WE THREE had a great time…
On the evening of June 13, 2014, WE THREE: (left to right) Barbara Edwards, Roxane Pfister, and me, Dilleen Marsh, did have a great time. (We are all wearing jazzy patterned scarves, a gift from Roxane that she picked up on a visit to Greece earlier.) It was the opening reception of an exhibit of our work. Friends, family, even our high school art teacher, Bob Whitney, as well as two of our college art teachers, Glen Edwards and Marion Hyde, came to pay their respects…or just to see if their art instruction had made a difference, lol. It did. So did all the practice we three “girls” have put in over the decades since public school. What an honor to show my paintings along with two dear friends in a bona fide art gallery! Even with the common neighborhood roots and art instruction we have shared, our painting styles are unique from each other. Consider that the soul of the artist does, indeed, show up over time. After an evening of chatter, sharing stories behind paintings, deluge of the children on the refreshment table, posing for photos, and catching up with old acquaintances, we tallied the financial side of this art business. Nothing had sold. Weeks later Barbara sold one of her 6×8 inch still-lifes from the show. Most of Roxane’s paintings were NFS (not for sale) because she is determined to put together a collection of strong pieces to pursue a broader representation. I had completed a painting for the show titled, “Wistful”, (shown below) that was seen by two magazine designers, garnering me two illustration jobs in the months that followed. I also felt that with all the painting, running up to the deadline for the show, that I climbed a plateau in my abilities as an artist. Sometimes there is nothing like a deadline to make you produce. And there is certainly value in the hours spent practicing those brush strokes!
October 12, 2014 | Categories: Art Adventures | Tags: 3 woman art show, art, art adventure, art friends, art life, art show, art show preparations, art show results, art teachers, Barbara Edwards, Bob Whitney, Glen Edwards, Marion Hyde, Roxane Pfister, scarves from Greece, soul of the artist | Leave a comment
WE THREE and art magic…
In May of this year a Canadian artist by the name of Robert Genn passed away from cancer. For decades he produced an art newsletter that could be freely accessed on the internet. He blessed the lives of thousands of artists with gathered and personally experienced…wisdom. This quote from him particularly spoke to my heart: “We live our short spans in the vortex of a miracle, and while we may not be the center of that vortex, it is magic to be anywhere in there.” From those first drawings in 8th grade to our three woman show in a gallery, WE THREE have been in the vortex of art. The center of that vortex has been friendship. And it is magic…
We Three update May 29 (to see the poster for our show).
WE THREE 3 woman show will run from June 13 to July 5, 2014 at Logan Fine Art Gallery, 100 North 60 West, Logan, Utah. Opening reception is June 13, 2014 from 6 to 9pm.
June 9, 2014 | Categories: Art Adventures | Tags: 3 woman art show, art, art adventure, art friends, art retreats, art show, Barbara Edwards, Dilleen Marsh, Logan Fine Art Gallery, magic, oil painting, painting, Robert Genn, Roxane Pfister, studio, studio painting, vortex, women artists | Leave a comment
WE THREE and Maynard Dixon…
Maynard Dixon (1875-1946) was a 20th century American artist whose work focused on the American West. WE THREE are fans and one day while we were “retreating” in southern Utah we saw a brochure advertising a tour of Dixon’s home and studio in Mt. Carmel. Goodness! It wasn’t that far away. So we zipped on over. Found out that a knowledgeable and generous couple, Susan and Paul Bingham, had established a mecca in the desert for us Dixonites. http://www.thunderbirdfoundation.com/ In 1938 Dixon had written to a friend: “Big news is we are going to quit Calif. & build us a log house in Utah, far from any large town. Mormons are simple honest farming people. We like them. Beautiful country, but cold in winter. Don’t know if we can make a living there, but take a gamblers chance.” For one week, each year, for the next six years, WE THREE retreated to his “log house” and under the influence of Dixon’s artistic spirit, we practiced the art of painting.
June 4, 2014 | Categories: Art Adventures | Tags: art, art adventure, art friends, art retreats, Barbara Edwards, Bingham Gallery, field study notes, ghost town, Gunsmoke set, Kanab, landscape, Maynard Dixon, night painting, oil painting, painting, plein air, Roxane Pfister, studio painting, Susan and Paul Bingham, Thunderbird Foundation, wind, Zion National Park | Leave a comment
The Saga of WE THREE continues…
What influences what we become? Who do we travel with? How are we affected by what we see and experience? It is insightful for me, having arrived at my 60th decade, to have plenty of history behind me to look back on.
