Friday, May 20, 2011

she had rings on her fingers & bells on her shoes

Scarlet Begonias in Brunswick wants to display my paintings! I met with Doug and Colleen (the owners) yesterday and I am happy to say they really liked my work. I brought a bunch of pieces for them to see and as soon as I started unpacking, they got excited by my use of color. Yesterday was pretty overcast, but my paintings will be hung on walls that usually get tons of natural light (for those of you who haven't been to their new location, Scarlet Begonias has big windows in the front part of the restaurant). I wasn't sure when they might want me to hang my show (I figured maybe later this summer), but Colleen said, "How about June 1st?" When I said, "great," she said, "How about July too?" They want seven pieces for June and then a different seven for July. I am so excited about this opportunity! Scarlet Begonias has good food at reasonable prices and they are a fixture in this town. They participate in Brunswick's Second Friday Art Walk, so I'll be at First Friday in Portland and then Second Friday in Brunswick two months in a row. Good thing I didn't have any other plans!

Friday, May 13, 2011

you say it's your birthday...

I wanted to take a moment to wish a very happy birthday to my friend, Patricia Boissevain. Trish is the founder of the Brunswick Art Collaborative, and she is also the reason why I'm working with mixed media/collage today. It started on a Tuesday evening a couple of years ago. The Brunswick Art Collaborative decided to work on card-making for our project that month. The whole group was really into it, sharing supplies and getting inspired by one another. We laughed, we had fun, and we came up with some really nice work. We enjoyed it so much that we decided the next month's meeting would be another evening of card-making. After surveying the consistently good work the group was turning out, Trish piped up and said, "You know what? I think it's time we took this to the next level. These are not just cards, they're really nice collages and mixed media pieces. Next month, let's mount them on wood and see what we can do with them." The rest, as they say, is history. I have had so much fun working with this new medium, and I don't think I would have ever started exploring it if it hadn't been for Trish's encouragement and the Brunswick Art Collaborative. So, happy birthday, Trish! I hope this coming year is filled with inspiration and creativity. Thank you for inspiring and encouraging me.

Friday, May 6, 2011

(art) walk this way

Well, another First Friday has come and gone! Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by tonight (Jen, Heather, Erica, Rebecca, Linda, Jeremy, Sabrina, and Eric, just to name a few). The evening started out slow but got busier later on. I'm trying to think of ways to get more foot traffic to come in...I have a sandwich board sign outside, I have a sign in the window and signs on the doors, but I feel like people still don't know I'm there (either that, or people are clustered together on one part of Congress Street and just don't venture outside that area). I'm listed on Portland's First Friday Art Walk website (www.firstfridayartwalk.com), but perhaps there are other places I should look into. Anyone out there have any ideas or suggestions? I would greatly appreciate it! Hope to see you next month...same bat time, same bat channel.