This past Friday I attended a reception for a benefit at USF's School of Law. They had accepted my painting, "Relearning to Fly" for the show benefiting a shelter for Domestic Violence victims. The only second show I've attended but I'm assuming because of the venue being full of lawyers, there was live music, a full spread of hot and cold appetizers and dessert and of course wine and beverages. Either that, I'm easily impressed. I am not yet comfortable with this type of venue, but I'm sure it will get easier soon.
I was looking at an edition of Southwest Art magazine and was intrigued with the style of artist John Nieto. These two paintings are my homage to him. The top is of "Lone Bear" and the other is "Stars Come Out".
They are both 12x12 on gallery wrapped canvas.
click for a larger view
26 comments:
Oh my goodness.... so good to see you on the international painters blog!! Your doing great... thanks for always dropping by.
Your always powerful brushwork and strongly chromatic palette add a great deal of strength to these remarkable paintings. Nice job!
Sheila, your successes are impressive and you will have many more opportunities to get comfortable with these venues!
I like your tribute to John Nieto and I agree, I like his work. Your pieces are uniquely yours, while honoring his design concepts.
Congrats on having your work accepted......yay!!!
Love your new works. I've always enjoyed the work of John Nieto. Love his use of colors....of course. Glad you liked him!
Sheila! "Relearning to fly" is symbolism at its best!
You are a true artist. I'm moved beyond words from this! Wow!
These Native American paintings
show your interest and ability to
try new things. Very Good!!
As far as the art receptions, I'd rather go to'em than have'em.
I get awkward in groups or crowds.
It's the art I tend to focus on at these events, everyone is fun, and haveing a good time.. I just get choked up with emotion because of it all and head for the door.
I grab a couple of breaths of fresh air and head back in. To me it's artists putting their hearts on display. Bold task to do!
I'm in awe of how much work you do!! These paintings are beautiful. I don't know John Nieto's work- or maybe I do and just don't realize it- but thank you for the education. Congratulations on your continued success. WELL DESERVED!!
Good for you on the show! Great cause... I saw some of John Nieto's work in Montana. Your work certainly has the colors and feel, but still show you in them. Nice.
Sheila--your painting with wings is really beautiful--and it looks so good where they placed it. You have to be pleased that they did such a nice job with displaying the work. When I first started painting all the receptions were somewhat disconcerting. Over time I have gotten somewhat inured of them. What I DO like is on occasion someone from the internet comes up to me and "knows" me from my blog! That is totally cool! I'm only inured to the hub-bub, not the people! I guess receptions are a necessary evil of being an artist. Your work after J. Nieto is strong! I think you like clean strong design...so do I!
Hi Sheila,
Wow, the colours and brush handling here is powerful and speaks volumes.
I have awarded you a little sunshine ... go to my blog and see. And please don't feel obligated to do anything with what you find... but I do hope it puts a smile on your face.
Nicki
Sheila,
Love the Native American theme. Recently, my daughter and I returned from Colorado. We saw a lot of Native American art/craftwork.
I read your updated profile and it's fascinating how you have moved around in your life. Is it hard to keep in touch with family in Japan? What a joy that you can focus your life on the positive. I try to do that to.
"Relearning to Fly" is a powerful piece. I went thru to look at the progression that got you to this beauty on display. I'm glad you were able to work thru the darkness and found yourself in the light. Just wonderful!
Your interpretations of Nieto's work are neato! (sorry, somebody had to do it...) No really, they are a well done tribute to his work. Great job!
-Don
These two portraits are gorgeous, Sheila! You have captured the serious look of men who treasure honor and dignity above all else. That seems something that would be hard to paint and yet you've done it beautifully! Well done, darlin'!
What wonderful intense vibrant portraits. I love your color choice and the expressions on their faces. You are really developing a "signature style" that shows up in your works.
I understand about feeling uncomfortable at art shows. I suppose it gets easier with time. I don't think people realize how hard it is to put our creations out there to be analyzed and judged. And each creation is a little piece of ourselves. It sounds like a great show though..music, art, and food...can't beat it! Congrats!
I love how you paint people, Sheila! Congrats on your show, and I'm sure time will make you as comfortable with the shows as you are with creating the art!
great color work Sheila.
Your homage came out wonderful.
Oh dang, can't believe you can just do a "style" like that, easypeasy. Although, honestly outside of palette considerations your normal painting style is not THAT different from Nieto. Always a pleasure to see your latest happs!
Your art is wonderful Shelia, and it has changed so much over the past year. It will be interesting to see where you go with it next year. I agree with you about the receptions. I rarely enter art anymore as most of my sales come from the internet. Just call me lazy.
Have been unplugged in to the computer and missed Morgan and Emilee! Beautiful Morgan is special, but Emilee must have been a total hit with her parents!
Now, as for your work being accepted - Absolutely Wonderful! Well done!! Yaaaay (as you Americans say!) Big Hugs.
Congratulations, Sheila for being accepted for the benefit. Sounds like a good cause. I just had a piece featured in a domestic violence benefit too - I'm so glad our art can help.
I love the title "Relearning to Fly" - and the painting is great - it is moving. Hugs, Judy
So cool to have your work accepted and shown! And it looks terrific too in the picture you show. So Proud of You! Thanks for turning us on to John's paintings, I love southwestern paintings and my favorite is American Indians.
Sheila, can you talk more about the opening? I am curious about your feelings about it.....
Congrats on the show, Sheila! Great paintings too!
Thanks for the question Tracey. I don't know how I feel about it besides it being a new experience and I consider it another opportunity to learn about openings. I'll just walk you through my night.
There was a check-in and I told them I was one of the contributing artists. They gave me a plastic encased name tag with "Artist" under my name. Actually this was a good reason for many people to ask me about which was my piece so I got a little practice talking about the painting.
The Dean of Law gave a speech about how important it is for lawyers to keep a connection with the community and continue to give back to society. There was a live poetry reading and live song which was part of the live performance competition.
Visitors were able to vote by ballet for their favorite piece and the winner received a $50 prize. Over all the show raised over $1,000 dollars for the Women's shelter. I guess the one thing I was surprised with were the pieces and sculptures that were 6-8 years old and it was a stretch for me to link the connection to the theme of domestic violence.
Beaucoup de force. Très beau travail.
Hey well done Sheila, that must have been a nice day! Nice characters in the paintings I will check out John Nieto)
Sheila!
I especially like "Stars come out"! The bold colors remind me of Pop Art.
It looks very much like a fully painted page from a graphic novel!
Neat!!
Very illustrative for sure.
-Dean
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