Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Okra The Cat Wishes You A Merry Christmas

I am going to keep this short, at least for now....everyone is busy right now and I am among the many!
I just want to wish all the followers and the people who comment...from My blog, to my website and to Facebook a Very Merry Christmas! I am enjoying the holidays with family and friends...I wish some of my family and friends were closer...but that is life these days...nevertheless....everyone is in my thoughts and prayers and I hope you are enjoying your time with everyone as much as I am.
I will be back after New Years to post again....and continue the ongoing story of struggles, conquests and light bulb moments!
Baking cookies is my current art form...:)
Love and Kind Wishes,
Theresa

ArtCentral....

"The Last Acre" On Hold 24x30 oil New Work

The show at Artcentral was also quite successful...the deadline to hang was November 16, and the show opened on the 20th.In some respects it was right down to the wire...framing materials had not arrived and we were praying daily that the molding I wanted would come in at Cherry's..I also had a painting I was working on that was taking longer than I expected (above). In the end, though, it all came together and the paintings, invitations and framing all arrived on time.
I had been working on putting all the addresses of collectors and artists on a word document...with a mailing label..that really made things easier....after the initial typing in of names and addresses...one click and there they were ready to be pressed onto invitations stamped and dropped in the mail. I highly advise keeping this up to date...don't be like me and have a mass of addresses you have to sort out after a few years of collecting them!
The opening was very well attended and pieces were sold the first night...yeah! Another piece sold the next week....and I received a lot of encouragement from fellow artists attending the show.
April Davis was my co-exhibitor....she was also a student when I was still teaching. Her fabulous ceramic work and lovely paintings helped to make this show a wonderful end to the Artcentral calendar year! Thank you, April!
There was also an auction going on at the same time...to help raise funds for a bronzing of fellow artist Bob Tommey's tiger for the Carthage High School....a painting sold through this venue also.
For those of you who don't live around here or haven't been here to Carthage or Joplin and surrounding area we have several famous artists that live in this area or who were born here...the arts in all forms are alive and well here....and there is always something going on! Below is a brief list of some of the artists and events that are most notable:
Andy Thomas
Joe Beeler
Jerry Ellis
Bob Tommey
Lowell Davis
April Davis
Jeff Legg
Doug Hall
Midwest Gathering Of The Artists
Artcentral
Spiva Center for the Arts
Red Oak II
Cherry's Gallery
The Dancers Studio
Stones Throw Dinner Theater

Coming up...commission with progression.....more sales...more new work....next event.....Christmas..
See you next time,
Theresa



Co-exhibitor April Davis with Dr. Edwards


Andy Thomas talking with Max


Arriving....


Greeting....


Dina Thomas admiring my diptych...


Host and Director of Artcentral, Sally Armstrong


The Party getting started....


Sold


sold


Sold


New work

More........

Scaling Eggs 12x24 oil

As I said earlier....it has been a busy several months. After the MGA and all the thank you cards and house stuff.....it was time to get ready for my next event. A two woman show at the local art center here in Carthage. Myself and artist April Davis were to put on a show for November 20, 2009. Not a problem...except most everything I had painted in 2009 had sold.....so I was again panicky. Yikes ....I need more work...new work! So what does any artist do...back to the easel and start painting.
The still life paintings had been doing so well that I decided to do a few more....or at least try. Max's Dad had an old egg scale hanging around the house that I had taken a real liking to. It had a pleasing abstract form.....there were some fallen leaves out side the back door, rich in color, deep crimsons and warm ochers! I had visualized the setup for some time. But alas life intervenes, again....it is all good and enjoyable...I just needed to organize my time!
We had some visitors here for part of October....this was a fantastic surprise. Old friends from when I lived in Hawaii were here in the mainland and we got in touch through one of my children and planned a visit. Doug and Luana drove here and spent two weeks...we had a wonderful time!! A little Hobby Lobby shopping (material for the still life, a tube or two of paint and a frame on sale that was pretty nice) checking out some furniture and several trips eating out! Some drinks and hors d' oeuvres at our house and there travel trailer. Lots of catching up....lots of fun and good conversation. In between I worked on paintings to a small degree...and planned Max's and my costume for an upcoming Halloween Party! Medusa and Slingblade.
Everything worked out even though I got a little anxious about deadlines. I managed to complete three new paintings and cut another large one into a diptych, plus a few framed prints for the upstairs gallery at Artcentral. It was all going to be okay...thank goodness!
Here are a few pics from the good times and a few new paintings.
I will continue my update and pictures tomorrow,
Deck the halls with boughs of holly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Tis the season to be jolly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Theresa...:)


Midnight On Clinton Street 8x10 Oil






De La Mer 18x18 Sold oil






Me( Medusa) and Max (Slingblade) and a friend ( The Cisco Kid)...Halloween 2009




Me, Max, Jim and Linda (our host)

The Rest of The Story......

