Life Changing Events

Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?

It's not often easy,

and it's not often kind,

Did you ever have to finally decide?

Yeah!  I'm a child of the 60's

and I had to finally decide.

 This fun, cute, even spunky little art gallery,

will be closing it's doors for good,

Saturday, December 19.

I know, it's sad, but it is what it is

and I can't make it otherwise.

I've had a really great time though,

teaching many children and adults

all about painting.

I want to thank all  my loyal customers 
for coming into River Run Gallery
and painting, drawing, and shopping
from the bottom of my heart.
I have so appreciated your support and friendship!

The artists in River Run Gallery

will begin to move their art out of the gallery 

on the 18th and 19th,

so,

if there's something you've had your eye on,

NOW would be a really good time to come on it

and get that wrap, purse, photograph, jewelry

or painting.  

All garden stones are 50% off

and all paintings are30% off.

I have a great selection of earrings that are 20% off.

And for those of you who want to learn 

how to paint from the ground up,

I've created an online beginning painting course, with the absolute beginner in mind.

Click HERE to give it a look,

(no obligation, you're just browsing).  

Our website at www.riverrungallery.com

will come down, December 15

and our blog will come down sometime 

before the first of the year.  

But on a happier note, this blog will continue

as I continue painting and creating

and teaching beginning art classes.

I plan on putting together art camps in the summer,

although I'm not sure where,

it might be out at our farm.

And I will continue giving away a painting every single month,

so get your name in the hat by clicking on the link below.

November Painting Giveaway

 

Click Here to Enter for a FREE Painting

Let's not be strangers.

Stop in to see me before we close December 19,

and then,

open up my blog posts or newsletters to see what's going on

in my little corner of the art world.

Finally,

I have some fixtures and signage I'm selling if you're local and 

would like a pretty good deal on it.

Just let me know.

Feeling Vulnerable

Hanging Your Art

For All The World To See!

How nerve wracking is that.

If you're an artist, can you remember the first time you approached a gallery or hung your art for the first time?

I do, and it was nerve wracking.  

River Run Gallery is hosting a Benefit Student Art Show,

where my student artists agreed to hang their art so the public could come in and vote on their favs with their cold hard cash.  

As you can see, many people have come in and put their money where their mouth is.

 

All the art with the large numbers is from students of classes I've taught.
 

 Look at all the varieties of art that has been painted.
 

 It has been so much fun teaching so many people from age 4 to about 82.
Most have never painted before.  
All wanted to learn to paint.
Most were nervous to come and take a class.

They overcame that fear and then they brought their art to hang in a gallery,
have people they might not know look at it and judge it by putting money in a cup with their number on it.

No FEAR there!

 I am so proud of them, their work, and their gutsyness.  (Is that a word?)

  Thank you so much artists,

for overcoming your fear and helping to raise money.

All the money raised from this art show will be given to

Carroll County Animal Support.

They do a tremendous amount of volunteer work for lost, homeless and unwanted animals in Carroll County.

The goal is to raise $150 which will be used to spay one animal.

Congratulations to Darcel Klopp who won one of my calendars and Holly Frye who won three of my note cards.  

There are two categories, adults and children, and the artist who raises the most money in each category receives 5 tubes of acrylic paint, and the second place winners receive a free class.  

Thanks again! 

Flying without a Net

Flying without a Net

Creating art is normally a solitary pursuit.

You work alone for most of the time, sometimes days at a time.

Some people equate it to flying without a net.  

You know what you like,

the colors you like,

the subject you like,

BUT

and that's a pretty big but,

you don't know how your art will be received.

There are no focus groups,

no marketing surveys,

no product analysis

for art.

It is made because the artist has to make it, draw it, paint it, sculpt it, whatever it,

it has to be made.

Having said all that, sometimes you get some validation 

and it feels SO GOOD!

I went to Art in the Garden in Augusta, KY this past weekend

and I had a wonderful time.

 

This framed 10" x 8" acrylic found a forever home.

Here's a link to my facebook page to show Mary with her new hydrangea table.

These are two of the three paintings I did of Augusta scenery.

 

Walls of art.

 

The two paintings in the matts are two acrylic paintings I did on canvas paper.

I matted them and I love the colors in them.

 

 

Forever Pink was painted from a set up I did.

This is a vase I've had for 30-40 years and I love it.

We raise all these flowers.

 

Walls from a distance.  

Talking to lots of people about my art is validating in itself, even if no one else liked it.

But, when you hear great comments it is so good for your artistic soul.

Thank you to everyone who stopped and talked with me.

Thank you Barb Pask for coming the two hours to Augusta, KY.  It was so great to see you.

I'm sorry I missed you Missy and I hope you feel better soon.

I try to have a lot of variety in types and prices of art,

and I did sell 8 of my painted roof slate shingles. 

Art in the Garden has lots of great music, a variety of artists,

and a tremendously beautiful setting.

Art in the Garden, Augusta, KY

Art in the Garden

Augusta, KY

Saturday June 1 from 9-5

This is a really fun one-day art show in Augusta, KY.,

a beautiful small town on the Ohio River.

This is my third year participating in this show

and I hope my friends in and around the 

Bracken County area of Kentucky

will stop by and visit.

I'll be in booth #26 on Riverside Dr.

I've been up in the garden in the past,  but this year I'm on Riverside Dr.

You'll want to stop and see some of my new garden slates

that are made using slate shingles from an old church.

 Hydrangeas, iris, geraniums, daisies and echinaceas are some

 of the flowers featured on these slates.  

They can be hung on small garden flag type shepherds hooks.

