Expose Yourself 2013! A Public Hanging of Oregon Artists 'Exposing Themselves?' Sandi Whetzel Exposes Three Wine Inspired Paintings During A Public Hanging of Oregon Artists

"Stroked Ego" 16x20 acrylic©Sandi Whetzel

'A public hanging of Oregon Artists exposing themselves' ... Now if that doesn't get your attention, I don't know what will. Sounds frightful and maybe a little distasteful to me, but of course, Umpqua Valley Arts Association doesn't mean that literally.  It's UVA's biennial "Expose Yourself" exhibit of Oregon artists and it is free and open to the public from January 18 through February 28, 2013.  It is actually billed as "A Public Hanging of Oregon Artists", though.  I didn't make that up.

Please forgive my paraphrasing ploy to get your attention.  If you're reading this far, I guess it worked. It's kind of like what I do with my art.  I have to get your attention and hold it long enough to engage you on some level.  Everything I paint is designed to do that and more. My art has to make you feel good, or inspired, or peaceful, or grounded; entertain you, impress you and those who see it on your walls, spark conversation and make you feel glad that you have it hanging on your wall.

My art is a reflection of some part of me that resonates with some part of you.  I work very hard on that reflection of myself. I guess I'm in an "expose yourself" mood, but I just couldn't resist sharing that little tidbit before a captive audience.  Before I lose you, though, I'd love to see you at the opening reception of "Expose Yourself" at Umpqua Valley Arts Association, from 5-7 pm, Friday, January 18, 2013.  It is located at 1624 W. Harvard Ave. in Roseburg, Oregon.

My three wine paintings will be competing for "Best Use of Humor", "Most Innovative Use of Material", "Size Matters", and "Best Title".  I created these paintings without this competition in mind, but they do meet the criterion for the categories, so who knows.  The main thing is, it should be a fun evening, seeing all the submissions and taking part in the refreshments offered.

I shared this stylized self-portrait, "Stroked Ego", in this post because I don't often get the opportunity to share it and it just seemed to fit the "Expose Yourself" theme. This is the only self portrait I have done.  I enjoyed painting it. It hangs in my office and I can look up from my computer and see her smiling at me whenever I want.  She makes me feel good about myself and she never judges me. To see the actual photo of me that inspired it and read the story behind the painting, click here .

Late breaking news!!  I have a new website to order high quality reproductions of my art printed on various substrates; paper, gallery wrapped canvas, metal, or on acrylic panel, as well as greeting card art.  You can now order online and have them shipped directly to you. The company that reproduces the art has 40 years experience producing museum quality prints.  Fine Art America offers a 100% money-back guarantee of satisfaction.  Matting and Framing of the reproductions are available, too, so you can see how those options will look before you purchase.

You can see all the wine art reproductions (and original art) at my new website  .  (If you want to make note of it, it is Sandi-Whetzel.artistwebsites.com.)  Time permitting, I'll be adding all my floras to the website, too.  Please keep this affordable art option in mind for your gift-giving and personal art collection. I'd love it if you share the website with your friends and relatives.

Other news:  Once again the "Greatest of the Grape" has picked one of my images to promote the event March 2, 2013. This is the third time they have used my image for this prestigious event. My "Grape de Menthe" painting is on the posters, postcards and tickets to promote the event.  A high qualityhand-embellished reproduction on gallery wrapped canvas will be auctioned off during the evening gala.  I am the featured artist hanging my wine art at the event.  For event and ticket information click here                                                           
                                                                            Follow @artistsandi

 To see more of Sandi's art, visit her website .




       

Sandi Whetzel's Art Displayed in 12 Cubed: A Small Works Exhibititon and Art In Bloom Exhibit at Umpqua Valley Arts Association, Roseburg, OR

Succulent Delicacy 12x12 acrylic ©Sandi Whetzel

I am happy to have one of my art works, Succulent Delicacy, juried in to 12 Cubed: A Small Works Exhibition at Umpqua Valley Arts, 1624 West Harvard Avenue, Roseburg, OR.  Artists living in Oregon were invited to submit up to three entries in any media, except photography.  Framed art could be no bigger than 12" in any direction.  A total of 140 images were submitted for consideration.  Ken Roth, a well known regional artist from Central Oregon, juried all the submissions to decide which entries would be accepted for the exhibit.  He selected 65 pieces by 45 artists for the exhibit in the main gallery, the Hallie Brown Ford Gallery.  Roth is a Central Oregon artist who is currently featured in the Guild Sourcebook of Architectural and Interior Art and in Art Business News, June 2009, as an Emerging Artist.

