Art, art and more art!

It has been a while since I have had time to post here and I must apologize though I have a very good reason. I belong to a recently (this past summer) formed art group here in Ithaca and by last October we began showing our creative efforts around town. Our debut show went rather well, in fact we were literally mobbed. I suspect the nice wines and delectable gourmet refreshments our members whipped up for the occasion had much to do with the enthusiastic reception, but in no way do I wish to take away from the artistic talent of our members as a drawing force!

Our works were displayed in the Owl Cafe which is in a rather large, split level space upstairs from a centrally located used book store. A local guitarist charmed the crowd with classical guitar music and the place was abuzz with excited conversation. It turned out to be a great evening for all!

Here is Sage from the Owl Cafe smiling for the camera while Frank and Sheri talk with a visitor. Sheri and Frank are the founders of our little group. We now have 14 members and I have only covered a few of them in today's post. I will showcase some of the others in future postings here. Some of us are painters, some work in mixed media, digital artists, photographers and poets. So there will be much to cover - I am looking forward to sharing their talents with you!

Anne and Paulina look at the artist's bios while Matthew looks on and Melanie samples the refreshments.

Our accomplished guitarist lost in one of the many intricate classical guitar pieces he shared with us.

Yours truly contributed this painting on gold leaf, painted after a nearly 20 year hiatus. I was afraid I had forgotten how, but thankfully it came all back to me!

Anne Parker Bloom's lovely oil painting of a gazebo in the forest in the Adirondacks.

Benazir Bhutto's assassination caused Paulina Melechkina to paint this awesome portrait of the slain leader.

Next is a small sampling of the art quilts of one of our members, Ruth White, whose quilts reflect her work as a microbiologist as well as her interest in astronomy. Her work has been exhibited widely and she has won numerous awards. Unfortunately these images don't really do her work justice! A shortcoming I will make up for in a future post - as soon as I get better photos!

Looking towards the upper level of the Cafe, you can see some of our work displayed above the bookcases.

I think that our first show was very well received and all of us enjoyed meeting the many people who showed up for our debut. All in all a wonderful evening and well worth all the effort put into it!