Back in the day, any artist who wanted to be “recognized” was required to have exhibited in the Salon. The Salon was the official exhibition of artists’ work in Paris and exerted great control over artistic expression, mainly accepting works based on traditional subject matter and highly polished technique.

In 1863 the Salon jury turned away an unusually high number of the submitted paintings. It caused a huge uproar amongst the artists. In order to prove that the Salons were democratic, and “Wishing to let the public judge the legitimacy of these complaints,” Emperor Napoleon III decreed that the rejected artists could exhibit their works in an annex to the regular Salon, which became known as the Salon des Refusés. The critics and public ridiculed the refusés, which included Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner l’herbe (Luncheon on the Grass) and James McNeill Whistler’s Girl in White. Other famous artists who were rejected in Salons through the years are Frédéric Bazille, Claude Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Mary Cassatt, Pissarro, Degas, and many more. Today, it’s a rare museum that doesn’t clamor to have one of these artists works in their collection.

Every summer in Houston, Lawndale Art Center invites artists living within a 100 mile radius of Houston to bring art works to be considered for their Big Show. This year, 976 works of art were dropped off. Understandably, because of space constraints and other considerations, only 114 works were accepted. Perhaps tongue in cheek, perhaps not, but in grand historical tradition, Emily Sloan of Gallery 1724 has curated an exhibit for the refused works from the Big Show. Taking my chance to follow in the footsteps of some of the greats in art history, my self portrait will be in this exhibit.

“Salon des Refusés” opens Friday, July 9, from 8pm-10pm. The exhibition will close August 7.

“Salon des Refusés” is an exhibition of artworks rejected from the Big Show 2010 at Lawndale Art Center, 4912 Main St, Houston, Texas 77002. The BIG Show will be opening the same evening from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.

For the entire week last week, I didn’t paint once. Maybe the unrelenting rain in Houston dampened my spirits a bit, but it doesn’t seem right to use that as an excuse. The truth is, besides some art related paper work, I’ve been a little afraid to start on this next project. It’s a portrait commission.

Portrait commissions, for me, are intimidating. They are tricky (in part) because three things need to happen. One, the person who commissions the artist needs to be happy with the finished painting. Two, the subject of the painting needs to be happy. And three, I need to be happy with the finished painting. It’s hard to please all of us.

But today, I actually put paint to the canvas. And as overwhelming as it was to start, it’s a good beginning. It’s to the point now, though, that the painting needs some time to rest. The more I look at it in this incomplete state, hopefully, the easier it will be to see what it needs to be finished. Plus, I’ve got some issues to work out regarding the background. That’ll take some time to figure out, too.

There’s nothing to change, there’s just some catching up to do. As regular readers know, I only started painting a few years ago. It’s been an incredible blessing to paint, and in many ways, an incredible responsibility as well. There have been so many new skills to learn, and a style to develop, and on top of all of that, there’s this huge business side to art as well.

The style develops the more painting I do. But to help with the organizational side of art, and the business side, or as they say in Texas, the bidness side of art, I’ve started reading books on those subjects. A book in my lap right now is Writing For a Good Cause by Joseph Barbato and Danielle S Furllich. How does writing have anything to do with painting, you ask? It has everything to do with painting.

Painting, as with a lot of things, is not an inexpensive lifestyle. There’s so much more that I want to accomplish artistically than there is money in the budget to cover. All of these ideas are constantly running around in my brain about art concepts….everywhere I go, there’s a new thought about a new project. If I could just figure out how to capture all of these ideas with the written word, and get someone else (as in the board of an organization) as excited as I am about all of it, then the entire stress of financing my artistic pursuit would be lifted.

Maybe this new book will help pinpoint ways I need to grow as a writer, so that I have more opportunities to grow as an artist.

A long long time ago, someone asked me to put together a photo album for my grandmother. I was sent home with a huge box full of family photos and charged with the daunting task of making sense of it all. One of the photos in the box was an old black and white photo of some relative as a child. Who? I didn’t know, and so the photo didn’t go in the album. The expression compelled me, and today, as a confession to Uncle Tim, Mom, and Aunt Dot, I kept the photo.

