Yippee! Another outdoor art show season is in the books and I'm looking forward to a quiet winter with less travel and more studio time in the months ahead.
I'm already sending out show applications for 2016, but as I look back at this past season I want to say thank you to everyone who came out to my events and who helped make this another successful year of traveling and exhibiting my artwork in locations ranging from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with many other stops in between. It's a tough grind sometimes because I never know how the weather will shake out or even how world geopolitical events can affect consumer sentiment. I can get so busy with the minute details (Do my van tires have enough air? Do I have labels for everything? Did I remember to bring picture hanging hooks?) that I sometimes lose sight of what I have right here in my local area.
Nonetheless, I got a pleasant reminder that there's no place like home last week when it was brought to my attention that readers of State College Magazine voted and helped me take the Bronze Award for "Best Local Artist" in their Best of 2015 reader survey. That was a fantastic surprise for me and I really appreciate your votes and your support of my artwork.
It only makes sense then that with the conclusion of my outdoor art show season this past month, I'm sticking closer to home with my remaining exhibitions for 2015. This month and throughout the upcoming holiday season, you can find my recent oil and pastel paintings at several venues around the State College area. When I don't need "all hands on deck" for an out-of-state show, I enjoy sharing my artwork at both traditional and unconventional venues in my hometown.
Study, Lower Manhattan 6 x 12 original pastel.
First, I've partnered with Moyer Jewelers in downtown State College to share my recent pastel landscapes and cityscapes in the gorgeous storefront display windows at the corner of Allen Street and College Avenue. Due to the window sizes, this exhibition features small format pieces. These are fun, colorful works that I sometimes use as initial studies to work out ideas for larger format pieces in the future. I like creating these works because it's kind of liberating: there's no pressure to "get it all right" with a large format, and I can take some risks with color and composition that might be harder to pull off in a large, in-your-face format.
Winter Pines, Indigo 8 x 12 original pastel.
Unfortunately, due to a boneheaded digital camera maneuver on my part, I deleted my studio photos of these new works, so I can only share them with you right now as they appear in the display window. Once this exhibition concludes, I'll get them properly photographed and onto my web site. In the meantime, you'll just have to swing by the shop in downtown and check them out for yourself.
Study, Moshannon Reflections 8 x 12 original pastel.
The next local exhibition features my original oil landscapes and cityscapes at National Penn Bank at 2541 East College Avenue in State College through the end of November. This show features works of varying sizes as well as some of my limited edition prints.
Study, 6th Avenue Rain 6 x 12 original pastel.
Finally, you can see my recent original oil landscape paintings at the State College Framing Company and Gallery in the Hills Shopping Plaza. These works will be on display through the end of this year. For more information, please call the gallery at (814) 234-7336.
