JAS 13 is Coming

Must be spring show season.  I have a piece in a group show opening in Spring Lake tomorrow, and today I dropped off my piece for the annual Belmar Art Council Juried Art Show.  I joined the organization in time to enter the 2nd Annual show, which back then was the only one they had.  By the 3rd Annual show we had moved into the Boatworks, and while the show has undergone a few changes since then, nothing so big as the evolution of the early years.  I have been accepted into every one since that first one I was a part of.  This is not guaranteed- for this year 182 entries were submitted, with 84 being accepted.

Over the past year most of the works I have shown there were not completely new.  In some cases I could adapt an older work (there are few themes for shows that are not covered by something in my Fourth of July series, and coloring or collage can make them into something no one has seen before), but for the JAS this year I wanted to produce something completely new.   The print shown above has been seen on this blog quite a few times (under the title "supermarket battle" if you want to know the story), but this will be the first time on a wall and in a frame.  It's the latest in my ongoing supermarket series (est 1998), and while I started the block last summer, it took until last month to finally get to the completed image and make a proper proof.  The Belmar show was an incentive.  I have some possible ideas for future prints in this series, so #25 may start up before long.

The gallery at BelmarArts officially re-opens on Wednesday, but they can't promise that the installation will be complete that day.  The official reception will be on April 1, 2017 from 5 to 7 pm. They have discontinued the custom of offering exhibitions as prizes, but we're told there will be cash, which is always welcome.