Small Landscapes ~ Preservation is the Art of the City ~ Art in the Garden

Blue Landscape #1
5 1/2" x 7 1/2" Acrylic on paper, not framed
If you see a #1 then you know there are others on the way. I painted 4 in a series of warm up exercises on Monday after working on my Canvas by Canvas square for the Portofino painting. I drew "C", top right in a 9 square painting with sky and some trees and I liked the color so I used the palette for 4 more studies.
Portofino Square (Watch for it on the easel soon at Canvas by Canvas)


This week I received my acceptance letter from the Preservation is the Art of the City show, 6th annual, to be held at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, September 9-27, 2008. It is a juried show limited to 50 local artists and judged on how the work would mesh with the existing mix of art in the show as they add a few new artists each year. Jury day was in March at Thistle Hill and with a percentage of any sales for the preservation programs at Historic Fort Worth, Inc. Artists can contribute up to 4 pieces of original art, 4 miniatures, and one theme piece. I mailed in my contract this week and there are about 5 more steps until the show and the awards presentation. Shows take months of work planning and preparation on the part of the organization and the artists.
Another large show some of the Canvas by Canvas painters attended this weekend was the very large Cottonwood Art Festival in Richardson.
I've received notice yesterday from the Fort Worth Garden Club, Inc. that my giclee, Diadem, has been accepted in the 2008 Art in the Garden show and sale to be held from September 5-7 in the Deborah Beggs Moncrief Garden Center in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.



I have an Art hint:
At the Mel Stabin workshop in San Miguel, Mel gave us a "magic eraser" to try out and I've been searching for one ever since. I finally found it in the cleaning section of Krogers, a 2 pack Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, and it is great for lifting watercolor mistakes or lightening an area (not mentioned at all for one of the uses). We did plein air landscapes (I like figures) and that isn't a favorite of mine but I love watercolor. A watercolorist that I've found that does wonderful landscapes is Minike Reinders and she gets great detail in small works of 5" x 7". It makes me want to try some of my San Miguel landscapes in watercolor. Maybe soon. At present I continue with the acrylic landscapes because I can keep painting over until I am comfortable with them or just put them in the "turkey" pile. The Blue Landscape may make it into the Preservation Show.