"$2.00/bunch" Art of the Garden Exhibit - Arts Council of Snohomish County

$2.00/bunch © Barbara A. Freeman
Acrylic on Gessobord, 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"

My latest acrylic work, $2.00/bunch will be in the Arts Council of Snohomish County's Exhibit, Art of the Garden. There will be works of over fifty artists in this exhibit showing quite a mix of work from paintings, to glass, cement castings, sculpture, and so much more. I'm excited to be a part of this! My two friends, Janie Olsen and Eden Hopkins will also have some of their fine work in this exhibit. The show opens on Thursday, July 8, with a “Meet the Artists” reception from 5-8pm. This event is free and open to the public. The evening will be perfect for viewing local art, for and of the garden, inside and out. Hope to see you there! The gallery is located at 1507 Wall Street in downtown Everett. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10-5pm and on Saturday from 11-4pm. The show runs through August 19.

As to my work in progress of the forest and dragonfly, I haven't been able to post due to some life issues getting in the way. Because of dealing with these things, I missed some studio time and then when I came back to it, I ran in to some problems with the dragonfly. I decided something just didn't look the way I wanted it. My in house second opinion person, (Wayne), helped point out what he saw as a potential problem. I'm happy to say I think I've solved that problem. I'll be posting images soon. If you have been following this work in progress, thank you for your patience. As always, thanks for taking the time to read about my work.

Latest Miniature Art, and Now an Associate Member of MPSGS!

The Time Thief, © Barbara A. Freeman
Graphite and Mixed Media on Film, 2 3/4" x 3 3/4"

This is my latest miniature work, just finished the final fixative coat on it yesterday. Now, it's ready for scanning, then finding or cutting a mat! As you can see, I am still on my crow and clock theme here. Thanks to the Arts Council of Snohomish County for the Of Clocks and Crows Exhibit that I did my work, Finding Time for, I have now done four works with a crow in them. Oh, I forgot, there is a crow in both of my Buddha paintings, but I did those two before the Clocks and Crows show. Still, I love getting inspired with a subject and then having it repeat in more work. It creates a series and allows me to further explore that subject.

This one, still untitled, is done on * Dura-lar Matte film with colored pencil on the underside for the watch and the interior of the tree. The chain and a bit of highlight on the eye and watch were done with acrylic, with a tiny bit of gold. *Check out the review I did on Dura-lar Matte film on the link at Dick Blick.

I love drawing trees, they have so much character and great texture. Just after I completed this, I knew I had to move on, (deadlines, deadlines, deadlines,) and I am now working on a silverpoint miniature continuing the tree with all it's mystery theme. This one though has a rabbit featured in it! Hopefully it will be a successful piece. Silverpoint does not allow you to erase, so you really have to know where you want to put your marks and have them work! So far, it's going well. I'll keep you posted.

More wonderful news... I have been invited to become an Associate Member of the Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers Society of Washington D.C.! (MPSGS) This is the oldest Miniature Art Society in the US (founded in 1931) and is the second oldest in the world! The Royal Society of Miniature Painter, Sculptors and Graver in London, England is the oldest. The membership is by invitation only and decided by a vote of the other members. To be eligible, you have to have exhibited in three annual Society shows or have been awarded a first, second, or third prize at any Society exhibition. I am so honored!

As always, thank you for taking the time to look at my work and read my blog.

Artists' Reception - Of Clocks and Crows - Last Night

Last night Wayne and I went to the artists' reception at the Arts Council of Snohomish County for the Of Clocks and Crows Exhibit in downtown Everett. What a fun and interesting show it was! Crows and clocks were the theme, of course, and as you can imagine, there were many wonderful interpretations. In addition to all the fine artwork, I saw stuffed crows on shoulders, crows as hand puppets, and even a crow perched on a dog wearing wings! There were several pieces I drooled over and if times were different and we had the means, they would be in our collection! Something that puzzles me though, is not having available a list of the participating artists along with the title of their work so that you can remember who did what later. Are shows no longer doing this? Seems the last few shows I've been to, didn't have a list. So, therefore, I don't always remember everyone I met, nor the work that they did.

I did see my friend Janie Olsen and her husband Bill. Janie had two of her magical crow and goat paintings in the show. She introduced me to another artist, Eden Hopkins, who it turned out is actually a follower of this blog! We had never met, so it was fun meeting. Hi Eden! Another coincedence was, like me, Eden used a crow and a sundial in her painting! Nice work too Eden! Eden and Janie will also be in the 6th Annual Arts of Snohomish Exhibit in Snohomish which opened September 1st. That reception will be on Saturday the 12th. So I'll see you two there.

