Funny that

When I paint a lot, I must be using up my writing energies, too, so I don't seem to blog as much. I kind of feel like BB King, who can't sing and play Lucille at the same time. Let's not go to walking and chewing gum, okay?

So I will catch up after I get the pieces signed and photographed. Then there will be a flurry.

In the mean time, chew on this. I think it's very cool, but I am not so sure about the practicality time-wise or, frankly, competition-wise. The ARTS in Embassies Program sends borrowed art to the residence of ambassadors around the world for the length of their tour, two and a half to three years. They pack it professionally and take care of the details.

In looking at the list of borrowed art, it includes heavy hitters from significant collections, but it also seemed to include pieces from more regular folks than Roy Lichtenstein, Willem de Kooning , Mark Rothko , or Robert Rauschenberg, which are displayed around the world.

To quote:

Mission
Established by the United States Department of State in 1964, the ART In Embassies Program is a global museum that exhibits original works of art by U.S. citizens in the public rooms of approximately 180 American diplomatic residences worldwide. These exhibitions, with art loaned from galleries, museums, individual artists, and corporate and private collections, play an important role in our nation's public diplomacy. They provide international audiences with a sense of the quality, scope, and diversity of American art and culture through the accomplishments of some of our most important citizens, our artists.

Would you consider contributing work for this cause, an ambassador’s home away from home for a few years? I think my landscapes could provide a welcome slice of Americana. cough

I found ART in Embassies looking for calls for artists. Look toward the bottom of my sidebar for the list I maintain for myself and to share. A couple links are lists of many opportunities.

Photo by Phyllis at our DAR chapter picnic along the Potomac near Mt. Vernon earlier this month. It shows my EasyL Pro from eBay last winter and, a la Kenn Backhaus, a clipped-on car sun shade, which works well for shielding both the mixing and painting surfaces.