Mark your Calenders!

Rue de Faubourg Brasserie made it into the Oil Painters of America's Western Regional Show- yehaw! I am shipping it out this week.

I cut and paste the following info about the show so I wouldn't have to paraphrase something that is already short, sweet, and to the point.

"This year’s Western Regional Exhibition will be held at the beautiful Howard/Mandville Gallery in Kirkland, Washington, August 8 through August 30, 2009. Located near Seattle, Kirkland is a small, yet sophisticated town, offering many opportunities to explore the beautiful Pacific Northwest area. Situated on the shores of Lake Washington, Kirkland offers many prospects for enjoying aquatic activities and bird watching, as well as viewing the beautiful panorama of the Olympic Mountains.

Please mark you calendars now for the opening reception, which will be held on Saturday evening, August 8, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The awards reception will take place at approximately 7:00 p.m. A two day preview period will take place on August 6 and 7 for collectors, however, no paintings will be sold during this time.

This year’s Western Regional Juror of Awards will be Master Signature member Jeffrey R. Watts. Mr. Watts is widely regarded for his figurative work and will provide a 3 hour painting demonstration on Saturday morning, August 8. In addition, we have a full day of educational events planned including a “Meet the Expert” Q& A session with OPA president Neil Patterson and a presentation by Scott Gellatly of Gamblin Artists Colors on studio safety, environmental concerns and important tips for traveling with your paints."

Rue DeFaubourg Brasserie

Rue De Faubourg Brasserie
14" x 11"
Oil on canvas

That was fun! I liked this one so much I submitted it on my application for OPA's Western Regional Exhibition.

Big brushes. And Flat brushes... I usually use filberts, but a while back I got some super short handled flats for my plein air set-up. I love them! I love this painting... It feels good. It felt good the second its bones were laid on the canvas.

Bones... that reminds me of an old wives tale-

An old woman wanders eternally throughout a desert collecting the bones of wolves. When she has all the pieces to make an entire carcass, she lays them out in the sand, aligning them in their proper positions with the greatest care.

Then she sings over them.

She sings of the life, death, life cycle, and of joy and sorrow, and of creativity. And as she sings, the carcass at her feet grows ligaments, and organs and muscle and skin and hair and soon the heart begins to pump blood through the veins of the wolf, and it springs up and runs off into the desert night, howling... The wolf's form changes in the moonlight and the howl turns into the light-hearted laughter of a woman.

An empowering tale from Clarrissa Pinkola Estes, PhD's book Women Who Run with the Wolves. A good read!

Back off the bunny trail... I did something else different with the painting process this time. I had two reference photos made of the same scene, one was normal and the other was posterized in Photoshop. In one of his books, Kevin Macpherson said to check out the posterizing option on Photoshop to help you see things in blocks of color rather than as things. Wooo-boy! That really did help! I think I will be doing that for a while until I really get the hang of seeing things that way on my own.

This is exciting. Good learning experience!

I've been chatting with my mom and we are going to take a painting holiday together! Southern France, I think. She is a master of "going with the flow" and said we should just save up, visualize taking this wonderful relaxing holiday, and the perfect vacation will present itself. I agree. (She knows, man!)

I can hardly wait!

Scribbles

Another shipping box sketch. Scribbling on cardboard is fun. There is a sort of freedom in sketching on something that you know will be beaten up by USPS and then thrown away.

I am halfway there with the Metisse boat painting. I'll post a picture tomorrow. I have to wait for real light, otherwise the colors come out all jacked.

I decided to give membership with the Oil Painters of America (OPA) a shot. Membership is juried, but I'm not terribly sure how exclusive they are. I need more exposure for my work, I believe I can get some with OPA. I won't know for sure if my membership application will be accepted or not until around the 23rd of May, but I was told to go ahead and enter the 2009 Western Regional Juried Exhibition. I guess if my membership is denied, they can just chuck my entry into the show. Easy enough.

They get around 2400 applicants for that show and only accept 200. I saw last year's paintings, and they were very good. I'm a little nervous, but not really. This will be the first time I entered any juried show, so it is more of a learning experience than anything. Whatever happens, it will be fun!

The show will be in Kirkland, Washington August 6-30, so I hope to go see it whether my work is accepted or not.

OPA is also having a paint-out (painting outside, not like a shoot out or anything) in November that I hope to attend. It will be on Willow City Loop just outside of Fredericksburg, my hometown.
Oooo! How exciting! Just the thought of painting with a bunch of other oil painters gives me wonderful little chill bumps. Oh the excitement of it!