Recent Exhibits and Events

August was the busiest month of my life for exhibits. The last week of August I had art in four different exhibits. Two of those exhibits are now over and the Hopkins exhibit will be up until September 15. Here is a run down of what happened and what is soon to happen.

Minnesota State Fair My painting Grassy Island Rocks won First Place in the Oils/Acrylics and Mixed Media category. It was very fun to receive this award and I am honored as the Fair exhibit is very competitive – Minnesota has a lot of great artists. I received many congratulations via my social media, at work, and it is always fun to stand in front of your work and hear people ooh and aah and say nice things. For what its worth, for ten days I could claim I was the best painter in Minnesota.

Backus Center for the Arts, International Falls This was a one week exhibit at the Art Center located in International Falls, MN. It was an exhibit with photographers Mary Ludington and Karen McCall and was part of an outreach initiative by the Ernest C. Oberholtzer Foundation. The whole enchilada was put together by singer Prudence Johnson. The exhibit ended Friday night with a performance at the art center by Prudence, Claudia Schmitt, Kevin Kling, Dan Chouinard,, Doug Wood, Marian Moore and Winona LaDuke. The evening included some wonderful music, funny stories and a lot of laughs. It was a hoot spending the week prior to the performance at Mallard Island with this group of people. We did some reminiscing about the 1980's, talked art and creativity, ate great food, played some cribbage and enjoyed hanging out in an idyllic historic northwoods setting. The Friday night boat ride back to the island after the performance including a stunning display of Northern Lights that were in the sky and reflecting on the lake - it was magical!

Edible/Inedible, Hopkins Center for the Arts August 15 - September 15, 2019 The opening for this exhibit was well attended and it was very enjoyable seeing people's responses to my food paintings. The opening was during what is basically the Hopkins Art Crawl. There were a lot of people and events happening in the art center and along Main Street There were youth dance performances and I liked that many of the kids made their parents stop to look at my paintings of food. Nothing like a plate of Oreos to get a kid's attention. The exhibit has been well received, I hear people are appreciating the humor in the work, and will be up through September 15, 2019.

Reveal Prior to the Hopkins exhibit I had a reveal of the work at my studio. This was an opportunity for people to see and purchase any work before it became public. This opportunity was only granted to my newsletter recipients and a handful of invited guests. This is the first time I offered this type of event and was very pleased with the response. There was a steady trickle of people and toward the end of the three hour event there were 15 – 20 people in my studio talking art, chatting with friends (new and old) and enjoying some home-made biscuits (cookies) and wine and beer. The energy was really inspiring. I was having so much fun I forgot to take a picture to share here. I will be offering similar events in the future.

Upcoming Event: Saint Paul Art Crawl

The weekend of October 11 – 13, my studio will be open for the Saint Paul Art Crawl. Come on by and see some new work and, as always --- come by and see my work in person instead of on a small screen. You will be happy you did.

Whew - and that's all the updates on exhibits and events!