Come See Me!

Not that I'm all that great to look at, but my art should be! See the newest "Paris Collection" at the Art Preview and Sale for the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters... the link is provided here for information and ticket purchases...https://www.kingsdaughters.org/events/?event=397

Copy and paste it in! Looking forward to seeing you there...

News Interview Link

Here's the link for the news interview done by WAVY 10 television in Hampton Roads VA.
Give us a chance to find out more about Clarisse and the celebration surrounding her...
Check it out:

www.wavy.com/dpp/hr_show/i_am_hr/i-am-hampton-roads%3A-tom-barnes

Thanks!

You're Invited!

...to a Meet and Greet

Friends and Patrons in the Washington DC/Alexandria VA area...you are invited to see some of my newest works at Lee Designs, 1020 King Street Alexandria VA from 6-8 PM this Friday September 9th. I'll be there along with Barbara and her fine staff to meet and greet each of you. They have planned some refreshments and I have planned some fine art! The Alexandria Art Festival is this weekend (September 10-11 in Downtown Alexandria, near the Torpedo Factory) and this little preview will kick off my 20th year of painting. I am excited to see you there. More soon...

Chicago Bound

Today I am minutes away from framing the newest pieces and heading to Chicago for the show July 9-10 in Grant Park, Downtown Chicago...It's callled the Gold Coast Art Fair and is in its 27th year. I look forward to seeing my old and established patrons and to meeting new ones! I am showing my newest works on canvas... Others might like to know that I have pieces hanging now in Alexandria VA at Lee Design, 1020 King Street. Some nice work there. And in Dallas, at Hemisphere Gallery, Dallas Merchandise Mart, 9th Floor I have pieces specially done for the "trade." My designer friends in the mid-West can shop for originals there. Plans for Paris are still making up: looking for apartments, booking flights, etc. Gail and I are looking forward to spending some time outside the museum...in the City of Lights (and Lovers!)

Preparing for the next thing...

This week was a flurry of activity. I worked diligently to get the show in Dallas ready. Here's what's happening: In High Point, I met a fine friend, Amy Allen, who asked about me going into her design gallery in the Dallas Merchandise Mart. It's on the 9th floor and I rent space for a year, displaying my art and giving folks from Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas a chance to see my work. It's only for "the trade" so only people who are buying art for their clients or store fronts can access the work. I sent about 12 pieces there and Amy was good enough to hang and organize the space for me since I am not able to get to Dallas for the opening. Thank you Amy! You've been great to work with! Some new pieces I'm putting in are shown here... This is a huge experiment for me and I am simply going to watch and see what comes of it. Redefining my venues is not easy. But I am more and more interested in what is coming next than what is given...

Invitation to Exhibit at the Carrousel du Louvre 2011

Many folks this weekend have asked for more information about my recent invitation to exhibit at the Carrousel in the Louvre, Paris France... December 8-11 2011. The organization I juried with is the Salon Societe Nationale des Beau-Arts. Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA) was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions.

Established in 1862, the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts was first chaired by the writer Théophile Gautier, with the painter Aimé Millet as deputy chairman. The committee consisted of the painters Eugène Delacroix, Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, Puvis de Chavannes and among the exhibitors were Léon Bonnat, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Charles-François Daubigny, Laura Fredducci, Gustave Doré, and Edouard Manet. In 1864, just after the death of Delacroix, the society organized a retrospective exhibition of 248 paintings and lithographs of this famous painter and step-uncle of the emperor - and ceased to mount further exhibitions.

In 1890, the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts was re-vitalised under the rule of Ernest Meissonier, Puvis de Chavannes, Jules Dalou, Auguste Rodin, Carolus-Duran, Bracquemond and Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, and since then its annual exhibition was reviewed as the Salon de Champ-de-Mars, traditionally opening a fortnight later than the official Salon de Champs-Élysées, organised by the Société des Artistes Français. In both societies the president was a painter and the vice-president a sculptor. The first president of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts was Ernest Meissonier, but he died soon, and the vice-president was Jules Dalou. The second president was Puvis de Chavannes and the vice-president was Auguste Rodin.

