Pastel Dust

I have the pleasure to be part of the Northwest Pastel Society Board.  I have been seeking out galleries for future shows and I must say that I have had a great time visiting with gallery owners/managers who might host one of our shows.  I have visited with several galleries throughout WA and OR - mostly the greater Seattle/Tacoma area and the Portland, OR area.  One gallery owner that I met this year is Rick Kirsten of Kirsten Gallery in Seattle.  His Kirsten Gallery in the University district of Seattle is great.  It is a unique multilevel gallery space that is interesting  and welcoming from the moment you walk in the door.  I stopped in one day this summer and saw the Marine Painters show and to check the gallery space out for a NPS show.  The staff was great and the ambiance of the gallery wonderful.  I am looking forward to the NPS members show being at Kirsten in April of 2011.

Another gallery that I love to go to and have exhibited at is the Pendleton Center for the Arts.  Overlooking downtown Pendleton, OR from it's spot next to the Umatilla River, this gallery welcomes  you the minute you walk in the doors.  The beautiful light filled gallery with bamboo floors and white walls show work so well.  A few years ago I did a show there called "A Hundred Mile Radius".  It was a show of 23 landscapes, all images of the lands within 100 miles of Pendleton.  This gallery has a wonderful shop of artisan items for sale as well as a performing arts area and great workshop space and more.  This art center was once a Carnegie Library and was renovated into a first class gallery.

I am prepping for our 3rd annual Open Studio Art Sale.  This  year I am moving it to the first weekend of December to coincide with the Winter Barrel Tasting event for the wineries in Walla Walla.  We will move furniture around and out to accommodate easy access to the wall space on the main level of our house, hang lots of art, salon style, brew some good coffee and have some treats available and enjoy the two days visiting with friends and art lovers who happen to come by.  I am encouraging visitors to bring something for the Food Bank as well - something nonperishable to donate to the bank in the spirit of the annual Care and Share Food Drive the Walla Walla Association of Realtors does each year.  Each person that brings some food item for the drive will get to enter a drawing for one of the series of 100 paintings.
I will have a good variety of sizes and prices of art - mostly the pastels, but I may hang a few mono prints and oils as well.  So if you happen to be in the Walla Walla area December 4-5, stop by 938 Mountain Park Drive and enjoy some art and conversation over a cup of hot coffee or tea!

With Thanksgiving this week, enjoy the time with friends and family and for those of you artists out there, be sure to take a little time and spend some time for yourself immersed in your art!  Happy painting and Happy Thanksgiving!