They are all different because of the individuality of the slates.

They do have the nail holes in them still.

This is a really unique item.

Stop by and check them out.

See You There!

The Iris Project

The Iris Project

began because I am a former florist and love flowers

and we grow lots of iris I wanted to be able to paint.

That's when the struggle began.

I could not get it right.

But I would not give up!

I'll show you some of the iris I am surrounded by in my yard

 Don't ya love this pink one?

I do!!

This is next to my house and these are the very common blue iris.

They grow really thick together and the good news, they don't let weeks come up in there.

This color does not show up well here, but they have a beautiful iridescent color near the center.

 

This is a little better look at the above iris, but it still doesn't show its true beauty.

     This is almost a marbled one of deep blue and white.

I have another blue and white one that hasn't opened up yet.

It's no wonder I'm so fascinated with them.

I have also been working on improving my drawing abilities so I did this drawing of an iris hoping to get a better handle on painting them.

I was not unhappy with my effort to draw an iris with some realistic qualities.

On to painting one.

In my next exercise I gave myself 10 minutes to get something on a damaged panel.

I wasn't concerned about the background either.

Just get something on this panel that looks more like an iris and less like a kindergarten project

.

Again, I was not unhappy with this effort, especially since I got it on there in the allotted 10 minutes.

So on to my roof slates, which is where I was going with all this effort.

I wanted to paint irises on some of these slates that I would want to have.

I'm happy!

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Need A Roof?

No need to check with your insurance company for this roof.

I love taking one thing and turning it into something else. 

Turning a a headboard into a bench. . .

Record rack into a night stand. . .

Old shirt into pajamas. . .

Old sweater into hat, mittens, and gloves . . .

I can't stand for good things to go to waste.

That's how this next project got started.

I made some garden stones out of recycled porch tiles.

Click here to view a post about them.

A fellow artist at Gallery 104 had access to some old roof slates

and had seen my garden stones, so she thought of me.

 

These are old roof slates, you can see the nail holes in the top third,

They have been sealed, painted, and varnished with at least 3 coats of an outdoor varnish.

I thought they could be attached to a type of shepherd's hook for flags.

They would look so good near a front door or in a flower garden.

I will be taking them to Art in the Garden in Augusta, KY. June 1.

You can see  all the mineral deposit colors each slate.

None are exactly the same size, thickness or color.

They are true one of a kinds.

 

Echinaceas.

Love these, although the colors of two of these photos is not very good.

I only took about 30 pics and couldn't get these guys happy.

 The one below and the geraniums give an accurate look of all the stones.

Hydrangeas

Love hydrangeas with all their many shades of blue and pink and cream.

There will be more.

Be on the lookout.

$30 each

not available for shipping.

Might see them at the Farmer's Market or First Friday this year.

Day 3

Anyone who follows me on fb know I love Becky Joy's art and particularly her skies.

I've been working on skies so I went to her blog and read several of her tips posts.

On one she said to play with the paint, the brush, the thickness and thinness of the paint and to not worry about knowing exactly where you are going.

I took her advice to heart and this is what showed up on my board today.

The sky was a ball as I used the colors she says are in every sky, purple, blue, green and white and I think she also said red.

I knew I wanted some whispy clouds so I just kept scrubbing to get them and then I started putting in the most distant mountains, and then I worked on the closest distant mountains.

Finally I added the foreground.

A fun day of learning and painting.

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Oldham Fine Art Show and some of what you missed.

Oldham Fine Art Show this past weekend.

Here is my booth.

I sold two paintings and three garden stones

so not too bad.

I shared a booth with Rebecca Burke who makes beautiful hand sewn and hand bound journals.  

If you'd like to have one custom made contact her at 

Lebeckish.com

or 

RebeccaJBurke@gmail.com

Robbie Mueller is a folk artist and he also shows at Gallery 104 in LaGrange, KY.

This is his booth and you can see his work at 

www.folkartkentucky.com.

It is fabulous, hilarious and ingenious.

Here are several of Robbies pieces.

It's all 3D sculpture and sculpted pics.

Below is Tom and Mary Kinney.

They also show at Gallery 104 and own their own studio in LaGrange

further down on Main Street.

Tom does some super metal jewelry and photography and

Mary does some wonderful mixed media paintings.

you can purchase their work at 

etsy.com/shop/kinneystudio

Ann Klem is another Gallery 104 artist who does some fabulous glass works and glass jewelry.

Check her out at AnnKlemReflections.com

This is another vendor, Denise Conley, with beautiful Alpaca items.

Bluebonnets and Bluegrass Alpaca Farm

www.bluealpacas.com

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New Garden Stones

Had entirely tooooo much fun painting these new garden stones.

Blue Hydrangeas

Echinaceas

Fall Fence Row

Fraternal Twin Hydrangeas

Group Hug

Here's a group photo

Happy Daisies

Pumpkin Patch 1

Pumpkin Patch 2

Snow Covered Pines

Triple Threat of Hydrangeas

Contact me if you're interested in any of these.

I'm going to a show at Camp Ernst Middle School in Burlington, KY.

Great Christmas gifts.

Garden Stone Types

Option 1Triple Hydrangea w/ Welcome on Top Option 2 Echinacea Option 3 Daisies Option 4 Fall Tree w/Fence Option 5 Double Hydrangea Option 6Triple Hydrangea w/Welcome on side Option 7 Pumpkins w/Welcome on Top Option 8 Pumpkins w/Welcome on side Option 9 Snow covered Pine Trees Option 10 Fall Tree w/Path

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