best in show
Anne Walkers attention getter oil "Chairs at the Negresco"
second Place
Sylvia de Shazo's good as it gets "Breaking out"
third place
Kathy Miller's superbly handled watercolour "Stargazing"
honorable mention
Ellie Cox for "Vignamaggio Morning"
honorable mention
Nell Chesley for "Quit Winter"
It was the last night of an exhibit by the Bon Air Artists held in the James River Center Atrium (Omni Hotel). It was also nice to revisit my old stomping grounds from 30 years ago. My old offices were a block away - lots of fun and many old memories. Those players are now replaced and for a moment I became a player again.
Oddly appropriate, behind me hung two enormous John Court paintings - good ones at that. Someone whom I helped at the front end of his career - in fact, I gave him his first one-man show here in Richmond - black tie - catered dinner 450 of Richmond's finest attended. Cool night, in my mind he was the most important painter to come out of Richmond. Over the years he came to California a few times and would show up on our doorstep unannounced, always good to see him. He is a very talented, fast and prolific artist with the ability to paint on a compelling scale. John's dedication was hard to ignore and the moment reminded me of his roll in a decision I made 30 odd years before to stop painting. The gallery and John's dedication made me realize, it's a serious business and if I wanted to do either well I would have to give it my full attention....I wasn't willing to do it. I closed my new gallery "Beaus Arts" shortly after his premier show and followed my design career. Aside from a huge financial loss it was a brilliant choice to both do it and close it!
A painting by John Court
Senator Berry Goldwater 1983 18x14 oil
This morning I tracked Court down via the internet - sent him an e-mail. He lives and works out of San Miguel in the Portuguese Azores http://www.johncourt.com/contact.html
Nice digs for an artist..I'm packing my bags as we speak....LOL
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