First Post of 2011

A couple of newsworthy items to start the new year.

First off, Karen was invited to have her work shown in Gallery ArteLibre's fifth annual volume, Arte y Libertad V. It's a very impressive 200+ page hardback book showing the work of over 100 realist painters. She was very excited about having her work shown along with artists such as Pedro Campos, Steve Mills, Alysa Monks, Cesar Santander and Randy Ford.

Karen got her copy yesterday and was very pleased with the quality of the printing. I'm not too proud to say that I'm more than a little envious, and would love to find my work in a future volume one day.

If you think you may want to have a copy for yourself, you can purchase it online direct from the gallery by clicking here. All the text is in Spanish, but it's not too difficult to figure out how to secure a copy. It'll run you 40 euros (just under $55) plus shipping. If you're a fan of realism in painting, I think you'll enjoy this book.

Hands of Time - 8 x 11

I wasn't able to pull off a win in Katherine Tyrell's, "Best Picture of the Year on an Art Blog", but I did come in first in the Still Life category. In the overall, I was only able to secure a third place (tie) with Jeanette Johnson - who got my vote for the Natural World category with her painting Tangle of Capelin II. I love that painting.

The honor this year went to close friend and genius, Karin Jurick, for her painting Hands of Time. This is the second year in a row that she has won the title. There's no shame in losing to her, in fact it's an honor just to be chosen to participate in a competition with an artist of her calibre. Congratulations Karin, you earned it!

I've been taking it a little slower the last week or so. With the holidays I thought I'd take a bit of a break. I have been doing some photography and a little trawling for new props, but gave myself permission, for the most part, to be a little lazy. Monday it's back to work.

In the meantime I'll be playing with my new iPad, which I loooooove! (Thank you Karen) I'm really looking forward to finding ways of integrating it into my art career.