More Art Opening Pics...

The view as you enter the gallery.


To the left...


To the right...


Around the corner...


With the third place ribbon...


Linda's Award-Winning "Other People's Stuff"

There's more up on my Flickr site...feel free to browse!

I Can't Believe It

The opening reception for the juried show was tonight. Mr. Smarty Pants and I went sans kiddoes (thanks, Cyndi!!). We met up with Linda and her DH, sister and friend at the gallery - it was really nicely done...good appetizers, lively conversation, and they had done a nice job with the hanging (except for Linda's Gossip - it needed and deserved better placement...). Neither Linda nor I remembered to bring a camera, so we had to rely on cell phones, but we're going to go back tomorrow and take pics mainly because...drum roll...dramatic pause...Linda got Honorable Mention for "Other People's Stuff" and I got 3rd place for "Contemplations #5: Fear"!!!! Woo hooo...we just couldn't be prouder of each other!

This is the best pic we could get tonight...I'll let Linda post hers...

Bolstered by her recent success...

...Diahn dropped two more paintings off at a local gallery. Does the slightly queasy, butterflies in your stomach thing go away with experience? Mercy. I sat in the car for about 10 minutes getting the courage up to go inside, and this was for a member show where I'm guaranteed one to be accepted! Sheesh.

I entered "Chicken Itza," Linda's personal favorite,

and "Fly", which I posted already here.

Now - here's the kicker. The opening for this show is Friday, June 1. I'll be out of town, so I need one of you wonderful people to go to the show and take pictures for me so I'll know which painting made it in (or if both paintings made it in!) Then you can email me the pics so I'll feel like I was there...

Come on - it's free...you'll help me, won't you??

Happy Dance...Happy Dance

Okay, in my last post, I said that Linda and I had done something that I wouldn't talk about until Tuesday. Well...It's TUESDAY! One of our mutual goals was to hang our art work in a gallery space this year. We each submitted 3 paintings to the Fountain City Art Center for their Spring juried show, and lo and behold...they were all juried in!!!! Go check out Linda's work, too - simply STUNNING!!!!

The reception is Friday night at the Art Center. Here are two of the paintings juried into the show - the other (Contemplation #1: Identity) is here.



Contemplation #5: Fear



Contemplation #6: Value

Now...what on earth will I wear???????
acrylic on 24x24 stretched canvas

A Week in the Life

Have you ever had a week like this? Everything starts out smoothly, your guys give you flowers for Mother's Day...

and then make you a steak and shrimp dinner on the grill (yes, they made shrimp ka-bobs themselves!) to eat outside on your newly finished deck and patio furniture that you also got for Mother's Day...

But somehow, despite all of that, you end up like this by Wednesday...

Thankfully, Linda and I met last night for coffee and she talked me down a little. We meet at least once a month to make sure we are making progress on our goals, and we actually realized last night that we ARE!!! Yippee. So, now we have to make some more goals...mid-year goals...which is awesome, because by mid-year last year I had forgotten that I had ever made any goals to begin with! Hey - if you're an artist and you're trying to get to the point where you are showing your art on physical walls, as opposed to cyber ones, or to progress in your journey a little...I highly recommend you find a buddy. No, strike that...regardless of who you are or what you want to accomplish in life - find someone to journey with you. Someone giving and caring, but also able to smack you upside the head and challenge you a LOT (thanks, Linda).

We did something yesterday that was a major step for both of us, that I'm not quite ready to talk about yet...I'll talk about it on Tuesday...but I can almost guarantee that neither of us would have done it if we hadn't made the other do it. Good grief, that's a rambly sentence. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is we all need a true friend - a friend who isn't afraid to tell you something is a load of well, you know, when it is and who is able to encourage and motivate you through your moments of psychosis. And we need to be that kind of friend, too.

So - here's how I'm feeling today...

Yeah...I'm chillin'...

Peace...

Linda Tagged Me...

...I've been watching this meme go around the EDM blogsphere for the last week or so, and it's been very interesting. It's also occurred to me that either I don't post on the EDM group very often, or people just don't like me, and being eternally optimistic, I guess I don't post on the EDM group often...

So, here goes my 7 interesting, but little known, things about myself...

1. By education, I am actually a geologist. I hold a Master's degree in Structural Geology from a major party school, and most of a PhD, although I declined to complete my dissertation, so that makes me Diahn, Ph.D., ABD... I did all the research, so you all can call me Dr. Diahn, anyway. I quit when I realized that art was more part of my heart than science, and have been happily drawing and painting away ever since.

2. My first name is not Diahn (that's my middle name), but that's what I've always been called. And you pronounce it "dee-on", not "die-ann". Like Warwick, Sanders, ...and the Belmonts...you get the idea.

3. I met my husband and married him 3 months later. We've been married 8 1/2 years. Best (and most) impulsive decision I ever made.

4. I arrange my closet by type, color, season and sleeve (or leg) length. I arrange my pantry by classes known only to me, with all labels facing forward and items pulled to the front of the shelf. The rest of my house is a disaster, including my art studio which can be attested to by Linda, who recently saw my shameful mess...

5. I have a GPS in my head. Hard-wired. I love to try new roads and never use a map if I can help it. I like the challenge of finding my way around new places, especially if I have no access to directions and can't speak the language. I've been "lost" on 3 continents and loved it...Europe (Germany, Italy), South America (Venezuela), and North America (backwoods Alabama - trust me - I don't speak the language there either). I LOVE to take someone that has lived somewhere a really long time a new way to get somewhere.

6. Wow. 2 more. This is harder than I thought. Uhhhh. I play piano, bass guitar and I sing. I lead the band at my church. I don't get to play the bass very often anymore, as I have to play the piano and I haven't figured out how to do both at the same time.

7. I am intensely competitive, but fair. I hate to lose, but I'm a good loser. I detest poor sports who blame a loss everything except their own performance. I am convinced that there is almost nothing I cannot do, provided I have enough time to study it and practice a little. I'm not always RIGHT about that - but I love to try.

So - that's it. The last one is a little lame, I think, but I really couldn't think of anything else right now. I'm pretty sure everyone else I e-know has been tagged already, but if you haven't, please take this is a personal plea to enlighten us about yourself, and leave me a comment so I can come read your 7...

Cheers...

What I've Been Creating Lately...

Just needs stairs, and we'll call it finished...