Hello!
April was a big month for plein-air painting! I painted outside nearly every day! I’ve always romanticised the Mary Oliver way of working: waking at dawn to wander through the woods to write. As someone who tends to operate in sporadic bursts of energy towards a deadline, this kind of daily, consistent practice is a completely opposite way of working.
While I certainly wasn’t waking at 5am to paint, I showed up every day for a month and it was not nearly as idyllic as it looks. Painting every day meant cramming it into days when it didn’t seem like there was an extra hour for a painting. It meant painting out of my car on rainy days, or pausing along a highway rest stop, or going out at night with moths bouncing off my headlamp. Perhaps that still sounds idyllic?
One beautiful thing that did happen through this project is I spent a lot of time in my backyard and in my neighborhood - places I could easily get to and already knew. There is something bittersweet about finally becoming familiar and fond of a place right as you are about to leave! As my next few months rapidly fill with change, I’m so happy I spent some time in spring truly appreciating this beautiful place.
Now that I won’t be painting every day, here are my weekend plans for the next month:
May 3-4 : Alexandria Old Town Springtime Art Festival, Alexandria, VA
May 10 : Remfest, Baltimore, MD - I’ll be vending my wares (ceramics!) in collaboration with Harvey as the first in-person sale for Turtle World!
May 17-18 : Rose Squared Art Show, Verona, NJ
May 31 - June 1 : Taubman Museum of Art Show, Roanoke, VA
June 7-8 : Arts in the Middle, Urbanna, VA
I’m also delighted that May 5-11 I’ll be a resident artist at the Annemarie Sculpture Gardens in Solomons, MD as part of their Artists in Action program! I’ll be plein-air painting and chatting with visitors in their beautiful gardens 10am - 5pm all week (oops, I will in fact still be painting every day) I am so excited to step into some larger plein-air works while I’m there. If you’re local, please come by! I would love to see some familiar faces.
Best best best,
Arista
P.S. Hello new faces from my most recent show at Art on the Square in Williamsburg, VA! It came as such a surprise and delight to win first place in painting/drawing category of the judging! What a happy start to the spring show season. Thank you to all the patrons and collectors who have supported my work, and thank you everyone for reading through this newsletter. I hope I’ll see you soon at any of my upcoming events! :)
Thank you!!! <3
This is really pretty unbelievable, my niece and her family live in Alexandria. We were there the weekend of the old town art festival, and I remember you and your booth! They wouldn't remember me, it was a rainy day though and there was nobody there and I felt terrible for all of you. I was there with a three year-old and a 37 year-old.
You have very nice stuff.