It’s spooky how many art events are happening in NJ!

Happy Fall and happy Halloween season…one of my favorite times of year! The pandemic halted a lot of live art events & exhibits but they are making a come back and virtual exhibits continue as well as a safe, free way for people to enjoy a wide variety of art events. I thought I’d share some art exhibits I have work in, both live and online…hope you’ll enjoy them and get inspired to create &/or support local artists!

The WINDOWS ART WALK in downtown Highland Park, NJ continues!  Localstore owners are opening their windows for displaying art for the Window Art Walk! Take a stroll down Raritan Ave., where you can see the work of local artists in many shops.  My painting  “SHE” is in Main Street HP’s window.

FAVORITES is an online art event hosted by Personaland Gallery!  My painting, “Omen”, is the one I chose for this show so it’s included in this exciting virtual exhibit along with the favorite works of many artists from across the globe (including some of my art students!)  Which will be your favorite?  Check out the show here: https://personaland.com/hut/exhibition/favorites

HERITAGE is a new, virtual exhibit focusing on what our culture, background, family & history mean to us as artists and community members.  I have the above digital collage, “Necropolis”, along with other works in this online show.  View it here in this virtual gallery:  https://www.westerhoffschoolofmusicandart.com/galerie.html

Windows of Understanding  I am proud to announce that I have an original piece of art in the Metuchen NJ Library for Windows of Understanding, a public art project addressing social issues & climate change…it is still on display.  And I was selected to create a new piece for this year’s Windows of Understanding project as well so stay tuned!

Art survives the pandemic

I hope you are all staying safe & well as these intense, unsure & scary times continue.  While NJ is slowly getting back to a semblance of normalcy…well, new normalcy…much of the rest of the country faces increasing COVID numbers!  Top that off with social injustices and unrest spreading like another virus and it’s the perfect recipe for more frightening times ahead.  With so many people falling ill and also facing horrible prejudices it’s easy to get depressed and feel hopeless.  This is why art & being able to express yourself in a positive, creative way is so important!

The art community has taken a big hit from the pandemic, like many other businesses and organizations, but it is an ancient and important form of self expression that will never be silenced!  We see Black Lives Matter street art! We see Pride art! We see art dealing with the pandemic!  Art allows us a chance to escape, to express, to vent, to share, to discuss…that’s why I’m so happy to see some local NJ galleries continuing on, however they are able, to keep our artistic community alive and well!

This month I’m excited to have a SOLO SHOW at Gallery on Main, Somerville, NJ & a piece in the virtual “Women’s Voices” show by Transformations Gallery (Metuchen, NJ)  Here are a few of my photos in these exhibits. Hope you’ll check them out…   Gallery on Main in Somerville is open to visitors who follow COVID restrictions (must wear a mask, a few visitors at a time) so please check out the exhibit in person! Here’s the link to the virtual Transformations gallery show: http://www.boroughimprovementleague.org/37.html?fbclid=IwAR349dhYkFMHeh-636VhqI9XwwbnC5GyJ7agXJW0i1H4v8VCBUTb9opt34o

Stay safe & stay creative!

Return of the Lazy Blogger

I admit it!!  I’ve been lazy…well, when it comes to blogging anyway.  But I have an excuse…I really do!  It’s because other art related stuff has been taking up my time and I’m really happy about that!  OK, so other social media networking has been a big time suck too…don’t you ever fall into that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. time warp where you start out promoting your craft and get caught up in the home page posts of friends, cute animal videos & political drama when you realize, CRAP!…I just wasted an hour on fluff?  Yeah, guilty as charged but I have honestly been really busy with for-real art stuff too!  So, to catch you up, here’s what’s been happening in my creative world so feel free to post comments about how you deal with the bombardment of social media & how it effects your work.

TEACHING IS FUN!  Being someone who is not a fan of public speaking I didn’t know how I’d feel about giving art lessons but when it’s one-on-one or a small group, I found it’s awesome!  So I have a cool group of students of various ages (even one across the pond that I do Skype lessons with) & it’s so awesome to pass on creative knowledge and see people really get into it & see how their work progresses during the lessons!  Aside from art lessons I also give creative marketing lessons as I have extensive experience in sales, fund raising & marketing from previous art & non-art jobs I’ve had over the years before making the leap to full time artist!  My goal is to give at least one class a day (5 days a week) & I’m pretty close….so if you want to hone your creativity or know someone who does, drop me a line here & I’ll get back to you!

Dream Of Trees 2, oils (c)Lauren Curtis

ART SHOWS ARE FUN TOO!  Especially when stuff sells!  I’m currently in a 4 artist show at the Merwick Care & Rehabilitation Center in Plainsboro, NJ & the above painting pre-sold!  And I sold both pieces that were in the last show I did at Gallery U in Westfield, NJ.  Now I’m preparing to submit work to 4 new exhibits so fingers (& nails) crossed. (If you know me at all you know I have crazy Ripley’s Believe It Or Not length nails!).  So hopefully my next blog will be about some of the new shows my work will be in…

YAY! COMMISSIONS!  As a full time freelance artist nothing is better than getting hired to create art & design work for clients!  Luckily I’ve been hired to do illustrations for books, graphic design work, and one of my favorite things, pet portraits, for a variety of clients across the US & abroad.  This has not only kept me busy but helps pay those bills too so the more work the merrier!  Keep it comin’! Here are just a few examples of the work I’ve been doing lately that has caused my lack of blogging…

pencil illustration for a children’s book (c)2017

Commissions welcome so message me for details!

So, you see?  I haven’t been lazy with my artwork, just with blogging….I’m trying to get back in the swing….so can I ask you a favor?  If you can read, comment, follow & like posts it’ll encourage me to keep at it and to start getting interesting guest bloggers again so it’s not just all about me….there are so many fascinating people out there creating awesome work that I’d like to share so drop me a line if you’re interested & help end the blog slacking!  Thanks for reading…till next time…which will be soon, I hope…..fingers & nails crossed!