something old, something new

Lots of exciting things are happening...I've got some catching up to do! Where do I start?

First of all, I will have three paintings on display at The Cupcakery (97 Lisbon Street, Lewiston) as part of this month's Art Walk Lewiston/Auburn! Please stop by on Friday, August 29th (from 5pm to 8:30pm) and check out all the fun! The streets and shops will be filled with art, music, and smiling faces. If you can't make it, or if you do make it but you can't get a particular piece that you saw out of your head, don't worry: the fine people at L/A Arts have set up a website allowing purchases to be made after the art walk has ended! If you can't remember an artist's name, but you can remember where you saw their work (or vice versa), that's okay, too: you can search either way! Isn't that handy? I haven't been to The Cupcakery yet, but that will change on Friday. I am excited to have my work in a new place! Plus, one of the pieces I submitted is "This Is The Year," which is a birthday cake painting...perfect for a bakery!

Secondly, after taking a bit of a hiatus, the Gorham Art Fair is back, and it has a brand-new name: Artoberfest! October is still several weeks away, but I'm bringing up this show because I managed to register at the last minute! The original deadline was August 1st- which I missed- and instead of kicking myself for not being on top of things, I picked up the phone and called...what a novel concept! Sure enough, the deadline had been extended to August 22nd, so I was able to get in on time and not be a high-maintenance case for the organizers. Whew! Anyway, the location will be the same (Shaw Gymnasium, Gorham), the weekend will be the same (just before Halloween!), and the fun community spirit is sure to be the same as well. Each vendor will be donating some art to a raffle (I'm planning on giving a four-pack of magnets, although I'm not sure which ones yet), with all of the money raised going directly to fund student scholarships enabling them to participate in after-school and summer arts programs. What a great idea! Not only am I looking forward to being in a show with friends who I haven't seen in a while, but I've got my fingers crossed in hopes that the Gorham Grind will be back to keep us fueled with their fabulous coffee!

Another show that's a few weeks away is the 10x10 Brunswick! The drop off was this past Saturday from 9:30 to noon, and although I had finished both of my paintings ("Praying Mantis, Amy's House" and "Sugar Snap Peas") for this show back in July, I arrived at the drop off roughly twenty minutes before closing. I suppose I'll never fully shake the whole waiting-until-the-last-minute habit, but I have gotten a lot better at it, and that's what matters, right? Anyway, the 10x10 is always a fun show, and I recommend you mark your calendars for Friday, September 26th! You won't want to miss it (and you won't want to wait until the last minute, either)!

Waiting patiently...

There are other things brewing right now, but I'll end this blog post with a bit of news that I'm really excited and more than a little nervous about: I've been asked to give a painting workshop at Maine Behavioral Healthcare in Brunswick! The workshop is scheduled for the end of September; it will be roughly an hour or so long, and the group will likely consist of anywhere from five to eight women. I am grateful for this opportunity, and I hope I can give everyone involved (including myself) a fun and pleasurable experience! As always, I will keep you posted...stay tuned! 

more fabulous surprises!

Wow! This month's Second Friday Art Walk was so fantastic! What a great night. There was a brief downpour at the very beginning of the evening, but it stopped as quickly as it started, and the rest of the night was gorgeous. The "pop-up" room at St. Paul's was packed once again with artists, art walkers, and musicians, and the atmosphere was fun and festive. 

My corner!

We actually had two different bands perform for us during the course of the evening, both of whom were involved with The Music Center, located at the Tontine Mall in downtown Brunswick. The first band consisted of students, and the second band featured their instructor. They played songs from The Beatles, The Pixies, Neutral Milk Hotel, David Bowie, Miles Davis, and more...I had a lot of fun grooving and (quietly) singing along! I wasn't the only one having a good time, though: the room was filled with proud parents who were dancing, clapping, and taking pictures. 

