The Proud Owner of a “Julia Martin”

In support of Ms. Julia Martin’s latest artistic endeavor…and for the betterment of our Beard Casa…Friday, my wife visited Julia’s studio here in Nashville

and came home with this:

"Charlatan" by Julia Martin"

About Julia’s great adventure in her own words:

“I invite you to follow along (http://julia-martin.com/blog/) as I embark on the most ambitious creative adventure of my lifetime, packing up my paint gear and setting off to document the unforgettable faces and landscapes of our continent.  Along with this opportunity comes an ***opportunity for you.

My journey begins with 10 days on an island on the French river in Canada, then back to the U.S. via the Michigan border, across the country through the northern states, down the coast of California to weave my way back toward home sweet Tennessee. Much like my approach to painting, this journey begins as a broad loose stroke.  The coarse of which will be refined as I go, leaving me the freedom to fill in the details of my adventure as it unfolds.  I will fill you in as well through the blog with maps, photos and stories.

Along the way, I ‘d like to make key stops and work on location. My goal will be to produce a minimum of two paintings per week for roughly 8 weeks that I will also be sharing through my blog.  I want you to tell me what you would like to see in the work when I return home, i.e. places you have seen that moved you in a particular way, or places you have longed to see but never had the time…

I will also be stopping in major cities to scout out new galleries and round out a national network that will help my business and the businesses of my fellow local artists grow exponentially.

***Here is where I am able to present an opportunity to you.  Over the next 2 weeks, beginning JULY 8^th – JULY 22^nd, I am opening my studio to a group of friends and collectors. I am flush with an assortment of fresh pieces, most of which have been created in the last 6 mos.  Some of which have not yet been shown to the public.  In an effort to raise funds I am offering up to 40% off.  This is a one-time offer that ends on July 22nd and all of my galleries have been notified to make the same offer.  If you or someone close to you has ever had a desire to purchase a piece of my work, now is the time to leap!”

~Julia Martin

Everyone can use a good church’n up

I’d say by now that the after effects of last weekend’s turkey debacle have begun to subside your hunger as it has mine for birds, fresh-oven rolls, and homemade pies. I think my stomach is now growling out of relief instead of anger. I figure why not celebrate this newfound relief by treating myself with and telling all of my closest friends (you) about a great deal on waffles!

Pause as my stomach giggles.

Yep, I said it! This Thursday, December 3, from 11am-2pm, the Downtown Presbyterian Church is opening its Waffle Shop for the 84th time. Begun in 1926, the Downtown Presbyterian Church is continuing its bread and butter fundraiser event by inviting you to come over and visit with them and waffles, turkey hash/sausage, grits, coffee/spiced tea, baked goods, craft items, and their ever elusive cheese wafer for the mere price of $6 per person. All of the money raised from the event goes towards the church building fund and church ministries, like feeding the homeless every Wednesday and Sunday.

As you may or may not already know, the Downtown Presbyterian Church has not only become an immense help for the local homeless by providing food, shelter, support and positive direction, it has also developed into quite the central hub for many local artists to hone their own talents within the church’s artist-in-residency program. In exchange for studio space, chosen artists are more than happy to lend helping hands within a variety of church functions and donate their artistic knowledge to others wanting to create something more for themselves. One such artist that has participated in this program and is opening a solo show this Saturday, December 5th at the Twist 58 Gallery is local talent Sarah Shearer.

Shearer, always creating work that permeates deeper than whatever the canvas reveals, has carried on along her artist statement by attempting to do work that reflects her ideas that have stemmed from countless questions flying around her own head. This show, appropriately called Sarah Shearer: Seven Questions is built around the foundation of the following questions:

• What is meaningful?
• What is superficial?
• What makes me happy?
• Why do those things make me happy?
• What is beauty?
• Why are some things that are beautiful labeled superficial?
• Does beauty equal weakness in your eyes?

So come out to Twist and Twist 58 Gallery this Saturday, December 5th, from 6-9pm and check out the best of Shearer’s (as well as the exhibit Three Ways Different: works by Dona Berotti, Rob McClurg and Cristina Viscu too) latest efforts. Maybe you can ask the artist for some of the answers she found within her work regarding to her introspective questions. Maybe, if you’re not scared to look deeper, you will find answers to some of your own questions as well!