Hotlanta Summer!

Yep, you guessed it. The weather is steamy and hot this summer in Atlanta and I'm missing painting outdoors!! The past couple of days have seen cooler temps (in the low 90's) but I'm still dreaming of those cool fall nights that won't appear again until some time in October! But enough about the weather!

Our summer show, "SunnySide UP!", is now up and running at the Tannery. If you'd like to view some of the newest art by the Tannery artists and our guests from Southern Colours Art Association, drop by, Tuesday thru Saturday, noon to 5 pm. We're located at 554 West Main Street in Historic Buford, Georgia.

My painting in this show is called "Decisions". It's rather abstract but if you look closely, you'll find figures turned in several directions, appearing to revolve around a broken urn...perhaps searching for the answer to a life question. Ever find yourself in that type of situation or mood? As an artist, my life questions are often answered thru my paintings, sometimes without my realizing it. Let me know if you have ever experienced this!

The painting below won 4th place in the Historic Buford Plein Air Festival held April 24/25th this spring. The scene caught my eye from several streets over and it took me almost thirty minutes to find how to get behind the trailer so I could paint it! It's not easy to follow winding streets up and down hills when you can't see where you're going and just try putting "trailer with clothes on line" in your gps!!

Birthdays

I'm sure the title of today's blog tells the story. Today is my birthday! which is one of those days that I usually just quietly live thru since it falls in a wintry month of the year. Cold temperatures and gray days blended with less sunlight tend to make me a bit depressed. So each year during this time, I forgo the birthday party for a quieter evening. However, today was an exception. Upon leaving the studio, I mentioned to a fellow artist if she knew of a place to get a good bowl of soup (that sounded like a nice quiet thing to do) and she said maybe....and that she was free for dinner if I wanted company. I thought how nice that would be to share my quiet dinner with her, so I told her that it was my birthday but that she was not to tell anyone else. Well then we decided to ask another artist friend if she would also like to join us...and the party was on!

Over a great meal the three of us laughed, they sang the happy birthday song, and told the waitress it was my birthday, who brought out a very large piece of cheesecake topped with whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce, which we all shared.

I've decided that from this day forward my birthday will be spent with a couple of friends, sharing conversation and great cheesecake, and laughing my way past another year. Sure beats the heck out of a quiet bowl of soup for one!

Birthdays are not really about getting older, you know. They are about taking stock of your life and deciding how you want to spend the next year.....looking back or moving forward toward new adventures. I think my friends would tell me to "move on"!

Thanks "ladies" for a great birthday gift!
carly

I'm ZAZZLE-ING!

Notice the addition of the logo to the left...I'm beginning to offer small prints of several of my larger oil paintings on Zazzle.com! Check it out and let me know what you think even if you have no intention of making a purchase. I'd love to have your feedback.

On the art scene, I'll be returning to Contentment Bluff this weekend for more outdoor painting and great crab stew! There is a tiny seafood shoppe on the way to the Bluff that I can't resist stopping at on Friday's because that's the day they cook up the bar-b-que ribs. Yummy! and...

if you're in Darien, drop by the Old Jailhouse Gallery to see new paintings of the coastal region. Every visit, I seem to discover new subjects that tug at my heart. The quaint old church buildings around the park square did just that on my last trip, so if you're in the vacinity, watch for my new art "truck". I'll be painting from the tailgate!

Beware The Ides of April!

Hello everyone! April is not only the month for "showers" but for all those living in the US of A, it's "time to file tax claims". Mine have been mailed...thus, I have the time and energy to post to my blog today! I'm ahead of schedule this year since usually I mail the returns promptly on the day of the 15th. Instead of Beware the Ides of March...I think we should all quote "Beware the Ides of April!" And along with millions of other Americans, I'll be paying more in taxes this year. At least I'm in good company!

On the painting scene, I've been working in the studio on a rather large oil - 3 x 4 feet in size. Here's a photo of the painting. It's not signed yet but I feel it's completed...unless it whispers to me in the night and let's me know that something is still amiss. Paintings often do that - you know.



In my last blog post, I shared one of the irises that I had worked on during the winter months. Well, my series is short one painting this month. The white iris sold!! Here's an image of that one...now I'll just have to paint another, but that will have to wait until a dreary rainy day because our weather is shouting for me to get outside and paint!!

Our next show at the Tannery is coming up in June! Check back for all the details....and

"have a great painting day everyone!"
carly

Spring is Here!

Well, at least I hope that today's weather was an indication that spring is officially here. A friend and I walked three and a half miles in our local park where families were outside playing frisbee, walking dogs and children, tossing baseballs around, and picnicking on quilts or cooking over the grills. Was a warm 70 degrees with a beautiful clear blue sky...made both of us think about how great it felt to be outside again "exercising"!

Here's a painting that I've been working on during the cold winter months. It's the last of three iris paintings. All three are oils, 30 x 30, on canvas. If you don't have sunny weather yet, maybe this will warm you up instead!!

The Ides of March

Hopefully will not be an "eventful" day for most of you since it's supposed to be a day to watch out for! The tornados of last night and today across Georgia have been enough as March roared in like a lion....and as April approaches, we hope goes out like a lamb!

Some may have wondered what I've been up to lately...a couple of trips to the coast have kept me busy along with a couple of shows that needed paintings framed and delivered. Last weekend was spent at Contentment Bluff on the Georgia Coast, ten miles north of Darien. I had delivered paintings to the Old Jail Gallery in Darien the weekend before and returned for a few days of painting, visiting with other artist friends, and the show reception.

Contentment Bluff is one of my favorite places to visit...it's so peaceful to sit in the mornings with a cup of coffee watching the river rise or fall with the tide. It's a place where you can hear the birds singing all day, the woodpeckers working away, and fish jumping in the river. It's the oldest existing fishing camp on the east coast and the cabins built in the early 1930's are still rented by families who spend their summers and weekends at the camp.

Here's one of the pastel paintings from an early morning outing with a few other artists. Enjoy the view!



A wonderful artist friend of mine, Marsha Savage, has begun blogging! Check out her blog at http://marshasavage.blogspot.com

See ya!!

A Recent Message

I recently received an email from an artist who had seen my oil pastels on the website...she wrote:

Happened to be browsing around the websites and saw yours... what vision you must have! I love the colors... am so inspired to go back to my doodling hoping one day to learn to see as you do. Thanks for all the tips on the site. In the Philippines, we don't see too many oil pastelists. I'm so glad to find out am not the only one who feels comfortable with what is known here as a child's medium, though the colors are indeed childlike, the hand is certainly a master's!!!

Thanks for the inspiration!
Marissa

When I get the feeling that my website and blog and all my other computer activities are taking up too much of my time, a message like this really is an inspiration to me. Sharing with other artists thru an international means makes the world seem much smaller and brings us together in a way that artists have never had before. I feel fortunate to be a part of this expanding global community and wander just how it will overall effect us as artists in the years to come.

Thanks, Marissa, for your words of encouragement today!
carly