My week ending November 6th 2021
I just woke up in North Carolina, and there is frost on the ground outside. I’m glad I brought my fuzzy PJ’s! The house is quiet, but there is a pot of coffee ready for me, and I thought would write a post for you.
I drove up from my home in Fort Myers, Florida two days ago. My car was loaded down with a collection of my paintings for an art exhibit I have been planning for, for 2 years. Of course, the night before I left, I was still working on the last paintings.
I left just before 6:00am, and arrived at the home of my friends, Natasha and Tim around 6:30pm. The drive was easy, and the weather and traffic good. I was treated to beautiful views as the golden light of the setting sun began setting the fall colors of the fields and trees aglow.
I am looking forward to the next few days. The exhibit is being held at the Campbell House Gallery in Southern Pines, NC. Yesterday I unloaded the car at the gallery with the help of my friend Natasha, and two of the gallery members, Mickey and Suzanne.
One of the paintings I brought was so large that I did not have it stretched until my arrival. As the gallery uses a professional gallery hanger (my term, not sure what the official title is), I didn’t have to hang the work, and all I had to do was stretch the painting, which was 36 x 60 inches.
Tonight is the art reception, and I am looking forward to meeting the visitors to the gallery. I am told they are expecting 150 to 200 guests. I share this exhibit with two other very fine artists, sculptor Morgen Kilbourn and Meredith Martins. They had already brought their work in, and I was able to peruse their wonderful works. I feel grateful to be included with them, and I think it is going to be a fantastic show.
Today Natasha and I are going to go horseback riding. Natasha’s horses are fantastic. She has four Lusitanos, and she generously shared two of them with me. Her palomino named Almirante was so much fun to ride, as was her grey mare Nefertiti.
The Reception:
Tim Russel was the musical entertainment, and he was wonderful. He played his 3 guitars, and sang as well. I even jumped in with the “shaker” and added some percussion! I am not a musician, I might add, but I had fun making a fool of myself! Tim, always the professional, even told me to “take it away!” with a solo interlude with the shaker :0 !!
Natasha Corday helped me every step of the way, not only introducing me to the Campbell House Gallery, but hosting me in her home, helped me prepare for the event, provided a beautiful floral arrangement for the centerpiece of a display table, and with the hors d’oeuvres. I am very lucky to have a friend like her! Suzanne Powers and her husband Max, a member of the gallery and neighbor of Natasha, also helped by providing the cheese, preparing the individual snack cups, and serving wine to the visitors. Thank you to Mickey Walker, who created the art tags for each painting, Katherine McRae, Assistant Director, for spear-heading the gallery and keeping me on schedule, and all the sponsors of the program: Ray Owen, Developmental Director, and Chris Dunn, Executive Director.
Morgen Kilbourne and Meredith Martens were sharing the exhibit with me, and I was proud to be included with them. Both are highly accomplished and talented artists.
Morgen is a sculptor who sculpts not only horses but other animals as well. She is also a horsewoman, so we had lots to talk about.
Meredith Martens is a horsewoman too, but her work reflected a variety of subjects in addition to horses.
The event was well attended in spite of the chilly weather, and I am hoping for good sales in the coming weeks.
Well, I am off for one more ride with Tim and Natasha before I head home in the morning.
Thank you so much for reading my blog (are you still there?). I really, really appreciate it. I will be sending out the next one in a week. Until then…. Live well and be happy! I love hearing from you, too. Don’t be shy:)!
Martha
