Monday, January 11

Stay Active & Keep In Touch - Attend an Art Gallery Opening


Today’s Image
Attending an Art Gallery Opening

I have been a busy artist since the month began. I have painted every day for four to five hours straight in the afternoon when the light is the best plus a few additional brushstrokes added at other times during the day as well. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I’m working to finish a painting I began more than a month ago.

Anyway, I’m telling you this as a segue into the topic of today’s blog--artists don’t get out much.

We’re usually holed up in the studio doing our artwork; that is, we’re drawing or painting or whatever your particular artistic bent is. We need to get out more. That said, I did my part this past weekend. Of course, I was out with other artists, but that counts, too, right?

What was I doing? I attended an opening of an art gallery exhibit (similar to Today's Image).

Actually it was the reception “to view recent works” by two artists I know whose paintings are being exhibited during the month of January. These artists are known for their realistic paintings of landscapes and still life.

I had heard the artists talk about this showing a couple of months back and when they would be busy hanging their show. The invitation arrived before New Year’s, so I was looking forward to it.

The venue for the show was right in the middle of the Museum District here, next door to the Contemporary Arts Museum and across the street from the Museum of Fine Arts. I would say it’s in pretty good company. If you’re an artist, it’s the part of (your) town you should be familiar with so that you are comfortable visiting and attending the art openings and events that take place there.

The reception was a huge success. The place was packed with all kinds of artists and collectors along with family, friends, acquaintances, well-wishers, and students of the artists. The walls were lined with more than 35 of their watercolors and acrylics. All are beautiful.

The point of this blog is to encourage you, me, and all of us artists to get up and out, to stay active, and to keep in touch within our chosen artistic interest. It does us good to get out there and mingle with other artists as well as collectors and those who simply like to view artwork.

Otherwise, we can become inner-focused, not that that’s all bad, but it can stifle your creative interest and talent. It’s one thing to have and express your artistic style; it’s another to be self-absorbed and paralyzed from branching out and exploring new possibilities.

Take every chance you can to learn, view, and discuss art. Accept every invitation to a class, a party, an opening, an exhibit. Artists are naturally reticent and tend to be introverted, well many of us anyway. So, do not let yourself become isolated and stale.

New Art Possibilities—keep that in mind.

(To end the blog where I began, I’m estimating my current watercolor painting is about 90+ percent complete, so check back, it might be posted on my next blog.)

Cheers!

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