Exhibition at Chateau Elan

Today I was in Braselton, GA at Chateau Elan Winery and Resort, where I hung an exhibition of paintings by yours truly as well as paintings by six of my painting students: Carol Parks of Asheville, NC, Riki Fiebel of Hayesville, NC, Ginny Urani of Murphy, NC, and Sharon Mullings, Gene Lawrence, and Henna Karavitch, all of Blairsville, GA. A special thank you to Henna, as she is responsible for our being asked to show our work at Chateau Elan. All of the paintings I've posted to my blog of late were included in this exhibition and I am very proud to say that the paintings by these other fine artists look wonderful on the wall in the Winery's art gallery! If you are in the area of Chateau Elan, you might enjoy a visit to see the exhibition and enjoy a little wine-tasting to boot! Unfortunately, I used my sister's car to deliver the paintings and had left my camera in my car in the garage! When I get back down there I will get some photos and post them here. The paintings will hang there until the end of October.

Now that this deadline has passed I will be back to my portrait commissions, which have suffered serious neglect while I prepared work for this show. But they are in progress and I will resume work on them immediately...right after my weekly class! I'll post some progress photos shortly.

And Yet Another Huge Flower!

Iris, Standing Tall, 30 x 22, Watercolor, copyright Pat Aube Gray

I am not really sure what is driving my muse these days, but large flowers are uncharacteristic for me. I completed the painting of this huge iris this morning and you may recall that back on July 13, 2008 I posted Brooke's Texas Rose, another full sheet of watercolor paper occupied by a single oversized yellow rose. (It is simply coincidence that I named the painting for my daughter Brooke's love of Texas, the yellow rose tattoo on her leg, and the fact that it was her birthday!) When my other daughter, Kerry, died last year, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the flowers we brought home, some of which I identified with her natural beauty. In particular, there was a huge, and I do mean huge, white rose, glorious in its fragrance, its size, and the singular beauty of it, and it became a symbol for me of my daughter's natural grace and simple elegance. I vowed then to someday paint that white rose, or one like it, in memory of Kerry. I have not yet done it as I am simply not ready to, I am afraid I could not do it justice, and I have not come across another rose that has the magnificence of that one. Perhaps these other flower paintings are baby steps leading me toward the white rose, or perhaps they are the result of a deeper appreciation for and connection to the simple, yet elegant beauty that we sometimes take for granted. It is interesting to me, too, that I have chosen to paint these flowers in watercolor instead of the oil I have used so much of late. But these subjects beckoned me to watercolor and the attempt to achieve the luminosity inherent in sunlit flower petals. Kerry's favorites were sunflowers, with roses a very close second. Do not be surprised to see more flower paintings...a giant sunflower, perhaps?

Cobalt Mister

Cobalt Mister, Oil on Canvas, 11 x 14, copyright Pat Aube Gray

I found this cobalt blue glass mister at the flea market and couldn't wait to paint it. I chose two other glass pieces for the composition and cut the daisies and rubeckia from my garden. The mister was the last thing I painted and by the time I got to it, the water inside had condensed and form the littel rivulets you see in the painting above the water line. I thought it would be more challenging to pull that off, but I just painted what I saw and it worked! (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

I'm off to a Workshop with Yuqi Wang

This coming week, Monday through Friday, I will be in Atlanta for a workshop by the internationally renowned master painter, Yuqi Wang. I had seen Yuqi's 2000 grand prize winner at the American Society of Portrait Artists conference in NY and was in awe of it. Last year I met him at the Portrait Society of America conference in D.C. and we spent many hours talking about painting. I am very excited to have this opportunity (he says this will be his last workshop) and promise to report back upon my return. Be sure to click on the link to his site in this paragraph to see his wonderful work.

2008 Kerry Aube Lingle Memorial Sunflower Award

On Saturday night, August 1st, on the occasion of the opening reception of the Atlanta Fine Arts League's 2nd Annual National Exhibition, the first annual Kerry Aube Lingle Memorial Sunflower Award was presented to a painting in the exhibit. Matt Lingle, Kerry's husband, along with Tom and I, selected Lavendar and Lace, a beautiful painting by Charles Walls, a member of the League, and we three presented the $250 award accompanied by a beautiful certificate designed by Fran Milner, a friend and also a member of the League. (In years past, Fran was the editor of the Folio, the Portrait Society of Atlanta's news publication, and Kerry, my daughter, was the graphic designer, so they got to know each other well.) Charles was out of town so his wife, Heather, accepted the award on his behalf. As stated on the certificate, the award was created in memory of Kerry's giving nature and her love of creativity. This was a very special evening for us and, for me, a very special way to honor my daughter's memory.