exhibitions update:

the impressionists: master paintings from the art institute of chicago
kimbell art museum fort worth, texas
june 29 through november 2

rembrandt's etchings: the embrace of darkness and light
chrysler museum of art norfolk, virginia
now through august 17

el greco to velazquez: art during the reign of philip III
museum of fine arts, boston boston, massachusetts
now through july 27

it seems artist are being “ripped off” by art scam emails. any artist new to the internet approach to selling their pieces is a highly likely target. i, myself, just learned about this through artnewsblog.com. the following list of scammers (arranged alphabetically by their first name) was posted by the art news blog and they ask that you please send the name & email of any other art scam emails you might receive, to be posted on their blog . . .

claire - clairepinkii@jojomail.com
claire pink - clairepink@fastmail.co.uk
crewford - shiper@myway.com
dave frank - free4allwe@yahoo.com
garritt miller - m_garritt01@yahoo.com
george craige - gcraige108@yahoo.com
janet rumsey - janet_rumsey75@yahoo.com
jessica - kelvinjessica777@yahoo.com
johnson mark - johnson_mark_arts01@yahoo.com
lisa benson - lisaben100@googlemail.com, lisa_benson10@yahoo.com and lisaben100@yahoo.com
nicole roane - nic_ane01@yahoo.com
precious - precious_llyod@jojomail.com
raymond hyslop - anitagatlin1010@Yahoo.com and remystore333@yahoo.com
robert cole - robert.cole81@yahoo.com
sandra haddock -
sandra williams - sandrawills_sandrawills@yahoo.com
susan cutter -
swane mackerel - swanemackerel@gmail.com
tina brown - tina_brown100@yahoo.co.uk

current exhibitions around the states

rhythms of modern life: british prints 1914-1939
museum of fine arts, boston
through june 1, 2008

great expectations: aristocratic children in european portraiture
columbus museum of art, columbus ohio
through june 8, 2008

quilts in a material world: selections from the winterthur collection
saint louis art museum, st. louis missouri
through may 26, 2008

impressionist giverny: american painters in france, 1885-1915 selections from the terra foundation for american art
florence griswold museum, old lyme connecticut
through july 27, 2008

vantagepoint VII - jiha moon: turbulent utopia
the mint museum of art, charlotte north carolina
through july 6, 2008

"artist today think of everything they do as a work of art. it is important to forget about what you are doing . . . then a work of art may happen." andrew wyeth

happy mother's day!

"blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing" camille pissarro

current exhibitions:

wifredo lam in north america
miami art museum, miami florida
through may 18, 2008

great masters of cuban art: 1800-1958
museum of arts and sciences, daytona beach florida
through september 1, 2008

color as field: american painting, 1950-1975
smithsonian american art museum, washington d.c.
through may 26, 2008

jasper johns: gray
the metropolitan museum of art, new york new york
through may 4, 2008

roman art from the louvre
seattle art museum, seattle washington
through may 11, 2008

rhythms of india: the art of nandalal bose (1882-1966)
san diego museum of art, san diego california
through may 18, 2008

from winslow homer to edward hopper: american watercolor masterpieces from the brooklyn museum
taft museum of art, cincinnati ohio
through may 11, 2008

british artist, david hockney, has gifted the tate museum with his largest painting to date . . . “bigger trees near warter”. the painting is around 40 feet by 15 feet consisting of 50 panels depicting an actual setting called “warter”, not a misspelling of the word “water”.

“i thought if i’m going to give something to the tate i want to give them something really good. it’s going to be here for a while. i don’t want to give things i’m not proud of.” hockney also said “i feel loyal to the tate. more artists should donate. they should think about it. you can’t quite trust collectors who say they’ll give to the tate and often don’t.”

