Update early 2015

Happy early 2015!

GALLERY SIX: RAY BROWN OPENING FEBRUARY 6

Ray Brown's a generous guy, which explains why he's okay showing at our scrappy little start-up. He's the kind of painter who makes painting look like a cool thing to do. Here's the official word from the gallery: "gallery SIX proudly displays abstract oil paintings by veteran Vermont artist Ray Brown. Featuring a lovely selection of recent works that draw from the artist's observations of form, light and color while traveling in Florida and Italy. Opening reception February 6, 4-8 pm, showing through March 27, 2015." Full disclosure: Ray Brown happens also to be my employer's husband, but you should view that as "a stroke of good luck for everyone involved," and not "nepotism." Although I suppose that's what nepotism is, seen from the right angle.

SKETCHES IN OIL AT THE SKINNY PANCAKE FEBRUARY-MARCH 2015

Me too me too! I'm showing some paintings of my own around the corner at my old workplace, the Skinny Pancake. Most are imagined landscapes from a fertile week at the Vermont Studio Center back in 2010, but there are a few new things, including maybe a couple of beeswax crayon panel landscapes I did up the hill behind our house. Come to the Art Walk reception on Friday February 6th! And speaking of...

FEBRUARY ART WALK MONTPELIER WILL BE EXTRA SPECIAL

Looks that way, anyway. There are some shows up already that I've been looking forward to-- Nick Neddo, who makes his own tools and materials from scratch using things like bear fur and Japanese knotweed, is showing some excellent ink drawings at the Arts Council; August Burns is showing portraits at the Vermont Supreme Court. And looking at the publicity so far, I'm interested in the local photography showing all over the place, including the gallery at 13 Main Street, the North Branch Cafe, and especially the Washington County Youth Service Bureau's show "through the lens of the Basement Teen Center." Some beautiful work there.

LIFE DRAWING SESSION WEDNESDAY EVENINGS 6 BARRE STREET

It may be because we're in Vermont that it's easier to find people who want to take their clothes off for strangers than it is to find people who want to draw them. But the Life Drawing Sessions are limping happily along regardless. And the good news is, there's plenty of space for you these days! (especially if you want to DRAW, and not to model!) Just show up with $10 and some art supplies, 6:30-8:30 Wednesday nights. We probably have an loaner easel for you if you want.

WEBSITE UPDATED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MONTHS

Kate has a couple of citrus plants in the house that lose every single leaf over the winter. I've been startled every time when, in the spring, enough new leaves pop out to keep them going (though they do seem smaller each time). If you're the person who occasionally visits my website-- and I know you exist, because I get statistic spreadsheets showing a steep change from zero to one!-- I imagine it's a similar surprise when there are new images up. This is your warning: don't be surprised.

ON MY WAY SOMEWHERE

As wonderful as the studio at gallery SIX has been, it's not quite balancing out for me. I'm planning a slow departure for some other, less time- and money-intensive studio (possibly our guest bedroom at home). Not going to slow down my drawing. Going to speed up my taking-of-walks, museum visits, and so on. If you have any ideas about where I should look for nice studio space in Montpelier, feel free to tell me.

Thanks for reading!