Brentwood Fine Art Show

Hey Everyone

Just a quick note to show you some new work and also let you know the Brentwood Fine Art Show is this weekend at Brentwood Academy. Great Artwork. www.fineartinbrentwood.com

Also - my work is up now in Gallery 202 in Downtown Franklin. This gallery is gorgeous! Come by for the holidays. There will be a Art Reception there on Dec.10th for three of the artists. Barbara Coon, Nick Long and Teva Chaffin. I think I may be showing sometime in the Spring. Not sure. Here a photo of my work up in the Gallery.

Hope to see you over the Holidays! Cheers!

Dana

Good Times!

Hey Everybody I'm sitting here wondering again what the heck I'm going to write about. A few things have happened since the last time we spoke. I did a show in Memphis that went really well. Sold 3 paintings. That's always a plus. But the biggest plus was that I got to hang with my brother for a little bit and then Sunday my mom, my niece and I went and had a spectacular brunch at Owen Brennan's. Delicious! PLUS - one of my moms closest friends while I was growing up was there. Her name is Ginger just like my niece's. We sat and talked for a long time and it was great. She is still the same. We both hadn't seen her since my mom's wedding 18 years ago. Time flies.

Justin's football team ended their season last Friday night in the second round playoffs. I won't mention the score. In Justin's words, "we got owned." Enough said. While I love football season with Justin - I am glad it is over. I will miss seeing my friends, Mary, Jennifer, Lance and John as much as we do in the Fall.

A little good news. No great news. I am now represented by Gallery 202 in Franklin, Tennessee. It is a wonderful gallery and I think my work will do well there. Please stop by and visit. Not sure of the exact date my art will hang but I will let you adoring fans know.

I will be doing the Brentwood Art Show Dec 3-5 so I hope to see your beautiful faces. The art is always great there.

Last but not least. I will be unveiling a new website soon. While I love my other one - I needed one that I could update as needed and I didn't want to burden my friend Katherine with all the changes. I want to keep her as a friend. It will be the same domain name and will go live in a few days.

Ciao
Dana

Fall is here!

Happy Fall everyone. I'm loving the weather. I've already built three fires. Along with Fall come colds and Rachel has a doozie. She is on her third day home from school. I don't think she minds being home. Don't know if I like that.

I finished the Retune Nashville pice and it turned out pretty cool. When I took it down to Soundcheck to turn it in I got to see some of the other work and I have to tell you - it was fabulous. Even if you don't bid on a piece - you have to go to the auction and check out these pieces. There was a piece of sculpture that was made out of the round wooden part of the drums. I just went blank on what they are called.

I also finished up at the Christ the King Art Sale. It went great. I sold three big pieces. It was a great show and I enjoyed being there for three days. Now I am going to Memphis in the beginning of November to a show at St. George School. I'm hoping to see some old friends from my Memphis days. I love that town and really miss the people there. Brentwood Fine Art show will be in December. I like that show. A lot of people come through at that one.

Last day to see my work at Retropolitan in Hillsboro Village. It's coming down tomorrow. Thanks to Amy and Chris at Retropolitan for making the show look fantastic. The Hillsboro Art Walk is a great little gig to see on the first thursday of each month. It's all in a small area so you can see all the art in a short amount of time and then go catch dinner or drinks too. Try it out next month.

Redo and Spruce have a lot of great looking stuff to buy for Christmas and the holidays. Make sure you stop by. Spruce is having a special Christmas Open House on November 6th. And they are also offering a rewards program. Visit them at www.spruceliving.net.

Drip Drip Drip Space

Rachel is in school full-time now and I'm trying to crank out some work. I don't know why I can't seem to get in a groove yet. Maybe it's because I decide to do my errands first thing instead of just coming in the studio and painting. Get to work Dana!

I'm finishing up the piece I'm doing for Retune Nashville. I like the way it is coming out. My husband helped me with the guitar hanger and it is pretty kick ass if you ask me. Hopefully the person bidding on it will think so too. This art will all be auctioned off to raise money for uninsured musicians from the flood. Go to Retunenashville.org to find out more. You can purchase tickets for the party which will have music and drink and the auction. Should be a blast. The photo is a snapshot of where I am right now. I'm not exactly sure I'm going to incorporate the black paint. I do know I will be painting the strings on the guitar. I'm awful with straight lines.

That's all I got so far. Hope everyone is staying healthy.

These allergies are killing me.

Dana

Drowned in Columbia BUT made a splash in Nashville!

Cool title, huh? Well let me start by saying I enjoyed my trip to Columbia, TN and the people were very nice, BUT I didn't sell a thing down there. Those weren't my peeps. They were more into traditional art. I had a bunch of "Ooh I like this" and This is so interesting" but no money. The group of folks that put on the art show did a great job. I truly enjoyed myself hanging with my art friends.

