CELEBRATION OF FINE ART IS SETTING UP!

SAGUARO BRIGHT ON GOLD

Hello everyone,

I am getting ready to start at the CELEBRATION OF FINE ART. We set up on Monday the 11th of Jan. It is very exciting! I am painting almost 10 hours a day lately to have gorgeous new work to hang. I hope you will all be able to make the show this year, it is a wonderful experience.

SAGUARO PAINTINGS OLD AND NEW!

I have been going through some of my older work as of late to try and put a book together. I am always interested to see the changes in my work. These two paintings are very similar in content but my SAGUARO'S, have started to really evolve. Both are contemporary in style but the second, done in 2003, although it is painted on a textured canvas is not nearly as textured as the first, finished last week 2009. The second was done solely with a brush while the first was executed with both a brush and a palette knife. The first painting shown is clearly more textured and a bit more vibrandt then the second shown. I feel they both have the contemporary feel but the newer piece pushes the envelope just a bit farther.

Daisy and Digby, Our new kittens

Our new kittens enjoying the great outdoors!

Grateful, grateful, grateful!
I feel so blessed to be working with such great people, especially Susan and Jake. This is a letter that they wrote on the Celebration of Fine Art Blog and I wanted to share it with all of you.

Maybe this will inspire all of you to come visit the show in Jan. 2010. It is really a great experience.
from Celebration of Fine Art by susan
As we get set for our final weekend for the Celebration of Fine Art 2009, we take a moment to reflect on what an amazing year it has been. We are deeply grateful that we have had such a successful year in all respects.
We are grateful to our wonderful artists who brought their best work and their most positive outlook to the 2009 Celebration. Every day they were turning out new works of art and challenging each other to reach new limits of creativity. We are humbled by their great talents and inspired by their creations. We applaud their artistic talents and passion and commitment to what they do! Without them, there would be no show, there would be no energy and there would be no creativity. They are the life force that that drives this show to higher levels every year. We are in awe of them. As you can see from this picture - we’re still having lots of fun around here! We couldn’t get everyone gathered for the picture, but these artists represent our entire collection of artists for 2009 - celebrating another great year!

A gathering of some artists celebrating another great year!
We are grateful to our incredible staff. We have been blessed with an amazing group of people who are part of the greater Celebration of Fine Art Family. We have many staff members who have been with us for 5 years, 8 years, 10 years and even one who has been with us for 18 years! This is a true testament to what this show is all about - relationships. Our team members love being around the creativity of the artists and the warmth of the collectors. These wonderful people make the show hum like a well oiled machine. We are indebted to them. Here is just a small representation of our fabulous staff. We managed to get one from each “department” - cafe, maintenance, office, ticket sales and sales associates!

Representatives of the greatest staff on the planet!
And finally, we are deeply grateful to our amazing collectors. There are no words to describe how grateful we are to our fellow art lovers. Every year we strive to deliver a collection of artists that you will connect with, that you will be inspired by and that you simply can’t resist. Every year you tell us, through words and actions, that we have done just that! But, greater than that, we find ourselves overwhelmed by the deep and abiding relationships that we have developed with so many wonderful people. Our lives have been enriched through the many new friendships that we have fostered. We are humbled by the love and support of our fellow art lovers. We promise to continue to deliver a collection of artists that you will want to be a part of as we move forward.
We look forward to seeing you one more time this year if you can make it over the weekend or in 2010 as we celebrate 20 years of bringing art lovers and artists together.
with gratitude and joy,

Susan and Jake Potje

MY NEW HORSE

TWISTER

I am having so much fun with this guy. He is a Tennessee Walker. His gaits are a bit different for me, but they are easy to get used to. He is very smooth to ride, the main reason I bought him. I think he may even play soccer, although we haven't tried that yet. We are going to let him get settled in for now