Stockley Gardens October 20-21, Norfolk VA

Always an event, Stockley Gardens is the show I started doing in 1992 and have done continuously since... the only one I missed was the October after 9/11... that makes this coming weekend my 39th show! And the folks there have been more than supportive. They are my teachers and refiners and commentors and critics; they are my patrons and clients and friends. I remember Gail saying to me, "You can not frame another painting until you sell something!" and I replied, "Now where am I going to do that?" Her response was to hand me a newspaper clipping with the Call for Entries to the Stockley Show.. OMG how scared I was. I have the original pictures (no digitals back then) and in them you can see my toes! I would put the paintings on the floor, stand over the painting and shoot a picture... always I got my feet in the bottom of the frame! Not only have things changed and become so much more effective with discs and pixels and cropping abilities, but they have become less tedious and time consuming. What stress to take a shot and have to wait for Walgreens to develop it! I don't even know where my 35mm camera is now! In these last 20 years, I have seen children who were incubating, graduate from college! I have buried a few wonderful loving art buyers and friends: Lisa, Jim, Arlene... Some folks bought one painting and I never saw them again; others are working on their 18th and 19th pieces! It has been an amazing path. I am ever reminded of my great fortune to be able to take a blank canvas and begin to doodle on it, passing the hours in "the zone," music cranked to the hilt, and to arrive at the place where I say, "Now you are finished." The miles and smiles I seen! I wax poetic, eh?

A word about the new pieces... I have really been "discovering" images in my art. I am playing like I have never played before. I am allowing myself to start with masses and drips and washes of color and then to study the thing, find something of shape and form in it, and pursue that image to a place of cohesive unity. I get to a place with a piece and, in a quick glance, deem it fit for show. Something about the piece has to come together in its entirety... Here are some of those in various stages of the process, hanging for a "look see."

And commissions: These are the latest approved and ready for delivery...

Looking forward to seeing you at Stockley!

And don't forget I have new pieces going up in TLNorris Gallery Greenville SC and at Lee Designs Alexandria...

National Society of Fine Arts, Paris, 2012 Jury Selection Announced Today!

Again this year, I am accepted into the National Society of Fine Arts in Paris! The event will be held the third week in December and will once again be in the Carrousel du Louvre. The announcement came this morning from Benedicte LeCat, director. This year another American, Joshua Smith, joins the delegation.

Sally and Sadie is a 24" x 24" (66 cm x 66 cm) original watercolor on canvas.

Barry Glustoff at Digital Arts Services in Atlanta is working now on a limited edition print of the piece. It will be a 12" x 12" rendering, will be framed and archivally finished. I am only doing 25 of them and am offering them at $225 each. They will be embellished with my trade-mark gold drip, signed and numbered. Each comes with its Certificate of Authenticity.

I will have an Artist's Proof at Stockley Gardens Arts Festival Oct. 20-21...

Want one? Reserve it now! I'll take calls at 757.477.2599 and will check my email at info@tombarnesfineart.com for requests... I think these two will go well with their internationally experienced cousin, Clarisse!

A WORD ABOUT SADIE: One may see her as a dog or a cat; I have invented a new species in my work called "Doats" or "Caogs" so that I will be politically correct for generations! 

Oh Happy Day!

A New View

Dear Friends,
I have been so negligent in keeping you informed thru this site that I am almost embarrassed to add anything to it now...
So much has transpired in the past months since my last post and I don't know that I can recap it all. But here go my early morning musings...

First, the painting...
I have been working on the watercolors canvases continually. I have done about 100 pieces over the past few months and I have sold many of them. Inventory is a little more than I usually keep but alot of that is the fact that Barbara Lee at Lee Designs in Alexandria has been selling work steadily and so I have done about 20 pieces especially for her shop. If you get the chance to visit, Barbara is located at 1020 King Street in Alexandria VA and will welcome your smiling face! I also have 6 pieces now being launched along with the new gallery space with TLNorris Gallery in Greenville SC. I just dropped these off and the Opening is scheduled for October 19 and 20. I'll be at Stockley Gardens then so I won't get to see the event, but I'm hoping for the best for them (and me, too!) I met Terry Norris at the Alexandria show and he invited me to show with him. I am impressed with the professional manner of the shop and look forward to some new clients thru them.

This is a very new piece, 4' x 4' canvas, and I took it to Alexandria and promptly removed it from inventory. I really like this one and decided to add it to my personal collection. It is now hanging in our front room, a space Gail and her sweet girls do their studies. I know for most it is not what is expected. But that's why I like it. For me, the PROCESS of painting is the thing. I worked on this one for weeks and then left it alone for months. I looked at it and looked at it and then completely washed the canvas off and started from the base stains on the fabric. I call it "Ethereal" because it sort of "grew" out of shapes and colors I saw as I studied the entire work. There is an entire unexplored "field of vision" for me. Having such success with the images most expect, I tend to get in the mode of thinking that's all there is. But when I let go, I delight myself... not egotistically, but from a pleasure in art. Below are three more 4' x 4' pieces I have in the works...

These are working titles of Still life with Roses, Lapinski I and Lapinski II. They are each 4' x 4' watercolor on canvas. I think I am going to invent another persona to introduce these new pieces under... just kidding, but maybe it's an idea worth researching... that way no one expects the usual! I am always interested in others' responses so if you get a minute, write me at tombarnesfineart@comcast.net and let me know what you think...

Another one I need to show...

This one is called "My Muse" and a wise collector will snap it up in a heartbeat... it is probably the only painting of a lady I'll ever do that has no face... The irony of this one and its title is a glimpse into my soul. For my muse to have no face and for my work to be faces and faces and faces, just makes me smile! It is a 30" x 30" square and will be shown at Stockley Gardens October 20-21 of this year.

A word about Paris...

I am still connected with the Society of Fine Arts in Paris thru my friend Bendicte LeCat who curates the submissions. I am not sure what I'll do or if I'll still have a berth this year, but I am deciding whether to submit. The process is coming to a close for this year and I won't be going to that lovely city again because I just didn't feel the unction. I am still working on the delegation information and will hopefully launch the jury process thru a group called CAFE online jury process. The shows in Toronto and Quebec, Brussels and Barcelona are still available to me and with the proper push, I'll get me act together, save the euro and go for it!

For your pleasure...

I'm including here a few pieces I like especially...

The first one is a 24 x 24 inch square called Klimtish, the second is called Bernedette, 18 x 18 square and the third is Distressed Still, another 24 x 24. 
And finally...

 before...
after...            

Above I mentioned that pieces change and morph as I work on them, well here's a good example... The first piece is one I shot while I was preparing for the Alexandria show. Then, as I looked at it, I got like not happy with the traditional and expected. So I went to work on it, I washed the canvas and started with only the face which I kept but adjusted in tone and color. The result is pretty different and sold immediately in Alexandria to a couple who have a few pieces and said that in all their collection, my work is most commented on... I know we're ramping it up with "Lita!"

Hey, bye! for now and thanks for checking in...

The Real Bess and Lila

With my Mom's (Mudder's) death, came the time of sorting out many years (87) of living. She had downsized and so the process was not too cumbersome or drawnout; really very sweet for my sisters and brother. We shared tears and laughs and fond memories of days now past. Among the many photos she had saved, my brother Michael, came across this one. It is of the two sisters, Bess and Lila, who for 20 years have been the inspiration for many many of my paintings. I am now designing a booth sign which will keep these ladies in my space and remind me of the childhood visits to Savannah. Bess is the one on the left and Lila is, of course, on the right. For those of my collectors who have known the story of the two "grand dames," this is proof that I was not making up a good story! Enjoy!