It’s official! Tore Bellis and I have our artwork displayed in the Western Round Up exhibit.
The exhibit is in the North Corridor at the Grand Theater in Lewisville, Texas.
It is the first time our artwork has been featured in an art exhibition since childhood*.
(*I have work currently on display for the Self Portrait exhibition but that is a display case. Having art on walls in a corridor is an entirely different experience!)
You can see we are very excited to have our artwork on display. Incidentally, we are dressed up because we had just finished a photo shoot for our next exhibition.
Here’s a better view of Tore next to his digital photograph, “Go West”. His artwork features the side of a building in historic downtown McKinney. But you won’t recognize the wall if you look for it. Tore worked his magic to transform the image, which features a trail from our favorite haunt, the LBJ National Grasslands. He also added the text, “Go West”.
Tore describes his piece as follows:
“Even if you find you’ve hit a wall, you can still go west in your imagination.”
Better view of the image below.
I submitted two pieces, the one featured below is “Resilience”. I was the model and photographer, which is a process I am perfecting. The first set of photos didn’t meet my vision so I returned to shoot the next day. I’m determined or crazy. Perhaps a combination of the two.
My other piece is called “Booted out of a Nightmare”. Again, I’m the model and photographer and the shot was done in historic downtown McKinney.
There’s a funny story about the photograph. I was down to a few days before the deadline for submissions. I had already printed and framed two photos for my submission. I was finished. But I had a nagging desire to try to execute one more idea – twirling in a dress in boots. It had to be done.
I set up my tripod, found the perfect painted wall in downtown McKinney and proceeded to twirl. I felt stupid but was determined to get the shot. Since I was holding the iPhone to activate the Canon, it didn’t look like a typical selfie shot. Passersby must think I’m nuts. But I blocked it all out of my mind. I must get my shot. Besides, no one who sees me knows me.
I was wrong.
It turns out my friends, many of whom I haven’t seen since a few years before COVID, were sitting in a restaurant, having ice cream. They could see me twirling over and over again but they couldn’t see the tripod. Fortunately, they know me enough that they figured Tore must be photographing me. I think they were even more surprised I was doing a photo shoot without him there. But it was entirely too hot to be outside and only one of us should suffer for art that day.
Here’s a view of what my friends saw from the ice cream parlor. Photo courtesy of Erin Elaine Thomas.
I hope you’ll stop by the Grand Theater to see our artwork. It’s better in person – you get to enjoy the ambiance and you’ll get to experience all the other submissions by other talented artists. There’s plenty of free parking and there are no fees to view the exhibits.
The exhibition lasts until Saturday Oct 23, 2021. If you’d like to coordinate a tour with the artists, please let me know. We are happy to give you a tour, sign autographs, sell our artwork, etc. (ha, ha!) You’ll also have a chance to see the “Self Portrait” exhibition in the Display Case.
Last, I encourage you to look for an art league in your area. You can be as involved as you want to – you don’t have to participate in every exhibition. Not all exhibitions have entry fees or are juried – making it considerably easy to have your work displayed.
This activity has been fun- I enjoy having themes and deadlines. You might discover having these boundaries motivates and focuses you to do your best work. It’s also a different experience to actually PRINT photos instead of posting on social media or somewhere on the internet. A tangible piece of artwork for strangers to view is something entirely different.
Links:
View the Virtual Show of Western Round Up.
Visual Art League of Lewisville
Additional discoveries about joining an art league: you gain insider access to unusual opportunities to showcase your talent and artwork. There are invitations to display your work in restaurants, recreation centers, etc. (You can also sell your artwork in these venues!). There might also be opportunities to apply your painting skills in public spaces – sidewalks, murals, benches, etc.
100 N Charles St, Lewisville, TX 75057
Follow us on social media:
Tore Bellis, on Instagram.
Denise Holguin, on Instagram
Empirical Whimsy on Etsy.
Mark your calendars for the next exhibitions:
Call of the Wild, Oct 30 – Nov 27
Day of the Dead, Oct 30 – Nov 27
Holiday Magic, Nov 2 – Dec 31
big bertha's adventures 