The original photo is black and white, faded, and has age spots on it fitting for something from it’s era, though I don’t really know when that was. From the style of the dress, I’m guessing turn of the century, but that could be wrong.

This is one of those paintings that was begun four or five years ago, and was worked and re-worked. It spent a considerable amount of time in a closet, but occasionally would sneak back out to an easel for me to study her, and muse over what to do next.

It’s complicated, of course, to translate a black and white image to one of color. That was a huge reason she spent so much time hiding, and then calling me to find her. Even when the color was finally done to satisfaction, her expression was still elusive to capture, until now. I’ve finally caught the expression, but can’t quite put into words what it means.

Who is she?

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is visiting with people, especially in our home. Earlier this week, we hosted a wine and cheese get together at our house for a small group of people from our church. I enjoy a glass of wine at the end of the day, and I love cheeses, especially cheeses of Nazareth. Bad joke, I know, but it’s so much funnier after a glass or two of wine.

These little paintings were painted in preparation for the First Saturday Arts Market on July 3rd.

Roses 5″ x 7″ oil on linen

 Roses 6″ x 8″ oil on linen

Gardenias, 8″ x 8″ oil on canvas

This is a re-worked apple painting from last January. It confounded me before, and now it pleases me.

8″ x 10″, oil on linen

Another re-worked apple painting…I added more punch to the colors. 4″ x 6″ oil on canvas

And this one is one that I originally painted in early 2005, and now have completely re-worked it. This aspen tree painting is a 16″ x 20″ oil on canvas.

After a recent rejection by the art establishment, it was especially nice to get glowing feedback from the Erin who posed for a portrait last week. She said,

Wow! I am amazed. It totally looks like me and you don’t give yourself enough credit. You’re such a gifted artist that if I didn’t know you I literally would not believe that you’d only been doing this for the last five years.

Thank you, Erin. It is nice to get positive feedback.

With my daughter’s permission, I’m posting a list that she originally published on facebook.

Compliments of Erin,

the ILOVEHOUSTON tour

Erin says:

I was born and raised in Houston, and I love this city. It is my belief that most Houston haters have not experienced the real city because they know only the vast and ugly suburban sprawl. Either that or they have a predisposition to dislike it based on the weather report. Those suburban places are not Houston, not really. And while the summers can be hot and humid, they’re not so bad. The Houston I know is ethnically and culturally diverse, verdant, cosmopolitan, artistic, and abundant in history, restaurants, and good folk. To borrow from Carl Jung (by the way, there is a Jung Center of Houston at 5200 Montrose Boulevard), the city definitely has its Shadow side as well; poverty, corruption, less-than-adequate public transportation, etc.

Houston is a very robust place.

In order to dispel the Houston myth, I’ve put together a list of places/things well worth checking out while in town.

Please note that the symbol * indicates I particularly love it.

Also, while the following suggestions are categorized somewhat, they are not in order of preference or part of town.

Because my experience is limited to a pretty specific part of central Houston, I am in no way an authority on this topic, so I can’t even pretend to know most of what the city has to offer. Please feel free to post other positive things about Houston!

Parts of town worthy of exploration:

Rice University / The Village / Boulevard Oaks

Montrose (esp. Westheimer Rd, Montrose Blvd)

The Heights (esp. White Oak Dr, Heights Blvd, 19th St)

Midtown

Downtown

Art:

*MFAH (free on Thursdays) 1001 Bissonnet Street

*Cullen Sculpture Garden (free) 5101 Montrose Boulevard

*Contemporary Arts Museum (free) 5216 Montrose Boulevard

Menil Collection Museum/ Byzantine Chapel/ Rothko Chapel (free) 1515 Sul Ross Street

Orange Show / Beer Can House ($1 or $2) 402 Munger Street / 222 Malone Street

*David Adickes Sculptureworx Studio — giant president heads and giant beatles sculptures (free) Summer and Sawyer St

