Dinner with Friends

Carol Marine

Way back when I finally summoned up the courage to quit my day job to paint full-time I also began an intensive search online for other artists. I wanted to see who was out there, what were they painting, and how were they doing it. One of my search methods was to browse the art auctions on ebay. I would sift through hundreds of auction thumbnails in hopes of finding a jewel. It wasn't hard to spot talent. As I scrolled through the listings the gifted artists work stood out like a neon sign.

Crossed Brushes

One of my first discoveries, and still honored in my personal Hall of Fame, was Carol Marine. Her elegant chiseled method of painting blew me away. I'm a huge fan, and was very fortunate this week to have the opportunity to meet her for the first time. She was in Atlanta to teach one of her immensely popular workshops.

Karin Jurick

Karin Jurick, artistic genius, close friend and another ebay find, wrote me an email to say Carol would be in town and we should all get together. So, we all met up at the OK Cafe, one of our favorite places to eat. Karin was accompanied by her better half Brett, a framer, motorcycle enthusiast, designer and builder of "The Paint On" table top easel, and all around great guy. My Karen was up in Asheville with friends so I came alone. It's too bad to, because she would have loved meeting Carol.

Leanto

I had a terrefic time. Carol was wonderful, and it was so nice to finally meet her after communicating for years via email. Working as an artist is an isolated profession, and so it was a real treat to sit and talk art with other artists over a great meal. The only problem with the evening was that it ended way too soon.

I'll have an image of my next Tree's Place painting in a day or so. This one, for some reason, was a real bear.

Half Loaf No.4

12 x 12 oil on panel

I've done three of these "half loaf" paintings in the six by six format for auction on ebay, but wanted to work in more texture and detail with this subject, so I scaled it up to 12 x 12. It worked great. I was able to really get into the bread and also enhance the look of the plastic bag as well. A fun painting. This will be headed up to Cape Cod for the July show at Tree's Place Gallery.

I ignored my easel yesterday and spent the day making arrangements for our trip up to the Cape. I thought it would be a good idea to get an early start since accommodations in that area fill up quickly in the summer months. Karen and I were last there in 2007 when we shared a two person show at Wynne/Falconer Gallery. It was a great trip and we had a wonderful time. While we were there we stopped by Tree's Place on our way up to Provincetown, and were very impressed with the quality of work they had on display. It's hard to believe that now I'm returning four years later to attend a show of my own.

Black Grapes No. 4

16 x 16 oil on panel

I shipped off the first five paintings for the Tree's Place show in July yesterday. Hopefully they will be well received by the local collectors on Cape Cod. Maybe get a little early buzz going for the show. The Black Grapes were completed Sunday evening and will be heading up there along with Seven Spoons in the next shipment.

Karen and I are planning to attend the show, and are currently working out the logistics. There are two places we'd like to visit while we're in the region. Karen wants to go to Martha's Vineyard and I really want to veer northward to see the Olson House in Maine. I've been enamored of Andrew Wyeth since I first discovered his work in a show at the de Young Museum in San Francisco July of 1973. I was twenty one and knew of Christina's World, but when I saw his paintings in person I was hooked for life. I went back a half a dozen times before the show moved on. I still have the dog eared catalog for that show. In 1979 I drove up to Chadds Ford to visit the Brandywine Muesum, and while I was there I was able to track down the location of the Kuerner House. The home was still occupied at the time, so you couldn't go inside, but Anna Kuerner was on her porch as I drove by. Unreal! Anyway, to actually visit the Olson House and walk around inside would be like a pilgrimage. Hope we can make it happen.

Back in 2006 I did a small painting of a Maple Leaf to auction off on ebay. Not too long after that I received an email from Tina Maple, co-owner of Maple Vineyards in Sonoma county California. She wrote that they were about to produce their first vintage and wondered if I would be interested in doing another maple leaf painting that they would use for the label. It took about two seconds to say yes. We worked out the details, I sent them the painting, then never heard anything about the wine. About a week ago I got another email from Tina stating they made wine for only two years, but decided it was too much and had come to the conclusion that they would rather just grow the grapes. She then offered to send me a few bottles of their 2007 Zinfandel. It arrived a couple of days ago, and it was fun to see my little painting on the bottle. We haven't tried the wine yet, but we're looking forward to it.

Thanks Tina!