I'm also proud to have three paintings included in the Art in Bloom exhibit in the corridors of the same building during the same time frame. All these  paintings are by the students in my art instructor/mentor's class, as well as three paintings by  the instructor, Bonnie Hill. 

The opening reception for the events was well attended on April 30, 2010.  The exhibits will hang for six weeks, concluding on June 11th.

A Feast for the Eyes: Sandi Whetzel Exhibits at Umpqua Valley Arts Association's Summer Arts Festival in Roseburg, OR, June 26- 28, 2009

I'm putting the finishing touches on about a dozen new paintings to display at Roseburg's UVAA, (Umpqua Valley Arts), Summer Arts Festival the last weekend of June. I'll be inside the building in Gallery II along with five other artists of Umpqua River Gallery, a group of artists banded together in an online virtual gallery, click here .

The festival theme is "A Feast for the Eyes". As usual, UVAA held an artist competition to select a poster to promote this theme for the event. I submitted an entry, (pictured with this post). Its title is Through the Eyes of a Child...A Visual Feast. Apparently the committee was looking for a food-based theme, though. I wasn't sure what they were looking for, but I am pleased with the painting I conceived. I think it vividly expresses the feeling of wonder children have in response to what they perceive as "magical" in their surroundings. I like the painting very much and had fun doing it. It is a winner and will be part of my exhibit. I am anxious to get feedback on it.

Creating paintings from my imagination to fit imposed themes for events of various organizations catapults me into more creative modes than working from reference photos for inspiration. Having to come up with something from nothing for a painting concept is great for my creativity and is a challenge. Without these competitions to illustrate an imposed theme, I would not have been inspired to produce the Feast for the Eyes painting, My Oregon Grape painting, nor any of the wine series that have been used to promote four wine-themed events.

I am really excited about the debut showing of nine new succulent paintings, the Oregon Grape painting that was used to promote the Glide Wildflower Show this last April, as well as the Feast for the Eyes painting. I have incorporated some new very 3-dimensional textures in some of the succulents that literally reach out to be touched. One of them was accepted into Oregon's Gold Beach 2009 Inaugural National Juried Exhibit of Art. It was an exciting honor to have two pieces accepted into that national show. Two new scintillating abstract succulents and three romantic succulents add to the lineup, along with my wine series, several affordable high quality giclee reproductions, my greeting card art and art magnets.

I had record sales at last year's UVAA festival so I am anxious to have another great year. The festival hours are from 12-9 pm, Friday, 11-9 pm, Saturday and 11-4 pm Sunday. The location is at the Arts Center, 1624 West Harvard, Roseburg, OR. Unlike last year, the weather should be more tolerable and there are many activities, food, music and all kinds of art forms. It should be a really fun weekend. If you go, please look me up inside the building in Gallery II. My next exhibit will be a solo art exhibit at DIVA, (Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts) in Eugene, OR, the entire month of July, but that's covered in the next post.

Through the Eyes of a Child: A Feast for the Eyes

Through the Eyes of a Child... 20x16 acrylic ©Sandi Whetzel

Through the Eyes of a Child..., was conceived to illustrate the theme, "A Feast for the Eyes", for the Umpqua Valley Arts Association Annual Summer Arts Festival to be held in Roseburg, OR the last weekend of June 2009. Although it was not selected to promote the festival, I did enjoy dreaming up the concept and painting it. I feel it successfully conveys the wonder of seeing through the eyes of a child. I'm very glad I took the challenge to compete for the poster. I never would have thought of doing this painting without the impetus of the poster competition.

The process of inventing an image to illustrate a pre-determined theme forces me to envision paintings that would not otherwise occur to me. These activities stretch my creativity. Some very successful paintings have come about by accepting these challenges.

Of course, when I do win the poster competitions, that is a bonus. So far, images of my paintings have been used to promote several events: the 2004 "Art About Wine Exhibit", the 2005 Umpqua Valley Art and Wine Festival, the 2006 "Greatest of the Grape" and the upcoming 2009 Glide Wildflower Society Show. In addition, one of my wine series paintings has been chosen to appear on a special bottling of Cabernet Sauvignon for fund raising events and art receptions held by DIVA, (Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts), in 2009 in Eugene, OR.

Two of the paintings I conceived for poster competitions that were not selected for the posters sold rather quickly. That's sweet revenge. It keeps me going in these pursuits besides creating other paintings of my own choosing.

through the eyes
Originally uploaded by sandiwhetzel

Sandi Whetzel's Exhibit at the Umpqua Valley Arts Association Summer Arts Festival was a Hit!

