Honored by the Kind People I Meet

In preparation for my most recent showing at the Dunedin Art Harvest this November (2016), I made some modifications to a couple of existing, completed paintings. I was trying to follow some personal advice from a very friendly (and extraordinary) local artist, Steven Kenny: Tell a story. But let the viewer assemble the tale— you just provide the props.

Steven's work is mostly surrealistic. While always a great fan of surrealism, I must not have met the minimum mushroom or hallucinogen intake in my youth to effectively have capitalized on the fantastic. Too rational. Too tied-to-reality. Too ... real?

A simple figure study suddenly suggests a narrative when a small bird and a moth etching in a locket are added. There's a Portlandia episode, "Put a Bird On It" that comes to mind!

 

Another simple figure study (self portrait) adds several hovering hummingbirds and an ominous sky to imply a story where none actually exists!

Where all this leads, is that these simple narrative devices substantially elevated the same show content that couldn't muster a print sale or secure placing in the competitive component of a show in Brooksville earlier this year. I believe curled paper won best of show, and I lost out in the painting category to painted gourds. But the art gods smiled upon me in Dunedin — and a Florida photographer friend, Adam Pourciau. We had per chance sat together and each of us received an Award of Merit and $600!

Another cool coincidence occurred: Papa Bear of the Biker and Dog painting showed up! An acquaintance recognized Jack, and put us in touch. He stopped by for a gratis print of him and Little Bear, his comfort dog. Looking forward to a homeless vet fund-raiser with Jack and Little Bear.

And last but not least, a very talented and generous photographer Mikell Herrick stopped by and chatted. Later she posted this absolutely beautiful shot of the inside of my tent:

As always, the BEST part of these shows are the kind and generous people you meet.