"when i have a terrible need of - shall i say the word - religion. then i go out and paint the stars."
vincent van gogh

i recently became part of an incredibly kind, generous, & creative family . . . artbreak

artbreak.com is a website for artists & art lovers to share with each other and sell their work. i have never been one to be part of a social group, nor have i ever felt a place in the art world, but zack (the founder) has given something very special in his gesture. words can not express how i have been touched, but one thing does pop to mind . . . inspiration.

"to be an artist you have to give up everything, including the desire to be a good artist."

jasper johns

amsterdam’s rijksmuseum, the museum housing the artwork of vermeer, rembrandt, van gogh, and other dutch masters, is closed until at least 2012. the museum was originally scheduled to reopen this year, after being closed several years ago for renovations, but cost conflicts with the contractor have caused major delays. there are, however, a limited number of pieces available for viewing in one of its wings.

one of cuba’s supreme exemplar of naïf painting (a naive, simplistic, childlike style), ruperto jay matamoros, passed away in havana just one month before his 96^th birthday. the national plastic arts laurate and national visual arts prize winner in 2000 was buried in his home town of san luis, in eastern santiago de cuba.

matamoros started creating on canvas at an early age with expressions of what he saw in the local landscape, the flora and fauna, and the people that lived in the countryside. however, it wasn’t until later in life when he finished his duties as a driver, plumber, gardener, messenger, and interior decorator, did his artistic talent truly blossom.

among the shows that propelled him to fame were the exhibition of watercolors and sculptures shown at the ministry of justice and the prize he achieved at the national museum of fine arts in 1964, the personal exhibition of his works at the havana gallery in 1965, and the successful emergence of his paintings at the 2nd triennial of naif art in bratislava and the grenoble biennial (france) in 1969.

according to the newly released annual list of the most popular museums in the world, art newspaper registers the first place to the louvre in paris. the most popular exhibition was at the tokyo national museum in japan. drawing the most attention at the exhibition was leonardo da vinci’s painting “annunciation”, which was on loan from the uffizi gallery in florence.

the top 20 most popular art museums in the world as compiled by art newspaper are:

louvre, paris
centre pompidou, paris
tate modern, london
british museum, london
metropolitan museum of art, new york
national gallery of art, washington
vatican museums, vatican city
national gallery, london
musee d’orsay, paris
museo nacional del prado, madrid
national palace museum, taipei
victoria and albert museum, london
state hermitage museum, st petersburg
kelvingrove art gallery and museum, glasgow
museum of modern art, new york
field museum, chicago
tokyo national museum, tokyo
caxiaforum barcelona, barcelona
moscow kremlin museums, moscow
museum of fine arts, houston

to africa with love

the world of contemporary art showed its heart with a special valentine’s day auction which raised more than $40 million to help fight aids in africa. the red auction, organized by bono, damien hirst, sotheby’s, and gagosian gallery, brought together leading contemporary artists from around the world, each donating major works to auction for the cause.

the auction was set in motion with an “a capella” version of “all you need is love” sung by bono of u2. renowned english artist, damien hirst, can add the title of “philanthropist” to his credits . . . he gave seven works which garnered almost $20 million, as well as being influential in gathering so many other notable artists to contribute their artwork.

the experience touched each artist in ways never imagined. as for hirst, “it’s an amazing result, it’s not sunk in yet but it just shows you what you can do if you put your mind to it. i’m never going to be cynical ever again for a while. a big thank you and a million out of ten for all the artists who gave something. we've helped to change the world a little bit.”

composer inspired by artist’s letters

composer michael gordon was so moved emotionally by vincent van gogh’s letters to his brother, theo, that he wrote a suite of music. van gogh communicates the artist’s confession of “emotions and encounters that I wouldn’t want to admit to myself”, in six tracks corresponding to individual periods in van gogh’s life. “hague 2” developed from letters about his struggle to persevere in the face of criticism . . . the energetic “aries” was created out of his life in france when the artist was painting as many as three canvases a day . . . the final track “st. remy”, is named for the asylum to which vincent, with theo’s support, admitted himself in 1889. “instead of chaos of the asylum, i sense a certain peace” in these letters, says gordon. “he knows he’s become a painter, even if that’s not recognized by anyone else.”

