Back in 2022, I entered two paintings into the Sandy Visual Art Show just to give it a try and see how I liked it. One of my paintings ended up winning 2nd place in watercolor (and I got a couple hundred bucks from it). It was a fun experience to see my paintings on display at the local Senior Center and then at Sandy City Hall for a month.
I decided to enter a couple of paintings into this year’s show too.
This time, my kids both had some input on what I should enter. Both agreed that my new painting, Lone Peak in the Clouds should be one. I couldn’t argue with that.
My youngest voted heavily on my painting of Delicate Arch and the Milky Way. I was alright with that. I don’t think it will win anything, but it’s still a painting I’m proud of.
My oldest insisted I made something new. the show allows us to submit up to three pieces. He gave me some ideas that included Silver Falls State Park in Oregon or one of my favorite places on the planet: Lake Tahoe. I am brainstorming some Lake Tahoe ideas, and I do have a new painting started of a little waterfall from the Red Reef Trail. But I wasn’t able to get it even close to finished before the deadline for the show. I have photos from one of our trips to Silver Falls State Park, specifically of South Falls, that I’d like to paint too.
Just waiting for the time… actually no, I am waiting for my brain to be motivated.
So this year, two paintings have been submitted. I brought them to the show last week.
Of course, I had to frame them first. Since custom picture framing is prohibitively expensive, I bought a couple of ready-made frames and then cut custom mats to fit. I worked in picture framing for a few years when I was in my 20s, so I know all too well how expensive it can be. A few years ago, I bought myself a mat cutter and it has turned out to be the best investment for my art business that I’ve made in a really long time.
I went with a 16x20 frame for Delicate Arch that had some gold and bronze colors to it. I am a sucker for metallic bronze frames. The bronze with dark blue mats made my picture framer heart happy.
For my painting of Lone Peak, I wanted to go a little bigger on the frame. I found this flat, black frame in 18x24 and I really liked how it looked. I went with the same dark blue mat and then a second mat in a forest green color.
This past Monday evening they held a reception where they announced the winners in each category. I didn’t win anything this time, but it was fun to see all of the different pieces of artwork on display. I feel like there were more paintings this year too.
The Sandy Visual Art Show is open to the public through October 10 at the Sandy Senior Center. Go check it out!