As many of you know, we have closed our "brick and mortar" gallery in Carmel. We had planned for some time to retire the gallery. It was a wonderful chapter in our lives, and we're so happy to have experienced it. We can't thank you all for your friendship and support over the years! I (Janelle here) will really miss being in the gallery and spending time with so many of you on a regular basis...it was a true pleasure that I will treasure.
Johnny will continue to paint, of course. He is planning to do more plein-air paintings while we are in Italy, and we will be promoting and selling these pieces through this blog and our normal website. He will continue to show his work at Carmel Art Association, as well.
He will be painting his larger abstracts that will now be represented by Westbrook Modern in Carmel. Johnny is proud to be showing his work in this wonderful gallery.
We wanted to start the year with a look back at the time we've spent traveling to Umbria, Italy, and all the work that has come home from there...over a decade of painting and being inspired by this magical place has been a joy, a dream and a love and will continue to be a major part of our lives. Johnny has said it over and over...he will never get tired of painting this beautiful landscape.
It's tough work. He hauls so much equiptment with him when he's out painting, but that is the painter's happy chore.
He may not work everyday, but he's always looking, looking, looking...
Painting in a pal's garden....
Or even in the snow!
Johnny always carries a few sketch pads of various sizes. Some are just for sketching a moment, others are for drawing to add color to later ...
We often drive out into the farmlands and countryside to find a spot to pull the car over for a work session.
Taking our daily walks is always inspiring.
There are so many memories in these paintings, and the paintings have found their way all over the world. It's quite moving to think about, you know?
The Italian studio will also be a busy place. We plan to ship back many larger works on canvas, as we've been doing now for years. Johnny loves his studio in Umbria!
So, let's stay in touch. Plan to check out the blog from time to time, and keep an eye out for emails that will be featuring the pieces that will soon be available. We're heading back to Umbria soon, so stay tuned!