early 1930's havana's malecon

the montreal museum of fine arts is hosting an exhibition entitled “cuba: art and history from 1868 to today”. this is the first time the north has received so many works that tell the visual arts history of such an amazing country like cuba. more than a 100 paintings and posters, 200 photographs and documents, sculptures, mechanisms, videos, film excerpts, and music embrace the exhibition with works loaned by havana’s museum of fine arts, the cuban photographic library, and other cultural institutions on the island, as well as the new york museum of modern art.

a hummingbird who beeps with his feathers

a hummingbird, so small, such a tiny anatomy, how could it send out anything but a soft & quiet sound . . . the exception, the male anna's hummingbird, which researchers have just determined produces a loud chirp with its unusually shaped tail feathers. the sound fills the western american skies during the mating season, as they dive from heights of 100 feet or more spreading their tapered, narrow-tipped outer tail feathers at the swoop's depth. in that moment, the feathers act like a clarinet reed, with the wind singing the single note. the frequency of the sound is nearly four octaves above middle c, the highest key on the piano, and has been expressed by observers to the flight like a beep, chirp, or whistle.

"it is the eye of ignorance that assigns a fixed and unchangeable color to every object; beware of this stumbling block."
paul gauguin

the wooden zoo of cuba

the author, roberto fabret, seems to have an artistic talent as well. he has been altering fallen trees of oak and honduran mahogany, which are both destroying the sidewalk pavement and precariously leaning over apartment buildings in the eastern city of bayamo, into sculpted wooden animals. while living in the sierra maestra mountain range, he dexterously began his carving of animals with small pieces of wood. to create his zoo, he has been using a chisel and hammer. an amusement park built in the surroundings of the jesus manandez district of bayamo, cuba attracts locals bringing their children to be in awe of this original wooden zoo.

"i dream a lot. i do more painting when i'm not painting. it's in the subconscious." andrew wyeth

blog of the day
http://www.ekin-art.blogspot.com

i met elizabeth when i worked at the art supply house in colorado . . . actually, we got acquainted as i was bringing paintings in to the store to be framed. not only is she an exceptional spirit inside, her paintings express that same beauty outwardly. liz and her boyfriend sam (an accomplished photographer turned painter) just spent time abroad being inspired by the countrysides of italy and france. hopefully, we will start seeing some of what they experienced on canvas.

a group consisting of six czech artists called ztohoven, face possible prison time after being accused of scare mongering and propagating false information. in june of 2007, the group hacked into a czech republic television tower and replaced images of a live weather broadcast with a nuclear explosion going off in the czech countryside.

The ztohoven group released a statement on their myspace page . . . “we are neither a terrorist organization nor a political group, our aim is not to intimidate the society or manipulate it, which is something we witness on daily basis both in the real world and in the world created by the media…we hope our action will become an appeal for the future and remind the media of their duty to bring out the truth.”

"a well-spent day brings happy sleep"
leonardo da vinci

have a glorious new year and all the days thereafter!

take a midnight stroll or ski this christmas eve for a view of a full moon shining down from the skies at a height which won’t be reached for another sixteen years. more astonishing will be mars, just to the west of the moon, which will be extraordinarily bright with a golden glow. the red planet’s shine is due to it being exactly lined up with the sun & earth, fairly near, and a full face lit up when viewed from earth.

. . . merry christmas and a glorious new year . . .

Yesterday morning, thieves broke into the Sao Paulo Museum of Art in Brazil, a heist lasting only three minutes being captured by security cameras. Stolen was “Portrait of Suzanne Bloch”, painted by Picasso in 1904 during his Blue Period and is among the most valuable pieces in the museum’s collection.

