Sunday, October 31, 2010

Back from New Orleans and Catching Up!!

I had so much fun in New Orleans. I a week after the Art Crawl. I sold all of my smaller New Orleans color sketch paintings, so I had to work like crazy to get some more ready to take to the Rougarou Bayou Trading Post and Art Gallery. My friend Jeannine went with me. We got to the the gallery on time Sunday afternoon and I painted live in the window for a couple of hours. (what was I thinking? I was so tired from getting up early and the 4.5 hour drive!!)



Me with Kerrie Jones at the art gallery. Kerrie and I have been friends for over six years.







Various art in the gallery.

I am offering the Mardi Gras Doxie for the first time in framed prints at the art gallery. Mardi Gras Doxie comes in 5x7 and 4x6. The Rougarou Gallery is located on the 2nd floor of the Riverwalk Mall on Poydras in New Orleans. The gallery is full of unique art, folk art, photography and prints.



I took my newest four foot painting of Pirate's Alley to my collectors apartment on Royal. It's so far one of my favorite paintings. We hung it in the bedroom.



Head on view of the four foot painting.



One of my hometown friends contacted me about a week before my trip to tell me that one if his college buddies was an artist in the French Quarter. Turns out his studio was one block from where we stayed, so we arranged a short meeting. And our small world got even smaller when Jeannine realized she went to the same college and knew this man's brother. Here we are with Robert Guthrie. You can see his awesome watercolor paintings in the background.




We did the usually walking through the quarter, eating creole food, beignets and stopping by Pat O'Brien's for photos by the fountain. My new favorite place to eat is The Marigny Brasserie on Frenchmen Street. If you go there, be sure to get the crawfish quesadilla!





Glad to be back. I have a list of commissions to finish (hurry if you want something before Christmas) and some exciting news that I hope to announce before the end of the year. Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to visit my Facebook Fan Page and hit the "Like" button! You can contact me thru that page to inqure about commissions. Be sure to leave a message here or on my fan page so I'll know you stopped by!

Monday, October 11, 2010

October Art Crawl - It was so much fun!

I had so much fun at the October Art Crawl in Downtown Monroe. If you are in the area, be sure to come out for the one right after Thanksgiving. I saw so many familiar faces and the response to my new color sketches was WONDERFUL! They all sold, as well as a few other pieces. It was my first time to ever show more than a few pieces at one time and, I have to say, I had some doubts up until the first sale, which was right after the crawl started.

I'll be heading to New Orleans this weekend and will be painting live at the Rougarou Bayou Trading Post AKA Rougarou Art Gallery on Sunday, October 17 around 1p. If you are out that way, stop by and say hello.

This week I'll be working on more New Orleans color sketches to take to the gallery and I'll be listing some new things in my Etsy store soon.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll leave you with a few photos and pics of art work from the show.















And I couldn't have this art show without including the famous Mardi Gras Dachshund! She sold early into the evening. I think she'll have to make it to the next show. :)

Monday, October 4, 2010

Downtown Monroe Art Crawl this week!!

It's finally here - the art crawl in Downtown Monroe is this Thursday - in THREE DAYS!! I'm so excited. I have 23 new paintings that have not been shown online or in public - until now!! I'm going to show a few peeks of the art I will have at the Art Crawl. If you are local, come on out! I'd love to meet you if I don't already know you!

I hung the paintings at Mystic Art Gallery this weekend. Here are a couple of pics of the paintings on the wall.

This is my sign. I couldn't resist the urge to make it like a French Quarter street sign. (grin)



Next, another shot of the sign and hey...what is that? A peek of a new painting? How did that get in there?



One more pics of the art wall and some painting peeks.





The first painting I want to share is the third in my "Alice" series. This is "Alice Paints the Roses", mixed media collage, size 12" x 12". I will have a fourth Alice painting at the Art Crawl. One of my favorite series.





Next is another mixed media collage called "Angels of the French Quarter". It's 8x8 on 1.5" deep gallery wrapped stretched canvas, with gold leafing. I have another one called "Angels of the Super Dome" that I'll share later.



This one is a twist on Van Gogh's Cafe Terrace at Night. I call it "French Quarter Cafe Terrace at Night" (real original, huh?). My first rendition of this was done around 2004-2005 and it's one of my favorite New Orleans scenes.



This is something different for me this year; I call them "Sketches". Splashes of color on the background with black detailed images, similar to pen and ink - but with acrylic paint. Most of these have gallery style wood moulding around them. Stay tuned for more of the New Orleans street scene sketches.



Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget -the Art Crawl is Thursday, October 7, 2010 in Downtown Monroe. My paintings will be at Mystic Art Gallery, 137 Art Alley, Monroe. Hope you can make it!