Hauling Paintings to Atlanta

Back from a day trip to Atlanta, took eight paintings including two of the new oils, still sticky from retouch varnish... don't know that I can get used to this slow drying aspect... maybe I use the paint too thickly, or maybe I should investigate a drying element like Gam-something or other. I'd hoped to keep the oils pure this time around, and not risk running into problems like I did in the past (chipping paint) but, as much as I really like the experience and results, I just don't know if it's worth it. The gallery's reaction to the oils was "well... what's so different?" In other words... why bother? And I wonder the same thing myself. What am I trying to prove here? Anyway, they loved the work and kept it all, especially exclaiming over the landscapes, which are very minimal... all four are on the first line of thumbnails here. The others haven't been added to my site as yet. It's not hard to remember the early years when I would come home with half of the work I took to show them... but I credit this gallery with guiding me as I searched for footing in my new genre, abstract painting. They stuck with me and I trusted them to know their market... and it's been a very good association for many years.

Whoops, funny memory comes to mind... I mentioned the early years of hauling paintings to Atlanta and remembered that I was hauling from NOLA, staying over with our daughter in Birmingham and making the day trip to Atlanta. But since I'd often stay several days, that meant unpacking and repacking the car in B'ham. One sunny day as I had paintings leaning all about the car, the yellow lab from next door comes sniffing around and before we could catch our breaths, he lifted his leg on a large painting. Fortunately, the painting was facing outwards and was acrylic, so I grabbed the hose and cleaned it off quickly... dried it, packed it and drove it to Atlanta post haste, none the worse for wear.