I had a lot of friends and friendly faces stop by my booth, which is always great. It was wonderful to chat for a bit with Sarah Brayman and Emily Weir, both of whom are fantastic artists and really cool people, too. I hadn't seen Emily for a while, and she said she wanted to visit because my work always gives her "a charge". What a sweet thing to say! I also got a nice compliment from Mary Becker Weiss, another artist whose work I admire...in reference to my corner of the room at St. Paul's, she said, "You're the only artist I know who can put stained glass to shame." Blake Hendrickson, the man behind my "artist profile" video was there right at 5 o'clock, and with him was Diana von Hallett, who wrote the article in The Coastal Journal about "Curtis Creative Spaces" featuring my work! It felt good to be able to thank Diana in person and shake her hand. I even had a surprise visit from my cousin Frank (who will always be "Little Frankie" to me, even though he is well over 6 feet tall and probably twice my size) and his lovely girlfriend Shannon! They drove all the way down from Camden just to stop by and say hello. Isn't that sweet?

Okay, he's not "little" anymore...

Another surprise was when Michael Gorzka from Curtis Memorial Library stopped by and suggested we shoot a video of me chatting about my work for use on my "Curtis Creative Spaces" page! The band was playing when he arrived (and they were rocking out), so Terry suggested that Mike should come back after their performance was finished around 7:30. The evening was so busy and such a whirlwind that before I knew it, the time had arrived. You can probably tell that I was a little nervous, and the audio can be hard to hear because I keep turning away from the camera (I guess I'm not used to being interviewed!) and there are natural sounds from the room since it was filled with people, but I really like the spontaneous feeling that Mike captured here (even if I am rambling a bit). If you've never been to an art walk and you've always wondered what it would be like, this gives you a good idea: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFdioakfSEs&list=UUzf0K1NEb3KLfxI004ifkkg

By the end of the night, I had sold seventeen magnets (!), and then it was off to El Camino for a little celebration! Next month, I'm slated to be at Cool As A Moose instead of St. Paul's for Second Friday Art Walk, so that should be interesting and different. Stay tuned!

Oh, before I sign off, I should mention that this week's surprises began on Tuesday, when I got a phone call from an out-of-town visitor: he and his partner were leafing through the Second Friday Art Walk brochure over breakfast, and they came across my page. They were only going to be in Brunswick for another hour, but they got a kick out of "Old Fat Boy Sign," so they picked up the phone and left me a message. I happened to be out and about, but in town (I had just finished a work appointment), so I called them back; we set up a meeting, and they bought a magnet! Little did I know that they were setting the tone for a surprise-filled week...

july recap

I know, I know...this post is WAY overdue. It's not that I haven't been thinking about writing it, mind you...but you know how it is. Oh well, enough feeling bad about it...time to start writing!

Well, July's Second Friday Art Walk was, in a word, fan-freaking-tastic! The weather was absolutely gorgeous, which was really nice since the art walks in May and June had both been rather rainy. The turnout was excellent and it seemed like people were really happy to be out and about and enjoying all the wonderful art that Brunswick has to offer. The vibe at St. Paul's was fun and festive. The room was packed full of pop-up artists (the most we've had there so far this season), plus we were treated to the glorious musical stylings of GoldenOak! If you don't know GoldenOak, you should. Do yourself a favor and catch them while you can. Here is a link to their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GoldenOakband

GoldenOak performs! 

Thanks to the lovely and talented Cat Schwenk, I have a brand-new (and very fancy) magnet display! Cat's husband Jim had made this display for her a while back, but she wasn't using it anymore...I am thankful she thought of me instead of just tossing it out! It is made of wood, and it has fold-out legs in the back. The center is metal, and there are two nails on either side, which are perfect spots for displaying small mixed media pieces! 

This makes me feel fancy. 

Not only did I sell five magnets that night, but I also sold "That Heavenly Coffee"! "That Heavenly Coffee" was purchased by none other than Michael Gorzka, the digital librarian at Curtis Memorial Library, and the gentleman behind Curtis Creative Spaces. This makes me happy, because I know "That Heavenly Coffee" has found a very good home where it will be appreciated! Thank you, Michael, for your support! 

Spread your wings and fly.

