Monday, May 21, 2018

New Paintings, new experiences

They say it's spring. And I guess we can tell by the torrents of rain, but other than that, signs of spring have been disappointing. Take heart: the real proof of spring is the art shows and fairs that are beginning to pop up.

I'm very pleased to have several paintings in recent and upcoming exhibits. My cheeky painting Chick Please was in the Salmagundi Club's Spring show in April & May.

vintage coffee pot, diner check
Chick Please ©2017 Dorothy Lorenze

Ticket to Ride was juried into the Allied Artists of America associates online exhibit. This painting, I'm happy, to say was purchased in the fall, so an online exhibit was a good way to show it. The entire exhibit can be seen here.
Ticket to Ride ©2017 Dorothy Lorenze

I've been playing with gargoyles lately and this new painting, A Congress of Characters, will be in the Hudson Valley Artists Association exhibit at the Lyme Art Center this June. It's only the second time I've had work accepted by this prestigious group (they seem to like my quirkier subjects). I'm looking forward to re-visiting beautiful Old Lyme.
gargoyle statues
A Congress of Characters ©2018 Dorothy Lorenze

Two paintings are on exhibit at Ridgefield Guild of Artists through June 24th: a small still life At the Opera and my classic trompe l'oeil painting Noteworthy. You can read more about this painting and trompe l'oeil in an earlier blog post.
trompe loeil, still life with notes, vintage glasses
Notreworthy ©2017 Dorothy Lorenze
At the Opera ©2015

The most exciting and unusual place my work is hanging is in the historic home of artist Julian Alden Weir in Wilton, CT. Last May, as Artist in Residence, I painted six interior scenes of the artist's home. (read more about that here) After my residency, Weir Farm purchased all six paintings and I was thrilled to learn that they are now on display in Weir's house at this National Historic Site. 

I love that wild blue William Morris-esque wallpaper and one of my paintings is the view from that bedroom into the hall with a bust of Weir backlit in the window. The painting is now hanging over the bed and if you stand at the foot of the bed in front of the painting and look left, you see the same view. Very cool. 

Below left is the view from the bedroom. Center is the bedroom where my work is hanging and hanging over the bed is the view at left. On the right is my painting of that hallway view.

At right - Weir, Waiting in the Foyer ©2017 Dorothy Lorenze
Weir farm is a wonderful place to visit for nature and artistic inspiration. And now you can take a peak at my artwork when you tour the house (let me know what you hear, because I've never been part of a historic house tour before!!!)

And lastly... I'm pleased to announce a group exhibit that I'm helping to organize at Muscoot Farm this June featuring representational paintings by students of Todd Casey. All are studying traditional methods of painting to create realistic and poetic images of objects from life. The exhibit is open on weekends and I hope you will stop by during June to see what we are all up to.


Thank you for joining me on my artistic journey. Hope to see you at Muscoot!