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.