November 23 -  We returned from Europe Nov. 13th [Friday - but we were lucky in that we left Paris on the 12th!]    We all  abhor the violence that kills innocent people and must also face our responsibility in it's origins.  I personally feel more bombing is not going to stop terrorism;  to me bombing people, buildings, animals and the earth is terrorism also.  My own art has addressed this for over 30 years,and so have many great artists, like Goya and Picasso.  We spent wonderful hours at the Picassso ,  the Louve and Dorsee   Museums.   We also visited the house  where Van Gogh died and the cemetery where his body lies.  I cried.

Visiting Friedrich Geier's studio [and home]  was a very special high point and purpose of the trip.  I had met and spoken with him in Basel, Switzerland in the Spring of 2013, and have shown 5 of his 'Drawings since February of  this year, to great enthusiasm for the unusual, stunningly original and beautiful works.  I was awed at viewing over 20 works and being able to select with him a dozen new pieces which are now showing since November 21, in A SEA Gallery.  Every viewer is dee

Meadow Depths

Greeen Mantle

Glances & Expressions

ply moved and impressed.

A SEA Gallery has been in it's new space for 6 weeks [moving a gallery is almost as intense and complex as moving our home of 30 years.   I'm still organizing but the gallery looks great.  We had a small, intimate "re-opening"  celebration, which was never-the-less very satisfying as guests stayed long and pleasant conversations accompanied the new layout of paintings.  George Arntz, one of whose primary collectors lives in Santa Fe and has  urged me to consider his,   has sent me 3 paintings including the large "Master Jackie"  which remains very timely with Mars in the news and the hawkish Republicans (and Obama?)  pushing for endless war.     A SEA hopes to host a full show for Arntz later in 2016.  In the meantime I am looking forward to visiting Friedrich Geier this coming week in Munich and picking out the 10 paintings (technically drawings in color )  for his show opening up November 21 through February 5th, 2016.

Usually I would be amazed [and dismayed]   how fast July seems to be winding down but since I finally signed the lease and paid the necessary 1st, last and deposit on the new gallery space last week, I am even eager for September to come when I will move!   So August is my last month in the Railyard!  The gallery has benefited from being here and I have learned a lot and met wonderful art lovers and collectors while here.  In the last two years sales have diminished substantially and other than the "high end" galleries the Railyard did not become a good alternative space for art galleries.    I personally feel that the cell tower atop the hotel 1 1/2 blocks from A SEA Gallery has not benefitted business.  

I'm so relieved that the move location and basic schedule is  finally settled!     Business really slowed down and of the guests looking at the gallery fewer are active collectors.     While I do not need to leave my studio yet, now I can start to organize that part of my move as I have a space for the studio also.    It will be so good to have more studio time again.    August will be my last month in the Railyard;   I had not intended to do the gallery here alone but rather adapted to the circumstances. I thought a Co-operative would survive the economic 'downturn' well enough, but sales and interest were not sufficient.  The 'collective'   idea is still valid because I am not representing artists primarily  for their sales, but the quality and focus of their work.  Sales are necessary to support the artists and pay gallery expenses, but they are only one part of the whole, which is giving deserving artist the chance to have their work seen and appreciated.     So with this move I will balance interaction with the artists' work, the public and continuing my own art.

Kathleen Richards Watercolors

Last night's Railyard Artwalk which is the last for A SEA Gallery in the Railyard,  featured Kathleen Richards'   unique, beautiful Watercolors.   It was interesting, well attended and fun, with serious viewers and appreciative discussions of the work;  two sales occurred and more are forthcoming.  The show will continue through August 22.   Images will follow.  
In the meantime,  the gallery will prepare for it's move to 836 A Canyon Rd.,  September 1st, assuming the present occupants  leave it in the desired shape.  I'm locking forward to the move as well as having my studio on the same premises.      

July 3rd:   My decision to move the gallery has been an interesting [and sometimes frustrating]   experience.    Four times a space I thought would work, slipped away...sort of like the mythical carpet, pulled out from under my feet!  Now I've been offered a space [for which i would have to wait a month longer then even my month longer due to landlord's requirement]  which is the best of all I have seen and probably worth forcing my Mars in Aries to accept the yoke of patience!    I just have to let the whirlwind dust of mental desire settle for a while,  and look  at the landscape  created by these events.  So the "Moving Show"   took place, but the caravan is still here, waitinng until the gate to the next phase opens.  Mid to late September, ending in mid October  would work well for Geier's show.  We'll discuss  it this weekend.   Happy 4th of July in the meantime.

