Sculpture by Tammy Vitale, currently showing at Heron’s Way Gallery, Leonardtown, MD

Spent a fun day at Heron’s Way Gallery yesterday chatting with other artists, gathering referrals, brainstorming about the coming year, talking about techniques.  In other words I was totally invigorated.  So invigorated I came home and promptly fell deeply asleep for 3 hours, got up for an hour and then went back to bed for the night.  I love these events.  And they wear me out (in a totally good way). 

This morning I woke up with a vision of chimes.  Now I’ve made chimes before and they’re all over my yard because mostly they don’t sell.  This morning’s chimes, however, are much larger.  This has to do with conversations with Heron’s Way artist/PR Person Mary Ida Rolape who is dreaming about a really large outdoor totem.  Me too.  But that sparked waking up with chimes.  Perhaps by size they might be "gongs."  At any rate, the juices are starting to flow again and I doubt I’ll be out of the studio much longer.  It’s time to go put my hands in the mud and see what happens.

Here are a few more pictures from yesterday:  That’s Gallery accountant/artist Carol Wathen on the left and Dhyanna of Mystical Dream Art on the right in the one photo, and that’s Mary Ida (above) on the left in the photo with the banner in the background.  Rose Beitzell, the third principal at Heron’s Way wasn’t around for a photo op.   In case you can’t tell from the pictures, yummy food is all over the gallery as well as wine and soft drinks.  The Herons, as we affectionately call them, sure know how to throw a party!

And this isn’t the only one of the weekend.  Today (Sunday) One Brush at a Time  is opening.  This show is sponsored by Patty Runco for her class or young emerging artists.  The centerpiece of that show is a collaborative art effort surrounded by pictures of all the young artists.  In addition to throwing a bangup opening party on every first Saturday, Heron’s Way Gallery persistently seeks out and provides space for emerging artists in the area.

Have been thinking about art and artists in Southern Maryland, and for a moment was thinking about starting a new blog just for that, but decided for the moment simply to add a new category on this blog for Southern Maryland Art and Artists.  If I get in gear and out and about to review and chat, I’ll think harder about a separate blog.  But it occurs to me that I already have two, this and myspace, where I blog almost daily, and if I truely want to get my hands in the mud, and since I haven’t yet figured out how to make these pay, I’d better keep it simple.

thought for the day:  We cannot even imagine the complex forces behind every event that occurs in our lives.  There’s a conspiracy of coincidences that weaves the web of karma or destiny and creates an individually personal life – mine, or yours.  The only reason we don’t experience synchronicity in our daily lives is that we do not live from the level where it is happening.  Usually we see only cause-and-effect relationships.  This causes that, which causes this, which causes that – linear trajectories.  Yet beneath the surface, someting else is happening.  Invisible to us is a whole web of connections.  As it becomes apparent, we see how our intentions are woven into this web, which is much more context-bound, much more relational, much more holistic, much more nurturing than our surface experience.  Deepak Chopra, The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: Harnessing the Infinite Ppower of Coincidence