I am honored to announce that I recently learned that my painting, "Keys to the Past" (20" x 20" oil on panel), was juried into the 2018 Oil Painters of America's Salon Show.  This year's Salon show will be held at the Crooked Tree Arts Center in Traverse City, MI from June 23rd through September 1st.   One aspect of my excitement about being juried into this show is that I grew up in Michigan and lived there until 17 years ago so I have a lot of friends and family who live there.  It did not take long for me to decide a trip to MI to attend the opening and visit family and friends was in order.  The opening reception is June 22nd from 5 until 8 pm.  I am actually flying into Detroit on the 18th making many stops to visit friends and family both on my way up to Traverse City and on the way back down state.  In addition there will be dinners, demos and seminars for the artists in the days before and after the show opening.  It goes without saying that if you happen to be in the Traverse City area on June 22nd I hope you will plan to join me at the show opening.  I am most definitely looking forward to the show events, meeting new artist friends, reconnecting with artist friends and seeing many friends and family!

As shared in a previous blog post my painting, "Appletini" (20" x 16" oil on panel), was juried into the 1st Annual National Oil and  Acrylic Painter Society's Best of America Small Works Show.  This show is being currently hosted by Richland Fine Art Gallery in Nashville, TN through May 26th.  The show's opening reception was the evening of May 4th and I was lucky enough to be able to attend.  It was actually a real treat for me to be able to do so as my best friend from high school and college lives in Nashville and I was able to spend a long weekend with her catching up.   I have to say it was a highlight of my visit when we walked into the gallery for the opening to find a ribbon hanging on my painting and artist friends congratulating me!  My painting received the award for Best Use of Values.  For those of you who may not be familiar with the term value as used in art.....values are your lights and darks and all the levels in between for the colors used in your paintings.  Value allows the artist to create form, for example make an apple look round instead of flat.  Value is also one of the tools used by an artist to guide the viewer's eye through the painting.  Needless to say...receiving this award was a huge compliment for me!  A BIG thank you to the judge of awards, Dawn Whitelaw.  What a great weekend in Nashville!!