Art Car Museum (free) 140 Heights Boulevard

*Project Row Houses (free) 521 Holman Street

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (free) 4848 Main St

Lawndale Art Center (free) 4912 Main Street

Food/Drink:

El Rey (tacos!) 910 Shepherd

Bright and Early 4825 Washington Ave

Anvil 1424 Westheimer Rd

Gingerman (the original) 5607 Morningside Drive

Hobbit Cafe 2243 Richmond Avenue

*The Breakfast Klub 711 Travis Street (Beyonce and JayZ eat there)

Empire Cafe 1732 Westheimer Road

*Brasil 2604 Dunlavy Street

*Agora 1712 Westheimer Road

*Catalina Coffee 2201 Houston Avenue

Poison Girl 1641 Westheimer Road

Mango’s 403 Westheimer Road

Catbirds 1336 Westheimer Road

Te House of Tea 2402 Woodhead Street

notsuoH 314 Main Street

The Raven Grill 1916 Bissonnet Street

Thelma’s BBQ 1020 Live Oak Street

The Dirt Bar 222 Yale St

Valhalla 6100 Main St

Guadalupana 2109 Dunlavy St

The Chocolate Bar 2521 University Blvd

Film / Performing Arts:

River Oaks Theater 2009 W Gray St

Angelika Film Center (Monday cheap date night) 510 Texas Avenue

*Miller Outdoor Theatre 100 Concert Drive

Houston Ballet

Houston Symphony

Houston Grand Opera

Other:

Japanese Garden / Rose Garden / Zoo / Hermann Park 6000 Fannin Street / between Fannin St and MacGregor Dr

Buffalo Bayou Park 1800 Allen Parkway

*Glenwood Cemetery 2525 Washington Ave

Water Wall 2800 Post Oak Boulevard

Downtown Tunnel System 1121 Capitol Street

Discovery Green 1500 McKinney Street

Heritage Park Bagby St and Clay St

Avant Garden 411 Westheimer Road

Holocaust Museum 5401 Caroline Street

Museum of Natural Science / Butterfly Museum 1 Hermann Circle Dr

Arne’s Warehouse and Party Store 2830 Hicks Street

*Guild Shop 2009 Dunlavy Street

St Arnold Brewery (tours daily except Sunday – $7) 2000 Lyons Avenue.

Sarah says:

My personal #1 favorite in the whole city of Houston is the Byzantine Chapel — a MUST see. Others favorites include, in no particular order, the Beer Can House, the MFAH Sculpture Garden, the MFAH, the Menil Collection, David Addickes Sculptureworx (quirky and cool), Glenwood Cemetery, (beautiful) and the Japanese Garden.

The Guild Shop is consistently voted as the best resale/consignment shop in Houston. A personal endorsement…a lot of our furniture came from the Guild Shop.

My favorite and fun places to eat; El Rey (Cuban fast food — yummy), Empire Cafe (large portions, good food, unique), Tiny Boxwoods (upscale sandwiches at Thompson Hanson Nursery off Alabama between Buffalo Speedway and Weslayan), Tacos a Go Go (on Main St next to the Continental Club), The Raven Grill (lovely meal and setting), and Brennan’s. Mmmm, Brennan’s. Order the turtle soup, pecan roasted fish, and grab a handful of pralines on the way out. They also make a tasty mint julep.

Houston has live music out the wazoo. For the best blues in town, go to the Continental Club, and The Big Easy (on Kirby between University Blvd and Sunset).

Saint Arnold Brewery is great. Beer tasting included in the tour.

Well, without much ado, this is the portrait from the other day. When — and I think that it looks enough like her that I can use her name — Erin (not our daughter) left, she had only posed for maybe an hour. At that point, the painting was in such sad shape that I didn’t even let Erin see it. As mentioned before, I literally had a dream about painting Erin. In order to facilitate her posing for me, I suggested that she bring her 14 month old son here for his afternoon nap.

There are very few items that we still have from when our children were babies; the Fisher Price little people which get played with all the time, the Graco Pack N Play, and the baby monitor. Before Erin arrived, I set up the pack n play and the baby monitor so that the baby could sleep, and we could hear him when he woke.

