While it lasted...

...showing paintings from the 50 states project was great fun. Many people have told me personally how much they enjoyed looking at the work and reading about my trips and travails (nothing on the scale of the Lewis and Clark expedition, but I did much of it by myself). Here are a few residuals from the Brattleboro, Vermont exhibit:

 The Commons  published an article by Arlene Distler on the occasion of The River Gallery School of Art expanding into the Main Street-level space and opening the lovely new Gallery 34.

http://www.commonsnews.org/site/site05/story.php?articleno=13514&page=1#.VmGxyMoVdRk

I was quite happy being featured in the print and online editions.

Guest Book entries are of great interest to artists and their galleries...and also other exhibit go-ers, I have noticed. I always try to write something favourable when I view someone's artwork. It is helpful to read the artist's statement and/or bio. These can be very enlightening (beyond ?why THAT color?) and may explain what you are looking at.  It is always possible to find the one good aspect to comment on....but that is just who I am. Let's not forget what a brave act sharing our work is....musicians, writers, performers and actors know this and may be more prepared for public sharing than, say naturally reclusive painters and poets. I have never written anything in a guest book so eloquent as this young woman from Bennington did. I love it.

 

Thank you and many Happy Trails to you all.

Gallery 34 Exhibit

 A steady stream of visitors came to the Friday night exhibit opening. It was a fun evening and the 21 chosen state paintings look great on the walls; very accessible for viewing  through the windows on Main Street - a pedestrian-busy sidewalk, night and day. Thanks for all the favorable comments left in the guest book.

these two photos by Michael Poster

Selected works from the Fifty States Plein Air Painting Project are being shown at Gallery 34 in Brattleboro through December 1, 2015. The hours are 9-5:30 weekdays. If the door is locked go upstairs to River Gallery School of Art and someone will let you in. Or you can contact me and I will un-lock the door. 34 Main St, Brattleboro Vermont 802-257-1577.

Exhibit at Gallery 34

photo of Rodrica by Zoe Tilley Poster

During the month of November I am showing some selected works from this Fifty States Project at 34 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT. Gallery 34 is a new street-level space and I love it.   Hope to see some familiar faces on November 6, Gallery Walk...and by appointment or chance...during the whole month. Let me know if you are planning a trip to my town. 

Alaska!!!

OMG! It really is my fiftieth state painting (and my first trip to our forty-ninth state). Six years 'working' on this project. What fun it has been.

Katchemak Bay, Homer, Alaska

We drove the Kenai peninsula down to Homer and saw the pale turquoise Russian River with many people fishing. We saw glaciers and snow covered mountains, a moose, nesting bald eagles, fields of lupines. We stayed at Land's End Resort on Homer Spit in Kachemak Bay where sea otters played outside our window. It was our 40th wedding anniversary celebration. We spent a great deal of time lounging on the deck watching fishing boats go by. Homer is great. (We like working towns...we live in one - Brattleboro Vermont.)

We took the Denali Star train to Fairbanks... a civilized way to travel. Caught a glimpse of Mt. McKinley through clouds. We loved Fairbanks, too. Especially Just Short of Magic, Alaska Dog Mushing School and Educational Tours. There was no snow, of course, but we got to pet, feed and cuddle 28 Alaskan Husky sled racing dogs and discuss breeding traits; lead, wheel, swing dog positioning, harnessing, different sleds and life at 40 below.... one of the traits mushers breed for is good appetite; you want all dogs to eagerly put their faces in their bowls and eat all of it immediately before it freezes. That dog food fuels the race. Looking for a real Alaskan experience? Go to Eleanor's mushing school this winter and sleep in her Yurt B and B. It is way COOL. She is wonderful.

Our other favorite thing we did in Fairbanks is visit the Museum of the North at University of Alaska. That museum of art, history and culture ranks very high in our list of favorite museums anywhere. It's a beautiful contemporary ice chunk of a building. that gave us a warm welcome. We spent the entire day there and were still reluctant to leave due to the fact that we may not return soon.

We visited Alaska at the summer solstice and especially in Fairbanks it never really got dark. Lots of things were open late and it made for a relaxed day, knowing you wouldn't run out of daylight. There were some zombie fishermen whose dream had come true; fishing round the clock non-stop. They were lugging full coolers of salmon and halibut home to prove it.

Nice to finish this Fifty State Plein Air Painting Project with an Alaska adventure. Now I get it...why people love Alaska. This is what I can say about every state. Now that I have been there and stayed a little bit I see the charm of them all. They unite to form a diverse and beautiful country.

I will be exhibiting selections from the project and I'll let you know where and when. You have seen the whole collection unfold here. Thanks for taking the trip with me.

Washington

A beautiful, perfect Saturday morning on the Columbia River; Port of Camas-Washougal to be specific. What could be better? (well, not having an infected Vermont spider bite on my ear would help..but never mind...who's complaining?) So everyone and their brother, dog, kid is putting boats in the water and unloading fish from boats and really enjoying the start of a great day on the river.

Then something happened that I don't think ever happened to me before; a woman jogged by and stopped to tell me "You picked the most beautiful place around here for your painting. No Kidding, I've been all over the Northwest and this is the prettiest." That was a wonderful thing to say to someone who had been led to that spot by intuition, not experience or referral. Mostly when I am painting some train cars, or neighborhood corner garden passers-by tell me about a really pretty location and suggest I go there to paint. I always say 'I will, thanks'. I have tried not to rely on the state icons for this project. I like to find a scene that appeals to me and make a good picture out of it. It's the regular, every-day things that tie us together as a politically diverse country.

After I had made most of a picture of the Puffin Cafe,  Michael Poster and I walked down to have some "Caribbean Cuisine, Pirate Cookin' and Spirits".  It was very good. We loved the bartender. She may have concocted a potion to banish spider bites and swollen faces. I may not have been the first patron she's seen with a fat ear and red lopsided face...she serves pirates, after all.

Oregon

Portland... the Brooklyn neighborhood to be specific... flower gardens spilling over the curbs, brightly painted homes, studios and vintage vehicles still in daily use; this is the setting for this bright and casually comfortable flower garden. There are thousands of pictures here, but time limited me to only one on this trip... besides there was relaxing to do and a truly inspiring visit to the Portland Japanese Garden, as well as sketching and rose ogling.

The fire-engine red tire swing planted with petunias caught my eye, but when I saw the back garden I realized the tire swing would not fit into my small pastel painting. Regretfully I resigned it to the huge Not Painted but Really Good file in my mind. The homeowner-gardener here used her grey-green house as the perfect backdrop to a garden of many colors... just what I like! I did not meet her, but a neighbor agreed with me about the beauty of this home garden.

My husband, Michael Poster,  who accompanied me on this trip to the Northwest, really enjoyed walking with his camera while I painted. For a self-professed travel hater, he sure seemed to be having a very good time in Portland. We stayed at the Best Western Pony Soldier...spotless, friendly, top notch, sparkling pool, great beds... and ate at Pono Farm's Soul Kitchen on Sandy Blvd. NE... which was outstanding!

Five days in Portland is never enough... but it did give me time to drive across the border and capture my Washington State Painting... coming soon.

photo Michael Poster

photo Michael Poster