Art for Haiti

The reception at Garrett College to honor the Art for Haiti exhibit was outstanding.   The people came and they purchased art.   At the end of the day over $4500 was raised to benefit the people of Haiti.  Lorie and Ron Skidmore did a wonderful job of displaying the art.   The terrific food was donated by the Wil 'O Wisp. It was a really lovely afternoon spent with good people and great art.

Don Sincell and Ron Skidmore has a lengthy discussion.

  Jerry Mc Gee played his Fireside Bagpipes (next to the fireplace),much to everyone's enjoyment.  







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Contrasts

               

Sometimes life offers us huge contrasts. 

 We have been in the Turks and Caicos Islands since the 1st of February.  It was a wonderful trip with sunny days, blue skies, temperatures in the 80's.  The water is a brilliant turquoise color. It was 12 days

. of lounging on the beach with good books, great friends with lots of laughs and good times.

Then we came home to Garrett County Maryland.

We live in the mountains of Maryland and are used to snow and cold. Apparently there has been an excess of both in the past 2 weeks.  Our housesitter (henceforth known as The Prince) reported that we had 73 inches of snow while we were gone.  We were thrilled to find our driveway plowed, paths shoveled into the house and my studio. . . total accessability.  The Prince of Bittinger is my hero.   (If you need real estate assistance, call Brad Nesline at Long and Foster  . . . my hero)

From 85 degrees and turquoise water to 70 inches of snow!!!!!

Art Helps Haiti

Artists of Garrett County Maryland are donating work for a special one day only show and sale to benefit the people of Haiti.    Arranged by Lori Skidmore, this show will feature pottery, paintings, photography, etc.
It will be held Sunday, February 14th from 1-4 in the Garrett College Art Gallery near Deep Creek Lake.
All sales will go to HOPEFORHAITINOW.ORG

Small Snow Painting

11"x14"

$50

State Park Rhody

16"x20"

$100

Evolution of a Painting

Winter continues in Garrett County Maryland.  It is a great time of year to go to my studio.  So I have been in the studio a lot lately.   I thought it would be kind of fun to explain how I actually go about making a painting.
The process of making a painting is fairly consistant for me.   I begin with an idea, then I find some reference photos, next start drawing.   The drawings are always small.   I am not concerned about color at this point.  I am concerned about shapes and values (light to dark).   In the case of this small painting I did 2 drawings  The first has a high horizon line, therefore giving me a large foreground to figure out, and very little sky   The second drawing has the same farm except the horizon line is low on the paper , which leave a large sky shape.   I have chosen the second drawing to paint.    I will probably do the other one, but not yet. 
So here are the 2 drawings and the small painting.

New Work At Garrett County Arts Council

The  gallery space at the Garrett County Arts Council is totally re-hung three times a year.   Each 2-D artist makes the journey to 206 E Alder Street to exchange their art work.   The policy (because of space) is that each 2 - D artist may hang one piece in each medium that they have been juried into the gallery.
Today was the re-hanging day so there is a new fresh look .  Four members of the Gallery Committee assembled this morning and hung the space in less that 2 hours.  It looks fabulous.  
There are some wonderful paintings and photographs that were brought in for this hanging.  We used to talk about "raising the bar" at the gallery.   I believe that the bar is, indeed, "raised". 
                        These are my pieces:

Spring Mayhew Inn Barn

watercolor

16"x20"

                                                                     Harvest Moon
                                                                 monotype of gelatin plate
                                                                       16" x 20"

CIVIC CLUB ART SHOW

The Civic Club's student art show has been hung in the Back Room of the Garrett County Arts Council at 206 E Alder Street in Oakland.   The Civic Club has sponsored this show at this location for the past 10 years.   The show is of work done by senior high school students and middle school students of Garrett County.  It will be juried and the winners will go on to compete at the district and state levels.

This is a wonderful opportunity for the students to display their work in a "real" gallery.  It is worth a trip to Oakland to see the student art.
 These two pieces are in the show.

Saville Gallery Reception

The art of Lynn Lais and Merrill Smith is currently being featured at the Saville Gallery at the Allegany Arts Council in Cumberland Maryland.   I have known Lynn for several years and admire his pottery.  We own several pieces of his and often use them.   I was curious to see what he would put in the Saville.    His work for this show is truly wonderful.   I love some of his  new ( at least to me) forms and , apparently, more recent glazes.  If you enjoy pottery, it is a must see show.

The other artist exhibiting at the Saville is Merrill Smith.   I have not been familiar with Merrill's oil paintings so was blown away by this show.   Not only does he display a large body of work but the variety of subject matter is impressive.  This is a FABULOUS show and worth a trip to Cumberland to see, especially if you are a  fan of oil painting.  I plan to go back to see it on a week day when I can take the time to look at each painting.

I am guessing that many folks are suffering from "cabin fever" because the reception was packed with all kinds of art folks.  My theory was that we all had been housebound for too long and missed each other.  It was great fun to be with our art friends and fans of the arts.   We all certainly had a good time viewing this fine show, chatting with each other, snacking on the nice food and having a little wine.

The Lais/Smith show will be at the Saville until  Feb.8th.  It is worth a trip to the Saville to see it.