It has been an obviously long time since my previous posting, but not for lack of reasons. Trips, art events, and a new home have kept me busier than I have ever experienced before. My head is spinning!

Rebecca and I moved into a new home on May 28th, after a couple of crazy weeks getting all the finances and paperwork in line. We are very excited – the home has studio space internally and about a quarter acre of land for our dog, for a garden, for future outbuildings. In between all of our travel this past month and a half we have been renovating the space. We finished the studio floor, have repainted the inside of the home, have begun renovating the shed in back, and are preparing to redo all of the floors in the main part of the house. The list of things to do is long, but we are looking forward to being able to get it to a comfortable state and to return to the studio – can’t wait to paint in the new studio!

As far as travel, we first went to Chicago to see the King Tut exhibit at the Field Museum. My father is a huge fan of Egyptian history and artifacts and brought us to Chicago to spend some time with him. The show was well structured, but we were a little let down that some of the major items like the mask were not there. What we did see, though, was amazingly beautiful. We also went to the Art Institute of Chicago and spent a whole day wandering around, and also saw the Chris Ware show at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago. It was a great show, and the other shows were exciting to see. On the top floor I was able to view some of Andy Warhol’s source images for his Marilyn, Electric Chair, Jackie Kennedy, and Disaster paintings.

The second trip we took was to DC for the opening of the Portrait Competition at the National Portrait Gallery. The opening was marvelous – I had no idea that the museum was as large as it is, and we were somewhat overwhelmed at the scale of the opening event. I was excited to see my work again – it has been away so long (!) – and also pleased to see the rest of the show. There are so many great artists in the show and I was happy to be able to see the works close up. I am happy for David Lenz, who won first place – his painting is exceptional in person.

We were disappointed only that it was very hard to meet people at the opening – although the artists wore armbands, there were no indications of names worn by anyone. Nevertheless, I was able to meet a few people by deduction.

The museum is awe-inspiring. I saw so many paintings and photographs that I never anticipated seeing in person, and the range of eras and styles was splendid. The building itself is well-structured and enjoyable to wander around. I think that it may now be my favorite museum – I can’t wait to return again to spend a day or two wandering around.

While in DC, we also went to both wings of the Smithsonian Art Museum, to the Hirshhorn, and to a couple other museums. We had dinner with some new friends, spent a day with an old friend, and had a great time.

The final trip (which we just returned from) was to Colorado and to Santa Fe to see family, friends, and some of my personal history. We spent an action-packed week that involved little art viewing except for in Santa Fe, but plenty of sightseeing and used book buying (my favorite vice).

So now we hope to spend the next couple of weeks not traveling around but instead getting the home in shape. Once we get the floor done, we’ll be able to clear out the studio and work on repainting and building in some cabinets and painting racks. After that, we’ll be back quickly (hopefully) to painting. I can’t wait!

Website http://demiart.com if you are so inclined...

Image 1:Demi with painting at the opening event
Image 2: The home studio, filled with the contents of the remainder of the home, awaiting its completion and for the commencement of art-making.