artsHOP on Anna Maria Island

Come to the Island November 14, 15 & 16, 2008 and experience our cultural side. People visit to enjoy our beaches but wait until you experience another aspect of our beautiful beach life. All the cultural groups on Anna Maria are sharing their talents beginning Friday, Nov. 14 at
5:30 p.m. The Island Gallery West will have an open house with music and the art of Barbara Orear featured, the Anna Maria Island Art League will exhibit Florida wildlife-themed art and have a raffle which benefits Wildlife Inc. in Bradenton Beach, The Artist Guild Gallery will have a community art project in which you may participate and feature the art of Cheryl Jorgenson and The Studio at Gulf and Pine will exhibit Women's Contemporary Art. In addition, The Historical Society Museum will have a Seminole Indian Clothing Exhibit. The AMI Butterfly Park will sponsor an Arts and Crafts show on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. The Island Players will have a live performance on Saturday and the Anna Maria Island Community Chorus and Orchestra will perform at Crosspointe Baptist Church. It will be a wonderful weekend at the beach! Call the AMI Chamber of Commerce or watch our local papers for more details. This is an advanced notice.

Posh Puppy Photography

"Hot Lips" 18" x 12" acrylic on paper

Encore & more! is a consignment shop on 1439 Main Street in downtown Sarasota. Sales benefit the Women's Resource Center of Sarasota County. Because this is a great cause I am mentioning the shop and an upcoming fund raiser even though it is not on Anna Maria Island. Plus it sounds like great fun! On Saturday, June 14, 10:00 a.m.- 2:30 p.m., Juliana Vazquez will be at the shop to take pictures of our furry friends. All proceeds benefit the Women's Resource Center. Visit http://www.thewomensresourcecenter.org/

Making Art

Several more layers of paint are added to "Me and MB" with my not liking the color of the girl's pants. However I am not falling into the well as I did with the dog (kept on painting the dog without regard to other areas of the canvas). Now I look at shapes. Some are working and others are not. Like ad executives do, it is time for market research. It is when I take my work to a group of artists I respect and get their reaction. I seek more than "this looks good" and I am lucky to have artists who open my eyes to other possibilities.

Island Players

Holmes Beach, 11" x 14" watercolor on 140# paper

On Anna Maria Island you have beautiful beaches and entertaining theatre. The Welsh Players of Glamorgan, Wales will perform The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde at our island theatre Friday, August 15 and Saturday, August 16 at 8 p.m. There is a Sunday matinee on August 17 at 2 p.m. General admission tickets are $15. For more information call 941-778-5755. We have great theatre on our 7 mile long island. This performance marks our 60th anniversary season. Deadline for subscriptions is September 3. A subscription is only $65 for five wonderful plays: The Cocktail Hour by A.R. Gurney, Cliffhanger by James Yaffe, The Affections of May by Norm Foster, Sylvia by A.R. Gurney and Alone Together Again by Lawrence Roman.

Making art

The gloves I wear when I paint are DermaSoft gloves. They do not make my hands sweaty or itchy. Olga Schaefer is the director of marketing and she sent me an email with a great promotion. If you buy two pairs of gloves at $3.95 each you will get a pair for FREE! Call her at 1-800-893-4401. Tell her lolly sent you. She can answer any questions you have.

Here are images for the next layers of paint for "Me and MB". On top - I fell in love with painting the dog when I could have been applying paint to the canvas everywhere. Putting paint everywhere is what I usually do but I could not leave this dog. On bottom - Now all of the canvas has color. It took two sessions to get here but the fun of painting is the process and time flies.