Atlanta Holiday House

Atlanta Holiday House

November 21- December 20th

I will have two paintings featured (and for sale) in the Atlanta Holiday House this year.  November 21st – December 20th.  Check it out if you are in the area.

Holiday Open House at Fogle Gallery

Annual Holiday Open House

Fogle Fine Art

3312 Beach Blvd.  Jacksonville, Florida

Friday, November 20th 3PM – 7PM

This is your opportunity to see what is new in the gallery, view the spectacular holiday decor, and pick up an artsy handmade gift.

I am featuring some of my collage-painting pendants and each necklace is one of a kind piece of art.

So if you live in the Jacksonville, Fernandina area come on out!

Website Updates

I just got finished updating my website with new images, and I will slowly be adding more all week.  I have been working my butt off lately and enjoy seeing the work fly out the door.

I also added a new section on my website dedicated to “Art in People’s Homes” or Retail, Corporate, HealthCare Clients.   So if you have purchased a painting from me in the past few years, I would love for you to send me a photo to include on my website.

Fogle Fine Art Gallery

Proximity to Beauty (detail) 48x60

I have new gallery representation in Jacksonville.  Normally I would say Jacksonville, Scmacksonville….. but in addition to residential sales and consulting, this gallery specializes in a major corporate areas, retail, and healthcare  (Hospitals) placement.  Which is right up my alley.  They really believe in Art Thereapy for the workplace and healthcare enviornment.  And I dig that.  My work is both contemporary, soothing, and uplifting – I think I will be a good fit.

I wanted to be an Art Therapist at one time but there were not any  graduate programs in the South (when I was looking) – and I did not think I could live somewhere like Missouri, Kansas, or Ohio.  But I am still intrigued by the profession.

Surrounded by Greatness

Every weekend I go bike riding from my house to the local state park (Ft. Clinch).  I travel through the park under a canopy of oaks all the way to the beach, then continue my journey with a mile walk on the pier.  It is about an hour worth of exercise – round trip.

There are a few small hills on this journey, and depending on how my week has been, they can kick my ass at times.  My bike is almost 18 years old (and yes, I am about to get a new one - yea!) and the gears are not all that great – so I basically just keep the bike in one gear.

This last Sunday, unbeknownst to us there was a Mountain Bike race going on.  So while we were on our leisurely Sunday ride we soon found ourselves surrounded by all these awesome Mountain bikers. I was too busy trying to not appear like a wussy, and stepping up the pace that I did not even notice when those killer hills came and went.

I guess that is what happens when you surround yourself with the big dogs – you don’t have time to focus on the trivial hurdles in life.

I am loving the fact that I am so busy right now.  I am tired and in dire need of a nap, a pedicure, and a massage, but I am busy working and welcoming new opportunities.  I think people are starting to buy art again.

The Power of the Picture

So I was in the grocery store the other day.  Thanks to Nan, I had a hankering for some pimento cheese but did not want to go through the trouble of making it.  I usually reach for Publix Cheddar Jack Cheese Spread – but this trip I noticed something new: Palmetto Cheese:  The Pimento Cheese with Soul.  The label sort of looks small-town-homemade and it features a half-screen photo of this lady (excuse the small photo – it is all I could find on the website)

Vertrella Brown of Pawleys Island, SC

Now, pimento cheese is one of those things where “homemade” is much better – and the photo of this lady screams home cookin’ if nothing else.  I immediately grabbed this brand in lieu of my usual go-to.  However, my boyfriend thinks otherwise.  Not that he even eats pimento cheese (he is a Yankee), let alone a connoisseur like myself, but every time he opened the refrigerator he commented on how unflattering this photo was (he was not quite as nice) and would never purchase a product that she made or endorsed.  I on the other hand, I  looked at that label/photo and all  I saw was good eatin’.  I would gladly would ingest anything she fed me.  She has skimped on the usual beauty products because she has been busy feeding everyone her whole life.  She is serious about meaningful food.

** My boyfriend would like me to clarify that he is not a racist, but instead shallow and  does not care for ugly people or Southern Food.

Art Imitates Life

I got the new JCrew Catalog the other day.  Several of the models toward the end of the publication are all real New York area artists.  I thought that was cool.  Of course they are all male – but is was neat to see what they all looked like, in their element, and of course dressed in all JCrew.  Yummy.

Moving, Patience, Cleaning…..

I am moving.  Not far – about two miles down the street, and closer to the beach (150 yards instead of 1/2 a mile) but moving none the less.  We found a cool little beach house that is about half the size of our current house and half the price – it just landed in our lap so it felt right – even if that means seriously downsizing and selling our house in a recession.

We probably won’t list our current house for a few weeks or months so I will have plenty of time at the new house to paint, remodel, get new floors, and shop for new appliances and lighting.  And some minor touch up work at our current house.

So once again I am sorting through all my belongings, cleaning, and organizing. This cleansing process is a little scary but very energizing in the end (or so I am told.)  I was getting to the point where I had so much crap, and looking around my home I felt like nothing was special anymore.  And I don’t want to be like that.  I got divorced about three years ago and thought I got rid of 2/3 of my belongings then.  I already thought Barnabas (the local Goodwill) had everything I owned – but now they are about to get more!  It will really be a challenge balancing all this work at home plus my art – as I have quite a few fall deadlines approaching.

At this point I am the queen of organizing.  Even my laundry room is even clean and perfectly organized.  Every cabinet, door, and closet in my home have specialty organizing shelves, bins, and racks.  Whomever moves in is going to think I am neurotic.  And now I am going to move somewhere else and do it all over again.  (I wish we had a Container Store here.)  But no matter how hard I try to stay organized – my office/studio is still a wreck and every time I move I still seem to drag around these one or two (or three) boxes full of loose crap, (papers, photos, lone earrings, etc) that I refer to as my “I have no idea what to do with items – but I can’t throw away” boxes.

