Saturday, March 27, 2010

There's an Iguana on my roof!


















Thanks to http://www.arthousecoop.com/ I had a little writing and art project to work on during my Costa Rica vacation. It's called the fiction project. The art house sent me a journal with an assigned theme. Mine was,"over the top" I knew imediately that my stories would be about exotic birds flying over the top of trees. And as my title states, Iguanas climbing over the top of our roof! That's our cabina in the photo. We were in Costa Rica for 15 days. And my goal was to write a short story each day about a bird or animal that inspired me. I ended up with only 7 little stories. (which I'll share with you later on) I think fun and sometimes exhaustion started to interfere with my writing schedule. But hey, it's vacation. A person shouldn't even have a schedule! The top photos show what I've completed for my journal so far. The cover and the title page. Now I get to do the fun part. Illustrate my little stories. And when I'm finished, I'll send the journal back to the art house library in New York. Bye Iguanas! P.S. Do you see my pet flamingos in the background?


Friday, March 19, 2010

Living on the edge of paradise.


















I could have gone the cat route in my connection to my last post. But I decided to go the dog route. And the cabinas at the breathtaking Pacific Edge have 3 dogs in residence. (I think that might be Burrito in the photo) After viewing these photos you may wonder if we're living the millionare lifestyle. To tell you the truth you will pay more to stay at a super 8 motel than on the edge of paradise. The happy owners George and Susan only charge around $60 a night to share their exotic world for awhile. http://www.pacificedge.info/ And the vibrant green hills over Dominical, Costa Rica are fully stocked with the sights and sounds of all things exotic. We saw chestnut-mandibled toucans and mealy green parrots while staying here. There seemed to be 2 gangs of howler monkeys always shouting back and forth. I've come to the decision that a vacation isn't really a vacation unless you hear howler monkeys! And the view! You really have to see it in person. Have you booked your flight yet?





Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Bring on the gallery shows!















































I have good news! I won the award of excellence for my painting, "Cat on a Blue Stairway" at Burnsville's Art Fete. So I thought I would devote a blog post to all the gallery shows I've been involved in lately. And the ones that I will be doing soon. My first show of 2010, "Minnesota Made" just came to an end February 28 at the University of St. Thomas. It was a show I participated in with my fellow CBIGer's. I submitted, "Red Wings Over Red Wing" I've posted that piece on my blog before. Last Thursday, "Art Fete" opened at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center. The top photos are from that show. I also posted a photo of my friend Amy Vasterling's piece http://amycernyvasterling.blogspot.com/ Her work always has the cool factor of a real thinking artist. And she already sold her piece! The opening of Art Fete was a food and wine event. And the 85 artists and guests were hungry! It runs through May 1st. The last 2 photos are from the Minneapolis Institute of Art's, "Foot in the Door" show. Over 4,000 Minnesota artists participated in an overwhelming display. It runs February 18- June 13. I submitted, "Scared Dog" And the caption reads,"WOW. I've never seen so much dog-gone art!" To see more illustrated dogs please visit my website at http://www.sharonrwagner.com/ I have a show coming up April 9- June 20 at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts in Minneapolis. The theme will be, "Imagination, Exploration and Creativity" And I might be participating in a photography show at the Minneapolis Photo Center. http://www.mplsphotocenter.com/ If I'm not selected as an exhibitor my photos can be viewed online. I'll let you know!









Friday, March 12, 2010

Poor Little Fishes





















There's no guessing this week as to the connection between my last art post and today's photo post. It's fish. I just got back from Costa Rica. So what do I do? Put my Florida photos on my blog. But they were the closest match to this week's theme. And I love these photos. Unfortunately the reason I was able to photograph these poor little fishes was because they did not survive the brutal cold front Florida received in January. But I couldn't resist capturing their fleeting beauty. And obviously there were lots of other things washed up on the beach that day. All the photos were taken during one beach walk. Even my header shot was taken that day. It's the foam at the water's edge. Enjoy!






Tuesday, March 9, 2010

I'm "Fishing" for people to look at my art!

I'm posting an illustration I completed for http://storiesforchildrenmagazine.org/default.aspx It depicts a poem written by Cindy Breedlove called, "Fishing" If you follow the enclosed link and go to IN THIS ISSUE you can download the March issue for free. My illustration is on page 17. My friend Barb Bjornson illustrated a story on page 22 called,"Gregory takes the shortcut" I'm glad I was able to do an illustration for this nice online children's magazine. Because sadly March is their final issue. Check it out!