Saturday, March 8, 2008

Barkerville Series in the Works

Frank at the King George 4"x 5" value and color study

Well, I've decided I better come up with a "body of work". I finally feel like my work is up to gallery standards, but so far I've been all over the map when it comes to style and subject matter. An important part of becoming professional is to develop a style, and a body of work to show to potential collectors and galleries, and so far I don't have enough pieces that are related.

Last summer I was in Barkerville, this incredible old historical town near where I grew up that has been re-built to look like it originally was. My sister and I took a gazillion photos, and a few really nice people on Flickr gave me permission to use some of theirs for reference as well. It has great actors in period costumes that remain in character throughout the day. I want to pay tribute to this remarkable place, and the remarkable people who keep it going, by doing a series of paintings showing the people and the place. Sooooooo.......this will be my first "body of work".

The King George Hotel is a great old building in Barkerville where you can actually spend the night in the historical townsite. This is the cat, Frank, who lives there.

Oh yeah...I almost forgot. We're down to our last few days in Maui, and I have to pack up really soon. I won't be able to post for a while, as it's too late to start the new painting because the paint won't be dry to pack it, and I'll be en-route. I'll be back in a week or two, as long as we still have some semblance of internet service when I get back to Bella Coola...sob...snow, rain, clouds, YUK!!