I should have done this last week, but sometimes things don’t get on a list…. anyway, these shows are still up for a few weeks left, so if you’re in the area, there’s still time to enjoy them.
The 29Palms Art Gallery has the Guild Summer show in the Main and Center Galleries, and in the West Gallery, Tim Warren and Ted Wright in a 2-person show.
The 29 Palms Gallery is open Thursday-Sunday 11-3pm.
I was recently invited to join Alessandro Berni gallery for representation in their online gallery. In the last few days we dotted the is and crossed the ts and this morning I was one of the new artists introduced in their mailing.
I recently submitted a painting to Grey Cube gallery art contest ‘Animals‘. No, I don’t usually paint animals, but I chose the cover, and one of the internal illustrations from my recent book ‘The Alphabet Clan‘ and the cover was accepted!
I love seeing paintings in their ‘Foreverhome’ – brings closure to having sent your children out into the void, to see where they landed. One of my recent sales goes to a collector who now has a brood of five of my little ones, and he graced me with pictures of their new residence. His face really isn’t like that but as he ended up in one of the photos too, I gave him a little more anonymity!
I have a tree painted on the back of my garage with leaves made from pieces of soda cans, stapled loosely so that they rustle delightfully in the breeze. Against the trunk is painted ‘The wind of change may not blow you someplace different but it might shape you into something more beautiful’.
I write this on the cusp between the Covid shutdowns and the George Floyd riots. Many businesses have been shuttered so long they may not survive. Some have been so impacted by the new health restrictions imposed on reopening, they have given up. Now we see others burned or looted out of existence and yet others may be unwilling to continue in some neighborhoods.
I have a friend who has been through several careers. She describes the changes as getting to a point where she needed to reinvent herself. This year it seems many will need to reinvent themselves or make adjustments to how they live or work.
One of the adjustments I’ve been considering is to make some work more easily shippable, so it is less prohibitive to sell online. I decided to experiment a little with refractured acrylics on canvas; lighter weight than panels, but also a different medium for the refractured part. The first experiment (above) was relatively successful.
Another couple items that came out of spending time at home was an update to ‘Busting the Bard’. This is now available in paperback and kindle from Amazon. And the fourth poetry and painting book ‘My Next Breath’ is close to being complete. (Click here for links.) It is available as a paperback but my proofreader and the person writing an intro on the back have yet to have time to do this, so there will be an update hopefully by the end of this week and I’ll create the kindle version then. I’ll order hard copies once art fairs restart or other outlets need restocking, but if you’d like to get a signed copy let me know.
I will have work in two online shows:
Jun 6-Jul 12: 6x6x2020 Online fundraiser for Rochester Contemporary Art Center
Jun 2nd-Aug 30th (approx) The Planet of Joy at Lark Gallery Online. This may develop into a physical gallery show next month and I should be on a Q&A Virtual Art Talk on Zoom soon. I’ll send another email when this is set.
Pretty apropos of the current situation.
#1424 “Without Darkness”. Watercolor collage on foamcore, 7.5×5 in mat to fit 10×8″ frame. $45, free shipping.
Contains the words “Without darkness we would not appreciate the light.”
Here’s April’s monthly newsletter. Despite the fact that all shows and classes are cancelled there’s always something to do around the studio! More spider tomorrow!!!
I wasn’t happy with the shadows, still. Thought they were too dark. I experimented with going over some with a thinned down layer of Kilz2.
It’s subtle but the shadows on the lower part and the left are ligher, and I’m happier with them.
Lightened all the existing shadows and finished the rest. Then my sweetheart tempted me with an offroading bicycle ride, so I decided the Spider itself can wait.
Well, I’m saying spider but I’m actually still on the web. No pun intended.
Today I had company. There were two water main breaks in the area. This was the one I located.
I continued working on the shadow this afternoon. I’d spent the morning prepping other parts of the house for a lick of paint, sanding and putting in filler.
Can you spot the mistake? I had to go white it out with Kilz. Fortunately in the afternoon’s dessicating breeze, I didn’t have to wait long for it to dry.
On two occasions I had an audience as the workers vented the hydrant just outside the corner of my property and created a lake in the street.
The workers wrapped up just when I had finished the shadows for all the spokes, so it seemed like a good time to quit.
Didn’t get a lot of chance to work on it today – other errands had to take precedence. I started work on the shadows. Spent a lot of time color mixing.
Really not happy with this, too dark.
So, back to the mixing pots in the studio. I’m doing the mural using some craft paint that I was given – I’m going to paint something new in a year or two so not worried about longevity. Amazing how difficult getting a lighter shade was.
Kilzed over the too-dark shadows. Still think it’s a little dark. We will see how it looks in sunlight in the morning.
Skyscapes for the Soul - Jeni Bate 