No Time To Hide Away

Pale Girls; myself with the lovely and talented Abigail Greydanus Opening night was quite a blur, and I'm sad I didn't get many shots of the night with my iphone. But here are some photos from other sources (Sam Graham, tomi Monstre, Holly Payne).

With Chantal Menard and Ryh~Ming Poon

And Natalia Fabia

{she knows I love it!}

Bob Dob, Rick O'Brien and Steven Daily

Chantal Menard with Gustavo Rimada and Miss Mindy

Bob with Jack from Daily Du Jour

The night goes by so flippin fast, it's hard to remember to take a few minutes here and there to relax and breathe and laugh with the person next to you. I'm so thankful for all the support and love from so many lovely people. It doesn't slip by unnoticed.

Lucky guy Jay Bentley with three beautiful girls, Jan Helford, Peribeau and Natalia

Michael & Amy with myself and Holly & Jon with twinkle lights!

Asian Babe sandwich with Kimmy Chueh and Tomi Monstre

And so the show will be coming down soon to be broken up and sent out to their new loving homes. Get out there and have a look before Sept. 5. Thank you to all the eyes that have looked my way - online as well as in person!

Did You See Me?

Still reeling from my opening night but getting back to work (after only two weeks not painting) feels excellent! This painting that is part of my Before I Hide Away series is titled Did You See Me? and one of the more lighthearted paintings from the group ~ although as I was showing a friend this painting as it sat in my studio, he mentioned that this looks like one of the more somber pieces. :)

This painting is about complete freedom in who you are and not being fearful of who sees your truths. I'm constantly chasing freedom as an artist in my work and in recent years, my personal life. Freedom from fear. In all angles of life.

Before I Hide Away is up for another couple weeks ~ til Sept. 5th, go see!! Corey Helford Gallery/ 8522 West Washington Boulevard Culver City, CA 90232

Kind Words

Photo by Jon Schnepp

{whewwww} To think that opening night is behind me is very strange, I'd been looking forward to that night in particular for over 2 years and now it came and went. It was a great night. Thank you to all that made the drive over to the gallery and to all the kindest emails and notes and comments I've received. It has been a dream~~~

{Twinkles in the windows!}

So pleased to see some reviews of the show starting to pop up. Here you can check out the HI Fructose review. Daily Du Jour arrived before the gallery opened just as I did to take some shots. Thank you Jack!!

My friend Yelley's post at Veda. Cartwheel Art also posted a bit about the show and the new work.

{My fingies for the night!}

Thank you Hi Fructose, Daily Du Jour, Yelley and Cartwheel Art for these posts!!

Grateful

A little while ago I posted about a painting I was going to be working on that was a bit darker than I was comfortable with (see the post HERE). That painting titled I Couldn't Do A Thing For You (seen above) turned out to be one of my favorites from this new series. At the time, a good friend of mine was going through and recovering from brain surgery. I witnessed a lot of her process before and after the surgery, and it was really hard for me to see her physical struggles as well as the emotional struggles she was dealing with. For me, having witnessed my mom losing her life to lung cancer, it was just really difficult ~ to sit by (their) side and not be able to do a thing to help. In the painting, the skeleton represents my mom, she's already gone, and the figure by her side is me left still trying to help her - which represents how hard it was to see my friend struggle with her physical issues. At those moments, I would have given them my life - my lungs, my brain, my heart - to save them from their pains and sufferings. I told you it was dark. Now onto lighter things and looking forward to tomorrow!!!! (whew!)

Pop on over to PLATINUM CHEESE where I was asked a few questions about my new work for Before I Hide Away (opens TOMORROW NIGHT!!). I was able to open up a bit more than usual here (in interview form) and talk about my mom and my husband, and how the both of them have influenced me as an artist. Go have a look because they're wonderful!!

Really reaaaaallllly grateful at this moment, on the eve of my show opening. Grateful for the people around me whom I love. Grateful for people's support and hard work on my behalf. Grateful for people's love of art and interest. Just super thankful, my heart is very happy. **Thank you Jan Helford, for everything. **Thank you Corey Helford Gallery staff **Thank you Richie :) **Thank you mom **Thank you Platinum Cheese!

Prints Available Now From Before I Hide Away

With only one and a half days before my show, things are getting PRI-TEE exciting!! Just in, two new limited edition exclusive prints of my paintings She Wears The Trees In Her Hair And The Clouds In Her Eyes and Here Alone With You (a painting I have yet to share with you here on my blog!). For more info visit the Corey Helford Gallery where they are available.

CHG is pleased to announce the release of 2 new limited edition prints from popular LA artist, Brandi Milne. Please see the attached evite for more information. And remember, the opening night celebration for her solo exhibition of new paintings opens to the public at Corey Helford Gallery on Saturday, September 8th, from 7-10PM. Don't miss it. Advance online previews can be requested at jch@coreyhelfordgallery.com.

And in other news (that makes me super giddy), my painting is featured in LA Weekly this week!! (Thank you Carlos Ramos for the photo) Since I live in Orange County I haven't seen it in person yet, but I'm STOKED! Hip!Hip! :D Ok, last minute details and excitement are waiting for my attention, hope you are all happy and well out there!!

Back Talk With Juxtapoz

Oooo! Head on over to Juxtapoz and have a little look at my "Backtalk" feature! They gave me 10 questions, I gave em 10 answers. Also I gave em a few behind the scenes shots ~ photos I took while working on the paintings for my show.

Thank you to Juxtapoz!

She Wears The Trees In Her Hair And The Clouds In Her Eyes

Here's another painting from my show that I can safely share a week and a half before the opening - it's the flyer piece titled She Wears The Trees In Her Hair And The Clouds In Her Eyes, and a very important painting in the series because it "turned a corner" for me. It was maybe painting number four that I was working on, and it popped out from the others. To me, it has a lot more of a contemporary feel to it which is something in my work I'm not comfortable with ** - and in some way it seems to feel right at home with the others and settle in peacefully.

This painting deals with personal change, as I was losing my best friend at the time (she was moving away to be with her beau). I was having a real hard time of it, and the things that were to be changing around me. The figure in the middle (with the trees in her hair) represents my friend who's head was in the clouds, and the figure on her arm represents me trying to hold on. I tend to be very sensitive and respond to events and change emotionally. Hence why I'm a painter I guess.

**I prefer to have a very vintage, nostalgic feel and look to my work rather than contemporary. In no way am I saying this negatively, just a matter of personal taste! :)