Sheila M. Evans

Between the Pastel 100 coming out and my acceptance to Art on the Square, I thought I probably had better get my butt over to the pastel side of the studio for a bit. I’d been having too much fun painting in oils, and was getting into a pretty nice groove there. But no matter how many hundred pastels I might have on hand, the first early shows going onto my schedule always seem to induce unnecessary and unreasonable panic.

So I rolled with it and made a few small pastel pieces first, then Villafranca, left, which I named after an obscure species of lemon. The piece looked… well… lemony, and sort of Mediterranean, and the name seemed to capture both aspects. I wasn’t even through with it before I was back on the oil side, though—seized with panic yet again as I realized I may have oil shows while most of my oil work is hanging in the Kress gallery.

The drama never ceases.

More good news! I’ve added a new show for 2010: Art on the Square in Belleville, Illinois. This show has been ranked #1 in the country by the Art Fair Sourcebook (the art fair artists’ version of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). It’s going to be a long trip, but I am so excited to do my first-ever midwest show. By the way, I only got juried in with pastels. The competition to get into this tiny but excellent show is tough!

I am so happy right now! I just learned that I have been juried in to the Bellevue Arts Museum show again. This year, not only did I get in with my pastels, I get to show my oil paintings! This is a first for me in Bellevue, one of my very favorite shows to do. To celebrate, I’ve decided it’s time to fire up the Art Fairs 2010 page. Then I think I’d better get some painting done.

(Left: Frost Line, one of my newest oils. See it at the Kress Gallery in May.)

_

_

_

_

_

_

_

_

_

Yes, in spite of all the shows and demos and moving and whatnot, I have actually been painting. While Etudes for the Equinox has a few weeks left at the Tinman, I have to be thinking of the next show (Metamorphosis at the Kress Gallery). Metamorphosis is an oils-only show for which I have most of the large work finished, but there are a few odd little spaces in the gallery to consider. With that in mind, I created my two latest little cocktails, Gimlet and Limoncello No.2, above. Perhaps I’ll complete the set with a French 75…

Etudes for the Equinox, my all-pastel exhibit at the Tinman Gallery in Spokane, runs through February 27th.

The Tinman Gallery
811 West Garland Avenue
Spokane, Washington 99205
509.325.1500
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday

If you’re an art lover in Spokane, you probably already know it’s Works from the Heart season again!

The Northwest Museum of Art and Culture’s 25th Works from the Heart Auction will be held next Saturday, February 20th. Happily the auction has moved back to the MAC this year, and will offer a carefully selected group of artworks from the area’s best known and loved artists, and me. Proceeds are shared between the Museum’s art education and acquisition funds (and many of the donating artists). I hope you can make it to this fun and exciting event, and bid on my pastel, Coral Reef No.4 !

Here are the essentials:

Works from the Heart Auction
Saturday, February 20^th
Location: Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture
2316 W. 1^st Avenue, Spokane, WA

Pre-auction events begin at 4 p.m.
Live auction at 6:45 p.m.

Tickets $75 by advance reservation only.
Call today! 509-456-3931

Etudes for the Equinox, my first solo show at the Tinman Gallery, opens Friday!

Opening reception will be from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for the Spokane Visual Arts Tour. If you haven’t been to the Tinman, it is a great space in Spokane’s wonderfully eclectic Garland district (thus the Oz theme). The Tinman, owned by Sue Bradley, represents some of the area’s best-known artists—now more than ever with the retirement of Lorinda Knight last November.

I’m very much looking forward to the show, which will feature a large collection of my newest work in pastel (including Dewfall, above) and perhaps a few not-so-new, never shown in Spokane pieces as well. I hope to see you there!

The Tinman Gallery
811 West Garland Avenue
Spokane, Washington 99205
509.325.1500
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday

A little show preview:

Read more

Tonight is the First Friday art walk in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene. I will have new work at galleries in both places: six pastels each at the Tinman Gallery in Spokane’s Garland District, and the Art Spirit gallery in downtown Coeur d’Alene. Both opening receptions are tonight from 5 to 9 p.m. If you are out and about in either city tonight, please come see the art!

Both shows are the respective galleries’ holiday small-works group exhibits, so there will be lots of art and artists to see. I plan to attend both shows for a bit, and hope to see some of you there!

Blue Suspension No.4 Study, above, will be available at the Tinman Gallery.