Colored Pencil Magazine & Current Exhibit

I was really excited to be asked to be a contributor in the December issue of Colored Pencil Magazine. The article features my colored pencil boxes and how I created them from Ampersand Claybord boxes and colored pencil drawings. To purchase a copy of the December issue, go to this link.

Here are pictures from my recent exhibit at Angelina's Coffee in Bristol, RI. Above is some of my artwork pictured in the cozy sitting room complete with a record player and albums. Now how often do you see that anymore?

Julio Amaro (pictured) and Larry Lawrence played for the Art Night reception last Thursday night. My friend, Sharon Holmes, who is a fabulous singer sat in with Julio to sing a few songs.

The two photos above show m two candy apple photos next to the door and part of the counter and holiday tree, everything was so festive. Notice the walls are painted aqua blue above the white chair rail and red below, so warm and inviting.

Three Shiny Apples

I have been asked to create a small colored pencil artwork for the CPSA silent auction fundraiser called "Small Works of Great Magnitude". The silent auction is held during the national convention week and exhibition which is in Dallas, TX July 12-16. The silent auction takes place during the Members' Night on Thursday, July 14 and is to benefit CPSA's exhibition costs. All of the works will be featured on the CPSA website by the end of June. This year there will be 36 wonderful works to bid on and I'm happy to say that I will be attending and can view them all.

For my submission, I chose to draw these candy apples. The size is 7x10" which will be matted to 11x14" which is the maximum size for the small works. I've worked on red Canson Mi Teintes paper and used Prismacolor pencils and Lyra Rembrandt pencils. Because the paper is so textured, the red shows through giving the whole piece an overall warmth. The colors I used for the background are Prismas Imperial Violet and Blue Violet Lake, which make the background look so interesting with the red behind it. I burnished the apples with a bristle brush so they would look shiny and and not textured like the rest of the piece. It was fun to draw and took me about 3 or 4 hours to complete.

My Frame Choices and Wellesley Exhibit

Debbi Friedman and I spent a rainy afternoon yesterday hanging our work in the Wellesley, MA library. We've been planning this exhibit for over a year and suddenly its here. Pictured here is the main lobby gallery where Debbi hung her rock series and I've hung my candy apple pieces which are at the far end of the photo. The exhibit really looks great (if I may say so myself) and while we were hanging, so many folks were stopping to look at the work. We received the same response from just about everyone "That's colored pencil????!!!!" Viewers were amazed at what could be done with colored pencil. Our opening reception is on Saturday, March 5 from 2 to 4 p.m. and we are hoping for a good turn out. Everyone is invited!
Here are our featured pieces, Debbi's rocks titled "The Red Angle" (right) and my candy apples "Reflections #2" (bottom left). My two candy apple pieces shown here are both on 3/4" cradled Gessobord and my frame choice is a light wood floater frame. I haven't been framing my cradled Gessobord pieces but I feel the work looks more professional and contemporary in the floater frames which compliment and don't overpower the drawings.
Shown here is my other style of framing (although the photo is not very good). As I mentioned previously, the galleries are asking for colored pencil work that is not under glass so I find that I must get innovative. The board I've worked on for this piece is Rtistx and I've chosen to frame it as one might frame an oil painting. Between the artwork and the frame is a 3/4" linen liner to put some space between the art and the frame and the frame I've chosen is a simple design in warm silver.
Here is another wall of the library gallery with my rocks, shells and glass pieces. All in all, I'm relieved the show is hung and look forward to our opening on Saturday.

An Eventful Week

I was down for the count this past week with the flu, couldn't believe it because I don't think I've ever had the flu before and have never considered getting a flu shot. That might change now because I spent a miserable week of laying around in bed.

The next thing that happened was a little more exciting ... for a moment or two. I was contacted by an art gallery in New York City asking if I would be interested in being represented by them and could they send me their contract to look over. This really excited me, a gallery in NYC looking to represent me? And I didn't even have to hit the pavement with my portfolio! However, when I read over the contract I realized they are looking for the artist to pay $2950 per year for representation. It seems that most of the art exposure is through their website or advertisements, and perhaps for one collective exhibit in the gallery itself. Plus they still take 30% commission on sales. I'm not in a position to spend this kind of money but I'm wondering if anyone else is familiar with this practice or have heard whether an arrangement like this is worthwhile? I would be interested in comments.

Meanwhile, I have started another candy apple piece for my Rock/Candy exhibit with Debbi Friedman. The surface is 3/4" cradled Ampersand Gessobord with Terra Cotta Colourfix Primer, the usual surface I like for my candy apple pieces. I add a little bit of water to the Colourfix before applying it so the surface is a little less textured. I've started by laying on the first layer of color on the apples, mingling the pinks and reds.