Speaking of saying "thank you" to the folks at Curtis Memorial Library, I made the paper! I got an email a couple of weeks ago from Diana von Hallett, who said she was writing an article about Curtis Creative Spaces. I answered a few questions, I sent her some images of my work, and never thought to ask her where or when the article would be coming out...until this past Friday night, when I got a very excited tweet from Keith Spiro: "Wow every time I turn around in #midcoast #Maine, it's @ArtByMariaCU artwork everywhere CONGRATS". How cool is that?! Terry and I were both feeling unmotivated to cook dinner that night, and we had already decided to go out to Scarlet Begonias when the tweet came in, so our "we're feeling lazy" dinner ended up being a celebration. When I found out the article was in The Coastal Journal, I knew I could grab a copy right at Scarlet Begonias...so the whole evening felt very "meant-to-be." Click the link and go to page 21 of the July 24th edition! In case you were wondering, dinner was delicious, as always!

Yay!

have you seen this poster?

Did I mention that I have the Second Friday Art Walk poster this month? Here are some shots of it hanging around Brunswick!

In the window of Asian Garden...

...and in the window of Morning Glory Natural Foods

...and on the front door of The Gallery At 11 Pleasant

...and on the side of the freezer at The Gelato Fiasco

...and in the lobby of Flatbread in Portland!

stick around for joy

I know, I know...I haven't blogged in a while! June's Second Friday Art Walk (which landed on Friday the 13th, on a full moon, and with Mercury Retrograde in full swing) was pretty slow. Torrential rains kept most people indoors, so I am extra-grateful for everyone who did show up! My dear friend Heather stopped by St. Paul's to say hello, and she and Terry braved the rain to stroll up to The Gallery At 11 Pleasant. They were just in time to overhear a stranger say something nice about my art (I believe the quote was, "Her work exudes joy!"). I also had a visit from Emily and her little girl, Maya, and that was a major highlight of my evening. Maya is around four years old, and let me tell you, she is a fabulous audience to have looking at and appreciating your artwork! She was jumping up and down with excitement in front of several pieces, pointing at her favorites and images she recognized ("Kitty! Owl! Cake!"). She even gave me an idea for a new tiny painting! Before they left, she gave me an enormous hug, and I was really touched by her genuine enthusiasm: it made the slow night much easier to get through. I did manage to sell a magnet, though, so even though things were fairly dead, crowd-wise, my magnet-selling streak is still alive and well!

Here's my June pop-up display! 

Speaking of magnets, I was able to pay a visit to She Doesn't Like Guthrie's in Lewiston today! I brought along a bigger cookie sheet, which allowed me to add "Kuroda Lights" and "Polar Bear, Bowdoin College" to the rotation. The staff there is always so wonderful, and I am so grateful to have my work in such a cool spot. I treated myself to a delicious iced chai, and left with a Guthrie's bumper sticker proudly displayed on my car! In case you were wondering, here's a picture of my bigger, better, and fully restocked magnet display...better yet, pay Guthrie's a visit and see it in person! 

Sometimes bigger IS better!

exploding with color

Did I mention that I decided to sign up for the June group show at The Gallery At 11 Pleasant? Here's a picture of my wall this month:

Here's my wall! 

Since I had last month's Second Friday Art Walk in the new pop-up location under my belt this time around, it was easier for me to judge how many pieces I'd need to have full displays in both locations...so I packed this wall solid! I wanted to have an assortment of sizes, and I wanted to add in a few mixed media/collage pieces for more variety. I am pleased with how it looks! Janet Glatz has mentioned in a few posts that the gallery is "exploding with color," and I like to think my wall is contributing to that feeling!

a happy hand off

…and the winner of the Curtis Memorial Library raffle for my painting, "Lilac Bud," is none other than Michelle Bustamante! 

The big hand-off! 

Michelle was the person who left this quote in the feedback section of the raffle page: "It was beautifully done by a very talented lady that put her entire heart into it. I would proudly show it off if I owned it........may the forces be with me!!!!!!! xoxoxoxo" Well, the forces were certainly with Michelle that day. Congratulations, Michelle! I'm so happy to know that "Lilac Bud" is going to a very good home!