Tracy Helgeson Art

Clear&Opaque, 10"x8" Oil on Panel, 2012

In a true partnership of my current interests, I am currently spending my days painting in the studio AND tending to goats, chickens, kids and an expanded garden. The chores MUST be done each day but we also still need my income from painting, despite the fact that making art as a day job sounds completely ridiculous. And yes, the irony of voluntarily choosing two of the lowest paying professions has not escaped me either. heh.

Anyway, the farm thing is on track, well as much as something so unpredictable can be. And I am pleased to report that the art part is also picking up and while I hate to be TOO optimistic (at least not out loud and in print:)) I do have a feeling that there might be some shifts in the art world air. I had a very successful show at The Harrison Gallery in March marked by great feedback from the director and also by the fact that I didn't have to go back and pick up any unsold work, a good sign. They kept the few pieces left for their inventory and just shipped back a few of the smaller pieces that received NO interest. Always good to have some grounding, eh???

Last week I drove down to Piermont, NY to deliver about 15 pieces to a gallery/shop that has been interested in my work. This came about via a friend, which we all know is always the nicest and least stressful way for new galleries to come along! Piermont is a beautiful little town that is very close to NYC, in fact it is far, FAR closer to the city than I would normally prefer to drive myself, but I was trying to be a grown up about it all. The drive was actually without incident, although it was a bit crazy on the thruway just as I was getting to my exit. And even though the drive back was totally fine I did manage to give myself a really incredible tension headache and by the time I got home I thought my head was going to split open, took me a bit to recover from that. Turns out I might be too old and/or too delicate to drive 7-8 hours in one day.....

ANYWAY. The Outside In Piermont is wonderful. It is actually more of a shop than a straight up gallery, although they show some wonderful art and I am pleased to be included. I have to say that my work looked great in their environment! Their emphasis is on natural, handmade objects, garden art, etc. I also really appreciated the enthusiasm that the owners expressed about my paintings, my palette and especially about the still life/bottle themed paintings I have been working on lately. They really liked the two that I brought them (see above).

And while I don't have any more solo shows scheduled for the rest of this year, I do have several group shows coming up, in addition to quite a few events that will feature The Painter's Farm products, many of which feature small format paintings. I will be updating things soon, in between studio time and shoveling dirt......