| Still Water Reflectiions © Marian Fortunati 12"x16" Oil on linen panel |
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| Click on the above link for additional details. |
Struggling With Life and Time
It seems lately that I am not in control of my life. I am anxiously awaiting the birth of my youngest daughter's first child. Happily all is going well but events such as these being what they are, create a bit of an out of control feeling when dealing with an upcoming solo show and my father who is extremely ill. It is just life as usual, I know, but it makes, painting and blogging take a backseat to life. (Which is as it should be, I imagine.)
While, I'd rather be painting, I have spent huge amounts of time preparing for my solo show in San Marino which is coming up next Sunday. Framing, making and sending postcards, planning the reception, working on the publicity, creating price lists, labels and all of the necessary "things" to make the show a success take a LOT of my time. If you are anywhere around San Marino, next Sunday afternoon before the Oscars, please come by MY "red carpet event" to chat and see the art.
One LUCKY artist.... AGAIN!!!
Additionally, ANOTHER stroke of luck came my way which I could not pass up. One of the owners of Rothschild's, a fabulous well-established Italian restaurant near Newport Beach, called me up after they had seen my painting in the Altadena Town and Country Club / California Art Club Show. They wanted to hang some of my work! At first I was hesitant, but after several phone calls and email exchanges, I realized that this was an opportunity NOT TO BE PASSED UP. I drove down to Newport Beach last week to deliver six paintings to Heidi and Jim Patricola, the owners. Heidi is just a lovely person and my conversations with her husband, Jim, have been wonderful as well. The food is terrific, the location is phenomenal and most impressive to me, as an artist, is that my work will hang on the walls with some absolutely awe-inspiring painters:
 Rothschild's is proud to feature the work of local Orange County artists, on view in the restaurant on a rotating basis. Some artists who have exhibited with us are listed below. Click any artist's name to visit their website and view their work. Jeff Horn - www.hornart.com Jim Wodark - www.jimwodark.com Niles Nordquist - www.nilesnordquist.com Jacobus Baas - www.jacobusbaas.com |
My name is Fortunati... I've always felt lucky to have married a wonderful man, but maybe Fortunati, which means fortunate or lucky in Italian, is also a reflection on life!
Heidi chose five paintings from my website, but one was the one at the CAC show, so I took down six (two extras to see if she might like one of the extras instead of the Garrapata Coastiline she had chosen.) She took them all:
Monterey Magic
Pacific Sunset
Garrapata Fog
Chinese Garden
A Walk On Isla Vista Beach
and Still Water Reflections which is described below:
Pacific Sunset
Garrapata Fog
Chinese Garden
A Walk On Isla Vista Beach
and Still Water Reflections which is described below:
Santa Barbara is the home of the University Of California at Santa Barbara, where I earned my undergraduate degree. I always thought it was funny that I received a Bachelor's of Arts degree with a major in Zoology, but when I earned my Master's in Education from the University of Southern California, it was a Masters of Science.
Whatever the sense or non-sense of that, while I was at UCSB I had a terrific time ... lots of party time but even more study time. I didn't really explore the campus. I walked around Isla Vista, where I lived, and of course all over the beautiful campus, but I never visited the north campus area around Devereau Slough.
When visiting my daughter, who also graduated from UCSB, and who now lives in Santa Barbara, I decided to do some exploring. This gorgeous area just made my jaw drop. I HAD to get out and paint it. Judging from the parking signage which stated that parking was only allowed for bird watching and for painting.. I wasn't the only one. In fact, the very next day I was thrilled to attend the California Art Club's 100th Annual Gold Medal Show and there were two gorgeous paintings also painted from near this area.
I spent a very pleasant afternoon in the shade of a row of large eucalyptus trees painting the scene across the slough while aquatic birds of all types entertained me from afar.
** This painting was juried in to the 25th Annual National Juried Exhibition at the Cultural Arts Center in Douglasville, Georgia.** (November-December, 2011)
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