let them eat cake

Once again, it's been a while since my last post. January has been a pretty busy month. I am working on three new paintings right now: one is almost finished, one is moving along, and one is in the beginning stages (although I had a really good idea for it last night). I would love to have the first two done in time for the next First Friday Art Walk (which is this week) but I don't know if that's going to happen. I think my chances are pretty good that I'll have the first one ready, but we'll have to see. There is a lot of snow in the upcoming forecast, so maybe I'll be able to spend extra time in the studio as a result.

One of the paintings I'm working on is a "birthday painting". For the past few years, I've tried to do a painting featuring birthday cake around this time. My friend Buck told me she used to do this when she was an art student. I loved the idea, so I took it (with her blessing). Normally I don't look at an actual cake or a picture of a cake when I do one of these paintings, but this year I decided that I needed an edible prop. I baked a cake, cut it up, and took pictures. The cake came out a bit lopsided and the photos weren't quite what I was hoping for. I brought almost half of it to Heather's house and begged her to share it with friends and family since I figured it would never get finished here (I'm not a huge cake fan, although Terry is). Less than a week later, I was visiting my sister and her family, and they surprised me with a birthday cake. It was a week before my actual birthday, so I wasn't expecting it. Another surprise: they sent me home with all the leftovers! At first I protested (more cake in the house), but then I thought, "Aha! A second chance to get some decent cake photos." This cake was not lopsided like the one I baked, so it would make a better prop. I photographed it when I got home and I am now currently using one of those pictures as a springboard for my idea. On my actual birthday, Terry and I went out to El Camino (my favorite restaurant!) with Heather and Matt to celebrate. Dinner was great, the drinks were amazing, and at the end of the evening, the waitress (who was also celebrating her birthday) brought us over a free chocolate dessert with a candle in it...another sweet surprise, and thankfully this time, it was not more cake.

first things first

Friday, January 7th, was my first opening reception at the new Closet Factory office...my first "First Friday" in this space! It was a great night and I was really pleased with the turnout. Many thanks to my dear friend Jen (http://www.interactivetarot.net/) and her mom Mary for staying with me until the end of the evening! Several friends stopped by to hang out and drink a toast (thank you to Erica, Silvia, Rebecca, and my wonderful husband Terry), and a bunch of people I don't know stopped in as well...not bad for a cold night in January in a location that is totally new to the Art Walk. I had a sign in the window that read "art!" so that got people's attention; next time, I hope to have a sandwich board-type of sign out on the sidewalk to attract more people and increase traffic. I am hoping that word-of-mouth will spread as well...I got a lot of very positive feedback from visitors, so perhaps next month, they will tell their friends to stop by. We'll see!

new year, new venue!

Hello and Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2011 is filled with wonderful things for you and everyone you love. I am very happy and excited to share some news with all of you. As some of you know, I am the senior designer for Closet Factory of Maine as my "day job". Well, Closet Factory is in the process of moving their office/showroom from Presumpscot Street to the heart of Portland's Arts District, and my boss has generously offered wall space to me so I can display my work and take part in Portland's First Friday Art Walk each month! Please join me on Friday, January 7th, from 5 pm to 8 pm for my first opening reception at the new Closet Factory office. The new address is 647A Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101; we share an entrance/front foyer with Princess Nails. Start off the new year with some art, food, and wine!