More Photos of the House

Ok, so it would'nt let me fit any more photos onto the previous post, but there's one more you HAVE to see. It's the one reflecting my Grandmother in a way that she appears to be inside the house.
Have a lovely Christmas Eve & be safe if you're travelling!

Looking Inside My Grandfather's House

My Grandfather, Gerald Brown, has made a really inspiring work of art. Using the skills (wood working, electrical wiring, home design) he learned earlier in life, he constructed a mini- house. From the outside in, he finished out this house in such detail that the close up snapshots look they could be a real room in a full size house. I love all the little touches like books open on desks, musical instruments in the living room, "oriental" rugs on the floors, and upholstery on the furniture. Some of these details were completed by my Grandmother, who is really talented when it comes to sewing, knitting, cross- stitching, etc; she made the curtains, rugs, & upholstery. After 60 plus years of marriage, they are still working together- and that is most beautiful part of it all.
Oh ** thanks to Jon for taking most of these pictures, including the super cool shot from outside a window with what looks like my Grandmother (blue shirt ) on the inside- it's actually her reflection as she and I were standing off to the side.

Open House Studios

Last night I went to a studio open house at Downtown Presbyterian Church. Four artists- Richard Feaster, Tasha French, Beth Gilmore and Tom Wills- currently work out of rooms on the historic building's 3rd floor. It's such an impressive building & and even more impressive that the church is so welcoming to these Nashville artists. Beth Gilmore, founder & owner of Twist Gallery in the Arcade seems to be quite at home in her spacious studio. She's got alot going on- stencils, clay, paint, canvas, frames, books, sketches, prints- I love it! Check out photos above: her studio with works in progress, as well as the room adjacent to hers.

"Chill"axin' at the ultra - lounge, whatever an ultra -lounge is.

Untitled ( artist group) held a winter show at Layl'a Rul in Nashville last night. The show, titled "Chill", drew a pretty large crowd. Folks crowded in to admire the art, mingle, and warm up with a drink or four. participating in Untitled is a great way for local artists to get to know one another. If you're a newcomer to the scene it's the most un- intimidating way to get involved showing your art; each artist enters one piece, and it's a one night only show. Look into it!
Untitled Artist Group

Newest Nashville Arts Mag

You've got toPICK UP A COPY OF THE Nashville Arts Magazine December - January issue. Flip straight to page 37 for the good stuff. KIDDING. Read the entire thing cover to back, and then repeat.

Winchester, V.A.

Guess who just saw SNOW!!!! I did ! But even better: I saw Grandma & Granddad Brown, aunt Debbie, her husband Doug, and my cousin Laura. Jon and I drove to Winchester, VA this week, and had a wonderful time visiting the family. We also did a little exploring around town. My favorite is the historic downtown area. There are buildings from the 1800's, cobblestone sidewalks, & lots of apple paraphernalia. In case you didn't know: Winchester is the birthplace/ home of Patsy Cline AND the White House Apple Juice Headquarters. There are apple orchards outside the city, and every Spring there is an Apple Blossom Parade! I have many memories of the parade... my dad & granddad loaded us kids into a red wagon and walked downtown to watch the parade. (Even though we could barely sit still long enough to watch it- Aaron & I usually ended up running through the front lawn of the First Baptist Church instead.) Above are pictures of a mossy cobblestone sidewalk downtown & some of the fantastic old houses. Also, the snow picture is taken in front of my grandparents house. My grandfather, Gerald Brown, built it himself in 1964!

December's First Saturday Gallery Crawl

December 1st, also first Saturday of the month= downtown gallery crawl! The weather was actual a bit nicer then what I was expecting; walking around a couple blocks to galleries was do- able in the not -quite- frigid- yet winter air. I did not go to the gallery formerly known as TAG, but I did visit the Arcade. It was a great mix of art work & people; one particular artist at Dangenart Gallery caught my eye. His work was done with smoke on vellum; the results were swirly, shadowy, and kind of spooky- I like it. If only I could remember his name:( Has anyone seen this/ know who I'm talking about? I just may have to go back and find out.
www.dangenart.com

The Best Little Theatre Ever

Last night was the opening reception for my show at the Public Theatre of Kentucky in Bowling Green. This little theatre in historic downtown used to be an auto body shop, but has been renovated over the past 30 years to host theatre, music, AND visual art events. Inside and out, you can tell alot of love has gone into this colorful building ( the bathroom is painted an amazing hot pink, ladies!!!).
Andee Rudloff has been involved with the theatre for years, and she is the one that invited me to show in the gallery space. Andee curates for the theatre, among many other places, and recently started working in the education department at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. While we (Jon & I ) were in Bowling Green last night, she gave us a tour of her fabulously renovated house that is right across from the theatre! True to her imaginative & wildly creative spirit, the renovations include: a loft bedroom, a spiral staircase, multi-colored tiling in a custom design, & ceiling windows in the living room. Yes, it IS awesome.
I'm thrilled to be showing with the Public Theatre of Kentucky; my work will hang through Dec 16th. The production, " The Best Christmas Pageant Ever", is running through December 16th as well. Check out their website for additional info: www.ptkbg.org.

Natives in Opryland Hotel

Tuesday night I just was SO in the mood to do something Christmas-y. "What does that mean?", you may ask. On that particular frosty evening, this is what it meant to me: Jon & I went to see Fred Claus, then we went to Opryland hotel to see the lights! The movie was cute and fun, but really the best were the lights. We walked all through the fountains, cascades, plants, lights, and tourists as we sipped rocky road lattes (mmmm :)- it was great! When a young couple took our picture, they asked "Where are you from?", and when we said "Here", they gave us an odd look. I guess locals are supposed to be too cool to do the touristy stuff. Shhh... don't tell anyone but- maybe I'm not.

