Silver Lake Art Collective annual exhibit 2012

Fall is in the air, and the annual Silver Lake Art Collective annual exhibit is on!

Following careful preparation…

the show is finally ready for prime time. My work is there…

(If you’re not sure which ones are mine, you should maybe take another look at my website for a refresher.)

And of course that of many other artists, both 2D and 3D…

Want to come see? The show is free and open to the public. And there are receptions! Both an opening and a closing reception… no end to the fun. You should definitely stop by.

Silver Lake Art Collective Annual Exhibit “Spectrum 2012”
Citibank Art Space Gallery
2450 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles (between the bank branch and the coin-op laundry)

Opening Reception: Saturday Oct 20, 2012, 6-10pm.

Open Hours: Fridays through Sundays Oct 21-Nov 17, 2012. 12-8pm Fridays and Saturdays, 12-5pm Sundays.

Open Studio Tour: Saturday and Sunday Nov 10-11, 2012, 12-5pm. See my website for details.

Closing Reception: Saturday Nov 17, 2012, 6-10pm.

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Kings Mountain Art Fair

If you want to see my latest paintings, you need to come to my next show: the Kings Mountain Art Fair, Labor Day Weekend, September 1-3, 2012.

People who come to the show get first crack at the new stuff. I only put the new paintings up on my website after the show is over, by which time many may have sold. (But people on my mailing list get a sneak peek. You should get on my mailing list.)

The Kings Mountain Art Fair is in the Bay Area of California, “up north” as we Angelenos say.

This year marks the show’s 49th anniversary. (It’s older than I am.) It is an amazing and magical event, not to be missed. I hope to see you there!

Kings Mountain Art Fair
Saturday, Sunday & Monday September 1-3, 2012
10am – 5pm
Free admission, free parking, free shuttle.
13889 Skyline Blvd, Woodside, CA

You can always find an up-to-date list of my upcoming shows on my website.

New painting: “Hills”

Between Los Angeles and San Francisco lie hundreds of miles of California landscape. Somewhere out there I snapped a photo out the car window. A few years later a painting emerged.

This one’s a bit different from the rest. No trees. No water. No buildings. Just the dry grass-covered hills of California glowing in the sun. The absence of features like trees leaves the painting with a spare, abstract composition. Land and sky, that’s it.

“Hills” painting by Barbara J Carter, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 18×24 inches.

Purchase information here.

Art Show in Thousand Oaks, California June 2-3, 2012

My next art show is coming up!

Conejo Valley Art Museum Artwalk 2012 is an outdoor fine art and craft show held the first weekend of June every year. I haven’t shown at this event in a few years, so I think it’s about time I returned. A number of my collectors live in the area. I’d love to see them again, and of course I’d love to get some new collectors too!

I’ll have a bunch of new paintings at this show. I’m keeping them off my website until after the show, to give “first pick” to those who come to the show. If you’re in the area, I do hope you’ll stop by! Look for me in Booth 76.

Conejo Valley Art Museum Artwalk 2012

Saturday & Sunday June 2nd & 3rd, 2012
10 am to 5 pm
Free admission, free parking

Art & Fine Crafts
Food and Beverages
Live Music
Children’s Hands-on Art

Bank of America grounds (formerly Countrywide)
152 West Hillcrest Drive (click for map)
Thousand Oaks, California
Exit 101 Ventura Freeway at Lynn or Moorpark Rd

You can always find an up-to-date list of my shows on my website.

New painting: Pescadero Beach 11×14″ (worth the wait)

Pescadero Beach by Barbara J Carter, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 11×14″ (frame 17×20″).

I started this painting last year, but abandoned it halfway through.

What happened was I started working on a very similar scene in a much larger format. The larger painting took over. It was so much more dramatic than the small one. The little one seemed unnecessary, redundant. I set it aside.

In fact, I thought about destroying it. It was just a smaller version of a very successful big painting. It wasn’t going to be anything but a lesser copy. And I hate copying myself.

But I couldn’t bring myself to trash it. So I set it aside. I turned it to face the wall and ignored it. It sat there for months.

Time does a funny thing. What seemed like a “copy” then, now seems like a different take on a similar theme. Enough time has passed for it to become its own painting: a small window onto a similar scene, but with its own unique take.

I hauled it out and finished it this month. I’m extraordinarily pleased with it. Sometimes it just takes a little time to find the right approach.

Purchase information here.

Hello 2012

2011 was a banner year for me and my art. I’d like more of the same for 2012, please!

Looking back at my original plans for 2011, my idea of simplification worked out very well. I focused down on just the things that had worked for me before, and eliminated a lot of fluff. It really paid off.

I meant to start painting bigger paintings in my new bigger studio (especially once I got it lit). As it turns out, I finished several large paintings (triptychs) in 2011, each of which sold as soon as I showed it. That includes my largest painting to date, “Wind Wolves Triptych” at 7.5 feet wide:

Wind Wolves Triptych by Barbara J Carter, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 40x90 inches

I used to write up elaborate “business plans” for my art business each year. In 2011 I did away with this practice. It didn’t really affect what I did or how well things went during the year, but it certainly added to the amount of work I put myself through each January, writing up the plan.

No more of that! Last year I just made a broad outline for my year, with an eye to drastically streamline my process. A big part of the streamlining was only applying to two art festivals for the year, one in the spring and one in the fall. Luckily for me this worked out perfectly. I was accepted into both, and both shows were terrific events for me. Lots of my art went home with people! I hope to repeat it this year, though I am thinking about adding a third show to the mix just in case I don’t get into both of my “usual” shows.

