Kayo Gallery this weekend

Dan Barney and I are in a show at Kayo Gallery, opening this weekend. This show is a fundraiser for the gallery and all paintings are 12x12 and $300 or under.

Chances of Glamour and Excitement Are Coming to You -Dan Barney

Kitty Wished for a Life of Glamour and Excitement -Cassandra Barney

Panoramic shots are great for capturing more the gallery. Wait...if you look closely at the image above, there seems to be on figure who, like a ghost appears in more than one place at once. Hmmm... Maybe the gallery is haunted.

Party!

Yes indeed, I did just load the PSmobile app to my phone AND figured out how to load photos onto my computer....yes, I did just say MY computer. It is back from the shop but it remains to be seen whether it's fixed or not. What's great about posting rainbow photos is that if the subject of the photo has his eyes closed, the viewer hardly notices. It's hard to see anything past the rainbow.

These photos are from the opening of Works on Paper. What a party it was. The rainbow photos are the closest thing to being there.

Our show at the Greenwich Gallery feels like a holiday. It's festive, happy with food and friends. I'm not sure what it should be called. It's really not holy like holiday, maybe more of a celebration.

Works on Paper

Abigail hung an acorn with hopes of luck in love.

Lucinda counted the ladybug's spots. Oh my, four spots meant four children... or a good harvest.
Cynthia didn't spend much time outside at night so from her room she imagined shooting stars to wish upon.

Works on Paper opens this weekend at the Greenwich Workshop Gallery in Seymour. Check this link if you'd like to see my dad's and my sister's artworks.

The opening for our Walled Gardens show at Art Access was packed with many of my favorite people. I smiled so much that night that I was a little sore the next morning. My only regret was that I wish I could spend more time in conversation with everyone there.

Littlest Kitten enjoyed her stardom as she signed artwork in front of her fans.

I dare say their collaboration was the most popular painting in the show.

Walled Gardens

Hortus Conclusus
(The Enclosed Garden)

Art Access Gallery
230 South 500 West
Salt Lake City

September 18- October 7
Artist's Reception Friday,
September 18, 6-9

Cannon Beach

Cannon Beach is like a dream where everybody smiles and knows my name. I'm serious, it's so lovely to visit. When I saw Haystack Rock my heart did a little flutter.

I've mentioned before that a gift basket tells a lot about a gallery. I think it's a karma thing. The second I walked into my pink room at The Waves, I wanted to be in the Heritage Gallery team.

It had a rainy beach comfort theme. Thick cozy orange socks (that I wanted to wear to the gallery but held myself back), tea and mug, burtsbee's chapstick, and chocolate in a lovely little seawood box. Loved it!

First thing in the morning I dragged Mavis out onto the beach for a walk. She wasn't sure it was a good idea but I enjoyed talking and walking with her.

My two days in the gallery were filled with lots of happy, warm feelings. I got to see old friends and make new ones. That's the best part. I forget when I've been working so hard by myself in the studio that there is a whole other beautiful side to my job. It's the opportunity to connect with people on a level that just isn't as accesible through other everyday interactions. It's like meeting someone from somewhere else and even without words, I know they understand what I understand, or they feel what I feel.

Youngstown

I neglected to post pictures from my trip to Youngstown, Ohio because of my computer being in the shop. At Boardman Gallery we had a little show and then a workshop the next day. I've been there quite a few times over the past few years that it feels like I'm returning to my old college town or something. Collectors become friends where I get to see them more often and we get to catch up of life's events.
I feel super lucky to be able to share time with Lynn and George. They make me want to be more generous. The class was fun too. I got to see some exciting possibilities. I hope everybody that came left with more than they came with.

I just finished titling, signing, photographing, and pricing. Whew! Painting them is the easy part. Now I'm excited to go to Cannon Beach. Considering that this show isn't one I'd had six months to work on, I'm pretty proud of myself. These pieces work nicely together. 'Paradise' is a topic I'd like to keep exploring.

I just finished these two little gems in time to pack them in my suitcase. They are both 9X12".
Bianca and Beatrice (above) is about a mother and daughter. Though, it could be sisters or friends. Beatrice means, voyager through life and Bianca, pure and white. One figure gently holds the the vine and the other the blossom. I am pleased with the way the two different figures represent their stage in life by their stance, it's subtle.

I painted Lovely Astrid while I was thinking of Cannon Beach. I was thinking about how happy people seem to be there even though it's often rainy and grey. It's calm and pretty like the painting.

Note to Kate: What do you think?

Holding on to Paradise

I riffling through a stack on my desk and came across a photo of littlest kitten. I thought about her. I thought about how perfectly perfect and lovely she is, and how I want to hold onto this part of her life, where everything is beautiful and exciting and innocent. 

I wanted to paint that innocence on the verge of growing up. She's holding a peach. A peach can be a symbol for immortality, or maybe the forbidden fruit or maybe just something sweet and precious.  I painted her at dusk, my favorite time where one day is about to turn into another. 

I'm getting excited for my show in Cannon Beach. This painting and all but two little paintings are on their way.  I hope to see people I've met there again. That's the best part!

Holding on to Paradise

These past few months I have been working for several shows. In my mind (and sketchbook) I organized the paintings I wanted to paint under three different ideas. My show coming up Sept. 11 in Cannon Beach at Heritage Gallery is titled, Holding on to Paradise. My show coming up Sept. 18 at Art Access is called, Walled Gardens. The third show at the Greenwich Workshop Gallery Oct. 17 is titled Works on Paper. 