"all art is abstract, because art is an abstraction of truth."
milford zornes, turning 100 years old in january . . .
and still painting

Adoring the Art of London

Present day London is blossoming with the fine arts. The English capital's incredible abundance of art shows, galleries, museums, exhibitions and events runs nearly year long, flourishing since this past October, with a schedule that goes through next June at least. In addition to the usual places so familiar to visitors, like the National Gallery, the British Museum, the Courtauld Gallery, a plethora of art displays are budding all over the cityscape.

Maman, the 30-foot bronze spider by the 95 year old American artist, Louise Bourgeios, stands near the Tate Modern, neatly framing St. Paul's Cathedral across the Thames. Her works will be shown until January 20, 2008. At Kew Gardens, against a backdrop of fall foliage, you can see 28 of Henry Moore's large-scale sculptures in the biggest outdoor exhibition of his work ever held in the UK. At the Royal Academy, "An American's Passion for British Art" is open through January 28, 2008. The collection, given to the Yale Center for British Art, consists of 150 items including paintings by Reynolds, Gainsborough, Constable and Turner.

the greek philosopher aristotle once observed . . . "the aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."

"every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul."
w. somerset maugham

happy thanksgiving

Art Hotels Around the World

Many hotels today are throwing out the boring bedspread/wall décor in favor of interesting and original art. Trendily nicknamed “art hotels”, some display the work of one artist while others exhibit the work of many. Some admire a particular genre and others spotlight the design arts. Wherever the heart lies, uniqueness surrounds. Art hotels span the world around, popping up in Singapore, Thailand, Denmark, France, England, Spain, and along the west coast of America.

quote of the day
"i found i could say things with color and shapes that i couldn't say any other way . . . things i had no words for." georgia o'keeffe

exhibitions around the states

in monet's garden: the lure of giverny
columbus museum of art
columbus, ohio
through january 20, 2008

inspiring impressionisms
high musem of art
atlanta, georgia
october 16 through january 13, 2008

frida kahlo: images of an icon
tampa museum of art
tampa, florida
october 13 through december 16

japan envisions the west: 16th-19th century japanese art
seattle art museum
seattle, washington
october 11 through january 6, 2008

america the beautiful: the monumental landscapes by clyde butcher
the muscarelle museum of art at the college of william and mary
williamsburg, virginia
through december 2

website of the day

cuba is an island filled with color and movement . . . an artistically influenced culture. the eastern cuba cultural exchange association conceived the idea arte de cuba gallery with the objective "to foster an environment of goodwill through the sharing of cultural ideas and the celebration of diversity." the intention of cubanart.org is to help acquire much needed art supplies & reading materials for the artists to share and to give travel opportunity to artists through arranging exhibitions to show their artwork.

camille pissarro
1830-1903
france


paul cezanne called him "colossal" and said that "we are all derived from pissarro." vincent van gogh declared him "the father of us all."
pissarro was traditionally a great landscapist, translator of nature into art. as his painting flourished, he discovered a new subject central to art . . . the nature of medium itself. he showed that all the basic qualities of painting - colors, brushstrokes, materiality, lines, shapes, composition - possessed their own special meaning and potential to transform paint into purely visual poetry, as well as into illusionistic pictures.