I also participated in a few other exhibitions that came my way. I showed my newest and biggest abstract dot painting “Straightening” in the Open Show at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery in 2011. I was very proud of this big, ambitious piece and wanted to get it “out there.”

"Straightening" painting by Barbara J Carter, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 3x3 feet

detail of "Straightening"

Alas, getting my painting into that show was hardly a major coup, since the 2011 show was not juried. That means that anyone who showed up with art in hand (and the entry fee) would get their work hung in the show. Not exactly a prestigious, exclusive show for my resume, but at least it got my work out of the studio.

Happily, this painting later sold to a very sweet couple who have bought from me before. One of them admired it, and so the other secretly bought it as a Christmas present. The absolute best way to give art as a present! It was my final sale of 2011. What a great way to usher out a busy but wonderful year.

Here’s hoping 2012 is just as good!

Sold!

Here I am, standing in front of my latest painting, “Wind Wolves Triptych.” It’s hanging in this year’s big annual group show put on by the Silver Lake Art Collective. I got it done just in time for the show.

Photo by Jim Zver

I got a lot of compliments on this piece, and was feeling quite proud of it. It was my biggest triptych yet. But then I received the best news of all: someone wanted to buy it. Yay!

I just love it when my paintings find good homes. It is why I do this, after all.

I’ll be delivering it in person the day after the show comes down. In the meantime, there’s a lovely little red dot on the title card. That’s art biz shorthand for “sold.”

“Wind Wolves Triptych”

This is my latest painting, “Wind Wolves Triptych.”

“Wind Wolves Triptych” by Barbara J Carter, acrylic on canvas, 40×90″ (3 panels), 2011.

It’s the biggest triptych I’ve painted to date. Seven and a half feet wide!

The painting depicts a set of hills in the Wind Wolves Preserve, a large privately owned conservation area that is open to the public. Located in the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley of California, it’s a beautiful space: an unspoiled wide valley surrounded by rugged hills. The valley floor is carpeted each spring with fabulous wildflowers. It’s a bit of a drive from Los Angeles, but worth a visit. If I remember correctly, it’s open on weekends and admission and parking are free. The facilities include very nice bathrooms and a few picnic benches, and very good trails for ambling all about without crushing the flora. Dog friendly too (we don’t go anywhere we can’t bring our pooch).

My painting is on public display at the Silver Lake Art Collective’s annual exhibit now through November 19, 2011. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, you should go take a look-see. (All the info is in my previous blog post.)

Art pricing/availability information here.

Silver Lake annual exhibit

My newest painting, “Wind Wolves Triptych,” is going to be on public view in Los Angeles for a few weeks. Members of my mailing list got a sneak preview, but no one else gets to see it until the exhibit opens. (Want to join my mailing list? Easy! Sign up here.)

The exhibit in question is the annual group show by the Silver Lake Art Collective (SLAC), of which I am a member. This annual exhibit is usually held in the autumn, and is always in the enormous warehouse-sized gallery space generously provided by Citibank of Silver Lake. This year the show, aptly titled “SPECTRUM 2011,” includes a wide spectrum of work, including painting (realism to abstraction), photography, collage, and sculpture. The sculpture alone is worth a visit if you’re in the area. Location and hours below.

I was involved in the setup, so here are some snapshots I took during the hanging:

Sculpture by George Lafayette, paintings by Donna Angers, and framed photos by Jerry de Wilde.

Paintings by David Crocker and Siri France, sculpture by Peter Bodlaender. The ladder is not part of the exhibit, heh.

Paintings by David Dies, mosaic art by Mel Weiner, and a painting by SLAC’s most famous artist member, Don Bachardy (who is represented by Craig Krull Gallery in Santa Monica; we’re supposed to put that in whenever we mention Don).

So, are you coming to the show? I’ll be at the opening reception this Saturday, you should stop by and say hi! (And get a chance to see my mysterious new painting that I’m not showing you.)

SPECTRUM 2011
Silver Lake Art Collective annual exhibit
October 22 – November 19, 2011
Open to the public Thursdays through Sundays, 12-8pm (12-5pm Sundays).

Opening Reception Saturday October 22, 2011, 6-10pm. Free and open to the public.
Closing Reception Saturday November 19, 2011, 6-10pm. Free and open to the public.

Citibank Art Space Gallery
2450 Glendale Blvd
(Around the side of the Citibank main building)
Silver Lake (Los Angeles), California 90039

New painting: “Two Trees”

I am scrambling like mad to get several new paintings finished in time to show them at the upcoming art show in Northern California, Kings Mountain Art Fair, Labor Day Weekend. (See all my upcoming shows here.)

This is the latest.

“Two Trees” by Barbara J Carter, acrylic on canvas, 40×30 inches.

“Two Trees” depicts an iconic Californian scene, a pair of scraggly oak trees atop a golden-hued hill. I like to emphasize the honey-amber tones of the dry grass that covers so much of California throughout the dry season. For this painting, I also pulled those yellow-gold tones into the sky to make the silhouetted trees just that much more dramatic. Who says the sky always has to be blue?

A few days ago I thought this painting was finished, so I set it aside and turned my attention to another. But something was niggling at me, so I put it back on my easel and worked a little more on it. I shifted the colors in the hill more emphatically to yellow-orange tones, and downplayed the cooler colors like blue and green. (How do I do this? You’ll have to ask me in person!) That really integrated the painting into a unified whole. So now it’s really finished, and ready for the big art show. See you there!

Kings Mountain Art Fair September 3-5, 2011.