For the Works on Paper show I've been painting on antique wallpaper. I've been working with ideas about good luck and being present. This show will be a little different than the other two, although the themes overlap.

As I was doing my homework about Holding on to Paradise and Walled Gardens, I discovered that I was approaching the same subject matter in two different ways. 

 

The word "paradise" entered English from the French paradis, inherited from the Latin paradisus, from Greek parádeisos (παράδεισος), and ultimately from an Old Iranian root, attested in Avestan as pairi.daêza-.^[1] The literal meaning of this Eastern Old Iranian language word is "walled (enclosure)." The term eventually appeared in Greek as ho parádeisos "park for animals." Hebrew pardes appears thrice in the Tanakh; in the Song of Solomon 4:13, Ecclesiastes 2:5 and Nehemiah 2:8. In those contexts it could be interpreted as a park, a garden or an orchard.  -Wikipedia

So, paradise is a walled garden. I have approached the shows differently. Holding on to Paradise questions what the idea of paradise is. I explored delusional ideas about surrounding myself with perfection. Is it a blissful garden where nothing ever happens? Does it smell like coconut oil and sound like trickling water and birds singing? Or is it something totally different. Maybe paradise is where I am; a place where the only thing at rest is my heart. It's a place where a lot is happening, it smells like the dinner we just had as I'm washing the dishes, and it sounds like raucous music, little kittens discussing homework. I can choose if I am living in paradise, it's perception.

The mind is it's own place, and in itself

can make Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven  -Milton, Paradise Lost

Paradise is where I am if I choose to be aware of it, be present in it. That idea ties a painting I did for the Works on Paper show to my idea of paradise. It's called Be Where Your Feet Are. 

My approach to Walled Gardens is more about protecting my paradise and creating my paradise. 

The walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls which are decorative and secure. My paintings for that show are about my home being my walled garden. I want my home to be safe. I want my home to be a place of celebration, with music and dancing. I want my home of be a place of learning and beauty. 

So though I thought I was doing painting three topics, it is all connected. 

I'll post more images later. My computer is still in the shop getting fixed. 

I'm shipping these paintings off tomorrow. They are for a Portrait show at Blue Gallery.

I finished the backs and made title cards for each painting. I really like the way they hang.

FLORETTE

MERIGOLD

Holding on to Paradise

Yes, I will be in Cannon Beach for a show at Heritage Gallery on September 11 and 12. The show is titled: Holding on to Paradise. I'll be in the gallery Friday evening then most of the day Saturday. Saturday evening will be a party/reception at the gallery. I need a trip to the beach and I'm sure I'm not the only one so meet me out there!

The information about the class I'm teaching in Youngstown, Ohio:

ILLUMINATED
GRATITUDE
taught by Cassandra
Christensen Barney
Saturday, August 22


After the style of Mexican retablos and ex-votos, art makers in this workshop will create their own little narrative acrylic painting on tin, using the language of symbols and self-portraiture. Retablos and Ex-Votos are colorful, folkloric paintings usually depicting stories of gratitude. “I’ve always been interested in these little personal stories of gratitude. Everyone has a story and all of those stories are worthy of being painted.”
This workshop is appropriate for all levels of painters. Traditionally these artworks are painted in folk style, using symbolism to communicate a message.
Supplies and lunch will be provided.

Contact Deric at deric@choiceonemail.com or, preferably, call him at 330 758-5795.

It also looks like there will be an art reception (party) the evening before in the gallery and I might be speaking as well.

I'm always interested in how different the galleries I visit are run. The way galleries do business and the way in which they interact with their customers and artists is interestingly diverse. That diversity makes each art show opening unique. There is one thing at every show I do, that stands out to me as the same. It's practically the only thing that makes it's bearable. I can't think of one word but I'll try to describe it. It's an exchange between me and a few people who connect/understand/feel something that I did/intended/attempted to do in creating the artwork. That exchange is only possible when in those moments there is unguarded sincerity. Not everybody is brave enough to feel it, let alone voice it. I'm glad for those who do because it's the one thing that makes it worth it.
Dr. Dan Barney overheard an interesting conversation between a couple of enthusiastic gallery strollers who were criticising my paintings. Though the conversation he relayed to me was entertaining because they just didn't get it, something Dan said stuck in my head. He said something about it being unfortunate that they didn't seem to understand the best thing about the paintings. It was all around them and they couldn't see it or feel it. It was what the people who sent the stories, the artist, and audience and the collectors all shared. It was where all the stories overlapped. It was that these artworks had meaning.
That was the best thing he could have said because it's what I believe in. 'Meaning' is what I'm seeking in every artwork I do.

I really was pleased with this show. I watched people reading the little blurb I wrote about working with these stories sent in by some of you, touching stories from all over the world. Then they would go and read a portion of the story displayed on the wall and study the painting. There seemed to be lots of thoughtful responses. So thank you again to those who came to the show and those of you who sent your stories.

It all started with wanting to paint a painting to protect Jenny the pyro-tech from burning up in a little streak of bad luck. I hope it works. Thanks for the spark Jenny!

Painting about inspiring people is a treat. Pam Beach is one cool artist mama. Check out her blog and you'll be amazed. I wish I'd studied at Pamschool before I'd had my own kittens.