Saturday I had to haul booty to make a show in Nashville. I packed up a little early in Columbia and went by the house to change clothes. I hated what I was wearing. Don't you hate that? Anyway - put on my maxi artsy dress and went to The Cumberland high rise condominium. Sotheby's Lipman Realty Group and Urban Abode were having an art crawl in conjunction with the Downtown Art Crawl. They have four primo properties for sale. In each one - they had live music and a featured artist. I was in Penthouse #2308 in the Cumberland. It was great b/c I had a lot of paintings in there and got tons of "Oohs and Aahs" from over 200 people that walked through the penthouse. Hopefully I will get some phone calls for commissions.

My girlfriends Tracy Thomas, Kim Hunter and Rosie Gilotti came to see me. My friend Bruce Arnston tried to come but said they couldn't find me. I bet he was down on the lobby. Thank you friends for coming to support me. After that was over there was an invite-only party at the Terrazzo in 5 different penthouses. Live music and a Silent Auction. I donated a painting and Rosie, Kim, my hubby and I walked around and mingled with the rich folk. Tracy went to Roller Derby. Sounds fun. I also saw a dear friend of mine that we used to hang with a lot in Granite Falls days. I was lucky enough to have him design and make my wedding dress 8 years ago. Yes - it is Manuel. I'm dropping his name. I have no shame. Anyway - it was a great night. It definitely cheered me up from my no sale in Columbia.

Dropped off my new work at the stores by tuesday and have already had some sales. Yeah!!!! This past weekend my wonderful mom treated me to shopping in Atlanta where we shopped at IKEA for 6 hours straight. It was heaven. We left Friday and got there in time for a wonderful dinner at Lobster's Chop House and then sleep and then saturday - IKEA. Saturday night we had dinner at Julio's and then wine on the terrace of our hotel. We just talked for hours. We had a great mother/daughter night. Sunday - lunch at Murphy's in Virginia Highlands along with some shopping. Got home to hug my family by 5:00. Doug and Rachel were waiting on the front porch for me. I brought everyone something back but apparently the wrong thing for Rachel b/c I had to go to Build-a-Bear today and get a TOY. NOTE: Don't bring organizational things home for your 5 years old. She was sweet but I could tell she just wanted a toy. I don't blame her. Glad to be home.

Video Queen I am not.

Well - I attempted to do a video of my daughter while at Horse Camp. It's cute but I am no video queen, that's for sure. I loved picking the music and loved watching it. She is just so happy. I will recommend this camp to any little girl. It was absolutely wonderful. It's Peachtree Farms in Arrington, TN. Not too far. The owner and instructors really care about the girls learning about horses and the safety involved as well.

As far as work. I just got a new commission that is going to be fun. Can't tell you about it b/c it is a secret for the recipient. I will show you as soon as I'm done. Finished up two commissions and the clients were happy. That's always a good thing.

Getting ready for a show this weekend in Columbia, TN called Art Effects. Should be a lot of fun. Just finished the last two backgrounds. I will do the black tonight before bed. Here are some of the pieces that will be at the show this weekend. Here's the link to the shows website. Please come out if you can.

http://www.mauryregional.com/ArtShow.htm

Dana

Horse Camp and Paint Parties

Well - it's monday and I'm wasted tired from July 4th activities. It was a great weekend with fun at the pool saturday and then fireworks saturday night. All took place is our neighborhood. That's always nice. Don't have to drive far. Beer & Margarita's anyone? Then sunday we had some friends over for a cookout and then to bed early.

This morning I had a little girl that was sooo excited she could hardly contain herself. She started Horse Camp this week. She goes from 9-12 every day and learns how to ride and take care of a horse. I was blown away by what she learned the first day. Of course she told me she already knew a lot of this info b/c she has books on it. I told her to listen anyway, just in case. She loved it and can't wait to go back tomorrow. Here are some photos of the cutest little rider you've ever seen.

I also enjoyed having another paint party in Westhaven last week. These ladies had a blast and so did I. I might start doing these monthly over at their clubhouse which would great for getting the word out. These ladies had painted before and mostly did oils. I felt good I was actually able to teach them something. Of course at the end - they said they had a wonderful time and that in turn stroked my ego which is always nice. Here are some shots from the party. Spread the news. I need the money! Ciao.

Ok - time to share some new work. I really like this stuff so be nice when viewing. It is rather graphic or graffiti-ish.

I'm getting ready to do one of my painting parties tomorrow night. It is a group of ladies that live near by. Should be a fun time. I love seeing what others create when using the little tidbits I give them. It is really liberating for the people that are more literal in their artwork. It creates other ideas on top of ideas and then they can't wait to scurry home and try some new techniques with their own style. Love Love!

I just got finished reading my friend, Joanne Vance's, blog. She is a wonderful artist and also a very engaging writer. She has a sense of humor that I just love. A bit of sarcasm. Well more than a bit. Check her out. http://joannevance.blogspot.com.

Doing a show in Columbia (TN) August (6-7), Christ the King Show October (1-3), and then Brentwood Fine Art Show December (3-5). I'm also trying to get a show going at a gallery in East Nashville in September. Look for me as the featured artist in "Retropolitan" during the Hillsboro Artwalk in October. It happens the first thursday of every month. Check out the store - I'm in love.

Ciao for now.

Summer Is Here!

