I feel as if this past week were a week of breath-catching, art-wise. I did nothing significant. I got no rush from completing a drawing or painting the makes my heart sing, or at least hum a little. Even so I do have some new stuff to show you. Many blog-weeks, you will not get to see everything I might have going on, because I try to stay on topic. But today is another “odds and ends” kind of day, wherein I pull in all those loose off-topic strands .

First and foremost, congrats to all of you who thought my painting “Farmers Market” was worthy–it has been accepted into a small exhibit sponsored by the Women’s Caucus for Art, juried by the gallery owner where the exhibit will be shown. “Dig It” is the name of the exhibit, and locally grown (art or food) is the theme. (I also submitted my Marco Island “Banana Tree” of which I am so fond, but it was rejected!!) Here is the where and when of this exhibit in case you are moved to visit it: Framers Market, 1301 Elm St., Manchester; hours Tues-Fri, 9:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m and Saturday 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Framers Market participates in Manchester’s Trolley Nights, so the artists’ reception for Dig It will coincide with Trolley Night: April 14 (Thursday) from 5 p.m. through 8 p.m.

I also have two plein air pieces (“Totem” from Narragansett, Rhode Island and “Sunburst over Cathedral Ledge,” from North Conway) showing at the Manchester Artists Gallery, right up Elm Street (1528 Elm) from the Framers Gallery. MAA Gallery is also on the Trolley map, as is Art 3, conveniently tucked away behind the MAA Gallery on W. Brook Street. Art 3 is always generous with the wine. At the other end of the Trolley route are East Colony and Hatfield’s, both in the Langer building. In the middle of the Trolley route is the City Hall exhibit and many others. If you haven’t tried a Trolley Night in Manchester, you really should. You will need the whole three hours. The official name for Trolley Night is “Open Doors Manchester”. Unfortunately, my own enjoyment of this Trolley Night will be cut short at six p.m. by that drawing class that I am taking at the Institute.

I mentioned before that I had M. Graham paints shipped to me in Florida and that I had liked them. So much did I like them that last week I wrote to the manufacturer to find out why their paint dries glossy, as if varnished. The oil used to bind the pigment is walnut oil, instead of linseed. I thought perhaps that was the secret. After a couple of emails back and forth, I learned that the M. Graham paints are more free-flowing (which also might have caused me to think my panels were slippery), and thus need less thinning. Solvents, says M. Graham spokesperson, have a dulling effect. I try to use my solvent only to clean brushes anyway, but in Florida I may have stuck to that rule more faithfully than usual. Anyway, at this point I am so enamored of the brand that I don’t want to go back and use up my old paint, which is a considerable amount. I can’t be that profligate, so the only solution is to paint up a storm to use up the old stuff as fast as possible.

Here are two more paintings from Sierra Club calendars, painted while gallery-sitting a month ago:

Amber Waves Trillium Forest

And a still life that got lost:

Carved Eagle with Candlesticks (colored pencil)

“Carved Eagle” is from my drawing class, one of the earliest ones. I contributed the candlesticks for this setup. The same eagle-object was included in a more recent drawing posted here. I have been using colored chalk more than the pencil lately, and we have had a live model to draw instead of the crazy objects. Funny thing, as experienced and, do I dare claim “competent”?, as I am at drawing the nude figure at Saturday Life Group, nothing I have done of the model in this class has pleased me, whether in pencil or chalk. I kept none of my efforts and have no photos of them. Take my word, they were uninspired.

Finally, two of my Marco Island paintings have been “fixed”, starting with the Thai Pavilion’s better background tree and lights on the bamboo and roof supports. You can get an idea of what I mean about the glossy paint in the upper right section. No matter how I tried to keep the glare off Thai Pavilion before photographing it, I still got some shine. You can clearly see how I got the shapes of the bamboo by cutting in with the sky color. That is dry paint.

Thai Pavilion

San Marco-AFTER San Marco–BEFORE

San Marco Catholic Church was the site of the sudden fierce thunderstorm that overtook me at my easel. (Go here for original story.) Beside changing the color of the sky, I corrected perspective and added adornments. It’s better now, don’t you think? (No shine here, possibly because in changing the color of the sky, I switched from M. Graham Ultramarine Blue to someone else’s Cerulean Blue.)

I still have not photographed the ninth painting on Marco–I keep forgetting about it, poor stepchild that it is. Plus I had sworn not to post it until I had fixed its problems, but the problems don’t look so important to me now–I would be willing to show you. My current attitude is, it may not be worth my time working over this painting to make it perfect. Am I getting to the point of my artist’s life when not every painting must be worked over to perfection? What’s up with that?