I was honored to be included in this event – a storytelling variety show. Among the other storytellers were a comedian; a singer; a Guerilla Girl; a flutist. This is a picture of me telling the story of Hurricane Katrina from the eyes of a native New Orleanian, and sharing my paintings, The Katrina Trilogy
I had put this aside for a while because I wasn’t sure what to do next. Recently I looked again at the photograph by New Orleans photographer Frank Relle and was inspired – as I always am when I see his work. So, I just decided the best thing to do would be to get some water, clean up my studio and just jump in. This is what I have so far. I’m getting excited about finishing it. This has been a big challenge.
hiraeth
(n.) a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past
This event, on Sunday October 16 at 7:30 pm, will be its second annual occurrence. This unique event will take place at Theater on the Square, 627 Massachusetts Ave., downtown Indianapolis. I will be showing my Katrina Trilogy and telling the story of Katrina from my perspective as a native New Orleanian and a clinical social worker living and working with chronically mentally ill adults at the time of Hurricane Katrina, August 29, 2005. I will talk about how the tragedy still affected me 10 years later, and led to the first step in my career as a professional artist.
Here is the program:
If you are in Indianapolis and looking for something unique to do on a Sunday evening, please come by. It’s $10 at the door, 18 and over.
The premiere event for the Women of Indianapolis Arts took place last night, October 8, 2016, with art exhibitions by yours truly, as well as other talented female-identifying artists in the Indianapolis area. It was a huge success with a great turnout of all ages. Our website is now public and will be a source of information about what this dynamic group is doing, and provides individual bios for female artists in the area. http://womenofindyarts.com/artists-1/
Check it out and if you’re looking for a female artist for a particular project, (and it’s not in my repertoire, haha) look there first.
The Stutz Artists Association has once again included me in one of their fantastic exhibits. This one is called Secret Doors and was designed to make art more accessible and relevant to children. All of the works of art are displayed at the eye level of a child. This exhibit will take place through October at the Raymond James Stutz Art Gallery, on W. 10th St. in downtown Indianapolis. Check it out. This is the son of a friend of mine checking out my painting in the back ground: Doors and Ghosts. I had fun with little kids last night seeing how many ghosts they could find in the painting!
We took a trip to the panhandle of Florida over Labor Day weekend and the week after; specifically to Pensacola and Grayton Beach. Having grown up (some might argue that) in New Orleans, I spent ma…
Source: Sunrise Through Sea Oats
We took a trip to the panhandle of Florida over Labor Day weekend and the week after; specifically to Pensacola and Grayton Beach. Having grown up (some might argue that) in New Orleans, I spent many weekends and holidays in the Pensacola/Destin/Grayton Beach area and have always loved it and considered it a second home. I finally talked my beloved into going to visit Pensacola as a possible place for us to retire (although that won’t be for at least another 10 years for me, but that’s a different story). He fell in love with Pensacola and we spent some time in the National Park area, where there are no buildings, and certainly no high rises. I took a lot of pictures of the sunrise on the beach at the condo where we stayed, and played around with the photos quite a bit. This is from a photo I took of a sand dune just after sunrise. The colors were stunning, just as I remembered. Oh, wait. Most of the time I spent in Pensacola and Destin was when I was in college and high school and I never saw the sunrise. Anyway, here is the finished version. For sale and will be featured at the upcoming event: Alice Through the Looking Glass Ceiling at Grove Haus in Indianapolis, Saturday October 8, 2016 from 4:00-11:00 pm
“Secret Doors” brings fine art to young children by displaying professional-level fine art at their eye level, or about 36 inches high. This exhibit will be produced in partnership with Just My Height Art Shows, an organization devoted to engaging children in art. Central Indiana artists will be challenged to push the envelope and develop textural, sculptural, and interactive pieces that will invite all patrons—but especially young children—to touch, smell, open, close, and view the artwork on display.
My painting, Doors and Ghosts will be one of the works displayed at this unique exhibit, I am thrilled to say.
The opening reception will take place on Friday, October 7,2016 at the The Raymond James Stutz Art Gallery in downtown Indianapolis, a gallery and gathering place brought to you by the creative minds of the Stutz Artists Association.
I’m a Scorpio, a water sign, if you believe in such things. I do know that my emotions are influenced by the moon, and given that adult humans are 50-65% water, that makes perfect sense to me. I love to paint water scenes, especially of areas in the south, and of Mexico, that comprised much of my childhood and a significant part of my adult life so far (not that you could really accuse me of being an adult. I’m just old). Here is what I’m ready to sign. I enjoyed doing this painting so much, and the feelings and sense memories it evoked, that I would be lying if I said it was work. By the way, if you’re at all given to thinking slightly outside the proverbial box, pick up a copy of The Hidden Messages in Water, by Masaru Emoto. It’s a fascinating glimpse at what I consider the intersection of science, namely quantum physics, and spirituality. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Emoto when he came to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to lead a blessing ceremony of Lake Pontchartrain.
I have hundreds of photographs of scenes I want to paint, some of which are still beyond my skill level. The one above, though, is exactly the kind of landscape I love to paint. It was sent to me by my sister of some pine trees near Grayton Beach, FL. I can’t wait to finish the one I’m doing now and start on this!
Pamela O'Brien Art 