Kirkland, Washington... art opening at Gunnar Nordstrom Gallery
[He carries some dynamic artists' work... REALLY worth a visit]
The road trip I took to Kirkland on Wednesday was fabulous. The day was sparkling on the lake, on the people, and I think a little on me too. I plunked myself down under a tree here and did a small pen and ink sketch of this scene:
The water, trees, sunshine, boats... all things that inspire me and make my spirit feel calm.
These two painters below really inspired me for my upcoming plein air painting weekend in Whistler with my artist friend, Lori.
I had a short chat with these artists about my fears of people looking over my shoulder, making comments (positive or negative) and how they handled these remarks when painting in public. Their response to me (another "intruder"!) was that they just keep on doing what they love to do. From some of their stories, they have received some rather strange criticisms and tips from "know it alls", but generally they said that you just have to let it run off your back and keep to your vision of the moment...
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Whistler Weekend
We drove up separately because we filled up our vehicles with a lot "just in case" materials and paintings. I remembered the cooler of food and my hat too...
The traffic was pretty smooth flowing seeing it was a Friday and the fact that they're doing construction. I know this photo isn't the greatest, but I love the Howe Sound view while driving up the Sea to Sky Highway.
We got up early on Saturday and walked up to the Upper Village... a little nervous at first for fear that we would get "kicked out", but people loved us being there... we loved it too!
This is the view across from where we were painting... we had a little lunch there. I thought it looked so European with the flowers and umbrellas.
Heading home on Sunday, I stopped in at the Lions Bay Art Gallery. I've wanted to visit last time I was up that way, but the timing didn't work out. The gallery is run by artist Michael Tickner's wife, Alice Tickner. I have always been a fan of his colourful, cheerful work and have seen a lot of cards and prints of his paintings on Granville Island.
Seeing as I had my truck full of art, I decided to show Alice. We chatted for about 2 hours or so about art, art careers, spiritual matters, artists... lots of stuff - she's so easy to talk to. She loved what I showed her and decided to represent my work. I'm pretty excited about it!
"Long Tall Sally" 24"x12"