"today was good. today was fun. tomorrow is another one."
dr. seuss

stellar must-see art exhibits of the fall season in america and europe:
van gogh museum, amsterdam - barcelona 1900 from 21 september until 20 january, 2008. artists like young picasso and the generation of architects who inspired architect antoni gaudi's unique vision are represented by works rarely on public view.
metropolitan museum of art, new york city - the gates of paradise runs from 30 october until 13 january, 2008. damaged by the 1966 floods of florence, the bronze doors whose nickname was conferred by no less than michelangelo will be represented by three of the recently restored low-relief panels, a 15th-century masterpiece by lorenzo ghiberti.
tate modern, london - first major survey since 1995 of the work of the french-born artist louise bourgeois runs from 10 october through 20 january, 2008. organized with paris' pompidou center, the exhibition showcases the work of the always avant-garde sculptor, best known -- and perhaps feared -- for her oversized bronze spiders.
the national gallery of art, washington d.c. - works by edward hopper, the quintessential painter of american life in the early 20th century, are on view from 16 september to 21 january, 2008. and j.m.w. turner's foggy landscapes of 19th-century london, approximately 145 of them, can be viewed from 1 october until 6 january, 2008.
los angeles county museum of art, california - dali: painting & film, finds its perfect audience near hollywood. spanish surrealist master salvador dali collaborated with some of tinseltown's best directors, including hitchcock and disney. 14 october to 6 january, 2008.
the philadelphia museum of art, pennsylvania - an exhibition of landscapes by pierre-auguste renoir through january 6, 2008. best known for his portraits and nude studies, renoir also painted many landscapes that reveal the eye for color and impressionistic effects that became his trademarks. this exhibition brings together 60 landscapes by the painter, drawn from public and private collections in the u.s. and overseas.
galeries nationales du grand palais, paris - gustave courbet is represented by more than 200 works in the first major exploration of his work. the artist straddles the fence of a key moment in french 19th-century painting, between romanticism and impressionism. 13 october until 28 january, 2008.

ee cummings, the enduringly popular poet of love, sex, rebellion, & nature, was also a painter. although his paintings are largely forgotten, he considered himself just as talented a painter as poet, sometimes devoting more time to painting his verbal images than writing them. in 1978, a wealthy harvard friend & supporter gave much of his cummings ' collection to the State University of New York at Brockport. over the years, these 72 pieces of artwork have gone on view a couple of times, but with the college ill-equipped to handle them, they were ultimately stored away in a dark place. now they are coming out and being restored. hopefully, an exhibition will follow.

"the most wasted of all days is one without laughter"

quote of the day

"work at the same time on sky, water, branches, ground, keeping everything going on an equal basis . . . don't be afraid of putting on colour . . . paint generously and unhesitatingly, for it is best not to lose the first impression."

camille pissarro

i recently spent 15 days in malawi and zambia on an art safari. what an incredible experience . . . not only for my artistic enhancement, but also a lifetime experience of growth & learning. africa is a world of dance, from the people, to the animals, to the landscape. the color variety in everything you see is infinite. the study of drawing & sketching and the skill of watercolor painting, much different than my style of impressionistic oil artwork, was inspirational. i hope to return many, many times!

"Paint what you feel. Paint what you see. Paint what is real to you."

robert henri was notable for his teaching and leadership of the ashcan school - a realistic artistic movement of art. He developed a great following of students, one of which was edward hopper, who would meet in his studio to discuss art and culture. the art spirit embodies the entire system of his teaching along with inspiration for all artists alike. he was truly devoted to art believing that everyone is concerned in the happiness & wisdom found through the arts.

quote of the day
"i am following Nature without being able to grasp her . . . i perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."

claude monet

sorry i've been away so long . . .

a lot of things happened to me, my husband, and our two (four-legged) kids after a camping adventure to the state of washington in early june. out of a disastrous rv experience, our lifetime dream came true. we happened upon the most special piece of land in a beautiful valley of the north cascades region of the state. hiking, skiing, mountain biking right out our front door, for the 11+ acres backs up to the national forest. three pastures, three ponds, off-grid, mountain spring gravity water source, barn (future home to chickens), vegetable & fruit garden spot, and a guest cabin which is becoming my art studio! i don't mean to be glowing so publically, but i can't help how wonderful a feeling it is to be living the life we love.

