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I’ve been working on lots of new watercolors lately and am thrilled for the first batch to be debuting in the Earth Water Sky show at Lark & Key Gallery this month! The gallery is open for viewing Wednesdays- Fridays and by appointment. They will also host an open house Saturday and Sunday, April 13th and 14th, if you’re in the Charlotte area. You can peruse the entire exhibition (and purchase if you so desire) online!

Last Fall, custom wall covering company Area Environments debuted four designs featuring my work in their Collection VI. AE can create custom wall coverings for your space, whether you want one big statement wall or to fill an entire room (which I think would be AMAZING, especially with my watercolor forests! ) Statement wall coverings are definitely having a big moment in the design world (check out my Artsy Dwelling Pinterest board where I’ve pinned some favorites! ) and AE’s wall coverings can be specified for residential AND contract design. Head over to the Area Environments website to see more, order samples, and maybe just drool over all the stunning designs!

Pantone announced its Color of the Year for 2019 as Living Coral. It felt over saturated and a bit brash, which, if I’m being completely frank, most of the Pantone COTY seem to me (sorry, Pantone! ). my heart in tow, acrylic on canvas, 12×12, available at elliott fouts gallery knockin’ on heaven’s door, acrylic on canvas, 40×30, available through seattle art source further xiii, watercolor and cold wax on cradled wood panel, 10×8, available at art and light gallery It’s always interesting to see how much influence Pantone’s COTY has on the art world, whether directly or subconsciously.

This year also saw the beginning of a new series, IMMERSIONS, which I’m still excited about though I pursued the idea more in new watercolors on panel, I hope to explore more in this series in acrylics in the new year. Again this year, I upped my commissions completed, increasing from 3 last year to 5 this year (goal met, check! ). I’m sure this is different for every artist, especially depending on how one measures success, but the past year taught me that, for me, investing time and inventory in “shows” in which the venue or organizer does not have a substantial financial stake in either the sale of the work or the success of the exhibition leads to a whole lot of work and financial investment on the part of the artist with little but a pat on the back and a line on your resume in return. I think 2018 will go down as the year I learned some very hard lessons about how to know my worth as an artist and the worth of my work and that I must under any and all circumstances treat it as the important and valuable commodity it is and expect others to do the same.