Now 16 days away from our “WE THREE”, three woman art show reception on June 13 in Logan, Utah, my “looking back on” continues…
May 29, 2014 | Categories: Art Adventures | Tags: art, art adventure, art friends, art retreats, Arts for the Parks, Barbara Edwards, cactus, Delicate Arch, going south, Hale-Bopp comet, hiking in full moon, landscape, Logan Fine Art Gallery, Maynard Dixon, oil painting, painting, plein air, plein aire painting, Roxane Pfister, southern Utah, three woman show | Leave a comment
WE THREE Retreating…
WE THREE: Barbara Edwards, Dilleen Marsh, and Roxane Pfister are three weeks away from our three woman art show at
. As I am “assembling and retrieving” art…I am thinking of “retreating”. Lol, not as in “escaping”, because I am thrilled and honored to show work with my dear friends. But in “remembering”. As I said before, WE THREE have gotten together more than 20 times over the years to RETREAT: a period of seclusion, esp. for spiritual and artistic renewal. Just wanted to share some of those memories…
May 26, 2014 | Categories: Art Adventures | Tags: art, art adventure, art friends, art retreats, Barbara Edwards, Dilleen Marsh, Logan Fine Art Gallery, oil painting, plein aire painting, Roxane Pfister | Leave a comment
WE THREE Traveling The Art “Road Less Traveled”
WE THREE artists began to cement our friendship in 8th grade. It was 1966. Congregating under the influence of our art teacher, Bob Whitney, in Ucon, Idaho, Barbara Summers, Roxane Mitchell, and me, Dilleen Humphries, took those first steps on an art trek together that has spanned 5 decades. In high school WE THREE were part of five founding members of Bonneville High School’s Art Society. Drawing and sculpting and only occasionally painting were our daily disciplines. We were well versed on the life of Michaelangelo. Unusual and fortunate for a high school art experience. Then college. Rox took off to Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho. Barb and I settled at USU in Logan, Utah in the fall of 1969. Two years later Rox joined us at USU. Under the tutelage of Glen Edwards and Jon Anderson we began to paint. At first it was in acrylics…then occasionally oils. In 1974 Rox and I drove off (actually, my sister, Deon, was driving-it was her car) across the southwest desert to the “art” gold of California. We were going to be famous illustrators! Barb married our USU teacher, Glen. Years, marriage, and children later WE THREE are now all living in Utah. After high school and college how do you stay in touch with your friends? Remember, this is way before FACEBOOK or even the internet. We’d occasionally get together, drop in for a visit, pair up and do a workshop, or go plein aire painting… and then we began “retreating”. RETREAT: a period of seclusion, esp. for spiritual (and artistic) renewal. Our first ALL THREE retreat was in 1988. We went to the Teton mountain range to paint. Since then we have “retreated” about 20 times. Logan Fine Art Gallery has extended an invitation to WE THREE to exhibit as a three woman show in June 2014. What is the value of traveling the art “road less traveled” with friends? We could give you an earful…”
March 27, 2014 | Categories: Art Adventures | Tags: acrylics, art friends, art retreats, Barbara Edwards, Bob Whitney, Dilleen Marsh, drawing, friends, Glen Edwards, illustration, Jon Anderson, Logan Fine Art Gallery, Michaelangelo, oil painting, Pfister, retreats, Ricks College, road less traveled, Roxane Pfister, sculpting, USU | 1 Comment
3 Woman Show at Logan Fine Art
Today is the last day of a 3 woman art show at Logan Fine Art in Logan, Utah. I had the privilege of exhibiting my work with the work of Roxane Pfister and Susette Gerstch. On the 10th of July, a Wednesday, I loaded up our little car with 19 paintings and 18 illustrations and headed north from Hurricane to Logan. Along the way I picked up a painting that had been in the Springville Spring Salon this year and I was packin’ art supplies for an illustration job that needed to be completed by Monday. There wasn’t room for a hitch-hikin’ chipmunk to join me on that drive. However, Jeffrey Archer/Clifton Chronicles entertained me on audio book all the way.On the 12th, my fabulous daughter, Katie Marsh, assisted me in placing flyers and posters of the 3 woman show around town with the hope that the Utah Opera Festival crowd might be enrolled in taking a peek at our art. I think I only had courage to hand out flyers to groups of smartly dressed women and say “Go Girls!” because of my stage actress daughter’s backup.
That night, at our opening reception, I had the pleasure of showing off my friend, Roxane’s, new technique with a palette knife to attendees. Roxane, meanwhile, was winging her way to China with her scientist husband, Jim. I did not know Susette before that evening although I had admired some of her paintings. Happy to find out she was a very pleasant, intelligent bundle of energy, easy to get along with.
August 3, 2013 | Categories: Art Adventures, Uncategorized | Tags: 3 woman art show, art friends, art show reception, artists, audio books, Barb Edwards, Brad Teare, Clifton Chronicles, Debra Teare, floral paintings, Glen Edwards, hitch hikin' chipmunk, illustrations, Jeffrey Archer, Jon Anderson, Judy Anderson, Logan, Logan Fine Art Gallery, loving support, oil painting, Roxane Pfister, self-expressed, Springville Spring Salon, Susette Gerstch, Utah | Leave a comment