I had vowed never again to display my art at the local art festival. It was just too much work without a booth buddy to share the responsibility. But when the members of Umqua River Gallery Dot COM decided to display as a group at the Roseburg Umpqua Valley Arts Festival, I decided to get on the band wagon. And I am glad I did. The whole thing took place this last weekend, June 27th-29th in a big way.

Umpqua River Gallery dot COM is comprised of 14 local artists of Douglas County who are represented in an online virtual gallery. Besides the shows the individual artists enter and their studio spaces at their homes, the online gallery is home to their art at www.UmpquaRiverGallery.com . John Galvin, photographer artist and his wife, Linda, business manager and website developer, are the driving force behind the organization.

Any way, back to the art festival. Our group of artists secured the Gallery East inside the arts center building and nine of the artists' works were represented. It was quite a challenge to get that many artists' works displayed adequately in one room while maintaining good visibility for all and optimal traffic flow through the exhibit. It turned out rather well. Even though it was a very hot three-day weekend without air conditioning, we had a lot of people visit our displays.

I got to meet lots of interesting people, pass out business cards pointing to my blog and postcards describing my upcoming exhibit at the Hult Center, July 18-August 23, 2008. (See my earlier post about the Hult Center Exhibit.) But the most exciting news is I sold a phenomenal amount of art, greeting card art, art magnets, and high quality giclee reproductions of my work. One of my previous art collectors increased their collection of my work from four to now six pieces. I gained another collector who purchased not one, but two pieces of art. I do love my art collectors! And it was fun to hear everybody's reactions to my art. It was a very good weekend.

Wine on the Vine: Painting to Fit an Imposed Theme--A Journey of Self-Discovery

Wine on the Vine Giclee on canvas or paper
Originally uploaded by sandiwhetzel

This painting was my answer to a challenge to create a painting to illustrate the theme, "Wine on the Vine". The Umpqua Valley chapter of the Oregon Wine Growers was seeking original artwork to promote the 34th Annual "Greatest of the Grape" event held at Seven Feathers Convention Center, in Canyonville, OR. I wanted to compose a painting that would convey "Wine on the Vine" differently than any other artist might do.

I started playing with the placement of wine bottles in thumbnail sketches, with the idea that I just might do a painting of abstract wine bottles. Then I started playing with adding grapevines and finally gravitated to the idea of the bottles growing on the vines with grapes inside the bottles. Then I got excited about that concept and I painted it in acrylics on canvas, adding texture which resembled craters in the moon and the moonlight radiating outwards in the sky. I feel like it does truly say "Wine on the Vine".

But more importantly, it really opened me up to my own creativity; forcing me to expolore how I could imagine and invent subject matter for a painting from nothing other than what I might conjure up from my own imagination. I'd never done that before. I''d always been inspired by something that I'd actually physically seen which became the catalyst for a painting. Allowing myself to work within the confines of an imposed theme opened the door to my creativity and gave me a great satisfaction.

Though not commissioned for that event, the painting was used to promote two other wine-themed events in Roseburg, OR. A reproduction of the painting was the promotion piece for the "Art About Wine" Exhibit in the Hallie Brown Ford Gallery at the Umpqua Valley Arts Center in 2004 and the Umpqua Valley Wine and Art Festival in 2005. The cover of Currents: The News-Review's Guide to Arts, Entertainment and Television, July 15, 2005, Roseburg, OR, featured the painting and I was interviewed regarding my painting. The painting is also featured in a book, Northwest Artists: A Collection of Works by Notable Artists of the Northwest, released May 16, 2005, ISBN 0-97600170-5. The original acrylic painting was sold prior to those events during the Umpqua Valley Arts Summer Arts Festival in 2005.

During that art festival a mature gentleman seemed genuinely interested in this painting. He collected original art only and told me the painting spoke to his heart. He was going to need a few weeks to come up with the $900 to purchase it and I didn't think to offer him the option of putting down a cash deposit to hold it for him. Later a very young man expressed interest in the painting also. It was to be his first major art purchase. He told me that right after he first looked at it he bought a glass of wine and sat at a table accross from my art booth; just sitting there thinking about how much he'd like to buy it and how he would probably have to live on Ramen noodles for three months if he decided to buy it. He finally took the plunge and paid for it in several monthly installments. I was so endeared by his falling in love with the painting and having to own it. It was my first personal major sale apart from the gallery experience where the artist usually has no personal contact with the buyer. I was so impressed that someone so young was willing to make financial sacrifices to purchase something I had created from my imagination.

