Weekend Update

Vivid Hillside, 2006, Oil on Panel, 6x6










The trip to Concord, NH last Thursday was nice but fairly uneventful. It is a five hour drive and I was a bit concerned because the mapquest directions had about 743 maneuvers, so I was sure that I would get lost or perhaps get into an accident while trying to figure out where to turn next. But the drive went very smoothly. I did however see way too many houses decorated for Christmas. Can I at least finish up the Halloween candy and enjoy Thanksgiving before I have to start stressing about all of that Christmas crap?! The other thing I found out was that my night vision isn't as bad as I had thought. It's just that I need some light to drive by, Heh. I was worried about driving around an unfamiliar city at night but it turns out that other places actually have street lights! Where we live it is pitch black at night, so naturally I was starting to feel as if I couldn't see too well.

The opening was interesting. It was an open house/grand opening for the building that had been renovated and the public was invited. I arrived a bit late so I missed the speeches and ribbon cutting ceremonies, but I had a chance to speak with Trish from Anderson-Soule Gallery, who I don't see too often. I was also able to spend a few minutes talking to one of the other artists, Richard Gombar. I was intrigued by his work and I especially liked this painting of his:















The art, despite being hung in a hallway (not usually my favorite venue, I must admit) looked really nice and I am quite pleased that there will be original art continuously displayed in the lobby area as well as in an attached board room. I would have liked to have seen spotlights on the work, however the ceiling lighting (I suspect the bulbs were daylight type bulbs) did a pretty good job and perhaps more lighting will be installed at a later date. One thing that I did notice was that my paintings were actually pretty nice! I was in such a rush and so burned out when I painted them, that I could hardly remember what they looked like. So it was nice to have a chance to look at them again more closely and see that I really did do a good job with the colors, the texture and the edges. I don't specifically recall doing all of that!

I enjoyed a quiet evening in my hotel room watching tv (uninterrupted!) and having room service, which was maybe the worst meal ever. But someone else prepared it and someone else cleaned up after, so I am not complaining. As I was getting ready to leave the next morning, I was looking through the local paper that had been left outside my door. On the front page of the local section were several photographs of the renovated building and some of the activities there and the photograph of one of my paintings jumped right out at me! My name was included and the color photo looked pretty good so that was a nice ending to my time in Concord.

I took my time getting home, stopping at several places and buying Vermont syrup and cheese and that sort of thing. And when I was near home I stopped at two places that have rows of run down cabins. There was beautiful late afternoon sunlight on them and I took tons of photographs that I will use as reference for some new work. I drive past those cabins all of the time and have always been infatuated with them, but this was the first time that I had the time and energy to stop, not to mention the perfect light and I am excited about getting to work on these images.














However, my eventful weekend was just beginning! As soon as I got home Doug and I went into town to pickup the kids at the gym and then went off to an opening at the local arts org, where I had a few pieces displayed. As I have said before, I don't sell too much of my work locally anymore, but it is always fun to go to these openings and spend some time chatting and socializing with our friends. So we had a good time.

Saturday morning I had to get up at 6am in order to drive an hour and a half to take my daughter to her first swim meet, which turned out to be pretty much an all day affair. She had three races and although I had taken my knitting along, I ended up chatting with the some of the other mothers and walking back and forth between the pool and the cafeteria where everyone was waiting until it was time for their races.

By the time I got home I was SO sick of driving, but I did want to go to an opening in Saratoga Springs (two hours away) if Doug was going to drive us of course. And I thought it would be pretty cool to go to three opening receptions in one weekend. But alas, our sitter had to leave and we couldn't go. So instead I sat down to knit, which I seldom have time for anymore, and promptly fell asleep with two cats on my lap. Heaven!



PS, The opening reception we had hoped to go to, but missed on Saturday night was the opening for Significantly Small #2, a small works show at Gallery 100 in Saratoga Springs. I have 2-4 pieces in the show so if anybody is in the area, go and check it out. Last year's show was excellent and I am sure this year's is as well.