Selling art work can be rewarding, exhilarating and kinda sad. I paint for myself. Something strikes me as being better said in color and texture and I spend some time on it until my hand gives out. Mostly I work on a series of ideas and then stop for an extended period of time until there is another project that “needs doin’”.
I’ve been painting for 20 years now. I sell anywhere from 6-12 works in a given year and give away half as many for silent auctions in the same time line. It always surprises me what people end up buying. More often than not, people will skip right over what I think are my best work for something else. Something happened in the last week, two works that I feel are heart stopping good have found homes. I painted them both within a week of each other in 2004. They have been in art galleries in 3 states and group and solo shows for five years. The last 8 months they have been spending what I now know were parting moments with me at home. And this week, of all weeks, they are claimed.
One work will be used as the cover of a new book of poetry titled A Walk in Victoria’s Secret by Vanderbilt professor Kate Daniels – it will be released in November of 2010 from LSU Press.
Envy by Nancy VanReece (c) 2004 Contemporary Expression, a div. of Carpe Diem Copyright Management. All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.
Another spoke to a women as a way to, as she put it: Serve as a reminder for this last year of “humbleness” They both are the only remaining parts of a series titled “The Tao of St. Gregory”.
This work, “Envy” was significant to me because I learned that the act is not the same as jealousy. Jealousy is the feeling you get when someone threatens what is yours. Envy resents the good others receive, or even might receive.
The hands in this painting are mine. After my injury my right hand was jealous of my left.
I am so happy that these works have found a purpose. Both tell their story well.
I’ve worked on a couple of new projects in a fresh series but have been trying too hard. I had forgotten to just paint for myself. It’s time to paint.
Next Art Show: Crema Nashville, TN June 26- August 28, 2010
What stories are you telling?
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