A friend of mine was visiting from Maryland and wanted to go to Art Palm Beach Show.  I’m so glad she asked as it was a marvelous show.  That’s one of the great benefits of visiting friends; they open eyes of possibilities.  It’s like when John lived in New York City; he hadn’t visited any of the sights until I came down from Boston.

It’s the 13^th time the event has been held and it’s billed as a dynamic event in America’s premier winter destination, hosting international galleries.    It’s a wide-ranging presentation including contemporary art, photography, video, installation art, public sculpture and design.  One nice touch is part of the proceeds of the food and beverage sales go to the local art community.  It almost made a four-dollar bottle of water worth the price.  After spending that much, we made a point of savoring it as if it were a fine bottle of wine.

Since she is interested in mid-century furniture and my passion is watercolor, we did a good job of covering the entire fair.   However, what we both enjoy was “Risk,” an installation constructed from sneaker parts by Fredrick Uribi.  It was a fascinating exercise in the reuse of materials with, of course, a very strong Green message.

Later in the week, I went to the Norman Rockwell exhibit at MoAFL  with a few of my friends.  Although I had seen many of the same paintings in the Rockwell museum, in Stockbridge,  MA while on my summer sketch tour, it was great to see them in the expansive space of the museum.  The highlight for me was the room that displayed every single Saturday Evening Post Rockwell did on one wall, while the series of drawings showing the artists’ process and the final painting for ‘Southern Justice” was on the other wall.  The exhibit is a t MoAFL until 2/7/2010 so there is still time to see it.

In other weekly news, I went to the Palm Beach Society’s Paint Out at the American Orchid Society.  The cold snap had wrought a sea of change on the vegetation.  Much of it has suffered severely.  Fortunately, inside the greenhouse things were still spectacular.   I spent a lot of time in there.

In the art education department, I am again taking a figure drawing class at the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale.    Also, I’m taking a 3 day workshop called Creative Watercolor given by Miles Batt and sponsored by the Delray Art League.  I’m learning a lot and cannot wait for a block of studio time to put into practice all these new skills and techniques.