Seamus, so hot right now, SEAMUS.

Here are more of our "holiday" pics of Seamus & I. I'm wearing beautiful cameo jewelry by Jan Michael's, available @ Fire Finch, of course!

Graffiti Ad for December

Happy *post* Thanksgiving! Did everyone overeat like I did? It was ridiculous- the amount of food I ate. Jon and I went out to see his fam in Wilson County. If you don't know, Jon is the oldest of 11, so holidays are quite a gathering out there! My mother -in - law even made me faux turkey & veggie gravey. YOU KNOW IT!!!!
I'm posting a pic that was taken for the December "Grafitti" advertisement; originally the idea was to have Seamus posing with me but... he didn't end up in the final cut:( I hope you like it :)

Monday Afternoon at the Frist, part dos

Now, for the rest of the story: I was impressed with some of the work in the Future/ Now exhibit. Sophie Barenburg had a wild raspberry colored spiked & felted wool collar ( you have to see it to really get it). John Whitten had a meticulously rendered graphite on paper piece. Nice work from LOCAL art majors! Check it out! At the end of the afternoon, we ended up in ArtQuest doing what I will call "loose" portaits of each other. Hah!

Monday Afternoon at the Frist

Jon and I decided to go to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts (fristcenter.org) today. I 've been hearing great things about the current shows: "Societe Anonyme inc" & "Future/ Now Mid State Art Majors". Societe Anonyme inc featured a quite diverse range of modern art from artists who belonged to the said 1920's organization. It wasn't totally my "thing", but good to see none the less. While perusing the Anon. collection I walked into the Gordon Contemporary Artist Project Gallery, and discovered a wonderful artist I hadn't even heard about: Rosemary Laing. Mrs. Laing, an Australian photographer, has captured amazing images; images of flight/ suspension that are very human. They are powerful and beautiful, and certainly my fave in the entire building.

Now Hanging at the Family Wash!

This afternoon I hung my new show at the Family Wash in East Nashville. Family Wash ladies Jami and Mandy were there this afternoon; they were super helpful and accomodating while I put up my 13 pieces. All but one are paintings that I have never shown before, so I'm really curious about the response they'll get. Will everyone else like my new series as much as I do? I guess I'll find out! F. W. owner Jamie has generously invited me to hang this month, as well as the month of December.

Christmas Spirit On the Living Room Floor

I've gotten pretty excited about the holidays this year, and intend to fully celebrate! Usually I wait till after Thanksgiving to start thinking about Christmas, but this year I thought: "Why wait?" And I didn't. Yesterday, I drug 3 large boxes of Christmas fun down from the attic and spread them out in the living room. I also got the cutest white Christmas tree and put it together. Carrey the Cat investigated as I sifted through the goodies; of course I had to take pictures! I hope everyone has a great week & a happy Thanksgiving!

Artrageous Snapshot

Here I am at Midtown Gallery with buddy Mary Alice and her sister Betsey (left to right). Behind us are some of Barbara's new pieces.

Artrageous Nashville

Last night I spent the evening at Midtown Art Gallery ( www.midtowngallery.com) celebrating "Artrageous". Artrageous is a top charity event that benefits Nashville CARES in support of AIDS education & services in Middle TN. This year's theme was "Oz", and each of the 10 participating galleries were magical destinations: the apple orchard, the yellow brick road, and my favorite~ munchkin land at Estel Gallery.
My lovely friend, Barbara Coon, was the featured artist at Midtown Gallery (whom I am represented by, also). Barb debuted a fabulous new group of paintings that filled two walls with super bright beauty! Her portraits of characters from Oz to those of Nashville landmarks, struck a familiar note with many. They were so well loved, she sold NINE pieces last night alone! WHAT!??? I'm so happy for her. We snacked on delicious drinks and apps from the Mirror and the Italian Market, and then had a celebratory dinner at Boscoe's and I told my better half , Jon, all the exciting news.
Barbara Coon and her work are shown in the photo above. The work will be there all month, so stop by and check out the fabulousity; for more info about Artrageous go to www.artrageous.org.

My new series

These are two pieces that are part of the series I am doing of masked ladies. I L. O. V. E. portraits (some are of friends, but most are of strangers), and the exaggerated , doll -like quality these have. The background are done using acrylics, lace, & spraypaint. I love the contrast of the 2-d pattern behind the more rounded figures- there will be 7 pieces from this series in the Family Wash show.

the Novice Blogger

I'm new at this. It's exciting to have another outlet, though- another way to share my creative ideas, work, and experiences. I love to paint, usually with oils, but sometimes I play around with watercolor, ink, spraypaint,etc :) I would love to hear about what you're working on, and what you've seen that has caught your eye. I don't have a way with words, so once I figure out how to upload photos, look forward to lots of imagery!

If you already know me you are probably aware of my photograph obsession. I'm not a skilled photographer, necessarily, but I do love to have a large archive of snapshots; they are visual documentation. I try to cram so many things into my head... I can't possibly remember them ALL, or even half as well as I'd like. Hence the snapshots. If you're interested, I have most of my recent photos organized in albums on myspace.com/sarahshearer.
So, I have a new group of paintings that I'm finishing up for my upcoming Nashville show. My work will hang at the Family Wash in East Nashville (http://www.familywash.com/) from November 13 through mid- December. If you live nearby, please stop in!