Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Accepted! Art in a Juried Show


Winter has arrived in northern Michigan with somewhat of a vengeance. We’ve been under a winter storm warning for three days now, with blowing and drifting snow. After a wonderful Thanksgiving at the family getaway, we closed the place up for the winter and have already battened down all  the hatches at home, ready for whatever winter throws at us.

It’s been quite a while since I last posted so today I’ll just share a few bits and pieces of what’s been going on for me during what turned out to be a very busy month. First I’ll share some exciting news on the art front, and then you can skip the rest if you’re not interested.

Last week I entered two paintings in a juried show at Artcenter Traverse City. The title of the show is  Portraits: People, Pets and Animals. “Winter Scotch” and “Yuri” were the available paintings I chose to take, and I’m happy to report that both have apparently been accepted into the show which opened yesterday and runs through the end of the year. Above you can see “Winter Scotch” as it appears after varnishing. Unfortunately, again the photo doesn’t begin to do the painting justice. Some paintings just don’t photograph well no matter what. I think I need to get a polarizing lens for my camera.

I'm very excited about this acceptance since it's the first time I've entered a juried show in some time, and it will be exciting to see my artwork hanging with some of the best artists in the Traverse City area. 

Since my last post I’ve consulted two more animal communicators and learned more from and about my horse.  I was very displeased with the second animal communicator because she interjected so many personal opinions about various things that I wasn’t sure what my horse actually said and what she added to. The third gal is a local woman recommended by my vet, and she was wonderful to work with. I finally got the final word on the saddle I’ve been using on loan for the past few months and Scottie says it pinches him in the withers so I need to start looking again. Drat!!

I learned one thing that has kind of blown me away about this whole communication thing. You see, there’s a possibility that I will be laid up this winter if I choose to have surgery to rebreak a crooked leg and have a rod or plate inserted to straighten it. Well, I asked the animal communicator if Scottie was aware of this, and he replied that he was and that he is worried about me and worried for himself that he won’t see me this winter.  I had told my barn buddies about it in Scottie’s presence a few weeks ago and he understood what we were saying.

Last night I had another moment with Scottie which confirmed that he can understand what I’m saying to him. I was explaining to him that I was going to wear my helmet because I was riding alone and didn’t want to risk breaking my head if I fell off again and that I might go away forever and cross over the rainbow bridge if I did. Immediately he became very agitated, tossing his head and moving back and forth in the cross ties.  As I continued to talk to him about how we both have to be very careful not to fall so that we won’t get hurt, he calmed down to his usual quiet self.

Well, I’ve gone on long enough for today. With luck, I’ll get to some painting this afternoon and then I’ll have some progress on the Belgian painting to show you.

Happy Holidays everyone!