2 ART OPENINGS THIS WEEK !

I have 2 art openings this week. This might be a first for me. Tonight I will be at Hyde Park Bar and Grill -their Central location at 430pm-630pm. It is fun to have a show in Austin. This is a first too I guess. I have had shows in Dallas, several in the Carribean, San Antonio and I have work collected all over the world but having a show in my town is cool. It is muggy and stormy here. My birds are very loud this morning and I can hear the babies screaming for food. The storms make the energy wacky and a bit edgy. I am working on art all day to stay focused...its very exciting. My second art opening will be Friday with artist Terry Powell at Amplify Credit Union . Hope to see lots of friends and celebrate color ! weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

The Peaceful Spring Art Days

Tomorrow is "Art Day". A term I think Artist Connie Green and I came up with that explains it all. What it does'nt explain is that it is peaceful. quiet. supportive, fun. better than a 3 day weekend, better than therapy and nurturing to our souls. I am so fortunate to be surrounded by artists that are funny , non competitive and amazingly talented. I hung both shows this week so the pressure is off somewhat. The first show hung was at Hyde Park Bar and Grill Central location on Duval in Austin. This is "30 New Works" and I am so happy to be there. The opening reception is next Monday April 27th from 430pm-630pm. The 2nd show is at Amplify Credit Union one block north of the Braker/ Burnet Rd. intersection. This is with Terry Powell-folk artist fantasitco ! Anyway I am off at work now-a bit on the slower side but I am enjoying my time at home..with my birds, my plants and quiet days and catching up with friends. Seems like I have a bit more left to be a mother in the afternoon and evenings. Anyway the patio is ready for Art Day and boy I am too !

Two Art Shows Hang Next Week & Pricing

I have 2 art shows that will be hung next week. Sunday I will hang 29-30 new works at the Hyde Park Bar and Grill -Central Location on Duval in Austin. I have wanted to show here for a very long time. Owned by dear friends Erika and Bick Brown it is our favorite restaurant in town. always fantastic food and service ..and did i say fun ? Anyway Anne Ducote organizes and curates all the Hyde Park shows and does a fantastic job. Anne is a fabulous artist in her own right. This show will be up for 2 months (down mid June) . My second show will be with fellow fabulous folk artist Terry Powell. He is such a fun artist and happy spirit I am thrilled to be on the same postcard invitation ! This show will be at the Amplify Credit Union on Burnet Rd. and Braker Lane in Austin This show will be up for 3 months. I will be showing 9 of the Rare Austin Magazine original paintings plus several of my metal pieces. This is curated by Diane Graden. I am working now on pricing my pieces for the show. I have always tried to keep my prices reasonable and not escalate too quickly in my art career. I have been selling in galleries since 1985-after graduation from ATM and my beginning introduction to retail with "RED GALLERY" in Dallas, Texas. 24 years of selling in galleries in Dallas, Austin, Virgin Islands, shows, adding collecotrs and new commisions etc . With this economy i have read dozens of articles and blogs regarding pricing in down economies. This is a hot topic between artists and lost of opinions fly. I hope to always be fair however art supplies, websites, printing and shipping etc. have not been reduced so I will carefully and respectivly have available the range of prices to sell at my shows. I will continue to paint and be happy about being an artist.

South American Inspiration

My husband knew I had always wanted to go to the peruvian site Macchu Picchu. One of those top 10 in my "bucket list" before I go the big guatemalan market in the sky ! He gave this give to me for my birthday in December so our family went over Spring Break. I spent months prior to departure skimming the Lonely Planet guide (love them) and sites of blogs and the trip advisor. We knew we wanted to hike the Inca Trail and used the professionally run Peru Planet travel group to organize this trek. We used Cusco has our home base and made day trips to the Sacred Valley, Ollantambo, Moray, Pisaq, and then off to the Inca Trail. What a beautiful and challenging hike from KM 104. We had a lovely guide Marco Antonio-very knowlegable about the trail. the history and site of Macchu Picchu. After 7 or so ours of hiking we came to the Sun Gate arriving at the site straight up 5pm-closing time-so the site was soft with pink light, empty and simply magical. the Peruvian ancestors surely return to dance at the site at this time and applaud when they have this site back to themselves. Down below the mountain rages the Urabamba River . the site is enormous and more than I could ever imagined in its magesty. Being an artist I imagine the colors that could have been used but the stone work itself is amazing it is complexity. The trail is limited to 500 eager enthusiasts a day-a goverment implemented program and a great idea. the site is not limited in visitors and we were there at the end of the rainy season-i can only imagine how many tourists are visiting in high season. Regardless of visitors -I easily imagined the place alone and while it was lived in by the Peruvian royalties , the farmers and staff that was neccesary to keep this city going. We returned to Cusco a day to recuperate. The following morning we left by a fabulous bus ride to Puno for our departure town of Lake Titikaka. I had read about this lake and was really eager to visit it myself. Our first stop was the Uros Indians Floating Islands built on reeds from the lake. The indians make everything from these reeds, their homes, artwork and boats. We were greeting by one of the many islands by the happy friendly indians eager to share an hour of their lives with us. Yes we are tourists and sometimes I am happy to give in to it ! They sang a song for us and we sang "Happy Birthday" to them-lead by David-my husband ! they also gave us a display of how their islands were built 3 Meters deep on reeds...adding more fresh reeds as they rot from below. the look out towers were awesome too---looking over the other islands-some in the shape of fish or flamingos ! We road in their reed boat across the lake and i was taken by the people . I imagined them to be small, tiny indians, they were not. They were like fudge colored, bold and beautiful. Brightly colored 6 or more layered wool skirts, round as they were tall and thick hands and feet.. Wow they were incredibly beautiful . The men wore white shirts and pants and hats that looked like they were knitted for infants-nevertheless they were a beautiful match to their women. Some houses had solar panels..very cool. The next vist was to the island was Taquile. A 2 hour boating trip .. We hiked up this island -much larger island and had a great show , dances,songs and weaving displays here. We had lunch overlooking this splendid and enormous lake seeing Bolivia across the lake. We hiked down over the island and back down 500 steps to our boat to return to Puno. Inspiration came from this country not in pieces but as a whole. The people are friendly beautiful and I felt appreciated as a guest to share their country for a short week. I bought 2 pieces of beautiful artwork ....what an incredible trip. I am so lucky.