THE BLOG
#Inktober Day 2
Some of you were close with the answers of Abraham Lincoln, Peter Meidell and Goldie’s modest answer of herself, but the quote was George Washington’s. Congratulations to all who got it right.
Gallery in the Garden
Art shows are a chance to display your art and meet and talk to the people that love art and come to check it out. This weekend is Gallery in the Garden. I’ve got to go load up the truck and get ready. It’s a lot of work to set up the grid wall and pack and unpack the art but it is one of the greatest parts of creating art.
Making friends in Nauvoo
Two – eight to nine hour days traveling through Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa in a truck filled with original art and giclee’ prints, destination Havenlight Gallery Nauvoo, Illinois.
Becky Hartvigsen and me were ready. We had traveled out to Nauvoo in November of last year to take pictures and do research. We headed back to our studios to work on our paintings. Now we were ready to show those paintings to the world or anyone who happened into the gallery.
So you plan on showing your art but you have no idea of the people you will meet and the new friends you will make. Scott Sumner is the manager at the gallery and he does beautiful art with photographs. He called himself a George Costanza look alike. He made our time in the Nauvoo Gallery very comfortable and filled with humor.
So the Balls from Florida fell in love with “Ox Cart Ox Cart”. I had finished all of my paintings and one more idea just would not leave me alone until I painted it. I loved that painting and they saw what I had seen in my minds eye and what I had captured in the art.
There was a sandwich place in town where the line went out the door. Each sandwich was made to order and hit the spot after a morning in the Gallery.
We also met some kindred spirits in Nauvoo. Someone who gets excited about rocks and bricks and writing and art. We have made some new friends.
So I did one large painting. It was multi media. It contained some dried leaves from our November trip to Nauvoo. It was entitled “Coneflowers at the Brownings”. It was a painting that needed to stay in Nauvoo and it found a new home there.
So after talking art with the many people that came into the gallery, we had a day to relax, do a bit of Plein Air painting. You really get to know a place when you can take some time to paint it.
So time to pack up the truck and head back home.
If your out in Nauvoo, head into Havenlight. I’ve got three originals hanging on the walls along with some of Becky Hartvigsens art. It is a beautiful gallery. It’s a great place to visit on your trip to Nauvoo.
Havenlight Gallery Nauvoo, Illinois
Here is the schedule for the Nauvoo Havenlight Gallery Show July 26th through July 28th, 2018 with me and Becky Hartvigsen. If you are in the area, drop in, take a look at the art and say hello. We would love to see you. I’m excited to head back to Nauvoo.
Becky and I spent some time last November taking pictures and doing research in Nauvoo for this show. We met some great people. There was the lady at the sandwich shop that sold great jams and soup. There was the sister missionary who invited us up to her place to have the best homemade salad for lunch. There was a great couple who shared their historic home with us, took us out to dinner, and took us on a tour of some of the historic places in and around Nauvoo. The manager of the Gallery, at the time, invited us into his home for dinner and some great conversation.
I like to catch a snippet of life that people might not always pay attention to. There are a lot of beautiful farms along the road.
A family tradition of the Taylor family has a story about the rocking horse that is in the upstairs of the John Taylor home in Nauvoo. John Taylor was no stranger to hatred and angry mobs. He had been shot about five times in Carthage jail. He lay wounded in Carthage while those around him harassed him with angry words. He made it back to the safety of Nauvoo. Eventually the mob action threatened Nauvoo and the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints had to load what belongings they could in wagons and leave Nauvoo. Many precious things were left behind including John Taylor’s boy’s rocking horse. The boy was inconsolable. John Taylor snuck back into Nauvoo under the cover of darkness and retrieved the horse. This story talks to me about the love of a father for his son. Nauvoo has many stories. One of the conflicts over this story is that the children were older and wouldn’t have used the rocking horse.
Six Prints of “To Buy Johnny A Galloping Horse” will be available at the show.