Summer - Full Steam Ahead

Memorial Day weekend - hard to believe we are at the "gateway to summer" already. In some ways I feel like spring just got going, though as I look back over the last few months they were incredibly full. Thought I'd do a little updating on what's been happening before the "gateway to fall" sneaks up on me.

In March I got the good news that I have been selected for one of the Artist-In-Residencies at the Forest Hills Fine Art Center for the 2012-2013 season. As of this posting the dates haven't been determined yet, but am really excited to be part of this program. My work will be on display at the Fine Art Center for about a month and as part of the program I will be doing a teaching component for the Forest Hills Public Schools.
www.fhfineartscenter.com/ArtsEducation.html

At the end of April, I was invited to be part of the Art In Bloom Event at the Grand Rapids Art Museum for an afternoon of plein aire painting in the museum, along with three other artists. At the end of the afternoon our paintings were donated to the museum for a silent auction benefitting the GRAM's education department. This was the first time the GRAM had hosted the event with artists working within the museum and it was fabulous to be painting just around the corner from my favorite painting in the GRAM - Diebenkorn's Ingleside.

Continuing with the theme - literally and figuratively. After the Art in Bloom Event, I went back to the Studio and made a couple of paintings based on the Floral arrangement I used at the GRAM. One of the paintings was submitted to the Festival Regional Arts Competition, where it won the Van Maarseveen/Timermanis Award.



The middle of the month of May brought with it a trip to Cross Village for a workshop with Abstract Painter Ken Kewley. Ken is an amazingly rare and gifted individual. Spending time with him is a bit like spending time with a zen master of color and abstraction. Fortunately for me, right after the workshop I was able to head directly for Glen Arbor for a week where I could assimilate some of the information/ideas Ken presented. Not much time was spent making finished art this trip, but lots of drawing and color notes. It was a beautiful time to be up north. The orchards, forsythias and the trillium were just waking up so the landscape was full on with color.

Enough catching up for now - the Farmer's Market and the studio are calling....