 Greetings from Napa, California!Hello again and a warm welcome to all my new newsletter subscribers! I’m so happy that you chose to join us. Thank you very much for taking a few minutes out of your day to read about the latest news from my studio. I am on day 16 of a marathon 28 day road trip filled with art events, painting and exploring some of our national park treasures. The adventure started in Oklahoma City, where my husband was the auctioneer for the Paint America Fine Art Auction. Then it was on to Phoenix for a week, where I attended the Oil Painters of America National Juried Exhibition and seminars. More about that below. From there it was on to Sedona and the Grand Canyon, followed by two days at Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. Talk about beautiful! Bryce Canyon’s landscape was like something from another world…reminded me a little of the “moon rocks” my children had when they were little…remember the ones you put in a jar of water and they grew these craggy spires upward? And Zion…wow! We arrived late in the afternoon and the light on the cliffs was nothing short of magical. Total sensory overload! We went back into Zion the next day and it was too windy to paint on location, so we settled for taking lots of photos…I have a lot of reference material for future paintings. From there, we spent a day at Lake Tahoe. Today, Napa Valley is on the agenda. Tomorrow I head to Carmel, California for the next eight days. In Carmel, I’ll be taking part in the Carmel Art Festival’s plein air painting competition and then the opening of my first major solo exhibition at Mountainsong Galleries there. The next few months will be very busy with painting, teaching and exhibitions. Here’s all the latest:  SOLO EXHIBITION AT MOUNTAINSONG GALLERIES My first major solo exhibition, “California Dreamin”, will be at Mountainsong Galleries in Carmel, California from May 14th to June 13th. Opening reception will be May 14th, from 7 to 9 pm. Visit my website or the gallery website, www.mountainsonggalleries.com for more information. There will be approximately 30 paintings in this show! American Art Collector magazine is featuring a multiple page preview article about my show with several color photos of my paintings in their June issue, which hits newsstands in a few days!  CARMEL ART FESTIVAL This is the third consecutive year that I was juried into the Carmel Art Festival. This year’s festival will be held May 13th to 16th, in beautiful Carmel, California. Artists have 48 hours to paint “en plein air” (outdoors on location), then turn in two framed paintings for judging and awards. Paintings will be for sale beginning Saturday, May 15th with proceeds benefiting local youth art programs. For a complete list of accepted artists and schedule of events, visit www.carmetartfestival.org.  OIL PAINTERS OF AMERICA As mentioned above, I attended the OPA National Juried Exhibition and seminars/demos in Scottsdale Arizona last week. What an amazing show! You can view it online at www.oilpaintersofamerica.com or in person at Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale. Although the painting I entered this year wasn’t accepted into the show, it was a great experience seeing many of my artist friends again and making many new ones. One of those new friends is Becky Joy, an artist from Phoenix, who has a beautiful painting in the show. We both participated in the “Wet Paint” plein air event at Scottsdale Art School. She was very kind to let me tag along and do some plein air painting with her. Above is “Ol’ Giovanni”, my entry in the Wet Paint show. An added bonus was being able to visit friends and family while we were in the Phoenix area. AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR I am thrilled that American Art Collector Magazine featured a full page article about my work in their May issue. As mentioned above, they are publishing a multiple page show preview article in the June issue for my Carmel exhibition! You can subscribe online at www.americanartcollector.com. Subscribers also receive a link to the online version of the magazine up to 10 days prior to the newsstand release. If you love art, you will love this magazine! CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS I will be teaching four classes/workshops this summer for Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. These will include a Plein Air Camp for 9 to 12 year olds from June 14th to 18th from 9am to noon. For adults/teens choose from Basic Plein Air Painting on Thursdays, June 3 to July 1, 6 to 8:30pm; “The Impressionists Palette” color workshop on June 20th from 1 to 4pm; and finally, a “Plein Air Excursion” which will start with a tour of the “Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism” exhibition at Joslyn on Friday, June 30th, followed by two full days of plein air painting (8am to 8pm and 7am to 8pm) in various locations around Omaha. We will experience plein air from sunrise to sunset! To register, please visit www.joslyn.org.     NEW PAINTINGS Above are several new oil paintings which will be included in my solo exhibition at Mountainsong Galleries in Carmel in May. Top left: "Sentinal of the Coast" 20x30 oil. Top right: "Garden Delight" 16x20. Bottom left: "Favorite Orange Hat" 12x16 and bottom right is "Pretty in Pink" 12x16 oil. FACEBOOK FAN PAGE Just a reminder, you can become a fan of Debra Groesser Fine Art on Facebook. I post updates at least weekly on the fan page. I send this newsletter monthly, so if you would like to have “up to the minute” information on events and new paintings, please consider becoming a “fan”. I hope you will check it out! MORE UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS Please check the “Events” section of my website for complete information on all of these exhibits: Plein Air Art Exhibit featuring Omaha Plein Air Artists, Historic Florence Mill, 30th St and I-680, Omaha NE, June 2010. Opening reception is June 5th from 1 to 4 pm. Wine and snacks will be served. Plein Air Artists Colorado Juried Members Exhibition, June 25th to July 10th, Saks Galleries, Denver, Colorado. Opening reception June 25th, 5 to 9pm. More information at www.pleinairartistscolorado.com or www.saksgalleries.com. Door County Plein Air Festival, Door County, Wisconsin, July 19-24th. Exhibit continues at Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek through August 7th. See complete schedule of events at www.doorcountypleinair.org. “Enchantments: Visions of the Southwest” Hot Shops Art Center, Omaha NE, September 2010. Featuring works by Debra Groesser and Lori Elliott-Bartle (painting), Dorothy Tuma (photography), John Prouty (sculpture) and Rose Rutherford (jewelry). Opening reception on September 3rd from 6 to 9pm. ONGOING EXHIBITIONS SouthWind Gallery, Topeka, Kansas www.southwindartgallery.com The Designers Furniture Gallery, Omaha, Nebraska www.designersomaha.com As always, thank you so much for your interest in my work and for your support and encouragement. It is such a blessing to be living this dream of the artist’s life and you are a very important part of making that a reality. You are greatly appreciated! Artistically yours, Debra Joy Groesser |