Thursday, June 20, 2013

"Music in Art"-- Show is in Full Swing!


Opening night was a huge success despite the rain!  The highlights for me were:

1) Having everyone blown away by Paul's 3-d masterpiece(s).
2) Turning around at the end of the night and seeing a red dot next to one of my paintings "Girl on Fire!"  SOLD--so exciting! 
3) Both of my daughters having art in the show--and selling some of their pieces too. So great to have my whole family working together not only to curate the show, but to participate in it as well! 
4) Chatting with a nice couple who ended up writing an article about the show and about our family, calling us the "First Family of Art!" Thanks James for the great press!  Check out his articles in the Examiner! 





5) Talking with all the other DRA artists and hearing how music influenced their art!  
6) Getting a surprise visit from family and friends--thanks Scott, Elena, Charlotte, Chris, Nancy, John, and Laurie!  

Even better than this night of fun and surprises was the day my husband Paul and I took off work to hang the show!  This was our first time curating a show and we weren't sure what to expect.  We had quite a collection of submissions.  Everything from jewelry to glasswork, collage, sculpture, paintings, pastels, landscapes, abstracts, and mixed media.  In some pieces the connection to music was obvious in others it was more of an essence or energy.  We tried to group pieces in the way that made the most sense to us visually.  Luckily we were on the same page and the result was a fun, creative, harmonious day of hanging art and producing a show that brings the spirit of "Music in Art" to life!  I love that Paul and I were able to share this experience together--so meaningful and satisfying!  Paul is my "Music in Art!"  So proud of what we've accomplished together!  Hope this is just the beginning of what's to come!

Thanks to everyone who has helped us with our curating debut!  We appreciate all of your support and couldn't have done it without you! 

The show still has a couple weeks left!  Come on out and see "Music in Art" for yourself!  













Sunday, June 2, 2013

"Music in Art"-- My first show as curator!


My husband Paul and I are curating our first show together at the Del Ray Artisans Gallery in Alexandria!  Can't believe opening night is only a few days away!  The show opens June 7th and runs through June 30th.

We chose the theme "Music in Art" not only because the two go hand in hand, but because Paul is an artist AND a musician!  Much of his art reflects these two passions!  I on the other hand, am a music appreciator, not a musician!  Embracing this theme has been fun, but a little more of a stretch for me.  I am looking forward to seeing how the other artists interpret this them and explore the relationship between art and music.  

Curating our first show has been a great learning experience for both of us. We have gotten to do everything from writing up the press release, newsletter article, and call for entry to designing and mailing the postcards to choosing, hanging, and arranging the artwork.  Somehow we have managed to do all this while still taking care of our family, working our full-time jobs, and creating our own artwork for the show.  

It seems the process of creating our artwork revealed a bit of our personalities.  Paul focused with laser-like intensity on his one new masterpiece.  He went over the top with his attention to detail as he hand cut, sculpted, and painted a huge cardboard rendition of Jazz Legend Jelly Roll Morton.  I tended to be more scattered and free-form, working on 6 different paintings at a time.  I would start one piece and when I got to a point where I wasn't sure how to proceed, I started another.  Eventually, I finished all 6.

Here is a sneak peek…more to come soon!