We went to the studio with the baby still crying in the pack n play. The idea was to at least get the skin tones mixed, and hopefully, the baby would fall asleep, and I could paint. Sure enough, that’s what happened, but long before I was ready to quit, the baby woke up.

In real life, this Erin’s facial expressions are always changing and she seems endlessly excited about everything. Because it’s such a natural expression for her, I should have agreed to let her smile for the portrait. In total and complete ignorance, I thought that a smile would be a difficult pose to keep, so I encouraged a rather plain expression. She could have smiled not for an hour, but for the whole afternoon! She’s absolutely delightful.

Next time, I’ll know better. Whatever the sitter wants to do to be comfortable posing, let them do it and be it, and don’t presume that I know what’s best for the sitter.

It’s a 12″ x 16″ oil on linen.

It literally started with a dream. One night last week, I had such a vivid dream, that the next morning, before even thinking straight, I e-mailed a particular person and asked if they would pose for a portrait for me. The dream was clear and sure. In the dream, this person posed for a brilliant, life altering portrait. Considering that a few weeks ago my biggest art related dream had been about cleaning paintbrushes, I naturally thought this was a sign of some sort.

Lo and behold, this person agreed to pose! In my humble opinion, anyone who agrees to spend an hour or two sitting still while I paint them is a huge deal. It’s a gift of time and intimacy that in our go go go American culture is mind blowing to receive. So, thank you un-named friend, for the tremendous sacrifice of bringing your 14 month old son here to nap so that again, quite literally, my dream could come true.

Only, the painting in real life didn’t quite turn out like the brilliant, museum quality painting in my dream.

After un-named new friend left, daughter Hilary and I took a walk…in the rain. Hilary needed to go to the bank, and honestly, I needed to get out. It was so slippy in flip flops that it was easier to walk barefooted. Splashing through puddles, I half imagined that the Lord God Almighty himself was cleansing my soul (and dream) through a good, old fashioned Presbyterian baptism (which involves sprinkling for those who don’t know.) Then, I stubbed my toe.

Yes, it hurts.

When I was a child, being barefooted was a way of life. Stubbing toes happened almost weekly. Rest assured, it’s been years since this ole gal has stubbed a toe.

Not too long after the toe stubbing incident, while splashing through a puddle on the way home, Hilary asked me if I felt like a child. Thinking of all of my inconsequential-in-the-grand-scheme-of-things worries, with the real life painting in the forefront of my brain, I said, “No. I feel like an adult. Yes, what I’m doing might seem childish, but I still feel like adult.”

This painting needs a baptism. It needs an innocent touch. It needs new life. It needs something. God, pretty please grant me the grace and wisdom to complete it to the praise of your glory. Amen.

Mary and Stan, when I was 20, gave me a bed to sleep in and a warm coat. Wandering, I had come to the mainland from Hawaii in the winter of ’83-’84 and was woefully ill-prepared for the cold. The winter wool coat was just the wrapping on a life long gift of mutual love, acceptance, and deep friendship that forged in a matter of weeks.

Because Houston is home to the Texas Medical Center, it has provided Reese and me with many opportunities to meet people, and see long time friends who travel here from all points of the globe for treatment. Mary and Stan lived here for a short while, and have been back and forth since then for various ailments. On one such visit, Stan pulled a wallet sized, well worn, black and white photo of Mary in her back-in-the-day nurse’s uniform from the wallet his back pocket….and asked if I would paint a portrait of Mary for him.

Translating a tiny, well worn, black and white photograph into a full color 12″ x 16″ portrait is more than a bit tricky. Truthfully, this portrait has been in the works off and on for seven long months. After all that struggle, it’s a great pleasure and a tremendous satisfaction that I’m finally very pleased with the finished product.

With all my heart Mary and Stan, thanks for the coat.

A sweet young friend drew a picture of me on the driveway. He and I are holding hands in the drawing. That green stuff on top of my head? You guessed it….poofy hair. 🙂