Thinking of and Thanking ARTsisters

I am an artist.
I am also an ARTsister.
ARTsisters is a small group of local visual artists who meet monthly  Started by Linda Dubin Garfield, a Wynnewood area printmaker, who realized that she could talk about her art better with her fellow artist friend, Leslie deBrockey, who was not her sister, but was more like her ARTsister. Leslie passed away this past summer after fighting a long battle with a weak heart. (I am so very grateful that I got to know her and I miss her terribly. More about that will have to come in another post devoted solely to Les.)
The best thing about ARTsisters is the benefit that we all get by pooling our knowledge. Today, many of us reaped the benefit of gaining some of ARTsister Joye Schwartz' knowledge of social media. She did a workshop at her home for any ARTsister who wanted to make the effort to learn.

I joined ARTsisters back in March of 2006 I think it was. In the next year, I exhibited and sold some fine art, learned many things necessary to be a successful professional artist, found a free starter website, started this blog, and became a part of a wonderful public art event in Chestnut Hill called, AbZOOlutely Chestnut Hill. It was during that time that I painted a five-foot fiberglass llama named "Bahama Llama." After all the animals spent summer in public places in Chestnut hill, they were all auctioned off as part of the fundraising event. Last I checked, Bahama Llama was bought, then donated to the Chestnut hill library, and now hangs out in the Children's area of the library.

Since then, my art has developed quite a bit, and my knowledge of the art business has widened. Now, with several murals under my belt, having had participated in many, many group exhibitions, (also one solo show), I absolutely credit the jumpstart I had to my participation in ARTsisters.

Thank you Joye, for the generous gift of your time today.
And a big thank you to all the other ARTsisters, past and present, for everything you do and did to energize the group. By adding to the energy, we all grow in leaps and bounds.

Rock Crashers Painting ... at Sunset!

At last night's Fine Arts Painting class in King of Prussia my students and I painted a seascape image which I created for the program called "Rock Crashers" although, we changed it up a bit. The original painting has a fairly simple blue sky with some white clouds. I repainted it the other day, a miniature version, just for fun, and I decided to add some sunset type colors to the sky. It made for a more visually interesting picture, although we found out in class that those extra steps made it more difficult for my students to complete the painting in the short two hour class!

I was thinking maybe to do a miniature class sometime... What do you think? If you were a potential student, would you be interested in taking a workshop in which you could complete a tiny painting, like say, 5x7 inches? I realize that for some images, painting small doesn't necessarily mean a shorter painting time, but sometimes that is the case. If there is a lot of detail in the image, it can still be time consuming.

What, if anything, would stop you from registering for such a class?
Please share your opinions below in the comments. Thank you.

Presenting,....Art to You Gallery!

Some of my fellow ARTsisters members and I have been busy cooking up a new, innovative way for art lovers to purchase art for their homes and/or businesses.

Our new venture solves some of the problems of traditional art-buying. You can read about it on our new website. Click the link below to learn more...

http://www.arttoyougallery.com/arttoyougallery/Home.html

The Kickoff Launch Reception/open House: THIS WEDNESDAY, November 17, 6-8 pm. 122 New St, in Old City, Philadelphia, PA
View a sample condo furnished with original, collectible fine art while you enjoy free refreshments!
For more details, click here

And,...
Remember to thank a veteran today.

Back from Camping...

Back from camping. Took some nice photos of the natural landscape there.
Pix are still in my camera... I still have tech problems to solve first.

Preparing for my next Michaels workshop.
Which of these four categories would you like to paint the most if you had the chance?

1- Landscape
2- Floral
3- Seascape
4- Still Life

(Click here for schedule of classes)

Camping recharge Time

Am heading out this weekend to go camping where I hope to get some much needed R and R time with some friends and family and my dear friend Mother Earth. Surrounding my self with trees, grass, bushes, river,... great for recharging the stressed-out soul. Not bad for refueling my artist's muse too. Am bringing my paints with me of course. . . maybe pastels too. I hope to complete something great. (First I typed "good" . . . then I figured, as long as you're hoping, might as well dream big! so the goal became "great")

I'm sure that up there, the awesome Fall colors will be overwith, but I still hope for some great views. Riverbend never disappoints.

                                                                *   *   *   *   *   *

On a different topic: the painting classes I teach at Michaels...
As of last night, there has been a scheduling change. Instead of Thursday evening classes at the King of Prussia store, there will now be classes there on Wednesday evenings. Same time, 6:30 till 8:30pm.

And [for now, anyway] Tuesday is still the night for classes at the Plymouth Meeting/Conshohocken store. You can view the updated schedule by clicking here.

Red, White and Blue Day.

In the previous post I showed a pumpkin painting which features orange and blue tones.
But today, Election Day, is a Red, White and Blue day.
Please vote. It matters.