Here is the link announding the reception in the Plumas Arts Gallery on Friday, May 1. The art will be exhibited in a cozy little galley with wonderful old brick walls…you know, the ones that have lines of seasoned bricks waving across the wall…Hope to see you there!

http://plumasarts.org/prelease/walk.html

From May 1 through May 29, my watercolor paintings and oils will be featured at the Plumas County Arts Commission Gallery in downtown Quincy.  May 1 is their monthly Art Walk…locals enjoy the evening and visit all of the galleries in town.   The first two piece above will be in this show. They are some of the new paintings that I’ve completed for this show, as I want to feature the incredible scenes of Plumas County. 

There is also a new exhibit at Riverfront Art Gallery in downtown Petaluma.  I am saddened by the loss of my gallery partner, JoAnn Naylor, who passed away a few weeks ago.  We were all shocked and upset because she left very quickly.  Her work recently came down, so I have expanded to fill out our space until the next change-over.

My website is nearing completion.  www.marileeford.com Katrina Small of www.Katgrafix.com is working on it for me.  These websites look easy, but they are not!  Takes HOURS of compiling, cross-checking and then sending to get them into place.  I’m working on the Naturlich website update, and it seems to drag on forever.  The issue is partly just not having big blocks of time to work on it…But is all gets done eventually!

In an earlier post, I showed a spray painted piece. “Ode to Georgia”, above is what it looked like finished. “Ghost Ranch II” and “Glory Be” are also from my sojourn into New Mexico in September.

The barn and outbuildings at the Heart K Ranch

And, to finish the month out, another paint-out and an opportunity to do plen-aire painting in an even more beautiful place.  This time, we were in the Genesee Valley, in Plumas County.  Genesee is this magical place, tucked away in the Sierras, a long way from the noise of traffic and busy city life.  Here, the Feather River Land Trust has purchased a tract of land, called the Heart K Ranch, to preserve and protect in perpetuity.  In order to procure the land, the Trust had to borrow quite a bit of money, so they are trying to raise the funds to pay off the loan.  As far as I know, this was their first paint-out.  Several artists arrived at 8 am to start painting, and by 2 pm, there was a crowd gathered to view and buy the art, as well as several other auction items.  Volunteers, I assume residents of the valley, put together a fabulous lunch, even serving barbequed oysters! There was music, Maidu drummers and a “nature walk” where local experts shared about how the land was used when the Maidu Tribe occupied the Genesee Valley. 

My painting of the barn at the Heart K Ranch, which sold at auction for $300.

The artists donated their time and their proceeds to the Feather River Land Trust.  It was really fun to have people come along, appreciate what you were doing, and then to buy it, especially to benefit such a great cause.  The red barn is the first fully restored building on the Heart K Ranch. 

I painted with oils here at the Heart K.  I discovered the challenges of doing that plen-aire…the oils weren’t dry when people were ready to take the paintings away…and wet paint gets all over people who handle the paintings!  Now, I know you’re not supposed to handle wet oil paintings, but in this circumstance, it was unavoidable.  I finished the first painting above, and because I had more paint, I turned and looked out over the valley and painted the second one below.

Genesee Valley, oil painting, sold at silent auction at the Heart K Ranch.