Carefree Fine Art and Wine Festival

I'm loadin' up the trailer and headed down to the 'Sun Valley' this weekend.

I love the location of the Carefree Fine Art & Wine Festival. The names of all the streets in Carefree are so fun -- Ho Hum Rd, Easy Street, Lazy Lane, Rambling Rd., Peaceful Place, Meander Way, Horizon Drive, Rocking Chair Rd. . . makes me want to live there!

The Thunderbird Artists Art Festivals are some of the nicest art festivals out there. You can always count on seeing top notch fine art from all over the United States at these shows. Judi Combs and her daughter, Denise Colter do a great job in the jury selection, and also with their selection of locations for their shows, and their entertainment line-up. It's a real classy show.

I hope you can make it.

Carefree Fine Art & Wine Festival Official Website

Directions & map

Carefree Fine Art and Wine Festival

Phippen Art Museum Exhibition

I'm tickled pink this morning!

How cool is this . . . I was just contacted yesterday by the Phippen Art Museum and invited to participate in the upcoming exhibit with some of my paintings:


Honor & Prayer 36" x 36" original oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat

Buffalo Soldiers, Vaqueros, and Friends: Cultural Diversity in Building the New Frontier

November 15, 2008, through February 22, 2009

Buffalo soldiers helped the Cavalry and other military groups succeed in their mission to develop the Western frontier. Along with these important guides, scouts and translators, the West also benefited from the contributions of Hispanic cowboys (vaqueros); African American settlers, and Asian-Americans building the railroad and creating new businesses to strengthen new communities in Arizona, California and other parts of the American West. This exhibit will celebrate the cultural diversity of the building of the new frontier. All artists' work for this show will be representational of the historic and modern connotations that this diversity has created in our community.

Phippen Art Museum Website

The Rising 36" x 36" original oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat

The Phippen Art Museum also asked to carry my entire line of MiliGirl Collection note cards in their gift shop -- as my kids would say...SWEEEEET!

We should know that diversity makes for a rich tapesty, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color. - Maya Angelou

[People] may be said to resemble not the bricks of which a house is built, but the pieces of a picture puzzle, each differing in shape, but matching the rest, and thus bringing out the picture. - Felix Adler

We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams. - Jimmy Carter

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Phippen Art Museum Exhibition

Quad-City Artists Open Studio Tour

The 1st Annual Quad-City Artists Open Studio Tour begins today. I'm not participating in it, because it runs this weekend and next weekend, and I already had a show booked for next weekend in Carefree. However, since I have this weekend off (Yippy!) I'm going to go enjoy the tour of artist's studios myself! Wooo Hooo!

The tour is four days long -- today, tomorrow, and next Saturday & Sunday. So, if you get a chance pick up a map at any of the art galleries in Prescott and hit the road to check out some great art and art studios!

And, oh yes, Treat yourself to some beautiful art for your home!

Quad-City Artists Open Studio Tour

Friday Art Walk - Oct. '08

I'm still feeling wiped out.

The Friday art walk is tonight. I'll get it together by then.
Hope to see some of you out on the town, perusing the galleries. I'll be at the Grayleaf Galleria.

Maybe I just need a little more of this . . .

Friday Art Walk - Oct. '08

A Day of Rest

Sunday I slept and slept and slept. I still can’t believe how much I slept. It was a marathon.

I’ve been so incredibly exhausted lately, so the last few days I decided to step back and take a little time out. I didn’t realize how much our world’s events have been affecting me – emotionally, financially, and physically…

A Day of Rest

Fortune of the Day

La Siesta by Melanie Banayat

"Your small gift will mean so much to someone today"


"The greatest gift is a portion of thyself."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The best gift you can give is a hug: one size fits all and no one ever minds if you return it.

Fortune of the Day

Controversial Art

What are your thoughts on
Damien Hirst’s
“Conceptual Art”?

Damien Hirst is one of the most prominent artists referred to as the "Young British Artists" or "YBAs". He is famous for creating controversies like putting dead animals in formaldehyde and presenting them as art. Hirst mostly explores the themes of life and death.

It's no surprise that Damien's 'shock factor art' is so popular in Britain, and yet it still fascinates me what gets people with that kind of money to reach into their pockets. Much of what Damien does with the money he acquires from the sales of his "art" goes to children's charities, aids research, or toward things like a giant solar system that generates power for half of his country.

I guess if you have the guts to do it, you can afford to do it, get away with it, and manipulate those few wealthy suckers to buy into it then who am I to say if it's art or not. It's all subjective anyway. However, I must say, in light of our world's economic situation this auction is bothersome to me on many levels. On the other hand, hopefully some good will come of it in terms of charitable donations.

This is one of those events that gets me to scratch my head and say, "hmmmm?"

I just wanted to find out where the boundaries were. I've found out there aren't any. I wanted to be stopped but no one will stop me.
- Damien Hirst

$198M Hirst art auction defies global gloom Read story



Damien Hirst's Auction Gamble Watch Video

Damien Hirst at Sotheby's: The actual sale of the Golden Calf Watch Video

Damien Hirst's Shark at the Met – how it was created - Watch Video

Damien Hirst - The Agony and the Ecstasy Napoli Watch Video

Damien Hirst Sick of His Own Art Read Story
"Hirst says he will no longer be producing any of his famed formaldehyde works, such as the shark and cow series, nor will he continue with the spot and spin paintings he's so well known for. "

Aaron said…"So in other words, Damien Hirst is going to start actually making art again."


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Controversial Art