A Viewer Favorite

The show is up and looking great! I will continue showing you pieces you haven't seen. This one has been a favorite of all who visited my studio.  It's called "Conversation"

Conversation 20x20 oil on canvas

In May, I exhibited my series of Coastal Sunrises at the Marblehead Art Association. Twenty five paintings grew out of a week at Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport, Maine. I had this canvas started but not completed in time for that show. So I took the sky I had started, and added the foreground from two resources: a photo of the grass and rocks, and directly from the chair in my studio which I posed one way and then another. Then I gave each chair a coffee cup. This has two chairs – one for me and one for Mom – so I can show her the show she missed because she was not able to come.

SOLO ART EXHIBIT OPENS

"Against the Wind" oil on canvas 18x24"

 location: Friendship, ME

REMEMBRANCE - THE PINK CHAIR PROJECT

TOPSFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY

One South Common St.

Topsfield, MA 01983

(978)887-1528

EXHIBIT November 1-29, 2011   

Library Hours: M 10-8; T 10-5; W 12-5;TH 10-8;   

F 12-5; Sat 10-5; closed Sunday   

RECEPTION 

Friday, November 4 from 5:30 - 7 PM

I will be presenting a solo exhibition of my recent paintings from November 1 - 29, 2011 in the meeting room of the Topsfield, MA Public Library. A reception will be held from 5:30 - 7 PM on Friday, November 4 "Remembrance - the Pink Chair Project" celebrates the memory of my mother in moving and beautiful images.  

I sensed her presence while painting an Adirondack chair of her favorite color - bright, knock-your-socks-off pink. After the initial surprise of that experience, I began placing the chair into various locations which had special meaning to me or Mom. In this way, I have created a cohesive body of work that shines as individual paintings as well as a sensitive and powerful grouping.  

Please continue to read my blog on the process, which will I will add to throughout the show, telling the story of each painting as it is posted. I will also be continuing to paint during the show on the series, so you will get the first news on those pieces as well. http://pinkchairpaintings.blogspot.com/. Bookmark it or sign up at the top of the blog to get these postings directly in your mailbox!

I will display the pink chair (or maybe two of them!) at the exhibit with a pink table and footrest, and I am encouraging an interactive component at the exhibit, encouraging visitors to sit comfortably and tell the story of their loved ones in a remembrance book. Mom's book "This is Me" will also be on display, along with some pictures of her so people can get to know her better. 

I invite each of my readers, especially those who cannot come to the show,  to contribute to the show by writing a bit about someone who was special to you that you would like to remember so that the sharing of this experience can grow and become richer. You can add the comments directly to my blog or e-mail them to me if you want to contribute, but do not want the comments posted. It is a great way to connect with the exhibit as well as my mother and me.

The Topsfield Town Library meeting room serves as a monthly exhibition space for local artists, featuring a different art display each month as well as a community meeting place. If you come during the week, you may want to call to check if there is a meeting or event in that room. Saturday is usually clear.  

A portion of each sale will be donated to childhood cancer research, as well as to the Friends of the Topsfield Library.

A Question for my Readers

I am perplexed about this piece. I absolutely love it as is. For me it says all that I went to Maine for. It has fabulous color and a I felt a strength that I didn't know I had on the day I finished it. Coincidently, I finished it the day before I had the awakening that I was going to be doing Pink Chair paintings. (see post for August 27) I had to leave because of a storm before it was finished and came back  to finish. I had an incredible feeling of intensity when I was painting, like I had to do it fast - strong - NOW!  It is part of what put the power in that tree.

Now, There are some lovely spots of pink here and there that go with the pink chair. I could easily paint a pink chair, maybe back there under the back tree, and make it part of the series. Somehow I feel it is already a part of the series. Maybe the strength I felt had come from Mom and was just waiting inside to be named on the next day when I would be doing the first transformative painting, the one in which I felt her presence.

What do you think? Should it be part of the series without the chair? Should I paint the pink chair in? Any thoughts?