and I kept forgetting to pull it out. I’ve done a few of this particular horse, an American Saddlebred, because I really like his expressive movement. Besides that, the Aquabord™ watercolors are such a danged good bargain, only $35 plus shipping. A cute horse at a great price. How often does that happen??

Update on possible exhibit opportunities–

Entered two photographs (imagine that!) for the first time ever in a juried competition. I mainly take photographs to use as references in paintings but the sun, moon, and stars aligned for this particular show so we’ll see what happens. The theme of the show is “flight”. I entered a couple of Sky Pads paintings there before that got one of those nice $30 rejection notices so we’ll see if they like my “mystical” (that’s supposed to be a pun) winter birds any better. (PS: the photos aren’t square–click to see the whole thing)

Crow in Flight

Swans on Ice

On the local scene, the Dowagiac Dogwood Fine Arts Festival has revamped its Art Walk structure, which used to be a display of art pieces in merchants’ windows on the main drag. Now it’s going to be ever so much better for both artists and merchants because the art will be inside the stores, there will be an entire evening devoted to the now retitled “Art Stroll”, with refreshments available and the opportunity to chat with the artists in each store. I will have five watercolors–three florals and two landscapes–in a yarn crafter store. They fit in perfectly, my colors melding with all the other wonderful yarn colors on the shelves and in the cubbies. So anyone coming in gets to see all the incredible types of yarn available (I had no idea!) and they also get to see my art. A win-win.

Finally, I have submitted my two latest Sky Pads paintings once again to the Box Factory in St. Joseph, MI. I got an earlier one of the series in last year, and it was one of the lucky ones that were sold. Will find out if I get some wall space on May 10…or another $30 rejection slip. Such suspense!