"Headlines Show" Opening Soon!

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Although it seems like I have been working on my upcoming "Headlines" show for months, the opening date is right around the corner!  This show is truly a labor of love as I have featured paintings from my favorite place in the world ... South Pasadena.
The show will feature 20 paintings which were all inspired by headlines from past issues of the South Pasadena Review newspaper from the 1930's, 40's and 50's.  Each painting will feature a present day scene from South Pasadena that depicts each headline. The artists reception will be held on Saturday, May 8th from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. I will also be at the Gallery on May 1st for the South Pasadena Eclectic Music Festival & Art Walk from 6:00 until 9:00 p.m.  Also, be sure to join me for an artists demo on Saturday, May 23rd from 2:00 until 4:00 p.m. The public is welcome to attend all events.
The painting featured above is from the headline "Evening Shopping Favored By Citizens" which was featured in an article on August 12, 1948. The story explains that many South Pasadena residents wanted  stores to be open one night a week. They opted to open the stores on Thursday nights for all of those "late shoppers". So ... why did it take them until 1948 to realize that this was a good idea?
I have also published a book titled "Headlines" featuring all of the paintings, headlines and corresponding newspaper articles from the upcoming show. Copies of the book will be available at the opening on May 8th.
SoPas Gallery hours are Tuesday - Friday, 10:00am - 5:00pm. The gallery is located at 1121 Mission Street, South Pasadena, CA 91030. For more information contact Leslie Saeta at 626-799-8507.

A Good Day

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"A Good Day"

Oil, 6" x 6" on canvas panel.

$200.00 unframed.

Today was a good day. I got a call from a friend who is in the restaurant business. She and her husband would like me to display (and sell) my art on a new wall they are building in one of their restaurants. The wall will have custom lighting and the art will look great. The art will be featured in the restaurant for a year and I will change it frequently. I expect this will be a great place for me to display my daily paintings!

Some of you have asked about my upcoming "Headlines" show and why I have been spending so much time in the library doing research for my paintings. The show will feature 20 - 25 paintings and all will be titled after headlines that I found in our local newspaper. The headlines are all from the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's.  The paintings will depict a scene from the headline, but in today's world. For example, one of the headlines I DID NOT use was "Man Pleased With Broken Legs, Neck Saved". Hmmm ... I am not kidding ... that was a front page headline in 1935! The painting would have to be something that depicts this headline but in South Pasadena today. So ... by now it should be obvious why I had to pick the headlines carefully and why this example was not picked!

The research was fun, interesting and also pretty emotional. I learned a lot about our town and was amazed that the headlines over the years are still about the same old thing ... fighting the freeway, local elections and human interest stories. Sadly, the headlines in the early 1940's frequently featured a story about a son, brother or father who was either killed or missing in WWII.  The paper is published weekly and every week there was a new story. So sad and so tragic.
So, the headlines have all been selected and I am painting away. When the show opens in the gallery, the original article (and headline) will be placed next to each painting. It has been a lot of work but I think it will be worth it! The show will be at the SouthPas Gallery from April 28 - May 29, 2010. I will keep you updated!

Orange Reflections

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"Orange Reflections"

Oil, 6" x 6" on canvas panel.

$200 unframed.

My husband and I spent the weekend up at Stanford watching our son swim in his first Pac-10 meet. It was so much fun and I still can't believe he is swimming in college!

I will be busy for the next six weeks finishing paintings for my upcoming gallery show titled "Headlines". The show opens on April 28th and will be held at the South Pas Gallery. The show will feature 25 paintings which will were all inspired by headlines from past issues of the South Pasadena Review, our wonderful small town newspaper. The displayed paintings will include copies of the newspaper headlines and articles that inspired each painting. I promise to post the paintings on my blog and website as soon as the show opens!