Inquiring Minds Want to Know?

Well, you'll notice there's a gap of about a year since my last post. Hmmm where, oh where has Kay West been?

Mid-March of 2016 an opportunity inexplicably presented itself, and I leaped on it! I opened LITTLE DOG Art Gallery, a brick and mortar fine art sales gallery in Spokane, WA, along with my silent partner sister, Mel.

Everything moved very swiftly and before I knew it I was scheduling upcoming art exhibits, hanging shows, arranging for in-gallery activities and artist receptions, lots of bookkeeping and paying out of commissions, meeting people, talking with gallery visitors, up to my eyebrows in art biz, et cetera.

It has been an awesome, invigorating, growth experience! I've met so many cool people and talented artists here in Spokane! Initially I was only showing other artists' work, but in the last couple of months I've started exhibiting some of my own paintings. You can check out Little Dog Art Gallery on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, plus our website at www.littledogartgallery.com.

Yes, I've continued painting and taking photographs. I had a dozen of my Bondo Series photographs in a summer exhibit at Liberty Building Art Gallery in Spokane. I was invited to exhibit work in a December group show at Marmot Art Space in Kendall Yards, Spokane.

"Red Lamp" in Liberty Bldg Art Gallery, Summer 2016

"Golden Nut" in Liberty Bldg Art Gallery, Summer 2016

"Frontal, Bondo Series" Marmot Art Space, December 2016

"Golden Curve, Bondo Series" Marmot Art Space, December 2016

Yup, Here I am posing in front of my displayed work at
 Marmot Art Space, Kendall Yards, Spokane, WA

I've pushed forward with my painting, so my work is becoming more loose, playing more with movement and pattern rather than realistic rendering a specific object.

It's been a fun year, with more growth and exploration to come!

Gluten Free Art, Please

At the request of Jeanine, the owner of Cole's Fine Foods, I showed up with four of my acrylic paintings for display to sell. She was delighted with what I brought and we quickly had all four paintings up on the walls where she wanted them.

However, Jeanine kept going back to one of the paintings, a landscape. She said she liked the painting, but there was just something about it that was off-putting. She couldn't identify why. After discussing, it hit both of us that it was a painting of fields, very probably wheat fields this being Spokane.

That was it! Jeanine has Celiac disease and her bakery is totally gluten free! She was subliminally reacting to the "wheat" in the painting! We had a good laugh about it, and of course I removed that painting.

Next day I brought back a replacement painting. Jeanine's happy. I'm happy.

First time I've ever had a painting rejected because it wasn't gluten free!

"Fields" 16x20 acrylic painting $125

Jeanine happy with "Sunflower"

Cole's Fine Foods, 521 Holland Ave, Spokane WA 99218 ... Family Owned.Great Food.Gluten Free!

Show Time! Featured Artist Display in Redlands, California

As I type this in Spokane, WA my featured artist display of paintings and photographs is going up at the Redlands Art Association Gallery in Redlands, CA.

I still consider Redlands as "home," even though I moved up to Washington state in 2003. I lived in Birch Bay until 2011, when I moved to Spokane where I've been now for almost three years. Oh my! Has it really been that long, and my sister Mel Slater still puts up with me? Bless her and her roof over our heads!

The Featured Artist Show: I've been a member of the Redlands Art Association for over 30 years, and volunteered while I lived there in a number of capacities such as gallery manager, put together the newsletter, librarian, board of directors, workshop instructor, et cetera. A lot of time and effort was poured into that community art organization, just ask my sons!

With that background, I was tickled pink to be able to provide artwork for this featured artist display back in my hometown. Since I cannot be there, one of my other sisters, Sandy Davies, accepted the responsibility to mount the work for me.

The logistics have been a little different. The cost of shipping framed artwork to another part of the country would have been beyond my fixed income budget. Ever one to adapt, all of my paintings in this show are under 11" x 14" as are also the matted photographs. Nothing is framed. I kept to this size restriction so I could pack EVERYTHING in Medium Flat Rate USPS boxes. I'm told everything arrived in good order and Sandy is now using little metal clips to hang the artwork in a professional, albeit alternative, manner.

I'm thrilled that my friends and acquaintances who are interested can see what work I'm currently creating! I've already sold one of the paintings in the show and am thrilled about it!

I'm uploading photos of the paintings with this blog entry. Hope it all displays well for those of you who are interested and not able to make it to Redlands.

My show runs from April 19th to May 9th at Redlands Art Association Gallery at 215 E. State Street, Redlands CA. Their phone number is (909) 792-8435 where you can call about prices, and you can access their website www.redlandsartassociation.org  for hours and other information about the benefits and services they provide the community of Redlands and environs.

Birch 11 x 14 acrylic

Blossoms 11 x 14 acrylic

Amalie  9 x 12 acrylic

Blush of Morning 11 x 14 acrylic

Eucalyptus 9 x 12 acrylic

Daffodils in Blue 11 x 14 acrylic

Dusk Along Coast 11 x 14 acrylic

Mokume Gane 11 x 14 acrylic

Moonlit Geraniums 8 x 10 Acrylic/Colored Pencil

Night Wind 9 x 12 acrylic

Outside In 11 x 14 acrylic

Silhouette 8 x 10 acrylic/pencil

Stuck With a Way Out 9 x 12 acrylic/graphite
(This painting is already sold)