I got such wonderful feedback on this surrealistic painting. I've sold a few high quality giclee reproductions of it on canvas. One was auctioned off at the Palate to Palette fund raiser for Umpqua Valley Arts Association. High quality giclee reproductions in limited editions are available on canvas or archival paper upon request and greeting cards of it also. Later I used the same composition of the painting to compose the second in a series of "Wine on the Vine" paintings. The overall color is red-orange in that one, which created a completely different feeling and energy in the painting. I'll be posting "Wine on the Vine II" in another post later.

Artist Resume: Sandi Whetzel, Contemporary Fine Artist

EXHIBITIONS
2009 Solo Exhibit, "Succulence!", DIVA Center Membership Gallery, Eugene, OR (juried)

2009 Inaugural National Juried Exhibition of Art, GoldRush Center, Gold Beach, OR (juried)

2008 "CAM Biennial: A Public Hanging of Oregon Artists, Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay, OR

2008 “An Oregon Crafted Sampler”, Jacobs Gallery at the Hult Center, Eugene, OR, (juried)

2008 Expressions West 2008, Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay, OR (juried by Gary Faigin)

2008 Solo Exhibit, "Radiant Flora", Gallery II, Umpqua Valley Arts Assoc, Roseburg, OR (juried)

2008 “The Harvest and the Feast”, Red Gallery, Umpqua Valley Arts Assoc, Roseburg, OR

2006 Annual “Greatest of the Grape”, Umpqua Valley Chapter of the Oregon Winegrowers Assoc, Seven Feathers Convention Center, Canyonville, OR

2006 “Midsummer’s Night’s Dream", Ashland, OR (juried)

2006 37th Annual Umpqua Valley Art & Wine Festival, Umpqua Valley Arts Assoc, Roseburg, OR (juried)

2005 Solo Exhbit, "Feelings", Umpqua Valley Arts Assoc, the Red Gallery, Roseburg, OR (juried)

2005 36th Annual Umpqua Valley Art & Wine Festival, Umpqua Valley Arts Assoc, Roseburg, OR (juried)

2005 “Showcase of Homes” Exhibit, Roseburg Builders Assoc, Roseburg, OR (juried)

2005 Umpqua Valley Arts Assoc “Palate to Palette” Dinner & Auction, UVAA, Roseburg, OR


2004 “Art About Wine”, Hallie Brown Ford Gallery, Umpqua Valley Arts Assoc, Roseburg, OR (juried)

2004 Home & Garden Show, “2nd Annual Botanical Art Show”, Expo Center, Portland, OR (juried)

2004 “Women in Art”, Douglas County Library, Roseburg, OR

2003 Two-person Exhibit, “Waterscapes”, Hallie Brown Ford Gallery, Umpqua Valley Arts Assoc, Roseburg, OR (juried)

AWARDS
2009 "My Oregon Grape" painting image selected to promote the 2009 Glide Wildflower Show

2009 "Wine on the Vine II" painting image selected for 400 wine bottle labes for DIVA, (Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts), Eugene, OR

2006 “Uplifting Spirits” signature painting selected to promote the 2006 Umpqua Valley Winegrowers “Greatest of the Grape”, Seven Feathers Convention Center, Canyonville, OR

2005 “Wine on the Vine” signature painting selected to promote the 36th Annual Umpqua Valley Art & Wine Festival, UVAA, Roseburg, OR

2004 “Wine on the Vine” signature painting selected to promote the “Art About Wine” Show, Umpqua Valley Arts Assoc, Roseburg, OR

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Northwest Artists: A Collection of Works by Notable Artists of the Northwest, released May 16, 2005, ISBN 0-97600170-5

“Wine on the Vine” signature painting featured on the cover of Currents: The News-Review’s Guide to Arts, Entertainment and Television, July 15, 2005, Roseburg, OR

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1997 TO THE PRESENT, Art Instructor, Community Art Education, Umpqua Community College, Roseburg, OR

COLLECTIONS
My works are in private collections in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Northwest Artists Association (NWA)
Umpqua Valley Arts Association, (UVAA), Roseburg, OR
Oregon Crafted, Douglas County Chapter, Roseburg, OR
Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts, (DIVA), Eugene, OR

Sandi Whetzel, Contemporary Fine Artist
PO Box 22, Days Creek, OR 97429

PH: 541-825-3525
Artist1 at frontiernet dot net www.UmpquaRiverGallery.com/whetzel.html http://www.sandiwhetze.blogspot.com/