After The Hunt 24x30 oil Sold

As I promised yesterday...the surprising outcome of the painting "After The Hunt"....and another learning experience!!
As I worked on this painting I had many doubts...that happens often...but the fact is I try not to let them aggravate me. I have been showing at the MGA for about 5 years....I always sell and I always have a great time visiting with all the artists...some I have known for quite a few years....some I only see at the show once a year. It is always great to get together and see the new work everyone has and as always just visit and talk art. I won an award there once and was really honored...it was my first year participating in that event. It was a real treat....but I honestly never thought I would get another one. There are several extremely good artists there and...well...I just thought I was out of the running. Mind you...I am like anyone else....I wanted to win...and sometimes I thought I should have received something.....but the facts are facts...I just wasn't good enough. Well, I anticipated another no win year....sells maybe...yes...maybe?? Win, no..!
Surprise, surprise! As I watched and listened for my name to be called...it was not to be...several other fabulous artists were taking the awards....you know we are the same...everyone wants some recognition for their hard work...teehee...go ahead admit it....It's pretty natural! Well, my name did get called...the first award was for $500. Fantastic....I could sit down and relax and enjoy everyone else win. No sooner had I got back to my seat...then...my name was called again! This time for another $1o00 award...wow...my head was beginning to spin and I was feeling a little light headed! I turned to walk back to me seat and not gotten more than halfway and, yes, I heard my name again...was I hearing things???....no, I had won a $1000 award! Yikes, it can't be....OMG... How? what? who???. Reeling from the stunning news I had actually no idea at the time how much any of these awards were for....there had been no time to count or even open the envelopes....and...then....Yes, my name was called yet again! As I turned and walked back to receive the final award (4 total)....I remember saying jokingly and out of some embarrassment "Honestly, I haven't paid off any of the judges to get these awards!" On the way back to my seat I really felt like I was on air...numerous friends, artists and guests rushed to congratulate me! I was, well frankly, elated and honored and proud that I had worked so hard on that painting! As I got back to my seat...Max and a friend of mine and former student April Davis, asked me ..."So how much did you win...open the envelopes add it up!!" I did...hands shaking...the total was a grand $4500 in winnings alone. Lesson learned...you just never know...it's always a roll of the dice and always...always...do the best you can do! No one will ever know how honored I was!
The list of awards is below:
2009
Midwest Gathering of the The Artists
The Arvest Bank Award $500

Midwest Gathering of the The Artists
The Ruth I. Kolpin Award $1000

Midwest Gathering of the The Artists
The Helen S. Boylan Award $1000

Midwest Gathering of the The Artists
The Wendy Award $2000
The prize money was spent well, I think...art supplies, framing bill, scanning bill, new computer, new camera, a big screen TV for Max with Tivo and Netflix instant viewing and some other odds and ends. We had a lot of fun shopping for the TV which I had promised Max for football season if I sold well at the show. The grand total for that weekend between prizes and sales was $7,000....I still find it hard to believe and I am extremely thankful!
If that wasn't all...it wasn't but a few days after that I was told my piece for the Richard Schmid Auction had been greatly admired by artists and patrons alike and bid up way past the gallery price. So I received another nice little check...I then received an order for some prints.
September was an extremely profitable month as well as busy! It took quite a bit of time to get everything installed and hooked up...we also had the electrician out one more time.
A little update on HCG for those who remember...I have lost a total of 35 pounds...I have ten left to go...which I will do after the Holidays! That will bring me to my goal of 135 pounds...which is what I weighed in High School. Oh...I used some of the winnings to buy just a few knew clothes...after all I am a girl and I love nice things!
More later,
Theresa

The Blog That Almost Wasn't.....

After The Hunt Sold 24x30

I haven't fallen off the face of the planet although it may seem like it....but I did fall into Facebook and almost didn't escape. There is a lot to be said about the instant connections and updates...but it does lack a lot of the personal appeal of blogging. So here I am...back 6 months later and as usual the past months have been extremely busy and rewarding....I guess I don't know any other way to live...the busy part!
If I go back to August...that was when I was doing a lot of canning and also getting ready for the Midwest Gathering of Artists. I did up a lot of tomatoes and peppers...dried onions and herbs. Froze spinach but mostly ate it fresh. Lots of lettuce which finally bolted and not a single raspberry...the birds got them! We still did fairly well though for the most part. The trees have been trimmed so there will ne more light next year and I would like to expand the garden some.
Now on to the painting part. I took on a project that my friend and gallery owner, Cherry, prompted me to do. I was in her shop and saw some pheasants on a wreath and mentioned I would like to paint them. She wholeheartedly allowed me to use them and we ran over different items to put with it. I finally decided on some copper and onions and a piece of oriental carpet behind the hanging pheasants. Then threw in a piece of pottery and some cobalt glass and commenced to paint! Well, it was a real learning experience....how do you balance all the textures...how do you simplify the feathers....how do you get the feeling of the different textures.....what color are the shadows and how much of them.....and on and on. About 4 weeks later I had my painting...but not without much wailing and gnashing of teeth!! The end result was satisfactory....the best I could possibly do at the time....but that's the way it always is. A continual learning process....each brush mark...each value...the temperature and all the adjustments that go into painting no matter what style you have.
The final panting is at the top..... there is also a photo of the setup but of course it was painted from life...as always.
Thank you everyone who inquired to where I was at...I really appreciate the care and concern...:)
Tomorrow I will tell you about the amazing out come of this painting!
Theresa