LAUREN AND ADRIENNE, sold

5x7 signed and framed pastel. Bidding starts at $100.00.

Adrienne is my step-daugher, Lauren is her friend. Some time last year, Lauren sneaked her prom dress out of her house, put it on at our house, and posed for me. We presented a lovely framed pastel to her mom for Christmas, which hangs over their mantel.

LAUREN

5x7 signed and framed pastel. Bidding starts at $100.00

In case anybody's been wondering why it's so quiet from my end lately, I've been frantically working to reach a deadline. 10 paintings to Aliya/Linstrum Gallery, in Atlanta, by Wednesday, the 29. I've made the deadline and the new work will be hung for a show beginning September 8. This is the first time in what seems like weeks that I've been able to update. Tomorrow's blog will have more info on the show. Right now, I'm exhausted, and just want to wash all the mineral spirits and paint off my hands.

ARIEL, sold

This is a signed original 8"x12" pastel on Sennellier LaCarte paper. Bidding starts at $100.00.

Ariel was one of those models, whose poses were naturally graceful. Everything she did was gorgeous. Seems like some people are just naturally comfortable with their bodies. Unlike me, who wishes I could shower with my clothes on.

Back in the 60's, when pop festivals were the rage, and people took their clothes off in public places to trollop in mud holes, while Janice Joplin or Jimmy Hendrix blared in the background, it was not unusual for me to be the only clothed person in the mud. Try as I might, I just never could fit in.

Mark your calendars

... and come to my Opening Reception at Aliya/Linstrum Gallery on Saturday, September 8. If you're anywhere near Atlanta that evening, grab a friend (or friends) and come for wine and munchies and to ooh and aah at all the new work on the walls.

Aliya is right in the heart of Buckhead on Peachtree, in the same little strip of shops as the Garden Hills Theater. Poor Carl, the owner of the gallery (but artist as well, so he probably understands), braces himself for my shows where all my friends and family and family friends and friends' families show up. My sister, Lil, always thinks it's in honor of her presence. But that's OK, becauses most people probably come to see her anyway.

September 8 - 29
New works by Andrew Portwood and Margaret Dyer
ALIYA/LINSTRUM GALLERY
2833 Peachtree Road, NE
Atlanta, GA
404.869.2338
www.aliyagallery.com

For information on "Kerry", the piece above, contact Aliya/Linstrum Gallery.

WAITING DANCERS, sold

This is a signed, original 10x14 pastel on Sennellier LaCarte paper. It is not framed, but is protected by a mat. It will need to be rematted and framed. Art will be sent USPS Priority, insured. Insurance is included in shipping.

GARMENT DISTRICT, MANHATTAN, sold

This is a 12x8 unframed pastel. It is in a slightly used, protective mat; it will need to be rematted and framed. A good piece just waiting for the right person.

Bidding starts at $100.

EVENING, sold

This is a 12x16 unframed pastel. It is in a slightly used, protective mat; it will need to be rematted and framed. It's beautiful, can't figure out why it never sold.

Bidding starts at $100. My pastels this size sell at galleries for $1500.00.

I am cleaning out my studio, emptying my bins of art that has been taken out of frames. For some reason, these pieces never sold. I think they just never found the right person. So my next few posts will be of larger, unframed, older pieces, so I have room in my bins for my newer work.

Missing Chattanooga already...

I returned home last night after teaching a 3 day workshop in Chattanooga. Wow. What a community of artists. If I could, I'd sell my house, pack my bags, and head up there today to spend more time with them, and to live in one of those wonderful converted warehouses, those exquisite lofts in which so many of the artists I met are living.

Thank you Mimi, for initiating the workshop, for your incredible hospitality, for letting me feel a part of your creative family for 3 days, for exposing me to your beautiful drawings, and for just allowing me the honor to get to know you and John.

And thank you Cynthia, for the use of your great place at the YarnWorks, and for all the work you did to make this happen.

And thank you, Angie, Mary, and everyone at River Gallery in Chattanooga, for the lovely reception. And thank-you, Paula Ford (see her link at right), a pastelist from WetCanvas.com, who stopped in at the reception with her husband Sunday night. It was great meeting you both.

Now, I promised all the artists, after conversations during the workshop, that I'd provide a place for everyone to share the artists' names and websites they mentioned, since there's no way any of us could remember them all. And this is how we'll do it. I'll create a list, "Web Sites to See", on the right side of this blog. Any of you who wants to add a link, just comment to this post (there's a place below, where you can click to comment--and no, Jane, this is still not a chat room). I'll add your links to "Web Sites to See".

I've started with a few: Milt Kobyashi (Carylon and I talked about his work), and Paula Ford (from the pastel forum at WetCanvas.com). Let's hear from Mimi about her printmaking professor and anybody else who wants to contribute...

I've also added links to those artists in the workshop, whose web sites I could find. If I've overlooked anybody, please let me know.

I can't wait to hear from you.

The images above: the Chattanooga workshop, and the cover of Mimi Herbert's beautiful book, "Voices of the Puppet Masters-The Wayang Golek Theater of Indonesia", available on Amazon.