When Gail and I went to Highpoint NC for a show, our neighbor-artist, Audrey Triani, was from Canada and suggested that the curator of the show, Benedicte Lecat, might be interested in my work. She was not sure of my chances as they had never had "an American delegation." before. I followed her advice and sent my images in for the jury process. Weeks later I received the invite... and I have been allowed to become "chief" of future American delegations! Right now there are only French, Swiss, German, Mexican, Spanish, and Danish delegations. The piece above was chosen from 15 digitals of my work.

As plans stand now, we are to be in Paris on December 7th to hang "Clarisse," (a 4' x 4' watercolor on canvas), attend a welcoming party and a "prize" party, spend a few days seeing some city sites, and then, on the 12th, take "the Lady" down and wrap her up for shipment back to south GA.

Clarisse can be seen in the No-Frill Grill on Spotswood Ave in the Ghent area of Norfolk VA. I had to have her spend some time "dining out and imbibing the ambience" of the No-Frill to prepare her for the night life in Paris!

I am right now searching boutique hotels, flights from Atlanta, and crash courses in French.

I am also planning a commemorative giclee print for my patrons. It will be a 12" x 12" reproduction, framed, with archival finishes, signed, numbered and shipped for $250. There will only be 50 of them done.

More information will be available on the website at www.tombarnesfineart.com.

The exhibit will kick off my 20th year of painting!

Just Another Day?

Isn't it great how there are no "just another" days... It's all fresh, new, available for use. The creative process is one I've gotten very familiar with. It starts, of course, with a blank canvas. To be able to put one small dot, a half inch line, a splatter of color on a blank canvas and begin a journey thru ideas and effects and color and composition is astounding. I almost never know what I'm going to get. Sometimes there is an idea lurking in there somewhere but I am not fully aware of it most times. Sometimes there's a feeling I have, maybe a need to say something. It starts to come out and then in the process itself it changes and morphs and becomes clearer to me what this particular painting is about. I really love doing different reditions of a theme. That's because I can see the changes no one else can. I can see, especially in the eyes of the ladies, the subtle differences which give the piece its own unique personality. And it is actually fun. I stress about so many little things but the painting process is not one of them. I get to watch something come together in a way many never have. It is most important to keep the tension outside the studio. When I get "tight" I draw lines that are rigid and perculiar. Being loose to sketch and get a composition down in vague images is most important. I can fill in the blanks as I go so I really try to keep everything in the unformed and squiggly universe. Working on the canvas is really a pleasure because I can make gestures and then go over them and define. I can erase, wipe out, clean up and start over. Paper was never so forgiving! I am now working on the "lifting" process. Putting the color down, letting it cure, then cleaning it off...the stain effects on the canvas are very nice to me and they can be re-painted, wiped off again and I get some really neat, distressed, antique looks. Colors become variant in the most timid ways and that's a special nuance of art I just get excited over!

High Point Merchandise Mart

This past week, Gail and I went to High Point NC for the April 2011 Furniture Mart. It was almost to the day, 60 years ago, I left High Point as a 9 month old baby. It was quite an adventure to see the small town and get a feeling for the "home accent" industry. We were both exhausted by the 7 AM to 7 PM schedule but the results were exciting. We met many many designers, connected with other artists, and had more information leaving than we could assimilate. The work showed wonderfully. Here are a few shots of the booth just at show time...

I will be working on commissions, shipping pieces sold and contacting the designers, business owners, and company reps I met for several days running.

What a Show!

What can I say: 31 paintings in 4 days! Gone, Poof, off the walls and into some of the finest homes in Palm Springs, Desert Palms, La Quinta, LA, and San Diego...wonderful patrons, great weather and a delighful stay with Bill and Denise Zolbert who have become fast friends over the 8 years of collecting. I am back in the studio and working diligently to get ready for the High Point NC Furniture Show April 2-7. This one will be totally experimental. I'm putting on the pieces I'm working on now...

