Art in the Dark Fundraiser at the Witte Museum this Friday

A little over a week ago while driving down Broadway Street here in San Antonio, I saw a large banner hanging across the street that said, "Art in the Dark" at the Witte Museum. Of course, I Googled it immediately to find that an art auction to benefit the children's program for Lighthouse for the Blind was being held on the 14th of June. I thought of the painting above entitled, "Peonies in the Dark" and wanted to donate it to the event. Nancy Lipton, replied to my email and was gracious enough to accept my painting. What a dedicated, enthusiastic woman she is! She articulated her love of her work as the Director of Public Relations for Lighthouse for the Blind and how the event at the museum would unfold. The artwork that is 3 dimensional will be draped and bidders at the silent auction will only be allowed to "feel" the work of art underneath the drape. Work like mine, that is a painting, will not be draped. What a fascinating, fun idea!
The event kicks off at 6:30, is open to the public and tickets for this event are 25.00 per person. I know that this will be a fun and entertaining evening for all involved and for such a good cause!

Also, the Mercury Project, where my new studio is located, will be having an art opening on Friday, June 21st at 6 pm. Lars Hundere will have his work featured at the show called "Found Language/Cursive Words".  I have seen one of Lars' paintings and they are so very interesting and like nothing I have seen before. Antonia Richardson, Cindy Palmer, Louis Trevino, Kim Bishop and I will have work featured in the front galleries as well. Since I am new to all of this, I can only say that Antonia has told me that the gallery is jumping; people and food and drink and music are all happening! The show lasts from 6-9 and the Mercury Project is located at 538 Roosevelt Avenue in San Antonio.

If you would like to know more about the Mercury Project, you can find them on facebook or go to the http://mercuryproject.net.

I am still taking it all in and haven't really been doing much painting as it seems to be taking forever to get settled in.  I can only say that living here is so very different from Virginia, the people here are wonderfully friendly, it has been hot as the dickens and I can't wait to learn more about this city. My desire about my work seems to be the same...every time I see something beautiful or interesting, I just want to paint it. I know that the act of studying something carefully and then painting it, somehow makes in "mine" and that it then becomes embedded within me forever. So, the different trees here, the hill country, the HUGE sky and the Mission Concepcion that I saw on Sunday are all things that I want to paint. I don't care if every artist in town has painted this mission or not, I loved its cool walls; ancient, pale frescoes; and majestic presence. I've put a picture below and hopefully will paint it soon.