This month has been a busy one. I am in two shows, one in Laguna Beach and the other right here in the Portland Area. The show here at home included two of my motorcycle oil paintings. The show is a juried annual group show called BAM! or Beaverton Arts Mix. It is housed at the Beaverton City Library in a large convection room.
I volunteered to help hang the show and met a couple of other artist that I am hoping to keep in touch with as well as getting to see the art as it arrived. To create enough wall space for all the art we had to assemble metal grid walls in the middle of the room. The finished set up flowed well and proved ample enough space to showcase all the art.
After a long couple of days traveling to Laguna Beach for my art show there, and a day on the range teaching new motorcyclists to ride for Team-Oregon, I dragged myself tired and weary out to Beaverton for the opening. As soon as I walked in the energy of the room woke me. There were lots of people mingling and enjoying the art. I hadn’t had time to make any expectation about the turn out but was quite pleased with it. I started working my way clockwise around the room looking for my work. Down one side and then U-turn back toward the start and there they were, together.
I hadn’t been aware of or expected there to be awards for this show, and lucky me, I actually won Honorable Mention, displayed by a big red ribbon under my painting Desmo Details.
I stayed close to my paintings for the next hour and every person that looked at my work pointed and moved closer, taking in the extreme details and realism. It made me feel really great to see strangers and possibly not motorcyclists appreciating my skill.