May (or June) Art

Another Art Walk is coming sometime in May (actually June 15th) . The real question is, will I be participating??  The Art Walks have become problematic for many of the participating artists.One issue is the venue. In earlier days, the Art Walks used to be held within the Old Courthouse in downtown Concord, a lovely old building that once was an actual courthouse, but now is a lovely venue for art and theatre. But when I say "art", I mean  . . . well what do I mean? The main part of the Old Courthouse, is a series of rooms, connected by a hallway, all of which used to be used for the Art Walks. Now, that space is reserved for . . . art shows--artists are invited to display and sell their art--paintings, sculpture, pottery, ornamental glassware. There is even a small gift shop. Apparently, the "Art Walk" is not considered "artsy" enough for that space.  I guess, we're all just too amateur. Some real "artists" don't even consider what I do--digital art--as "art." No paint brushes, I guess.
So, the "Art Walks" have been settled into an old bank building next door. Now, the old bank building is also lovely space, except that it's too small for the number of participating artists, and so it's all kind of a jumble.  Partly as a result, and partly also because the folks who visit the "Art Walks" seem disinclined to spend any money, the number of participating artists has been shrinking. I suppose it may all be a self-fulfilling prophesy kind of thing. As the number of artists shrink, the Art Walk itself become less exciting, so fewer people decide to visit, and so on.
It is also the case that the Council--the sponsoring group--has been unwilling to provide any credit card sales capability at the Art walk. And, since nobody carries cash any longer, that puts a bit of a crimp in the whole event. A few artists have begun using "Square", that device one can plug into a smart phone. But mainly, the artists rely on cash sales.
So, there may be a time in the not too distant future, when the Art Walks simply disappear.  As a result, I am beginning to question why I participate. It's all becoming too expensive.
On the other hand, should I decide to continue with this profitless venture, along with most of the remaining artists, I may select some scenes from below.

Artist at Work:

C&O Canal: The Lock

Summer Critters:

Fountains: DC Style

Another Summer Critter:

Pond life in a Zen Garden:

Pierglow

Nag's Head: The Pot of Gold

Some day April will appear on the calendar, and we will forget all about this weird pseudo-winter. And April will bring another Art Walk and maybe even another Art show in downtown Concord. In preparation, I am readying my next collection, this one featuring Critters. Maybe we'll title it, "Critters, Critters, Everywhere and Not a One to Eat". Or maybe just, "Critters I have known."
The series will include pictures from several classes of critters.
First, the little guys, dragons, and butterflies:

Then there are our always hungry, always clever friends, the squirrels, shown here waiting at a squirrel cafeteria devised by our son-in-law Dennis Long.

 Our pond provides many opportunities to observe our watery friends, the koi's in our very own koi pond. Shown here, two views of Sally, our 24-inch girl, who dominates the pond life.

Finally, what critter show would be complete without some of our fine feathered friends, We begin with Tom, a portrait of a very handsome dude, followed by a watchful critter from Nova Scotia, and last but not least, our favorite feathered critter, the blue heron in flight.

Happy 2012 world . . .
For some reason, 2012 keeps bringing me back in time to when I was younger and, therefore, more hopeful. Perhaps 2012 really is a brand new, fresh-faced world. Perhaps we will all awaken in this new year and new world to see the sun rising and bringing with it not only warm colors, but a bright new promise, where people could be nice to one another . . . you know, instead of shooting one another . . .
It could happen.
So, in that spirit, I give you 2012 as the sun arises over Mt. Kinchinjunga. It takes me back and brings me forward, sort of back to the future.

Happy New Year all.

The World is Not Black and White

Following on my last Art Walk show, titled a Black and White Perspective, I will be presenting a new collection in February, titled, The World is Not Black and White (double entendre accepted). Mostly there will be autumnal pieces, with a few springtime pieces, and a few autumnal abstracts.
The first piece is titled a Zen Garden, with our very own garden illustrated. It is a peaceful setting in which we contemplate the beauty of nature most mornings and evenings, a splendid way to begin and end each day.

The next piece is titled the road to Fall:

The next piece is an abtract of Fall colors, based on an actual Fall scene:

The next piece is a springtime showing of that famous street in our favorite city, San Francisco, Lombard Street:

Next is another autumnal abstract, under that name:

A final piece displayed here (there are more for the actual showing) is titled, simply, Fallish.

Award Winner

An award . . . my first photo in the Fall collection below won an Editor's Choice award in the recent Charlotte Observer Photo contest of Autumnal pictures. The picture was created by stitching together three separate photos.

Blue Ridge Autumn

Spending just a few days in the Blue Ridge, in this case near Blowing Rock at a spot called Wildacres Retreat, I am again struck by the subtle beauty of the Blue Ridge in October.  There are flashes of dazzling color, but mostly the colors are muted and quite lovely. Here are a few I captured during our visit. The first is actually a panorama I created from three pictures.  The rest are as taken.
So, enjoy the silent majesty of Autumn.

I hope you enjoyed this Autumnal display.

Art Walk's Coming

I just finished creating a group of pictures that may appear in an Art Walk, or not, depending on how well I can figure out a little sizing problem. All pictures below were created with the notion that I would use a gallery wrap approach to the framing. I ordered the materials to complete the gallery wraps, printed the pictures and then discovered to my dismay, that I had printed them all using 16-inch wide canvas. See the gallery wrap materials assume a 17-inch wide canvas, so those materials will not work. So, now, I have these images, but still need to decide what to do about framing, stretching, or, more expensively, reprinting. But that's a future decision. Right now, I have these images.
The first is called, an Artful Buddha.

The next is a view of "The Guardians" a statue located in Brasilia, and photographed some 40 years ago.

Next up is a view of the Grand Canyon, or rather a tree at the edge of the Big Ditch.

Greece is the centerpiece of the next image, or more precisely a little village in a Greek isle.

From Greece to San Francisco, our fair city. Herb Caen, who used to write for the San Francisco Chronicle, referred to San Francisco as "Baghdad by the Bay", but that was 50 years ago, when something magical was attached to the notion of Baghdad, instead of people exploding themselves in marketplaces. But here's one view of that old Baghdad by the Bay.

Another of that fabled city's attractions is the bridge at the Golden Gate.

Strolling around the old town of Salem, North Carolina, is a charming experience. While so strolling, I came across a nice touch of light, shadow and texture in this next picture.

And finally, what could be nicer than a morning stroll along the shore?