Before You Go

Hi all!

This is my first painting of the New Year and will be part of the enormous tiny show iii at Nahcotta, which is in Portsmouth, NH opening on Feb 8th! This is very exciting to me because it neighbors (over the little bridge) my hometown of Kittery, Maine and all my hometown peeps can go check out the show, which I will have 6 or more original paintings in! It's also exciting because it is my favorite gallery and boutique of Portsmouth and I've gone in there numerous times and admired the wares and always dreamed of having artwork there!

One summer during college I lived at home and landscaped at the local park in Portsmouth- Prescott Park- and woke up every morning riding my bike over the bridge to get there by 7:00 am (this was before I drank coffee too!) to start dead-heading flowers, lawn-mowing or whatever the project of the day was. One of my favorite tasks was draining the fountain of coins and refilling it on a hot day. Or fixing up the pier and attaching ourselves with belts over the side of the ocean. I was so happy that summer because I had actual guns (arm muscles) from shoveling so much and got very tan on the small of my back from all that lifting and bending,and worked outdoors everyday and had minimal worries and expenses. ahhh, youth.

What's funny and a small world is one of my former landscaping co-workers then worked at Nahcotta, but that is not why I'm in the show... it was recommended by one of my LA blogger friend artists! Thank you! What a crazy small intertwined fateful world, no?

I also listed per request, a few prints of this piece in my shoppe. I hope you like it, it's my favorite so far of the year! I was inspired by this great book on American folk art from New England that Hugh and I picked up in an Antique Store in Vermont, fitting that it's for a show in New England, no? Getting back to my roots with a twist.

Cheers,
mati