Anthological

Whew.  Since I signed up for the March 2009 featured 2d artist slot at the Art Market Gallery, I have had a low-level anxiety fever running in the back of my mind.

“will I finish enough pieces in time?”

“will the paintings show well together, in a cohesive fashion that really says what I’m trying to say?”

“will they like me, really really like me?”

Thankfully, the show is now hanging and looks good.  Mucho props to my lovely lady who patiently helped me get everything set up. She wrote down my inventory tags on teeny bits of sticker paper, helped me hold up and position works to determine where the nails had to go, and pulled me away before I ended up moving all the paintings into configuration #492 in the pursuit of perfection.  All this with a rumbling tummy and only a few complaints about how she would have to eat an arm soon or die.   What did she get out of all this?  A hubby who could finally relax, and steaming McDonald’s fries, now with less Hubby Guilt(tm).

If anyone wants to see a great gallery opening (many terrific artists’ work is up, lots of it new), and chat with many of the artists themselves, come on down to the gallery this Friday, March 6th.  The show runs from 5-9, but people often linger till later and downtown is HOPPING on First Fridays.  Come check it out!~

So recently I rounded a corner and saw a hill coming towards me.  As my wife would say, I’m now ON THE HILL.

Pattie did a super awesome job of making my birthday this year extra special so she gets a special shout out!  WOOP WOOP!

Wednesday we went out for dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, which is a one-time-a-year-if-that luxury, and the food (and company) was superb. Afterwards we cuddled up on the couch and watched Wall-e (one of my gifts) while the 4-legged critters tried to vie for our attention.  The next day I took the day off as PTO and worked on wrapping up some paintings for my featured artist show at the Art Market Gallery in downtown Knoxville, on March 6th.

Saturday brought the party Pattie organized for me, and it went off very well.  Tons of great stuff to eat and drink (props to Papa Santi for his legendary Shrimp Scampi and to Pattie for her Mandarin Orange cake!), my family and friends gathered together and enjoying one another’s company… Awesome.  Billed as a gamer party, we had the Xbox 360 running Guitar Hero most of the evening, and introduced several folks to the game for the first time.  I’ll never forget watching my mother and Pattie’s mother facing off with determined (if slightly bewildered) looks and slugging it out over Heart’s Barracuda.  Lupe won with a 1-note streak.   (is 1 note really a streak?).   We also had the Wii running and much laughter was heard from downstairs.  Apparently Liz Needham smoked my dad at bowling.  Not cool, Liz! He’s still down in the dumps about that, his dreams shattered….     Kevin and Rhonda Bender were kind enough to bring a metric ton of board games over, and though we only got to play one (Pandemic) it was a good one and we almost won.  (Kevin forgot to mention one rule that ended up having the world overtaken by virii).

So a jumbo-sized thank you for all that came and made my birthday celebration a great one: Pattie, Lupe and Santiago Sanchez, Doug and Carol Lee, Ken & Vanessa & Elliott Pood, Michael and Samantha Wooden, Kirsten and Chris Sewell, Tamara Davis, Brent Mathis, Craig Hamilton and his friend Ashley, Kevin and Rhonda Bender, Liz Needham, and.. man I hope I’m not so old I forgot someone!  I reserve the right to add more names if my grey matter produces them.

One perk of the party: leftover veggies! I have lots of carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce to feast on as i strive to eat clean and to set nutritional goals.

Several drawbacks: leftover mandarin orange cake.  leftover lemon bars. leftover marble pistachio cake. leftover cheesecake variety platters. leftover chocolate cheesecake. leftover chips, crackers, cheeseball. leftover 7 layer dip.   SO MANY TEMPTATIONS!

I’m going to be the Featured Artist for the March show at my coop Gallery, Art Market Gallery. In preparation I’ve been trying to finish up several paintings and get a number of others ready for the show. This means varnishing, adding hooks and wire to hang them, deciding which ones should go into the featured section and which into the normal section… (each artist in the coop shows 3-4 a month, but the featured has to fill a whole wall in addition to the normal amount.) Needless to say I’m excited at the opportunity, but somewhat stymied by which pieces to show, how many to show, etc. Hopefully I will even sell something!

In other news, I probably have 3 more loads of pine debris to remove from the front and side of the lawn, and then a tractor trailer’s worth of debris to chip and distribute in the wooded sections of the lawn. Then, and only then, will we be able to rid ourselves of the white trash lawn title. Yay!

I know, I know. I am awful, truly horrible at blogging. Really, at doing anything regularly except hobby hopping and nagging my wife.

That said, let’s move on! Recently I went to the orchestra with my wife. It was really neat. I’m always amazed that the group of people up on stage with instruments makes THAT sound, those shivery audio bites dancing out over the theatre (yes, it makes me wish i played the violin for a good 2 hours after the concert is over)… We got in free because Pattie is a much better blogger than I and is part of a group of East Tennessee bloggers that were invited to attend and then blog about it!

I will try to update more often, but you know me. I’m just as likely to take up skydiving or decide I am going to be a professional tap dancer.

Lazy Artists links to remote gallery, click here to read all about it

Jaded Mirth

This was really a fun painting for me, and I feel like I’m starting to glimpse how to mix colors, glaze, and layer properly. Let me know how you think it turned out!

final

prior to finishing

oops, misdrew the mouth!