Post Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival

Just after Halloween, I took my Dia de los Muertos piece in to the Central School Project. I was not able to make the opening, but I heard it was a fantastic show!

This painting Dia de la Garza was my entry. 

And now we are back from the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival and what fun it was! Wezil was there to guide and I was there to sell my wares. I met some great people, did a little birding (and even picked up some new species), sold some art and had a great time. I have been busily preparing for this show, as I do all shows, for about 2 1/2 months prior to the event. 

Great Kiskadee

Green Jay

Amazon Kingfisher

I sold a total of 5 original pieces, and many prints, minis and cards. 

Golden Crowned Warbler

Earth Tone Trio

Altamira Oriole

Buff bellied Hummingbird

It was fun depicting new species that I hadn't even seen before! Species like the Altamira Oriole, Green Jay, Ringed Kingfisher and Fulvous Whistling Duck were added to my list. (not that I really keep one) :)

After working so hard on paintings for this festival, I had just enough time to finish a few pieces to fill my Etsy Store, since the inventory had been depleted from recent sales.  

A Kingbird Pair

Two Songsters

Autumn Cuckoos 1 and 2

Now that I am back, I have got lots of projects to start. I need to get busy on a t-shirt design for the Chautauqua Bird Festival at Mono Lake in 2015. In addition, I have been asked to show my paintings at the Mono Lake Gallery in Feb-August. I haven't got a lot of time, so I need to get busy!! But that is how I love to be. 

Meanwhile, what is left of my Hatchfund Project is coming home to roost. The Tohono Chul show has ended and this week I will pick up the remaining pieces. I will search for a place to show them. But meanwhile, look for them on my Etsy Shop.

So I best get busy working! Thanks again for checking out my blog!

2nd Place for Acrylic Painting "Sonoran Sentinals"

Very recently, I entered another online art competition. The theme was Wild Art. So I entered my painting "Sonoran Sentinals" of two coyotes in the Sonoran Desert. Also the Javelina with Prickly Poppy flower. Both pieces are currently hanging at Tohono Chul Park Gallery. 

I found out today the "Sonoran Sentinals" won 2nd place in the Acrylic paint category! 

I was very excited to hear the news from the Focus, Point, Shape Online Art Gallery.

http://focuspointshape.com/exhibitions/wild-art-exhibition/

Thanks to the folks there that felt this piece was worthy of second place!

I am elated about it!

I find these contests and competitions quite fun and as I find the ones with wildlife art related themes I will enter more. 

Thanks for checking in!

Two Special Merits Awards in Online Art Competition!

Well, as is if moving were not enough to keep the adrenaline flowing, I have just received two awards in an online art competition by Light, Space & Time Online Art Gallery. The name of the show was "Animals Art Competition".

The following two pieces were chosen out of 699 entries to win a Special Recognition Category award for each painting:

Crane Cluster

Christmas Cuckoo

Thanks to the folks at the Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery!!

Last reminder for the Tohono Chul Artist Reception: "Chiles" There will be chiles roasting at this event for your culinary pleasure! Come on out and join the festivities on August 15th from 5:30-7:30 PM!

Email me for more info!

Or, see me at the Tucson Audubon Birding and Wildlife Festival from August 13-17th. 

See you there!

Lots happening in Tucson this month!!

Wow, Tucson is my spot for the month of August!! Not only is my 3 1/2 month long project going to be finally displayed at the Tohono Chul Park, but I am also participating in the Tucson Audubon Birding Festival!!

A few months ago I launched a Hatchfund Project, after I was asked to display a large body of work for the Tohono Chul Park Welcome Gallery. I decided to call the series "Celebrate Our Sonoran Desert Wildlife". It has taken almost 4 months to complete the body of work, and am looking forward to seeing it displayed at the gallery. 

Once again I want to thank Hatchfund.org and all of my contributors who so generously donated to my project. I was able to fund the administration fees, travel expenses, and artist materials to create this project. I was originally going to produce 24 pieces but because I went over my original maximum goal, I decided to expand the series to 29 pieces. I continued my new creations and painted 3 new paintings for the Tucson Audubon Birding Festival with the remaining materials. 

I am very excited about this show which is up through November 9th. I hope that if you can be in Tucson before that date, you will drop into Tohono Chul's Welcome Gallery and check it out!

This will be my second year participating in the Tucson Audubon Birding Festival and I look forward to it once again. I have some brand new artwork for this show and hope that you can stop by my booth if you are near the RiverPark Inn of Tucson AZ. Show starts on August 13-August 17th.

I hope to catch you in Tucson in mid August! 

Final Pieces for the Tohono Chul Show

Well, I am finally finished with the pieces for the show. It has been quite a busy summer! In addition to those paintings, I needed to work on some things for the Tucson Audubon Birding Festival. August 13-17th. The opening for Tohono Chul is August 15th. If you are in Tucson I hope to see you there! It starts at 5:30 PM.

