The show was held at the Thousand Oaks Community Art Gallery and was a grand opening night.  Many thanks to the whole team behind the scenes that made the night so special. 

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Let me know if you would like a commission and I’d be happy to discuss with you.  Hope you enjoy getting a glimpse of “Lemon Splendor”. 

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The above image is an excerpt from one of my sketchbooks.  Working in North Hollywood I would take my lunch breaks at a small park nearby.  I needed to feel grass and be in nature for at least a small time each day.  This is when I started to paint during my lunch breaks and it grew to be a pretty significant way to grow in my art while I had very little time because of my full-time day job.   It also helped my soul and my heart to grow a little bit lighter.   

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Painting every day in April was exhilarating, and fast and exhausting but I loved it.  Very quick, grab an idea run with it, execute it, paint like mad.  Post on Instagram, talk to the world, hey this is what I thought about today!  What a rush to transmit your thoughts and feelings about the world because God knows words just don’t do justice.  And symbolism within each picture can do so much more!  But now we have a LARGE work, and it all slowwwwsss waaaay dooown.  It’s nice changing from fast fast fast!!! To now a slower more meditative pace.  But even getting to it is slower and more intentional, I’m not reacting I’m planning, not rushing to it but scheduling time to work on it.  Telling my daughter “Hey – mom’s painting this weekend so don’t even tempt me to go to the beach!”  Even the painting looks like I’ve slowed down, part of the challenge here to keep that movement and life even though we’re going at a much slower pace.  Bouguereau visits and says let’s put every mark we can on there to describe that hand, that hair and that neckline.  Let’s fall in love with every curve and every nuance of shape line texture.  No no no!!! I love you but I don’t want to be you Bouguereau!!!  Leave …NOW.  Let’s bring in Sargent, come to visit Sorolla and yes Van Gogh you too!!!  Yes let’s paint with authority and vigor!!!  Let’s remember to have every stroke be beautiful!!  We are going for an impression and abstraction of form while being able to recognize that this is a magical being in a magical environment because the nature of human beings and the world they live in does have magic and I want to show you how I see it.     

And so it goes I’ve been working on another larger painting and it has been CHALLENGING!!!  Why have I included hands! And arms for God’s sake… Well I am learning and what on earth are we doing here if we are not learning and growing.  So, in case you wanted to know what the heck I am doing this is it.   

We were on a visit to one of our favorite nature haunts and on a mission to create something ethereal and beautiful, and what better model than my daughter.  She knows just how to look deeper and she is not self conscious when we are talking artful things and expressions and what I am trying to capture! I can’t help it I love painting her, she is my muse. 

Happy you are here! Keep on painting!

Vickie

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