new cat series

I've been working on these little guys for my friend.  Having had a special kitty many years ago, I appreciate what he means to her.  She's chosen the first one but the other 2 are for sale and I already sold 2 others before I had a chance to scan them.  I didn't know kitty pictures were so popular!

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The other day I hung my work at Harris Ave Cafe (Next door to Tony's Coffee)

I love Fairhaven (Bellingham). I could hang out there every day. It's beautiful and diverse and fun and scenic and they have gelato.

I've had a few cafe shows and the logistics of hanging are always challenging. This is the first time I used monofilament. Some of the screws the work hangs from are facing down. As in from the ceiling-like. This would seem to make gravity a problem but it worked out. The coffee shop was open but the cafe was closed. I prefer closed because I hate asking people to move so I can hang my work when they're just trying to enjoy their coffee or get some work done themselves.

Well, it's up, thanks to my assistant who checked for level while I was on the ladder so I didn't have to climb up and down that many more times. Phew!

So, go get a cup of local joe and check out my show.

http://www.harrisavecafe.com/

http://www.maryquintrall.com/

My garden is usually teeming with poppies in June but this year something went wrong. Maybe it was the weather. Maybe my chickens ate them. (Because that happens. I have to wrap my pretty garden in not-so-pretty chicken wire for most of the summer and since summer was late this year, so was I.) But I did get a few plants sprung up and one of them is very happy and not even in the usual garden. It jumped the walk and planted itself in the most inhospitable thing that could be a flower bed it could possibly find. It had been a volcanic-rock-covered, no-respectable-plant-would-grow-roots-here kind of spot, but I'm glad the poppies found a home there. The sun hits it from the opposite direction as the usual garden and the light can be very dramatic. As it is my custom, I wanted to get some poppies painted this summer and summer was slipping away. This one started out with grey background and red poppies placed with authority. Sometimes you have to boss a painting around. Then came the blues and yellows, which together, of course, made green. I scratched in some stems and splashed in some light. It must have worked because it sold the first time I showed it. (thanks to my buyer!) Selling a piece its first time out made me feel like I know what I'm doing at least some of the time. Note to artists afraid to show your work: hardly anyone ever says if they don't like something. Showing your work is the best experience to keep you showing. As Nike says, just do it.

Spring flowers

It's tulip time in Skagit county. Tulip festival means fun events like art shows and the street fair, which is my favorite event. (It was awsome this year as always-Someday I may participate and not just shop!) It also means art at the Winery. tulipvalley.net This is a co-op show, which means the artists are the workers. Not in the winery, they have their own learned staff.

The sun is out and with it brings the fresh colors of spring. It's been blue and grey for a really long time, which usually doesn't bother me. I like blue. But it's been a reeeaaalllly long time. I long for the hot colors of the tulip fields when the sun beats down on the flowers and you can spot the red and yellow ribbons on the landscape from miles away. Of course come August, I'll be complaining it's too hot, but we'll save that for August. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the bright spots in the weather, which actually make the downpours more enjoyable too. There is literal light at the end of the figurative tunnel.

And the Winery show goes on! It's been extended past the end of April through Mother's day and if all goes well, will be open weekends through the end of May as well.

I hung a cafe show yesterday. It's my second self hung show. The first one was so easy, aside from the nerves of being the first. This one. .Well, let me tell you what I learned.

1. When you scout the space, measure and check the hanging system thouroughly, and count the hangers.

2. Small paintings look miniscule on large walls.

3. Bring more tools and tape, wire, museum putty than you can imagine needing.

I'm so thankful I had help. It was so awkward working around people trying to relax in their favorite spot. I felt like a complete jerk when I asked someone to not sit there as I was just about to get that corner done. It took 2 hours because I didn't know enough about the hanging system and had a whole different arrangement in mind. Well, it's up and it was a learning experience. I also learned that I can take critisism without feeling too badly about it. An old man said to me he found one of my paintings "irritating". I'm not sure what he meant, except that he didn't like it. And I'm okay with that.

Winter has been fun around my house. The birds are so active if you just feed them a little bit. We've been putting out peanuts and mixed seeds and then we sit back and watch the sillyness. I'll be hanging my collection of small bird paintings as well as pieces from other collections at the Mount Vernon (WA) food Co-Op February 1st. Come by for a cup of their yummy soup or a latte. My paintings will be there through the month.

Plein Air painting

So, I went out and painted in public for really the first time. I mean, I've painted in public but sort of incidentally. The point of this outing was actually to paint in public. The event is called Plein Air Paint Out, organized by Trish Harding of Studio UFO in Bellingham.

Now, in case you're an artist considering an event like this, go for it! How liberating to know people are going to look at and judge your work and there's nothing you can do about it. It's done. And you know what, it doesn't hurt so much. I actually got a lot of nice comments and really, who's going to say something mean to your face. And realistically, no matter how accomplished an artist you are, you aren't going to appeal to everyone all the time anyway.

Over the next several weeks, I'll be tweeking and trying to perfect the paintings I started. Perfection is always just out of reach, but we must reach for it. The show starts November 5 and I'm excited to know at least one of my canvases will be hanging at the Blue Horse gallery for most of the month. I'll be there for the opening night, I hope you will too.

Hop over to www.maryquintrall.com and join my mailing list to get info and reminders!