The Music Box Song Club

The Music Box Song Club

So… how cool is the painting above? The artist is Femke Hiemstra, a pretty amazing painter of wondrous delight whose latest exhibit opened last week at Roq la Rue in Seattle. Regular visitors to my site will remember how excited I was to discover her work last year when I made my first acquisition of one of her fantastic paintings. And this year… it’s acquisition number two!

The Music Box Song Club is one of 11 new paintings and drawings on exhibit through May 3rd, and it will no doubt find a prominent place in my house once it makes the journey from the Pacific Northwest to Southern California in another few weeks. I absolutely love the way Femke is able to pack so much fine detail and fun into such relatively small paintings. Pretty much every piece in this show is amazing, with many painted on vintage objects such as tin boxes or frames. The Music Box Song Club is painted on a vintage book and floated in a very nice frame.

You can see photos from the opening reception on the Hi Fructose web site, and if you’re quick (before it slips off the home page) you’ll also see The Music Box Song Club nicely positioned on the main page.

Can’t wait to see the new painting for myself in person!

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New painting in the Collection

I’ve added a great new acquisition to the Collection section of the site, Circus has left town, by Femke Hiemstra, a wonderful artist from the Netherlands who I have recently discovered. The painting is part of Femke’s new show opening tonight at Roq la Rue in Seattle. Her paintings are all primarily small acrylic works on mixed media, each one meticulously crafted and mounted in ornate frames to fit the spirit of the piece. The show is quickly selling out — even before it’s first public display! So if you love the whimsical imagery of her work… act now. These are soon to be gone in a flash!

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Ah… The joy of new art!

One of the more exciting things about being an International Art Collector (I just made that up because it sounds James Bond… and, hey, I have purchased art from galleries in Australia, Switzerland and Mexico) is the day that a new piece of art arrives at my door. It’s usually not possible to jet-set around the globe to see these wonderful paintings in person at the champagne toasting openings, so quite often my art selections are based on itty-bitty, teeny-tiny JPEGs posted on the Internet — trusting, of course, the excellent tastes and recommendations of the gallery directors I’ve come to rely upon over the years.

Oh, sure, every now and then I will venture to Los Angeles to gaze’n’choose in person, but I’m usually waiting for a big box to arrive, and can hardly wait to (c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y) peel open the packaging to get my first wide-eyed and in-person glimpse at a new addition to my collection.

Such was the excitement yesterday evening when I arrived home from work to find a sturdy cardboard box from Roq la Rue waiting beside my kitchen door. New art! Yay!!

Inside was “Jungle Radio” by Ryan Heshka, nicely presented in a vintage tiki-inspired wooden frame, along with a fairly rockin’ black gallery t-shirt from gallery owner extraordinaire, Kirsten Anderson. Thanks, Kirsten!

Point your browser over to the Roq la Rue site and checkout their latest show, “Once Upon A Time” featuring the talented work of Catalina Estrada, Gretchen Ryan and Moira Hahn. Guaranteed to please.

I have no idea where my new piece of art will hang. I usually have to live with a painting for a while before it finds a home on one of my walls. In the meantime, I’m sure I will enjoy its company in several rooms.

Ah… it’s so good to have new art!

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New painting and drawing added to the Collection

Two new wonderful pieces have added to my art collection — Jungle Radio by Ryan Heshka, and Salve Regina by Daniel Martin Diaz. The Heshka painting is currently on display in “Triple Threat,” showing at Roq la Rue in Seattle.  The current photo of Salve Regina doesn’t really do the piece justice (hopefully, I’ll correct that once I get the piece home). In person, the drawing is fairly large and wonderfully detailed, rendered in Derwent Pencil and Mixed Media.  The drawing is part of Daniel Martin Diaz’s “Apocalyptic Resurrection” showing on display at Billy Shire Fine Arts through March 29th. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, this is definitely a show worth seeing in person!

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