i am not a big fan of frida kahlo's artwork, however, i do find it quite creative and love the colors. i enjoy artwork that i can look at for long periods of time, feel myself taken into the painting. kahlo's view is just too disturbing, as was her life, or so she wanted the public to think. she spent her whole life building her image as a mythical, self-possessed, often defiant figure. she dressed in elaborately embroidered tehuana indian dresses and even altered the date of her birth by three years to say she was born in 1910, the year of the mexican revolution. now, 100 years after her real birth, researchers are uncovering a different side of kahlo not reflected in the self-portraits which made her famous . . . one of an optimistic, studious, playful side. is it the life of an artist or is it the life of a painting that makes art appealing?

quote of the day
" it is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to. . . . the feeling for the things themselves, for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures."
vincent van gogh

book of the day
cezanne
landscape into art by pavel machotka is a visual delight giving new perspective on one of the most influential figures of nineteenth century art. this beautiful book is filled with photographs of the sites of cezanne's landscape paintings taken at the same spot and time of day as when cezanne painted the scenes. machotka's photography reveals an understanding of how this great painter transformed nature into works of art.

website of the day

speaking of chef's being artists, take a blog hop over to amealwithoutwine.blogspot.com for some wine & food notes. the website is great for learning about tasteful and affordable wines from a self-proclaimed "recovering wine snob." this same wine snob happens to also be a great chef!

artist of the day? . . .
an artist by definition is a person skilled in any of the fine arts - painting, drawing, sculpturing - doing any of these very well with imagination and a feeling for form & effect. so why not a chef be included? chef graham elliot bowles of chicago is an art lover who leads his kitchen crew on regular pleasure journeys to the area's many excellent museums. "there are two kinds of chefs, those who view cooking as a craft, in black and white, those who view it as an art, a gray area open to personal interpretation. we're in the latter camp." van gogh is one of bowles's heroes, admiring and amazed by the intensity of the impressionist's colors. bowles loves van gogh's self-portrait for its vivid hues thickly laid with thousands of tiny brushstrokes, and thus creates his sauces in the same intense way by adding texture on the plate with palette knives and actual paintbrushes. this chef is most definitely skilled in translating a painting to a plate!

and i thought moondoggie was smart & talented! have you heard about the doggie da vincis . . . three service-trained dogs who have learned to express themselves through abstract painting. sammy, a foxhound mix, uses a paintbrush attached to a rubber bone to create bright strokes across white canvases. signed with a black paw print in the corner, original work can go for as much as $350. i wonder if sammy would give me some private lessons.

i had my first (and last) juried art showing a few weeks ago. it was an art & jazz festival where people came to listen to music and the artists were their entertainment while groups were on break. i know a lot of artists make their living from these shows, but i'm not a salesperson, nor do i like being on display in crowd situations. i guess i am simply of the starving artist genre who loves painting to please. the best part of the show was finding out how people perceived my artwork . . . bright, colorful, cheerful, fun, inspiring, happy . . . "you can't be in a bad mood when you look at these".

artist of the day

edward hopper was an american painter who greatly influenced the pop art and new realist painters of the 60's and 70's. his most famous work is "nighthawks". in this 1942 cafe scene, he simply depicted a pre-cell-phone american society in which there were still moments of silence. two quotes by hopper i find quaint yet profound at the same time . . . "if you could say it in words there would be no reason to paint" and "great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world".

website of the day
alice brock, the actual alice of the arlo guthrie song & movie Alice’s Restaurant, has an art gallery in provincetown, massachusetts. her gallery features illustrations, including the one she did for the book Mooses Come Walking by guthrie, and other pieces of artwork created by alice. it's always fun to visit alice's studio.

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as a way to help support responsible tourism around the world, now through november 14, 2007 (World Responsible Tourism Day), Travel America LLC will contribute 5 percent of all How To Travel America book sales revenue to art education in africa. please visit www.howtotravelamerica.com to show your support.
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if you like movies, i have three suggestions . . . vincent and theo, rivers and tides, and pollock. the first one is about vincent van gogh's relationship with his brother theo, a successful art dealer. the second, is a documentary on andy goldsworthy's artistic relationship with nature. and the third is a biopic of painter jackson pollock, a major influence in the abstract impressionist movement in america.

artist of the day

andy goldsworthy is an environmental sculptor who uses the natural surroundings for his artistic creations. His artwork strengthens the relationship between nature and human existence.