It is a daunting process. There is nothing I love more than to redecorate – but  I had a minor freak out last weekend.  I was going through the garage and closets wondering what I am going to do with everything and rediscovering all the things I had been meaning to do and had not, and had no idea when I would ever in the future.  Like when am I ever going to make that mosaic table I have been saving interesting pieces of broken pottery, glass, and china for the past  decade?  When am I ever going to make time to sew?  Should I throw the whole sewing machine out or just all the interesting vintage fabric/linens I have collected over the years?  What about all the handbags I was planning on making – and spent time thrifting/collected interesting handles for?  What about all my jewelry supplies then are collecting dust? I was focusing on all the things I had always wanted to do but still had not made time for – and I felt like a failure.  It seems that this recession has taken its toll in so many areas in my life I had not recognized.  I don’t have time (or allow myself any time) to pursue any hobbies.  If I am not creating, painting I am not on the path to selling my work and making money – or an attempt at making money.  I guess I have been afraid to do things that are not lucrative – because I never know where my next paycheck is coming from these days.  I don’t really even take time to read much anymore.  And that is not good – because everyone has to switch gears every once in a while to keep grounded.  And lately it seems that my down time has been spent dicking around on the computer or losing brain cells watching bad TV.  I have been very good at collecting dust, (both figuratively and literally) and it becomes depressing when I am reminded of my failures and inadequacies.  I prefer to keep those in a closet with all my other skeletons.  Don’t you?

So I had a minor melt down, popped a Xanax (my reality check) and took about an hour or two to collect myself, only to realize that I was just acting a fool.  Thankfully I don’t get like that very often.

Last Monday we got a 10×10 storage unit and began moving a bunch of seasonal items over:  Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Easter Decorations, space heaters, winter clothes, golf clubs,  jeep accessories, luggage, guitar cases, extra canvas/art supplies, 1st Edition books, etc.  I worked my ass off this week moving all this stuff, disassembling, and then reassembling industrial shelving units from my garage and home studio/office.  Assembled two wardrobe racks, etc.  So I feel much better.  Getting all that stuff out of the way so I can see more clearly and finally get to the sorting /purging process.  I am not sure why I did not do it sooner.  It feels good now.

So if you want to own an awesome 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom, 3500 sq foot home 1/2 mile from the beach, that sits on Egan’s Creek (the local nature preserve) where I can see bobcats, otters, alligators, and every bird imaginable right from the comfort of your sofa – let me know and I can hook you up.

Living Room with picture window overlooking Egans Creek

Stella is not included with the house

We are leaving suburban neighborhood life to be beach bums on the sketchy funky north end of the island, and wear flip flops year round.  And if I trade in my pearls for pooka beads, don’t freak out.  I am not on drugs.

I certainly don’t have a million dollars with of art, or anything interesting for that matter, but HERE is a prime example of what good can come from a little patience and cleaning.

No matter how hard one tries, avoiding reality TV is a challenge (they should actually make a show about that.) The shows are as invasive as herpes: The Bachelor, Nanny 911, Extreme Makeover, The Real Housewives, Jon & Kate, COPS, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, and many, many, many more. This fall/winter  Bravo will air the first artist reality show, American Artist. It is the collaboration of Sarah Jessica Parker and Magical Elves (the team behind Top Chef and Project Runway.) The new show will serve a mash-up of amateur entertainers—that is, real people—engaging in old-fashioned game-show-style competition and unscripted activity. According to press reports, each episode will feature the show’s “contestants” competing in art-themed challenges from a range of disciplines—including sculpture, painting, photography and industrial design—and completing works of art that will be assessed by a panel of “top figures” in the art world, including artists, gallery owners, collectors, curators, as well as critics.  I briefly wrote about it HERE

Nobody asked my opinion but here’s my suggestion for a better reality show about artists. Create a show that is more like a good old-fashioned documentary. Forget about vetting “contestants.” Cast the net wide and choose 100+ recent art graduates or emerging artists from all over the country by a random lottery.  No auditions, no video entries, no artist statements. Abandon any attempt to inject obnoxious charisma or talent.  Inevitably, some will be genuinely talented, some avidly self-promotional, some charismatic, some absolutely clueless, naïve — just as in real life – or real life reality TV, per say.

Give them a list of goals to complete over the course of the season. Those who fail to make the benchmarks are gradually eliminated. Here are some vague goals that might be included:

• Find suitable living/working space that they can afford – as well as create in
• Apply to 30 shows and get rejected from all of them without crying
• Get their work in three group shows
• Contribute in some creative way to their community
• Publish three reviews  of their colleagues’ art shows
• Go without food and/or utilities and/or health insurance in lieu of art supplies and studio rent
• Curate a themed group show
• Take a business and marketing class
• Write a business plan to open their own gallery
• Deal with a protégé stabbing them in the back and/or taking credit for their work
• Successfully deal with someone trying to plagiarize their work/style
• Get a grant, residency, or a teaching job
• Arrange five studio visits with gallery owners, art reps,  or curators
• Find legitimate representation in a known NYC gallery (no vanity galleries)
• Obtain a solo show by the end of the year
• File their own taxes

Automatic disqualification if an artist:

• Fails to make art for more than four days during the period
• Sleeps more than 5 hours a night
• Works longer than forty hours a week at their day job

For me, a show like this, that creatively and realistically demonstrates the overwhelming challenges a would-be artists face, would be must-see TV.

A Legacy

Aspiring Artist - Carli Katz

She is only three – but has style, and taste – and wants to be just like her Aunt Casey! Smart girl.