Along with Janie and Eden, I met another artist, Chi Stewart, or Chi Chi as she is known. She did a lovely crow still life with rich dramatic colors and red drapery. She and her son Jason were asking about the surface for my piece, Finding Time. I was trying to explain about the Dura-lar Matte film, so if she gets to read this, she can follow the link. I hope someday to blog about Dura-lar Matte film and how I use it with colored pencil and/or graphite. It's on my to do list.

Another artist I met, Rebecca Roush, did wonderful mixed media beadwork. One of her works was a very large detailed piece, reminding me of a mosaic but with using beads and threads. She even had real crows feet attached to it. I love collecting such things and so I was fascinated as to how she finds them. I liked the way she said she treated the already dead crows and buried them with respect. One of Rebecca's statements on her website is exactly what I say when people tell me I must be a very patient person to do miniatures, or the detailed drawings I do. Rebecca says, " Patience is not a factor. For me, the experience is more like meditating." So true!

I wish I could have taken photos. It was a nice crowd, good food and great flute music. The show will be up from now until October 20th. If you get a chance, be sure to check it out before it flies out the door!

Part Three, "Finding Time", Of Clocks and Crows

I received my acceptance letter this weekend from the Arts Council of Snohomish County, and I'm happy to report that my new graphite drawing, Finding Time has been accepted for the show, Of Clocks and Crows! If you've read my earlier posts on this work, you will remember that I wasn't sure I even made the deadline because it was submitted at 8:30pm that evening via email! This is the first time I've submitted work here and I'm excited. Now all I have to do is get it in the frame. I already have the frame and mat for it, but need to get the glazing. I want to get UV protected, non glare glass. If you live in this area and know of a place that I can get this for a reasonable price, please contact me via Barbara@bfreestudios.com. That would be great!

My friend, Janie Olsen is also very pleased. She entered two works for this exhibit and they are both in! Janie will also have prints of her work available in the gallery store.

The exhibit, Of Clocks and Crows, will be held in the beautiful, historic Monte Cristo Building in downtown Everett, WA at 1507 Wall Street. The show runs from September 3rd thru October 20th. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 10 am to 5 pm, and Saturdays from 11 am to 4 pm. There will be an opening reception on September 3rd from 5 - 8pm. It's a beautiful space and they have great receptions. I'll be there! If you can make it, be sure to say hello, I'd love to meet you!

Part Two, "Finding Time"

After being chained to the table in my studio all weekend, I finally decided to call Finding Time finished! It's been a really close call since yesterday, August 3rd was the deadline! I'm wondering though, since one of the options of submission is by email, if the deadline is by time or date? I declared the work finished by 6:30pm last evening and took it over to my web master's office (husband Wayne) for the scan. One problem, the scanner wouldn't come up!! He's recently done an upgrade for the Macs so now needed to do the same for the scanner drivers. After some minor mutters, sotto voce, he got them installed and the scanner to work. However, then he had to redo all the settings! I stayed out of his office until it got quiet. : )

Finally, after a record breaking heat wave, scanner problems, and lots and lots of graphite foliage and grass, I finally got the email with my info and jpg attachment of my work sent off around 8:30pm! Now all I have to do is hope that it's considered within the deadline. If not, well, it will be ready for the next show!

Submission for an exhibit for the Arts Council of Snohomish County, called, Of Clocks and Crows.

Finding Time, Graphite on Film, 8 1/4" x 10 1/2 "

The First Tale of "Finding Time"

I regret that I have not had time to add to my blog. I have a larger graphite drawing that I am working on that has a deadline of August 3rd. The work was coming along great, no problems, and looking good. Then we had a heat wave and without air conditioning in the house, my studio on the second floor was very uncomfortable, to say the least. It has been difficult to sleep and think. By Wednesday it was 89 degrees downstairs, I can only imagine what it was in my studio. It felt like a sauna! Fortunately, we had a reservation at a hotel* for that night. We packed up and on the way there, the temperature outside was 103! I took my work with me, and was able to work a bit there. Not as much as I would have liked though, lighting in a hotel room is not the best.

Thankfully it has gotten back to normal with a high today predicted to be around 80! Relief! So I've been back busy working again and hoping I will have it finished and ready to submit by the deadline of Monday!!!

Ironically, the title of my work is, "Finding Time"! More to come on this new graphite drawing after I make my deadline!

This is the exhibit I will be submitting to: The Arts Council of Snohomish County is seeking artwork with a clock and/or crow theme for the exhibit: Of Clocks and Crows. The exhibit opens with a reception on September 3 and runs through October 20, 2009. All mediums are invited to participate.

*The hotel stay was one of many gift certificates that were in an awards basket that I won last year from the Lynnwood Arts Commission for the Mellow Yellow Exhibition at the Lynnwood Library Gallery. The piece that won was Seen Better Days