May   28  Heather's Birthday.  And we've been back from Europe  for over a week and are back to 'normal'   New Mexico schedule.   In Leipzig I saw a large, wonderful (and educational)   Paul Klee exhibition;  it contained very few of the well known paintings but focused instead on unpublished work (many paintings given by Klee to his wife)   and other were studies for masterpieces that are well known;   still others were more informal versions that developed into the final works that are known publically.  So it vastly increased my awareness of Klee's development, methods and themes.
       In Berlin I biked a lot, especially through the Zoogarten where i again  studied the Amazon on Horseback, and also discovered the Gallery Schwind (which is usually only seen in Leipzig)   which focuses on the type of realism I am most moved by.
      Our trip to the Baltic Sea (Usedom)   was successful.   From Berlin I traveled to Dresden where Peggy Lange is still holding a few of my paintings. I picked out three to take with me to show the curator, Dr. Aumann, whom we had met a year ago and who accepted my bronze of Werner Von Braun into the Permanent Collection of the Technisches und Historisches Museum  of   Peenemuende [Usedom] and  who has agreed to an exhibit of my art focusing on environmental and social isssues.   Dr. Aumann liked the paintings [Berlin;  Eden after  Durer and Madonna of the Tree]  agreeing to include them in the Exhibition because while they are not directly addressing missiles and other political issues, they relate to the major themes in my total body of work.  The show is tentatively to occur in 2016.  The curator requested that I send him the images I would like to include.  So I  have my assignment.

Tomorrow is the monthly Railyard Artwalk  from  5 - 7 pm.  A SEA Gallery will feature new Abstracts  and Nudes  by   David Rogers      

My husband Dan and I leave for Berlin in 4 days and return May 19th.  The gallery will be open between 16 and 20 hours weekly, overseen by my new assistant, Sylvia Hartmann.  She will be in the gallery Mondays from 11:30 to 2:30;  Thurs. 12:00 - 3 pm; Friday and Sat.  from 11 to 4 pm.   Stop in and say hello.  She's very nice and also very knowledgeable  about art.  

Along with relaxation, inspiration and enjoyment, the purpose of the trip is also furthering my art and A SEA Gallery.   We will be visiting the Cultural and Historical Institute and it's Museum  in Peenemuende, Usedom [north of Berlin ] as well as visiting with it's Director, Dr. Philipp Aumann, who has indicated an interest in doing a show of my 'political' and 'anti-war'  paintings .  Monika Steinhoff, owner, director of A SEA Gallery

Friedrich Geier's 5 beautiful "Drawings"     are as follows:  

1)    "Laufende Frau"   [Running Woman]     medium:  Feltpen & Ink

2)  "Sitz der Gefuehle"      [Locus of Emotions]              "               "

3)    "Rickies zweiter Traum"     [Rickies 2nd Dream]        "           "

4)    "Skilla"      [Faces, Women]                                      "             "

5)     "Sandfrauen"           [Beachwomen]                         "             "

These drawings must be seen in their physical incarnation as the texture and detail cannot be adequately reproduced.   Each one takes many, many hours and patience like a meditation.  They are totally unique in Geier's combination of figurative and abstract:   Does the figure grow out of the abstracted energy?  or does the expression of energy derive from the figure?   [It is very fluid. And exiting.]   Are the works giving form to eminations of energy or are the figures, landscape and it's inhabitants desolving into energy?  

Come see what you think and feel about these works by Friedrich Geier.       Friday,
                   MARCH   20th,       4 -7 pm        407 S.  Guadalupe St.      
A SEA Gallery        Everyone who has viewed them so far is very impressed.   988-9140

Geier's Drawings

A Sea Gallery will have a pre-Valentine Sale:  25 %  off  Jewelry, Etchings and REEFKA's small watercolors, Thiurs. - Sat.  Feb.  12th - 14.  With a Valentine Day Tea  Sat. from 3pm - 5.   All are welcome, bring friends.