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Folk Art Show at the Vero Beach Museum of Art
Local artist members of the Cultural Council of Indian River County were invited to show Folk Art-related works in the Education Wing of the Vero Beach Art Club, in collaboration with their current Fold Art Exhibition. Show ran October-November 2021, and I entered two pieces: "Laundry Day" and "Six Rosters."
"Laundry Day"
I painted this a couple of years ago to enter into the Vero Beach Art Club's "New Dimensions" show on Orchid Island, Vero Beach. I had named it "Laundry Day Wine Bar," and had included wine glasses with clotheslines painted on them, and a washboard cheese tray. Someone bought the glasses only, and so I've had this odd art piece knocking around my garage ever since, showing it once or twice in the Sebastian River Art Club shows. So I was happy to get it out of the garage and on display again.
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| "Laundry Day" Painted in acrylics on wooden ironing board. By Judy Burgarella |
"Six Roosters"
"Six Roosters" was painted specifically for the Vero Beach Museum of Art's Folk Art Show. If I hadn't run out of time (painting right up to the last minute as usual!) I had planned to get some rusty old chicken wire and rusty old bent nails and nail it sloppily to the outside of the window, with the rooster portraits behind it. This was such fun to paint and research. Took me right out of my comfort zone.
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| "Six Roosters" Acrylic, 16"x20" by Judy Burgarella |
"Jesus On Palette"
This palette painting was done as a demo on Faculty Day at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, where I have been teaching portraiture for seven years now. It was not complete, but close enough to post here. This was the last demonstration we teachers did before the Pandemic Closedown. Sadly, we had no idea what was to come.
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| "Jesus on Palette" Oil 11"x16" by Judy Burgarella |
"Night-Blooming Cereus"
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| "Night-Blooming Cereus Cactus" Acrylic by Judy Burgarella, 16"x20" |
Perched high above my herb garden setting in a wire replica plant stand of the Eiffel Tower, sits this usually-ugly flat-leaved prickerless plant. Don't know where I got it, but for years I've neglected it, and even threw it behind a big ixoria to see if it would die and get it over with. I have had this plant for about 15 years.
At some time later I saw it was struggling to survive, and like an orphaned pet I gently potted it in a nice pot to give it a chance to live--guilt being the driving force. I don't remember when it happened, but I remember seeing a big long pointed snake-like bud emerging. I kept watching it as it got bigger, excited to see what beautiful flower would emerge from this ugly plant. It got bigger ... and bigger ... and bigger! Every morning I would run out to the herb garden to see it emerging! Then one morning--finally--there it was ... a very large drooping dead white what shriveled whatchamacallit! After all that time I had missed its bloom!
After doing some research, I found that it is of the genre of a "Night Blooming Cereus," in the cactus family. Look it up on the internet--they are spectacular and diverse. Mine blooms as big as a dish. I found out that the bats love it and do the pollinating, and I've seen that it peaks about midnight. The aroma can compete any day--or night--with Gardenia. A very strong yet soft aroma that permeates the night air all around it. It blesses me with always having either an emerging flower or a flower bloom--sometimes more than one! I try to catch its glory at midnight, but alas many times miss it by forgetting and going to bed.
And so I finally honored this spectacular flower by painting it and exhibiting the painting several shows. It is mounted on a gallery-wrapped frame, with the painting continued all around the edges. Looks great on a white wall, and I hope it finds a good home some time soon. Note that I included a dying bloom behind the "perfect" bloom. Also note the bizarre pink and yellow stamen.
Plein Air Pait-Out at the Environmental Learning Center
October 2nd, 2021, joined some fellow artists for a paint-out on-site at the Environmental Learning Center in Vero Beach, FL, as part of the "Bird Show" there. The rule is, you must complete and frame the painting all in one sitting, which I did. It's an unrefined work, which I will tweak to be finer at a later date. It did pull a 3rd-place ribbon at the show though, and two of my other works won ribbons, pictures of which follow.
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| "Pond Scape" Acrylic, 11"x14" by Judy Burgarella |
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| "Egrets & Waterlilies on Palette" Oil on Palette, 16"x19" by Judy Burgarella |
"Fencepost by the Meadow"
This cute little painting was done during a demonstration, and was later donated to charity. A simple, sweet, peaceful gem.
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"Fencepost by the Meadow" Oil, 17"x14" Framed by Judy Burgarella Well, that's all for today, will post more works soon. Judy Burgarella Blogger for the Arts |
