Busy October

I have been quite actively preparing for three upcoming exhibits.  Two of them are in October and I will send paintings for the third at the beginning of the month!

First, I am setting up an exhibit as featured artist at Amaro Winery in Las Cruces, which I will hang next Tuesday, September 25.  The reception for the exhibit is Friday, October 5th, 5-9 p.m.  Come and enjoy an evening of art, wine, live music by Soulshine, and food. 

You can visit  Amaro Winery to see the paintings (and enjoy the wine and company) from September 25-January 2 (2013) during regular tasting room hours, 1-6 p.m. M-Sat, 1-5 Sun, and, of course, on Fridays until 9 or 10 p.m.  Amaro is located at 402 S. Melendres St., Las Cruces, just south of Amador Ave.

Next, my annual studio event is coming!  Save the dates!

2012 Holiday Studio Gala

SpiritBird Studio

221 Karr Canyon Road, High Rolls

(directions at www.SaraJChambers.com)

Saturday & Sunday

October 20 & October 21, 2012

2-6 p.m. Saturday

2-5 p.m. Sunday

New paintings

Holiday Savings

Refreshments

Hourly drawings for art

Silent art auctions

This is happening the same weekend as the High Rolls Apple Festival.  The fall colors should still be great, so come on out and enjoy the art and the mountains!!

Last, I will have six paintings in the Artists Haven Gallery November show, which opens November 3rd in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  I am excited to have my paintings in this special exhibit for the third year in a row.  The gallery features six artists a month, plus they display two pieces of each artist's art year around.

Look for the postcards announcing each event.  See you at Amaro and SpiritBird Studio!!

Activities and Art

We have been gone much of last month, first to Ft. Lauderdale for the exhibit opening at Artists Haven Gallery.  The gallery opening was great fun!  You can see the pictures of the reception HERE.  Next, we went on a cruise of the western Caribbean, ostensibly to be warm and to snorkel.  We snorkeled plenty but we didn't get warm until we got to Belize!  Record cold in Florida was a big surprise for us.  But the fish and the reefs were terrific!

Since returning home, I've been catching up and creating a painting for the Casa Esperanza annual Art for Hope Auction fundraiser, which takes place March 20, at the Embassy Suites in Albuquerque, NM.  Stay tuned for details and to see my painting!

Casa Esperanza is a low-cost retreat house for cancer patients undergoing treatment in Albuquerque.  It's funded largely by donations and fundraisers.  This is my fifth year to participate.  You may remember my hope chests in 2005, 2007, and 2008 and can see them online on the Casa Esperanza website in their past events links.  I've also contributed several paintings for their auctions. 

In the midst of creating a larger painting, which took me way longer than I hoped to tweak, I created some small paintings (as in 2.5 x 3.5 inches!) with the leftover paint on several days.  This is one of a New Mexico mesa.  I had a lot of fun palette knife painting this from my memory, using the colors at hand!