Shayla Maddox

Ray Friesz taught me how to paint. He always wore an eye patch and a navy blue sweatshirt. He was awesome.

I wrote a little about him this past January, on a blog I no longer use. You can read it here: Miyagi-san.

Some of Ray's work:




He wasn't just a talented painter, he was also an especially wonderful teacher. I don't know what it was about his words that made sense to me, but every time I asked him anything, I walked away knowing exactly what to do. I will always be grateful for the time I spent with him. I will always be grateful for his teaching. I am positive that his instruction made my own art possible.

The last time I saw him, in June, I asked him what he was looking forward to painting at his "new address." (His words.) He said that he hadn't thought about it, but it was certainly a good thought. I told him that he would probably be put in charge of painting new galaxies, which he seemed to think was a fine idea. I told him he was an amazing teacher. He said that meant more to him than I could imagine. He told me I was like a blooming flower.

I will always miss him.


Here is a wonderful obituary I found online about him. Remembering Ray Friesz

Services will be held on Friday, August 10th, at 6:30 in the evening at Capo Beach Calvary.

Labels: festival of arts, laguna beach, ray friesz

The show was great! I think almost everyone I know turned out for the event. I felt very supported. The feedback was amazing! I will post more pictures soon.

One of the best parts of the evening was answering the question about whether or not black light art can be considered "art" and whether or not it can stand under gallery scrutiny. I think we firmly settled that one, huh? :o)

My paintings were spread out over 2 rooms, the main front room, and the smaller room in the back, which was designated for black lights. We all agreed that no black lights were needed to show off my work, so everything up front was brilliantly bright, showing the vivid colors and textures of each piece. We did, however, have a black light flashlight available for those who wanted to see the UV color on everything in that room.

The UV room was the biggest hit. I loved it when crowds of people all piled into the smallish room to see the different lighting adjustments in action. We were able to "flip" between artificial lighting, UV lighting, and no light (for the glow) really easily, which greatly helped explain what "light reactive" means. Of course, towards the end of the evening, everyone wanted to see all the paintings under UV light, so we began swapping paintings around the windows and rooms so that each piece was able to experience its full UV glory.

Opening night sales were great and many people were very interested in coming back. It was nice to see so many people suddenly look sad when one of the paintings they were interested in sold right in front of them. Heh. ;o) At least I'm not the only one who feels an emotional attachment to a particular painting.

The gallery director told us that an opening had never gone that late before! Hooray for us. We know how to party.

This was a wonderful learning experience, of which I couldn't have gotten somewhere else. I like to think of this sort of education as Art School. I gained invaluable information, and feel more motivated to work hard than even before the show! I can't wait to see what the future brings, and I can't wait to start planning the next event. It's been quite a year so far. I have curated an Art Festival with over 30 artists and now I have participated in my own gallery show in a major art mecca.

This was just one stop. On to the next!

Labels: art, exhibition, gallery show, laguna beach