Last night the reception at Pacific Art League in Palo Alto was a lovely little party. I really enjoyed it. There were a lot of things to like--really wonderful, welcoming people there from the PAL Board and other members, to the folks who walked in off the street as part of the Friday Night Art Walk. Best of all, a whole gaggle of my own friends showed up to support me as this was the first time I have participated in an art show since high school. Even my sister came, driving five hours just to be there (bringing snazzy clothes and make up for me just in case I wasn't going to dress up). Yes, participated is the word you read: I had four of my prints hanging, including the one here, "Great Expectations."  The exhibit goes through March 31st in case you want to stop by and see more.

So, yeah, jumping into the world of making and showing art is turning out to be not just satisfying but it is actually a lot of work. If you ever envision artists sitting around eating bonbons and working when the mood strikes, you have a whole 'nother thing coming. It took me weeks to finish the pieces I had planned to submit, including editing and finalizing the images, testing for color, printing, matting (I cut my own mats), framing, labeling, making "hang-ready," wrapping and delivering -- then going through the sign-up process and labeling at the gallery. I do have to admit, I am not nearly as adroit at the matting and framing part as I will be someday and even sliced up one of my previously-most-useful fingers with a new Exacto knife blade which meant I spent several hours at the doc's having a "wound care specialist" put it all back together. So there is a little blood and sweat for you; maybe someday there'll be tears.

Now I get to start the process again: the next show at PAL is themed "In The Garden," a perfect venue for my portfolio. Submissions are due on Friday the 13th so it's going to be a busy week again. Happy me.

My next post will be about the Artist Series talk by world renowned sculptor, Bruce Beasley--and the private tour we had today by Mr. Beasley at his studio compound.