California or Bust!

Latest piece finished! Told myself "just paint happy" and I did!

Some much influence from the master's I study; This one is a rendition of the Klimt piece I recently sold in Boca Raton.

Another new approach to the floral, this one was inspired by Egon Schile who is my new favorite artist...

I have loved looking at this piece. It's in the same line as my Kandinsky Villages, but the new lighting, coloring techniques have given this one a particular interest...

These Ladies kindda grew out of the same re-paint process as the first post. The lighting in this one is especially interesting...

Thought I'd never got this one off the boards. I painted it about four times before I settled on this deep tone, rich hued presentation...

Well it's hard to believe that for the eighth year in a row I am driving to CA for a few weeks... La Quinta Arts Foundation is the first show I did eight years ago when Glen Cole and I began to work on the business plan he developed for my small company. I was dazzled and amazed by the whole affair, having done only the two Stockley shows a year for 10 years. It was new territory and I remember when we got to CA, I called Gail as she was buckling down under 6' of snow back home in Denver: I was down to a t-shirt and riding with the wind in my hair! Glen and I got there a little before the tent set-up was finished (I had to rent tents because I had never purchased one) and we sat under the canopy with the welcome basket the Foundation brought by... complete with a bottle of fine red wine! Oh, we thought we were really in "high cotton!" Of all the things I value in my Denver experience, the one thing that changed my life the most was meeting Glen and having his expertise added to my talent. He catapulted me into the Big League with his encouragement, planning, guidance, and business acuem. Thank You Glen!

Energy and Design

Things are coming together: been in the studio long enough to hit the "zone" again - at last... Commissions have come into the approval staus and will finish them up this week, hopefully. Am continuing to experiment, especially with the new white space concept. Landscapes are lacking. Can't seem to find that image, that idea, to develop. Setting up business stuff for the new year, prepping taxes, rethinking the show schedule... it's all in the mix!

Saturday's a Work Day!

A few new pieces in the mix... two are commissions and the other two are for experimental purposes. Trying the idea of white space! I'll keep working on them of course as I am wont to do.

Planning the Mount Dora FL show Feb 5-6 and looking forward to California in March.

More New Works

" Lake View" is 36 x 48 and is done primarily by splattering the paint with a medium brush and very "wet on wet"...

Another Large piece, "Three Lady Lunch," is done by lifting the color off the canvas after it has cured...

Back in the studio, I am working on some larger pieces for the fun of it. These have been in the works for a few weeks now. I look at them daily as I work and then, zap!, I get an idea to move ahead in a direction which brings them out from the vague mesh of color and into the detail. These will continue to be developed over the next few weeks; I am planning on having them ready for the show in CA, La Quinta Arts Festival March 10-14... The "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" piece is done with underpainting of color block, lifting, and then stippling with small brush in all the colors juxtaposed... tedious but effective.

After Boca Show

Sarah in the Parlor...

Marla ordered this beauty and picked it up at the show...

One of my all time favorites, will be using her in the promo work for Paradise City shows...

Sold in a skinny minute...classic ladies, watercolors and fun!

An all red idea for Martice theme...

After another four hours of painting this is what the image below looks like...

Started this one and, after some feed back, went back to work on the colors, composition...

Spent four days in Boca Raton FL and loved every minute of it. The show there was an exceptional boost to the painting energy. So many good comments (and terrific sales), great crowds, and picture perfect weather (73 degrees and sunny)...and that while the rest of the country was under feet of snow! Came back to GA and hit the temperature drop right at the state line...Atlanta was in a deep freeze and Savannah wasn't much better. So I have cranked up the heat and started painting with renewed energy. Several commissions under way and are included here. Planned the next few months of shows and am really excited about Mount Dora FL on February 5-6. Then La Quinta March 10-14. I'll be working in between to keep the inventory. New pieces that haven't hit the website are also included here...