I added some more of the abstract types. They were lots of fun to work on and came out nice and colorful. 

I hope to see you either at the Tucson Audubon Show or at Tohono Chul's opening. If you cannot make it to Tohono Chul on the 15th, the show will be up until early November. 

Preview of my Hatchfund Project

Due to the funding I received from the New Mexico Arts Commission, I am obligated to show my artwork for the New Mexico public. So now I have an exhibit containing MOST of my Hatchfund Project pieces at the East Mountain Library, One Old Tijeras Road, Tijeras, NM. 

Although I couldn't show the whole thing, due to the fact that whole thing isn't finished, most of the body of work is in place. I am glad that I got to see everything hanging together, it gave me a chance to really get a feel for the pieces as a whole. 

Immediately, I realized that I needed to add even more abstract pieces to make the show complete. So currently I am working on four abstracts.

I really appreciate this opportunity to show my work off locally, so thank you to the East Mountain Library!!

Now, it is off to the studio to finish this body of work. 

Almost Finished with Project!

I still have two pieces to finish but here are some more paintings for the Project and upcoming show at Tohono Chul. 

 I decided to paint a creepy crawly, the Tarantula. The Pyrrhuloxias are the last of the 24" square pieces.

 The Ringtail, one of my favorite mammals, was fun to paint. 

These four 12" squares are the last of that size. They look so cute together, don't they?

I have two large pieces left to finish now and then I will be completely finished. Then I need to create a few pieces for the Tucson Audubon Bird Festival. The festival is the same weekend as my opening at Tohono Chul! It will be a wild weekend, for sure!

More finished pieces for the show in August

It has been non stop painting in my studio as I continue to get my pieces ready for the show. I need to be finished with all of them by the end of July so time is running out! I have about 6 more pieces to go and most are small so that is great thing. 

I am having lots of fun working on these, but I will be ready for a break afterwards, that is certain. 

I hope that those of you who are in AZ will be able to pop into Tucson for the opening. August 15th from 5:30pm - 7:30pm. The show runs from August 15-November 9, 2014, for those of you who cannot make it for the opening. It will be held at the Tohono Chul  Park in Tucson, AZ. I will post one more set of images before the show...See you there!!

Busily working on pieces for the Tohono Chul Show in August

As I mentioned, I would only post the images of the pieces that I have finished for the Tohono Chul Show here. I have been working diligently on my body of work. I have managed to complete 11 paintings for the show. 

I have cleared my schedule as best I could for the next two months so that I have time to finish the work. My deadline is the end of July. 

I am thoroughly enjoying using bright colors and molding pastes in some of these pieces. I really look forward to the abstract pieces like this snake above. Those are going to be more fun for me so I am saving them for last. 

I am trying very hard to create pieces that will work well together. There is a lot more thought and planning that goes into creating a whole body of work, as opposed to individual paintings. It is a challenge and quite fun. 

Last weekend was the Verde Valley Nature and Birding Festival. I didn't do all that well at this show. But this is why I am going so many shows, to determine which are the best for me to attend. I am hoping that I will get into the Rio Grande Birding Festival, even though it happens at my busiest time of year, November!

Its back to the studio for me. 

Thanks to my donors! I have exceeded my goal!

Wow! I exceeded the goal for my Hatchfund Project in under 24 hours! Thanks to the very generous donations made by lifelong friends, family, new clients and even a few that I haven't seen in years,  my project made $3425. This means that all of my materials for the Tohono Chul show will be paid for, and I will have  the funds to take a trip to the Sonoran Desert for research and inspiration! This project will be taking up a lot of my time during the months of May, June, and July. So I will refrain from doing any shows during this period. Unless for some reason I am able to create more than I expect, at a faster rate. 

This month, however, I am attending the Verde Valley Bird and Nature Festival. This begins on the 24th of April and runs that weekend through Sunday. If you are a Phoenix client, or someone who lives in the Sedona, Flagstaff, Prescott areas, I sure hope that you can pop over and see me! I haven't done this show before and look forward to it. 

I will have my new product, 9 bird Aprons, available, along with a brand new product. Prints of my bird heads, matted, ready for framing. I will also have minis, original artworks ranging from $65-$275 (very affordable!)

Here is a sneak peak...

 Meanwhile, I plan to be creating new pieces for the WEEMS show that is coming in November. I will only post my pieces for the Tohono Chul show here, so be sure and check back to take a peak at what I am doing for my Hatchfund Project!

Lastly, I created another piece for the Home on the Range Gift Shop at the Range Cafe in Bernalillo. 

So if you are planning to dine there, look for it. I call it "Jack's Snack". 

Happy Spring and thanks for checking out my blog! See you next time!