Wednesday, August 31, 2016

looking back, looking forward

EEK! It's the last day of August already! It's been a busy month, and as a result, I'm overdue for a blog post...so let's get started!

On Tuesday, August 16th, I had my 9th Brushstrokes With Impact (tm) "Paint-a-Thon" ("Rising To The Challenge!") and it was a wonderful experience. I was set up at Roger's Haircutters in Auburn, raising funds for their Dempsey Challenge team: a perfect fit! The staff and patrons at Roger's Haircutters were friendly, welcoming, and helpful, and I was even treated to an in-person visit from Robert, Tammy, and Robert Neilsen Jr.! Friends and family reached out with support via email, phone, and online raffle ticket sales (including - but not limited to- Amy Mullin, Kathleen Powers Vermaelen, Chris Rose, Keith Spiro, and Julia Villacara) and, as always, I am grateful. Together, we were able to raise $145 for the Roger's Haircutters Dempsey Challenge team! Here are some photos from the day:

my event made the paper!


"Flat Pat" photobomb!


me through the window


work in progress...


with Robert from The Intergalactic Yurt Band and The GOODS! 


The winner of "Rising" was Ella Evans, who happens to be my niece (and she is amassing quite a little collection of my work, I must say)! Congratulations, Ella! Thank you once again for giving my work a good home. 

I'm thrilled to announce that my next Brushstrokes with Impact (tm) "Paint-a-Thon" will be on Friday, September 9th at Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick! This will be my 10th event in this series, and I'm calling it "Library Love!"  My work will be on display inside the library's Morrell Meeting Room for most of the month of September, but I will have my easel set up in the front lobby. I'll be painting from 9am-5pm near the entrance, and then I'll be moving my paints and easel (and myself!) over to the Morrell Meeting Room, where I will be having my opening reception from 5pm-8pm. I'm going to need to eat my Wheaties that day! As usual, raffle tickets will be sold online and in person ($5 each or 3 for $10), and this time, 50% of the proceeds from raffle ticket sales (and 10% of all artwork sold, excluding magnets) will go to Curtis Memorial Library. Since this will be a longer-than-usual day for me, the winning raffle ticket will be pulled sometime towards the end of the opening reception. I'll have food, refreshments, and live bluegrass music by The Star Charmers! Woo hoo! 

performing live from 5:30-7:30! 

Speaking of Curtis Memorial Library, I have some more news: this fall, I will be hosting a four-week series called "Playing With Paint"! Here's the write-up:

Maria Castellano-Usery will host four "Playing with Paint" classes at Curtis, Tuesdays this Fall. Paint your version of these four artists' famous masterpieces — with help from Maria! Vincent Van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, Georgia O'Keeffe and Marc Chagall. FMI and to register: http://www.curtislibrary.com/paint/

If you're interested in joining me, the dates/times are as follows:
Tuesday, September 27, 6:30 – 7:30 PM — Vincent Van Gogh
Tuesday, October 4, 6:30 – 7:30 PM — Jackson Pollock
Tuesday, October 11, 6:30 – 7:30 PM — Georgia O’Keeffe
Tuesday, October 18, 6:30 – 7:30 PM — Marc Chagall













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