"at its most successful, my 'touch' looks into the heart of nature; most days i don't even get close. these things are all part of a transient process that i cannot understand unless my touch is also transient - only in this way can the cycle remain unbroken and the process be complete."

born in 1956 in chesire, he studied at bradford art college and preston polytechnic. now maintaining residency in the scottish countryside, he has for years been exploring the world and experimenting with its alternating climate & varying geographical landscape. his materials are drawn from nature . . . leaves, grasses, stones, wood, sand, clay, ice, snow . . . creating without any preconceived idea. for an enlightening insight into andy goldsworthy and his art, the documentary Rivers and Tides working with time will mesmerize your senses.

while studying art in college, i always wanted to take a photography course but finances kept me away. when i moved to the mountains, traveling around and experiencing life, i finally got the chance to explore photography in detail. in a round-a-bout way, i came back to painting through the inspiration the photos brought to me. on my birthday last year, ken surprised me with a new nikon digital camera. it's amazing what it can produce if only i had the patience to sit long enough to read the manual. you see, i like to do things the hard way in learning by experience . . .

quote of the day
"love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well."
vincent van gogh

i can't believe i have a blog on the web, ken is the writer in the family. but he seems to have a way of encouraging me towards new things which challenge me and my art in a really good way. i have accumulated book ideas in my head for a long time now, just waiting to pop out. the past couple of years, several of these ideas have been started but never completed. the most complete is a children's book, the adventures of f.k. fetish . . . search & rescue frog (a little artist block going on with illustrations). acquiring more confidence in expressing through words with this blog, i hope to see one of my ideas in print someday!

website of the day

a wonderful resource for travel information of all kinds is www.travelbloodhound.com. the website is a creation of my husband who asked me to do the logo design. ken thought it would be a great idea to share all the research compiled from our travel plans with our friends and other travel bug enthusiasts.

this coming september 2007, i will be traveling to africa for an art safari!

i've always dreamed of going to africa, and having my artistic nature be a part of it is an incredible opportunity. since ken (my husband) goes all over the world on an annual boys ski vacation, i thought it was time to treat myself to an adventure. searching the web, i happened upon the art safari site. british water colourist mary-anne bartlett is the creator of this venture where she and a guide take no more than 6 others to malawi and zambia. on every trip, a malawian artist from one of the villages is part of the group. at times we stay along the shire river, out in the bush, and in the forested area. we sketch, paint, photograph, simply observe the wildlife, and visit villages for 15 glorious days.

i can't imagine a better experience for my art and my soul.

i guess the best way to start a blog is to introduce oneself. my name is francesca and i am an artist living in the mountains. my childhood development was in texas, the city during the school week and the country on my grandparent's ranch on the weekends. my college years and early adult life was spent in the hill country of texas. after living in the lowland countryside for years, my desires for the mountains became stronger. a dream of montana, a trip to montana, then a move to montana . . . it was that quick that i knew there was more out there to experience and it was to be had by heading to the mountains.

even though i graduated from college with an art degree, the idea of doing it for a living kind of took the fun away, so earnings came from quite diverse forms of skills and interests. in texas, i dabbled in bookkeeping, fell into a veterinary assistant position, and owned a video store out at the lake. in montana, and now colorado, i have been a mountain bike tour guide, a ski instructor, firefighter, ems ambulance crew member, and search & rescue volunteer. possessing the travelbug gene (bummed around central europe for a summer after college), i have been gifted with travels to tahiti, new zealand, ecuador, canada, and eastern europe.

my life just keeps evolving with each moment and my art seems to be following suit. i live in the mountains with my extremely talented & wonderful writer husband and our two loving & special border collies. not only is my life inspired by art, my art is inspired by life.