In my rear view mirror is Western Art Week, and I'm bidding it, "Good riddance." The MT Watercolor Society (MTWS) room had lots of traffic but few sales, and I achieved a personal low in having NO sales. In my imagination, I replay the moment when former Intel CEO sent his scouts into the MTWS room to ask about young, up & coming artists, and then selected a piece from one of those youthful, up-and-comers. I visualize myself saying to said former executive, "Hey, I remember you from International Science and Engineering Fair 2008 in Atlanta, when Intel was the premier sponsor. You swept down the atrium of the giant, convention-center venue with Montana's high school competitors in tow. My daughter was among that group, back in the day when you were THE CEO and I was a proud parent and chaperone. Well, now you are the Ex-CEO and I am up and coming, despite my wrinkles and sags. Hey you, take a look at my work." Needless to say, that scene exists only in my mind. In reality, I have licked my wounds, paid my framing bill with proceeds from retirement, and moved on.
Of the five mini-paintings I've completed since Western Art Week, intended for the annual May MTWS Member Show in Lewistown, I think one is a bit weak, one is a bit trite, and three are totally ME. They are too small for me to photograph well, but one—based on evening highlights and shadows on drifts building around our lower pond—called me to attempt a larger version. Here it is, as yet unnamed. I welcome your suggestions. (Few would understand if I titled it, "Martha Who?" for the name of the knob that we know as "Martha's Nipple" on the east slope of Shaw Butte (above and to the left of the barn roof in my painting)