Near Rio Rico - and It's Time to Paint!

Near Rio Rico

Oil on canvas, 10x10

The Tubac Arts Festival went on for five days, and I have to say, I am glad it's over. That's just tooooo looooong, at least for me. Someone said that it's a good two-day show that takes five days, and I'd have to agree. 

I sold three paintings during those five days, and I was happy to sell them. Also, I am now represented by a gallery in Tubac, Art Gallery H,  and this is very, very exciting. 

One thing I'm learning about my paintings and art shows is that I don't do well in places where there are lots of retirees. My stuff doesn't appeal to them, perhaps, or maybe it's that they just have enough art already. 

I do believe that if you fall in love with a piece, you'll make room for it no matter what - but first, you have to fall in love. My loud, heavily surfaced, bright pieces are not for everyone, and I know this - and perhaps retired folks are a large part of "everyone." 

A great thing about this show was that Cynthia Battista, my friend from New Milford, CT, had gotten in, and our tents were side by side. We shared a lot of laughs, a lot of gripes, a lot of too bads, too. Being next to a good friend truly does halve the pain and double the happiness. 

This week, I am painting around here. I've been invited to a show near Phoenix this weekend, and am considering it. This morning, I feel that if I never do another art show, that will be well and good. But by this afternoon, who knows. 

My little painting in the big Arizona landscape

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Sonoita Hills

Oil on canvas, 30x30

A number of you who have sponsored me for paintings larger than 10x10, and here's one of the ones I've done so far. It is 30x30, and I painted it standing on the side of the road in Sonoita. I love the yellow grass there, and the ragged mountains, and the feeling of the huge, arching sky. 

While I was painting, a local came along and told me I was painting The Biscuit - that rounded peak over on the right-hand side. 

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This lovely couple bought "Through the River," the lower painting on the wall behind them. 

They're going to repaint the room where it will hang, to make it stand out more. 

They were so nice, and so excited. I was, too.

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This is Charles, who belongs to a friend of my dad's and Paula's. The friend adopted Charles a few years ago at the Tubac Arts Festival. The local Humane Society brings adoptable dogs to the fair! I am not 100 percent convinced that this is a great idea, but it does seem to find homes for some of the dogs. I met a woman at the fair over the weekend who had just adopted a great dog. And Charles and his human are as happy as they could be. 

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Al Topping took my parking money every morning of the show, and made me laugh with his wry humor and dry good will. He was a cameraman for ABC news for 40 years, and told me that he was parking cars because his wife, who runs the Arts Center that received the parking money, was "a tall, mean brunette," and he didn't want  to cross her. 

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Here's my friend Cynthia Battista, a great jeweler, in her tent during the Tubac show. It was wonderful to have a good friend in the adjoining booth! 

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These horses were dragging a wagon that served as a free trolley during the show. I felt kind of sorry for them, but they seemed OK.

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Dog of the Day

I was about to pull into the driveway of my dad's house on the first night of the show when I saw a big, goofy-looking red dog walking up the road. I stopped the van and got out to see, and the dog came right up. 

A tag on his collar read "Barkley," and gave a phone number, so I called, got voice mail and left a message. Meantime, we were making friends. He was happy to see me, and wagged and leaned against me the way dogs do. I put him in the back of the van and started knocking on doors. Eventually, someone directed me to his home. By this time, Barkley had galumphed into the front seat. 

I couldn't rouse anyone at the house, so I left him in a gated front porch area. A voice mail when I got back to the car said that indeed, that was his right home. The family had adopted him a couple weeks earlier, and he was a runner. A young child in the home had left the entryway gate open.