Art Alive Day 1

On Monday morning Bobbi Powell from the Riverside Art Museum called in a panic to let me know that some of the florist were not going to be able to do the show. She was so upset and was trying to figure out how to use all the paintings and fill the 2 large galleries in the museum. A friend had suggested that the paintings without flowers could have poetry painted on the walls either above or below and that since it was a French theme it would tie in. So she wanted to know if I could gather up some Plein Air artists and come help. I told her I would do what I could, but painting on walls was a lot different than painting outside, we laughed. I got on the phone and started calling. What a great group. Sharon Suhovy said she actually had the day off and would go over and start painting. The next day Pat Ford, Luz Perez, Rita Pacheco, Joan Coffey, Susan Dearmond and myself went over and finished up. It looked great and we were all laughing that now we could add another style of painting to our accomplishments. On Thursday Louise Smith, Luz Perez and myself met at the museum to start painting. I walked around looking at the different exhibits and found this lovely exhibit near the corner of the room. I knew the galleries would be full that afternoon and especially in the evening as it was Art's Walk and that usually brings in a crowd even with a regular exhibit. With the reception for the Artists and the Florists I figured there would be a lot of people and I was right! I felt if I were backed in a corner I would have less chance of anyone falling over my easel and knocking my painting off. When I started the painting I asked myself if I were crazy. This was quite a difficult task to paint not only were there different elevations, glass and water but also mirrored images to tie it all in. But I liked the corner and decided to do my best. When I finished I was amazed and very pleased with my accomplishment. The people started to flow in and I was getting a little antsy so decided to push my easel up towards the wall and work on something smaller. That is the second painting you see at the top. The display on this particular wall took up 4 large paintings (see photo below), a display that practically reached to the ceiling. I took a portion of arrangement and painted it on a 5 x 7 canvas. I just loved the variation of color. After becoming exhausted from a full day of painting, we left to go home as we had to be back the next morning by 10 a.m. We were allowed to leave our easels set up, so that made it easier on us coming back the next morning. Parking is at a premium around the gallery on most days and with Art Alive and the Plein Air painters it was hard to find parking. Pictured below are two of my friends Luz Perez and Louise Smith with their paintings. It was a great first night, lots of compliments and lots of friends visited the gallery.