Lordy Lordy Lordy… I've been out of it for awhile and now am adjusting to summer schedule. The end of the school year kicked my booty. Now I'm ready to get rolling with some new paintings. Just finished one and took it to REDO. Am working on one for my friends Shamus and Kim. Hope everyone is good. It's kind of late and am very tired so I'll wrap this one blog up and send another one when I have more to say.

New Work for the Show

Getting ready for "The Art Event at Lipscomb" and thought I would share some new work with you. I will definitely blog when I get back from the show to tell you how it went. Wish me luck.

Ciao

Dana

Snow Day

As I sit in my studio trying to muster up some creative thought - I'm looking out my studio window and see a beautiful snow day. The kids are out of school and we are getting ready for Justin's 15th birthday party at our neighborhood clubhouse. It's a dance party and I am to stay out of sight. There is another room in the clubhouse that me and Rachel will be in and what we will do in there for 5 hours - lord knows what. My friend Nickie was suppose to come in town but the weather has nixed that. Bummer. Hopefully my friend Geinger will come down and drink wine with me.

My new friend Merryll Rose emailed and wants me to sell my artwork at a benefit her husband is chairing, "Pasta and Promises." The event is March 26th for Miriam's Promise, a faith-based crisis pregnancy adoption service in Nashville. It is always a fun night at the Factory in Franklin, with an Italian Dinner, art auction and sale.

Also Spruce is having H'art for Haiti on Thursday, March 4th. Sale of art will benefit Haiti and you can see all the artists that sell their work at Spruce. Should be fun.

Have fun in the snow.

Starting out the New Year Right!!

Well - it's been awhile since I blogged and I know most of you (the 6 people that follow) will cut me a break since it was the holidays. It was a great holiday and I was able to just sit back and enjoy most of the days. Except for the two days before Christmas when I came down with Strep Throat. It took me down for about four days. Thanks goodness I had all my shopping done.

Oh - I forgot to tell you that the art show went fantastic. I had a great time. I sold 7 paintings and really felt good about the whole experience. I had a lot of interest and a good amount of people actually recognized my work from Spruce and Redo.

I had some commissions in December that were great. One was for a couple in Germantown. They wanted a big painting to put in their bedroom. They wanted my "Fly." I was so psyched. I just knew someone would appreciate my insects. Yea, yea - dragonflies are nice but a fly in your bedroom. Now that's just down right cool in my book. The other commission was from "Pink's" tour manager. He and his wife saw my work in Spruce and thought the ferris wheel (fair series) would be a great present for Pink so when they contacted me about it - I hated telling them that that piece was sold. I then told them - I could do another no problem. I'm not dumb. Anyway - I just emailed them to see if she (Pink) liked it and they said she loved it. So I have a painting in Pink's house. Yeah!!! Here's a picture of both above.

Next thing we did was go on the Delbert McClinton Blues Cruise. This is a cruise that my husband plays on and we have a blast every time we go. Besides Paul Thorn that Doug was playing with - they had, of course, Delbert - they had Mike Farris, Kevin Welch, Doyle and Debbie (go see them - it is hilarious), Mingo Fishtrap (killer) & Seth Walker out of Austin, and a new guy that we all became friends with, Foy Vance. Google him and listen to his music - it's great. He's a one-man band that kicks ass. His wife, Joanne and I became good friends. She's an artist as well. Check out her work at joannevance.com - it is wonderful. She also has a blog. It's joannevance.blogspot.com. Her little girl, Ella and Rachel played along with Paul's little girl, Bella, the whole trip. They partied it up at Club Hal (on-ship little day camp for little kids). This was good for the parents too. We got our own time. One day we went to a friend's island (he owns it) and we went zip lining. I had been before so if course I thought I knew everything. Guess who crashed into the metal landing on the fifth line? Yes - me. I was not paying attention to my legs when coming in and I just sliced open my leg. It looked worse than it was, thank God. After I lifted my pants leg to make sure bone wasn't sticking out - I was better. Thanks to my friend Heather who looked at it and said oh - it's not that bad, you'll be ok - I was able to finish the adventure. I'm glad too b/c the last line was over the ocean inlet. It was truly beautiful. On our ride to the zip line - two parrots were in front of our 6 wheelers. They were showing us the way. In all - the trip was great. I got to hang with my family, old friends and new.

Lastly - I will be in the Art Event at Lipscomb February 12-14. Please stop by if you can. It makes feel like I have friends. For the men - if you bring your sweetie to an art show on Valentine's Day - you will be in good graces for a long time.

Ok - really lastly - I had to talk about some cool music going on in my own house. My husband is producing a album for a woman named Inbal. She is from Israel. Her music is soooo good. I have loved hearing her in my house for the last couple of weeks. Doug has done such a great job! He is truly talented at what he does. When the record is done - I will share. She is really unique and she is such a great person. It has been great talking with someone that is not from our country and getting her take on the world. Hell - she speaks english better than I do. I took french for 8 years and can somewhat read it - but can I speak of lick of it? NO.

Have a good weekend and I swear I will blog more. My new friend Joanne has given me inspiration to AND pass this on to your friends so I will have more than 6 followers, pleeeaaasssee.

Peace, Love & Ciao

Dana