Saturday, July 17, 2010

Green Beans and Art Walks

We've been getting green beans from the garden for a while now and I decided to do a quick digital painting of one before they're all gone.  It's been too long since I've even opened Corel's Painter software and it was sad at how rusty I was even doing this simple painting.  It's all done from scratch using a real green bean as a model - no photo manipulation or anything.  I did add a shadow from the program though and didn't take the time to paint it (the shadow) freehand.  I used the gouache brush with the digital airbrush for the shading for those of you interested in the details.

A friend and I went to the 3rd Friday Art Walk in Siler City last evening and had a good time even though it was very hot out.  Siler City, an old farming town not far from us, was becoming almost a ghost town as businesses moved out to the highway and left a lot of empty stores downtown.  Someone had the bright idea to buy up all those empty stores and rent them out as art studios and galleries and now those empty buildings are bright with paintings, sculptures, photographs and various other artistic endeavors as artists from all over have come to set up shop in the town.  You can read about the NC Arts Incubator HERE.

I was fortunate to have been asked to display in one of the galleries a couple of weeks ago and wanted to go see how my paintings looked hanging for all to see.  I personally think this particular gallery is one of the nicest in town but it has a lot of various kinds of art and my paintings didn't stand out amidst the plethora of offerings I'm sad to say.

It's not that my paintings are inferior in quality or execution or anything, it's just that I tend to paint small and small gets lost among so many items.  I hope that doesn't sound like bragging or an excuse, but I do think my work is on par with other art in this gallery or any of the others in town.  I'm trying to be honest and say that there is art there that I think is better than my own and there's also art that I think is awful that's displayed there. I know you know what I mean.

If you want to check it out, here's a link to the gallery - it's called the Raleigh Street Gallery and is located on Raleigh Street (duh!) in Siler City, North Carolina:

http://www.raleighstreetgallery.com/

You can check it out virtually or, if you get the chance, check it out in person!

6 comments:

Sue Clinker said...

Wow Jan ... fantastic gallery and what an opportunity to display your work. I have no doubts that your art is up their in the top 10% (regardless of size).

I looked at the link but didn't find your names mentioned ... don't they list all the displaying artists?

Anyway, congratulations and perhaps this will be the first of many for you

Jan said...

Thanks so much, Sue. You're always so kind to me!

As for me being listed as a participating artist, the owner had asked permission to link to the images on my website and also had me write a biography to be posted on the gallery site. But, I've only just taken the paintings there (just over a week ago) and she's been busy preparing for this month's art walk so I imagine she hasn't had time to get the website updated. There's a blog that hasn't been updated in over a year and even the Art Walk page is from last month so it appears that updating the website isn't a priority. I suppose she'll get around to it eventually or at least hope she will.

Thanks for the congratulations, they're much appreciated.

Teresa said...

Hi Jan,

Congratulations on showing your work in a gallery! That's wonderful...keep it up!

Re: Corel Painter... when I got a new computer back last fall I didn't even load Painter onto it. There's so many mediums I can't find time to do them all!

Re: Siler City.... so glad you mentioned that. I didn't know it is now an arts center. Not so terribly far from me... will have to get down there sometime and check it out!

Jan said...

Thanks for the congratulations and for commenting, Teresa. I use Painter for all my sketch work because I'd used it for so long before I got a real studio space. I think I'd be lost without it since I have areas about the program that I use to gauge proportions. Plus, I can quickly grid both a reference and a drawing canvas then re-size my drawing without having to figure out new grid sizing. So, I loaded Painter as one of the first aps when I got my new computer. I don't want to pay for a new version though so hopefully I'll be able to use this one for a long time!

If you do make it to Siler City, be sure to email me so we can meet or something. Downtown is very small as I'm sure you know, so it's not a huge area to explore.

Chana, the gallery owner, had mentioned having me set up a demo for the next Art Walk (3rd Friday in August)but it was just a mention and she hasn't said anything else about it. You could come then but I'd probably be too busy to visit with you much.

Anyway, hope to see you there when you do come!

Unknown said...

Hi Jan. Love the bean although I don't know much about Corel. I read your reply to Teresa. Nev has Corel...I should take a look.

Congratulation on having your work shown in the gallery. Small can be beautiful. Your work is wonderful.

So glad you had a nice day at Siler city.

Jan said...

Glad you like the green bean, Dors, it was fun to do. Does Nev have Painter by Corel? I think it's a great software and, as I told Teresa, I'd be lost without mine! You ought to give it a try if Nev will let you use his computer! lol

Thanks also for the congratulations and the kudos on my art.