Christmas come and Go

The holidays allow for a perfectly natural break. Time to spend with family, friends. Time to re-visit the slow things. The things you don't normally do in your regular life. Things like:

long talks over wine with a good friend (Baddins!)
driving out of your way to see someone you haven't seen in awhile (Karrie!)
waking up slowly to the sound of winter geese flying over
cooking a huge meal with your family (Christmas dinner!)
reading a good book (reservation blues by sherman alexie!)
watching a deliciously bad movie (Strange Brew!)
Laughing while my Dad happily sings to his new Ipod
Sneaking across the green on an empty golf course (Andy!)
Teaching myself how to play a new (to me) video game (marbleblast!)

Did I take a picture of any of this? Of course not! I was on a holiday break ; )

Hope the holiday brought you lots of the same - good friends, good food and good fun!

Time Flies when you are Processing

Time indeed flies when your brain is bursting full of art and ideas just in time for the holidays to hit.

I meant to come here to post more details about Basel...
And now here we are - nearly two weeks later. And yet to me it still feels like I just got back. And the energy & inspiration is still running through me. Spreading out and skipping just like the La Familia Salon wall at Aqua. Little groupings and sproutings. A swarm of ideas.

I'm slowly gathering it all in and making plans and motions for the new year. Several 2010 shows already in the works, a possible move and a newfound committment to giving myself more time to paint. I've got a funny feeling that 2010 is going to ROCK.

Miami Basel 2009 - the Aftermath

armiami_torresllorca
Originally uploaded by Sara Everett

If I had to pick just one image to summarize what Miami Basel is all about, then this mixed media piece by Torres Llorca is it. LOVED this piece and so many more. I helped out with my gallery at Aqua Art and also toured several other fairs including the Fountain, Wynnwood Murals, Pulse, Art Miami, NADA and Art Basel itself.

I am so GLAD I went. It was beyond worth it. I already plan to return next year.

To summarize:

• - The “art world” isn’t as scary as I thought.
  
  
• - I didn’t see anything at all that resembled my work – totally encouraging that my work & my voice is unique and relevant.
  
  
• - I know exactly what my show will be in May now and I have a LOT (A LOT!) of work I want to do for it.
  
  
• - I am going to go part time from my day job starting next week. I will be taking Friday’s off to have a full uninterrupted art day every week dedicated to painting. AND I've started the transition to try to relocate back to Olympia.

My oh my – amazing what a little clarity can do in your life. Can make you say “this is it – I know exactly what I’m going to do”

What a whirlwind indeed. I saw a Warhol show. I saw a Basquiat show. I saw works that made me shout out loud. I networked with curators & collectors. I’m doing this for real now. This is the big league.

Visit my Flickr page to check out some of my favorite images from the weekend. I wrote little stories and comments for each one. Enjoy!