On Friday evening I went to the Florence Benaquista Memorial Art Exhibit as I mentioned on Thursday. I'm happy to say it was a great evening! In the window before I even walked in was a great landscape she did that had a barn, a pond, and some ducks going in for a swim. It showcased all the things she taught me all in one painting it seemed.
 
  I went in and after saying hello to the people I knew including one of my collectors, I got to meet some members of her family. I talked to her son and told him that she was one of the most important persons that shaped my life. We talked for a bit as we looked at some of the photos that Sue Matthews had on display from important moments in her life. I never knew that her original location was only three blocks away from my boyhood home! I wasn't around yet as this was 1964, but it blew me away.
 
  I made it around all the paintings and remembered about four of them from "back in the day" and really enjoyed the ones I never did see. One of the ones that I grew a new respect for was her painting of an apple pie cooling down behind a kitchen window. She painted the steam coming up from the pie and it looks real! Out of the paintings that I never did see before, my favorite would have to be this large winter scene. I loved the lighting and reflections in the water. If any of you local people are planning on checking out the show this month, trust me, you won't be disappointed.
 
  So to sum it all up, the artwork is great, the photos from her life are great including a photo from when she was married along with one from when she first met her husband. You are able to see how her life progressed as the years went on and the different locations that the store "traveled" to. That's about it for now, check it out if you can and I'll see you again in a couple of days, take care!

  This Friday starting at 6:00 P.M. is the opening reception for the Florence Benaquista Memorial Art Exhibit at the Matthew's Art Center. As some of you know by now, "Miss B" (as she was known) was my art teacher back in the day. You can click here to read her story about her life and how she got involved with teaching oil painting.
 
  I have friends, family, and a couple of collectors of mine coming to see the work of my teacher. Some of these paintings I've more than likely seen before as she liked to put her work in the window from time to time, but I'm looking forward to the ones I haven't. One painting that Sue Matthews told me wouldn't be there was her pastel of Jesus praying. I think the family is concerned about damage since it's a pastel and I'm sure that one is very special to them. I remember her always putting that one in the window at Easter time. The thing that will be really nice is meeting some members of her family and sharing some of my stories with them about being her student.
 
  I hope I'm posting this with enough time for anyone in the Bellevue area to come up and see the work of a very gifted artist and former business women in our community. I know that at every show at Matthews at some point I go downstairs and sit at the easel right at the bottom, first one on the left. I look around at the work the kids and adult students are doing and smile. I was raised to never forget were you came from. Thats all for now, I hope I get to see some of you people on Friday, but if not the show runs all of October so please "duck in" and take a look when you can. Take care and I'll be sure to tell you how the night went this weekend.

  It looks like I have a new commission to do before the holidays. I want to give you a bunch of information about it but I can't as it's going to be a Christmas present. I'm going to touch base with the person again today, but I want to make sure that I don't blow the surprise.
 
  What I can tell you is that it's something that I have never painted before and that it will be my "bread and butter" 18"x24" painting, ready to hang, frame painted to match painting. I got the painting "booked" and I'm working hard at trying to get another commission before Christmas to close the year out with.
 
  In other painting news, I got a good bit done this weekend on the "Bellevue Ave." painting. I started on the road and the foliage on the right side. I'm going to try to have it done by the next newsletter this Sunday if I can.
 
  I know the other thing that I wanted to share with you now that I think of it. This is one of those things that you just have a nice chuckle about. Three times now I've been e-mailed by a chinese gentleman that runs a "wholesale" reproduction oil painting website. He keeps telling me that he has plenty of paintings for me to sell on my website. Thats alright, as an artist I prefer to sell my own work, hence "Pat Quinn Custom Fine Art", but thats fine, I'll keep it in mind. So I guess to sum it all up, I'm planning on being a busy artist going into the holidays, but thats a good problem to have. Thats all for now, take care and I'll see you again in a few days!

  Here it is, the english tea cart slightly modified to serve as my painting taboret. At the last minute I realized that there isn't much contrast in my carpet compared to the tea cart so the large rear wheel might be hard to see.  You can see the used brush holder made from two heating/ac covers that you would mount on the floor. I got myself a piece of 16"x20" glass which I painted gray on one side to serve as my palette. I gave myself a shelve on the back to place my tubes of paint as I use them and decided to put the handle back on that I took off for the brush holder.
 
  I've been using it right off the bat, and it's working out great. I have my paint and brushes together nicely, a large paint mixing area, and a handy way to put my paint brushes that I'm using. I was in the right place at the right time to come across this!
 
  Speaking of painting look for "Bellevue Ave." to be done soon. The depth is really nice, the greens are vibrant, and I'm using a variety of different textures in the foliage to keep it interesting as well. I'm focusing now on the road and all it's textures and slight color changes.
 
  In other painting news, I decided to to spread the word more about my commissioned art program. I plan on doing a painting of a Volkswagon and posting it on "Volkswagon Vortex", a website that has a loyal following of "dub junkies" as they are known. The reason I know this is because of my day job at a Volkswagon dealership. I think if people see what I can do in a "car" painting (if you want to call it that) it will work out well for me. I'll let you know how it turns out and with that, take care, and I'll see you again in a couple of days.