Since our last newsletter I have been to Wrightsville Beach, NC, and taken some great photo shots of ocean waves, birds, grand-kids and people just loving being at the beach. I am working on developing my skills in taking great macro shots and must say I am switching my current lens to the Nikon brand. First lesson I learned when I started creating art was to use the best supplies that I could afford. I have had it with the ” I saved $25.00″ . That mistake I will be fixing before the month is out. Other than that, I have no complaints. I have some lovely pictures and am learning a lot about lighting, angles and the effects that can add or take away from a perfect picture. All these years and I am still learning more and more. What a cool thing to be doing! It’s even better to know that in my artistic endeavors, I will never reach perfection and know it all. I’ll be chasing the perfect picture, the perfect brush stroke, the perfect scene and through it all, I will be creating beautiful art. I see other artists work and see something in their creation that leaves me taken aback with the beauty of what they have done. It inspires me seek after that beauty, to master it so that it can then be part of my world.
I have been busy with painting our sweet dogs portraits. I have just painted our dearest Buddy, an Aussie Shepherd, who came into our family as a little puppy and adopted us as HIS family right on the spot. I showed the picture to Rusty, our Lab and Buddy’s pal. Since Buddy was for the most part black and white colored, I think he saw him. Rusty’s portrait is almost finished and I hope to have one more ready for the vendor show happening on June 15th. As I mentioned in my last newsletter, the sponsor of this event is Dirty Dog Spa, located at 929 Heritage Lake Road, Wake Forest, NC, 27587. Their telephone number is (919) 453-0765. I am so looking forward to showing my dog paintings and also a few landscape paintings. Other professionals will be dog trainers, pet sitters and many others who provide pet services, so I hope that you all do come out for the show. I know you won’t be disappointed.
June started off with a neat treat from Jerry’s Artarama. Jerry’s store manager, Tom Dowd, arranged for a group of us to go to the North Carolina Museum of Art for a sketching session. Transportation was furnished by Jerry’s and both the bus and our driver were great. Over ten of us enjoyed a wonderful time there. If you would like to check out my sketch, visit Jerry’s Artarama’s Facebook page. I have posted it on the comments page. I think you will get a kick out of seeing my sketch of a Dutch farm painting created back in the mid 1600’s. You might like to know that Mark and I are members of the NCMA. Among other things, sketching is one of the perks of membership. I have also registered for four classes, including a two day Auguste Rodin sculpture class. We will be practicing creating sculptures following Rodin’s method of sculpting. It will be my first time sculpting using live models. I strongly suggest that if you are not currently a member of our art museum, a membership, especially for families, is a great idea. The helpful staff at the North Carolina Museum of Art will be happy to assist you with picking out the perfect membership package for you or your family. For your convenience, their phone number is (919) 839-6262 and their website address is www.ncartmuseum.org . Check it out and I think you’ll like what you see and read.
As I mentioned in my title, for part of May and now June, I am having fun and loving how great it is to be part of an art community that celebrates creativity. I am thrilled about being an exhibitor in the show at Dirty Dog Spa on June 15th. I have volunteered to try my hand at doing caricatures of pets and people who attend the show. I have only played with that style of drawing so I have no idea how it will turn out. Any donations for my caricatures will be used to buy pet food for homeless pets. It will be quite the experience for me, but as Mark has told me many times, everyone has a first time on something. Please feel free to offer support in the way of good thoughts and prayers for it to go well and do come by if you can. I would love to see you.
I see that the time is approaching for this newsletter to travel on its way to you, my dear subscribers. I hope that this month sees each of you having many nice things happen for you and that each day blesses you in a special way.
Dianna and Mark Carter