Daily Paintings and Doin's

June wore me out. I hung or delivered work for 5 shows during this past month in our region. For months I was getting ready for my annual solo show at Naples Gallery. Nearly 100 new works were finished up, varnished, framed and hung for that show the first Friday of June. In addition to that one, I hung a small solo show at Monarch Mountain in Sandpoint and also at Ivano's for ArtWalk in Sandpoint. Plus I took pieces to the POAC Faces show in Sandpoint and the PaintOut show at Timber Stand. And I participated in the Plein Air PaintOut. And wrote an article.

After all that I needed a rest (at least mentally). I've been using the down time from painting to catch up on the yard and garden a little. Now I'm back in the swing for painting, I think. And I'm trying a few new ideas for loosening up for the dailies.

Daily Painting and Sandpoint Plein Air Paint Out

After the Paint Out last week I am going through withdrawal and missing the camaraderie. It was good to see all the artists again, and suffer together in the wind and sun while we painted. Although the Sandpoint Paint Out was a small event this year, we had a productive 3 days.

Friday afternoon we each took plein air pieces framed to Timber Stand Gallery for the Paint Out Opening in the evening, coinciding with ArtWalk. Lots of people were there at the gallery and the other ArtWalk locations around town. The Hallans' Gallery Opening was packed; everyone wanted to see Viggo Mortensen's huge mural photos. 

After Friday night's fun, it was back to work here on the farm. I finished up my article for Art Calendar yesterday (a piece on packing and shipping art) and got photos to the editor this morning. My article in the current issue is "12 Ways Artists Can 'Go Greener'". I've heard from a number of readers that they really like the piece. It's nice to know. 

My daughter snapped the photo above of me on Friday when I was painting in downtown Sandpoint. We actually had hot weather that afternoon. (Well, hot for north Idaho... certainly nothing like down south.) When I sat down to paint I was mostly in the shade, except for my feet. Although I had slathered on the sunscreen, my poor little piggies got red and swollen. 

They're fine now, though, and actually look a bit tan. My husband says that a sign of a life lived with the proper priorities is tanned feet. 

Although I am not usually inspired to paint buildings, I decided to capture this one with the reflective windows.

"Downtown Windows" 
Cityscape/LandscapeOil, 7"x5" 
©2008 Diana Moses Botkin

SOLD

"At the Lake" Landscape Daily Painting

Original small oil painting 6"x4"
Tree against blue mountains and water in blues, greens and greys.©2008 Diana Moses Botkin
in decorative silver frame $125.
Summer plein air study

"Trees by the Lake" Plein Air Daily Painting

Original small oil painting 5"x7"
Green trees and fields with lake, mountains and sky in greys and blues.©2008 Diana Moses Botkin
in silver frame $155.

This sure is a busy month for me. Besides my two shows I've hung already, I put up another one today, for Sandpoint's ArtWalk which opens this Friday. And I took 3 pieces to the Faces show which also opens this Friday in Sandpoint.

Our Sandpoint Plein Air PaintOut started today also. This is the better of the two little studies I did this afternoon. It was wonderful to work by the lake on this beautiful day the Lord made.

My Annual Showing of Paintings at Naples Gallery

My Opening went well last night. (Openings can be a little like weddings; there is much preparation beforehand and then usually something goes wrong that we laugh about later.) We all had lots of fun, plus a good turnout and sales.

I did a giveaway for a little gem which was especially fun for the winner. Congratulations to Mary, one of my faithful local collectors who was at the Opening last night!

Here is a snapshot of Suzanne, Naples Gallery owner, and me. Can you see Suzanne's terrific pirate belt? It's made from gun shells, which is perfect for north Idaho.

I hung almost 100 new paintings for this show, which will last a month at Naples Gallery. Doing paperwork for that many Bills of Sale took many hours this week! I give these to purchasers (and I keep a copy) as it has their name and contact info for my records, along with care and copyright information for the buyer.

It took a good portion of the day yesterday to hang that many paintings. In the morning I laid all the boxes of art and paperwork by my door, my camera, plus nice clothes for the Opening. The boys helped me load up everything in the car (I thought!).

I then drove the 40 some-odd miles to the gallery. Man I must've had a lot on my mind, because I drove right past the gallery and had to turn around.

The day went so fast, working to get everything hung up. Before I knew it, it was time for me to change out of my grubbies into something nicer. Then I realized I had forgotten to load my nice clothes!

Suzanne found me a simple black dress in her closet and a scarf for a sash. Boots and hoop earrings I had in my bag with my camera, so I wasn't totally a motherless child.

Dear Suzanne always puts on a wonderful array of food and drink. I think she outdid herself this time. Jim, her husband, had gathered maps to lay out on the food table along with pineapples, coconuts and "treasure gold" in a chest to go with our pirate theme. There were lots of Spanish dishes and beverages for all to enjoy.

Here are a handful of pictures of the event. (I wish I'd thought to ask someone to take more photos, as I was busy talking to visitors most of the evening about my work.) Thank you to everyone who participated in the fun!

©2008 Diana Moses Botkin