“I would never join a club that would have me as a member. ” Groucho Marx
The University Club would probably have me as a member. I gained entrance without joining. The Take Five artists are on display in the University Club. I have five paintings on display, and available for purchase.
All of my paintings are of bars, some local, some famous. Submitting these paintings for this exhibit – on display until January 2021 – placed me in a quandary.
I had these paintings tagged for our exhibit this December at the gallery at OneOhOne in Mesa, AZ. Take Five has the space for the entire month.
I will be exhibiting for the first time one of my larger paintings. It is a painting of a 1950’s circa International Harvester truck that is parked behind a building at Goldfield Ghost Town in Apache Junction.
I have several bar series paintings in utero in my studio; however I will be exhibiting my found object assemblage sculptures as well as my desert detritus clocks as I suspect that the large Mormon population that will be examining the show would be much impressed by my American Bar Series of paintings.
It is difficult to break into a new art market. In South Jersey and Philadelphia I was known. I sold many paintings before they were off of my easel. In Arizona I am known by every bartender, simply because I am a big tipper. One of my paintings is on display at my favorite dive. The bartender at that dive bought another of my masterpieces. Shhhhshhh – we won’t tell him it is anything less!
I have been painting a lot of small paintings – 8″x10″ – because they are easy for me, and easy to sell affordably to those that would not otherwise purchase original art. I have been feeling urges to paint larger, and wanting to stray from my comfort zone. I hope the Mesa exhibit in December will showcase my expanded sensibilities and interests.
In 2021, if the world doesn’t come to a fiery climax, I will be exhibiting in Carefree, AZ. My palette is clean and my canvases are blank. The local temperatures have finally taken a nosedive below 115°F, and I am able to step foot back into the studio.