Kingsley Corner

I have some exciting news! Two of my paintings were put on display as part of the Round Rock Area Arts Council! They accepted submissions from a variety of local artists and displayed a selection of them for the opening reception. Nathan and I were given tickets to the event, which was a private event for the artists and community officials. It was great fun. Music was provided by the Round Rock Symphony, there were performances from a local theater group, refreshments were catered (and strange), there was free wine-tasting (or bottled water, in our case), and three floors of galleries to peruse. We had a grand time! It was a life goal of mine to have some of my work on display somewhere, so this was a big deal to me. I was pleased beyond words.



This is the first painting on display. Ironically, they picked the first painting I ever did in high school. I didn't even get an "A" on this picture! It's Nathan's favorite and I really like it. It's titled "Retired Workhorse"



This is the second painting on display. It's a gift I made for Nathan on the occasion of our 7th anniversary. It's titled "Break for Lunch". The subject itself isn't particularly meaningful. It was just a neat photo I wanted to copy. Sarah and I wanted to make the picture more meaningful to us, so we invented a story behind it. The people in the boats were from a vacationing family. They had fun on the ocean and came into the shore for a picnic. They are eating under a tree just to the right of picture. You can see the shadow from the tree extending across the foreground of the painting.

We met the mayor, several amazing artists (my personal favorite was a lady that painted in the Classical Realism style--like the old masters of Italy!), and the conductor of the Round Rock Symphony. Nathan particularly enjoyed talking with the conductor, and they engaged in a lively discussion about Stravinsky's music. They were comparing his earlier works to his later ones. I was so proud of Nathan's music history knowledge. It was great fun for me to listen to their conversation.

I noticed several artists lingered around their works to listen to what viewer commented on. Nathan was compassionate enough for those artists to speak loud enough for them to hear his compliments and he made a point of commenting on every piece in case the creator was nearby. I was expecting my works to be on the bottom rung of the talent showcased that night. I was pleasantly relieved to discover that my paintings weren't at all in the bottom half of the talent. I think they were comfortably in the middle of the art shown. Some of the paintings were so breathtaking that I found myself returning the same ones over and over again, just to gaze in admiration of the perfection captured. I was really inspired to learn more and practice more with paint.

Nathan has always been supportive of my creative side and encouraged me to paint. He made me an art nook in the upstairs where I can have projects out all the time. It's the perfect size to fit an easel, drafting table, and a lamp. I've really enjoyed using the space and the children have been very obedient about never going in the nook without permission. I've been very appreciative to have the space. It's so nice to not have to clean up my project in preparation for each meal (I usually did things on the kitchen table). Today Nathan made me several stretched canvases to work with. He bought the wood from the ReStore here...20 feet of wood for a dollar! We LOVE that place! I had a bunch of canvas leftover from a sewing project, so he took that and stretched it over the wood frames he made. Then he gessoed them himself, so I have three beautiful little canvases to work on. He made them for me to practice different techniques on. Acrylic paper is almost a dollar per sheet, so I have a hard time experimenting on them. I don't want to waste the paper. The canvases Nate made were maybe 15 cents each. I thought it was such a nice and thoughtful gesture of him.