Reality Boost …

I’m still reeling from a power packed weekend of art and artists and curators and interviews and new and old friends and a studio filled with all that and then some.

The Brandywine River Museum show was spectacular. The opening was mobbed but there were enough spaces in the crowd to get to meet all of my Realist heroes. The museum has put the paintings up on their website in an online catalogue version. It’s a nice way to have access to the images but I long for the old days when you could buy a nicely bound book to bring home and peruse at your leisure and revisit the images over the years.

With gracious appreciation to Bob Jackson, Pat and I were invited to join the artists and museum staff at a dinner following the reception and a luncheon the next day following a panel discussion. Both opportunities were pure gold and I will live on the fruits of those many conversations for months.

It was also a chance to meet many of the artists with whom I’ll be showing next month at the 1261 Gallery in Denver.

I’ve been painting round the clock to have some new works to show them and this morning the gallery director said yes to them all so …. off to the photographers and the framers went Pat today and I’ll be shipping them out early next week.

Here’s a preview of one of the paintings that will be in that show… Oils on Canvas

They too will have an online version of the show and I’ll post that link when it’s up.

The show is titled, Reality Boost and will be featured in the October issue of American Art Collector Magazine so check your bookstores or mailboxes for that…

and….

stay tuned for an artist’s profile on yours truly that will appear in the AAC Mag sometime in the near future… Contributing author, curator and all around man of the arts…John O’Hern… was in town for the Brandywine show and spent the rest of the weekend visiting here in the studio and interviewed me for his upcoming article. It was a once in a lifetime experience to share our space with him and the gift of so much of his time, depth of knowledge, and rapier like wit and charm.

John’s genius is well documented in the years of Re-presenting Realism series of shows which he curated while leading the Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, NY. But it is perhaps his current creative incarnation as a freelance curator, writer and consultant that may leave a more indelible mark on the artworld.

His most recent work was to collaborate with EVOKE Contemporary Gallery in Santa Fe and curate the show…Re-presenting the Nude. You can view their online catalogue version by clicking here. It’s a powerful collection of work and I’ve been spinning off of the catalogue to research artist after artist whose work he has now introduced me to.

Spinning is indeed the operative word for my head right now…

Add to all of the above a stellar week of sales at the Granary Gallery and we are holding on tight to this wave of positive energy flowing around us… it’s certainly nice to have good things to report on and we’re not taking one second of it for granted.

Now it’s back to the easel for me…  and you all get out and take a walk in this crisp clean air !

REALITY Check

After a stressful and busy month I am sooooo looking forward to this weekend. Some of my most favorite living artists are being featured in a show at the Brandywine River Museum which opens on friday night for members and saturday for the public.

Bob Jackson has been working tirelessly to help pull the show and the artists to the forefront and the museum is hosting a panel discussion with the artists on saturday. His painting Target the Artist, 2009 Oil on Linen, seen below, is just one of his works that will be shown. The list of other artists is a who’s who of the top realists working today in this country. I encourage everyone to try and get to see the show and my congratulations go out to the museum and curator Audrey Lewis  for bringing these works together in such a fine venue.

Congrats Bob, we can’t wait to raise a toast to your success tomorrow night !

Here on MV

Another summer storm has moved over the island and the steamy air is warming up again…as we head over to Menemsha to pick up some lobsters for supper tonight we found a copy of this week’s MV Times. Front page photo of the Menemsha Basin painting which will be featured in tomorrow’s show at the Granary Gallery.

Here’s a look at the article they wrote … http://www.mvtimes.com/marthas-vineyard/article.php?id=1697

The excitement is building and we’re going to try and spend tomorrow staying cool in preparation for the evening opening.

You do likewise my friends, H

Vegetable…

The second in the series of traveling summer shows is opening this sunday at the Granary Gallery. The theme continues with…Vegetable…

My entry is titled Heirlooms and features some heirlooms from our dear friend Polly Mienelt who graced this planet and the island of Martha’s Vineyard for 95 years. Her husband Ted gave me that photo of her making a daisy chain and a collection of her handkerchiefs. The rest are heirlooms of a different sort that have found their way into my keeping…and the tomato…was delicious !

June is…

…a great time to shop for HN Studio PRINTS

June is here…and in addition to the popular holidays like…
Father’s Day

Flag Day
The Summer Solstice
and …the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL !
Did you know that June is …
Fruit and Vegetable Month
National Rose Month
and the first week is National Fishing Week…
And there are all those June Brides ready to take their first steps over that Threshold…
We are extending our FREE SHIPPING offer on all prints ordered through July 31.
Stop by our website print shop today…

HN Studio Prints

And please note that we will not be shipping orders from
July 18th through August 10th,
as we make our way north for the Granary Gallery show.
Thanks, as always, for your patronage…
Heather

 

Two Dudes

The Two Dudes Painting Company ( founded by our son-in-law Pete Barber and his friend Brian when they were hungry college students…and now a thriving innovative community give back organization in downtown Lancaster, PA.) … is sponsoring an art show.

The Illuminated Image – A photo based installation from the students of Pennsylvania College of Art and Design. Hosted by Two Dudes Painting Company…. Friday April 23, 2010   6-8pm   750 Poplar St. Lancaster Pa.

Contact for more info… 717 396 – 1207

If you’re in the area this promises to be an interesting show…

and their facility is a showpiece of design and function and reclamation of a rundown city warehouse.

You can read more about the Dudes and their road to success on their web site… Good job guys !

Zink family to the rescue…

One small step for our studio garden….one giant THANK YOU !!! to the Zink family who showed up in force yesterday to help haul two truckloads of dirt to the new raised beds out back.

These guys really know the meaning of hard work and humor and friendship and kindness. Saren, Chuck, Dana, Jim, Jake and Ryan….we are so grateful to you for making a monumental chore into an evening of fun and good company.

Here’s a little slideshow of the dirt moving party… and the snap-your-fingers-progress that has these new beds ready for planting way ahead of schedule…and a much appreciated random act of kindness… [slideshow]

And the bid goes to…

When we go to auctions I am notorious for getting caught raising my number a wee bit too enthusiastically. It ‘s just so much fun…and I really, really want that hundred year old pharmacists chest that has a locked compartment and a lost key !

Well, ok, I did go over my budget at the time but that piece of furniture has been featured in enough paintings to have paid for itself many times over…

And today the tables have been turned and it’s kinda fun to see some people bidding on my artwork…and for a good cause. Here’s a link to check out the Westtown School Online Auction where some of our new HN Studio Prints are included … WESTTOWN SCHOOL ONLINE AUCTION

Remember to bid responsibly…and often !

Art Opening

Fellow Artists and dear friends Wendy Weldon and James Langlois have a show opening today at the Chilmark Public Library at 3pm,  on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.

Sending by Wendy Weldon
Berta by James Langlois

I hope all our island friends will stop by to give them a hug of congratulations and support from Pat and Me. The rest of us here on the mainland can view some of the artwork here.

I lift my brushes to them !

Ross by James Langlois
Sketches by Wendy Weldon
Embracing by Wendy Weldon
Nat by James Langlois

Finnegan’s Cousin

Something fun for all you dog lovers out there….

My brothers Mike and Ralph have a lab named Trevor who has made the big time…

Trevor was a rescue pup and his puppy photo was chosen to be on the new stamps which are also being used as a fund raiser for HALO which is buying food for shelter pets.

My sister-in-law told us that one of their new lab pups came from the same rescue in CT as Trevor…all in the family.

Congrats to the pack.