For quite some time now, I've wanted to be in a gallery show but never felt that my art was good enough until recently. Over the last two years, my technique and style has grown by leaps and bounds. I noticed that Gallery Provocateur was looking for artists to fill it's roster in their annual three month long Halloween show and a voice inside my head whispered to me, "Do it. Now."
So I submitted my work.
I received an email from them several days later. They had chosen four of my paintings to be included in the show and asked me to paint an additional 2-4 more specifically for the exhibit "Things That Go Bump In The Night". I was thrilled beyond belief at my acceptance. A few weeks after I was accepted it was announced that Gallery Provocateur had been named "Best Established Art Gallery In Chicago" for 2011 by The Chicago Reader (a publication with a very large circulation). So there's me, still beaming from the acceptance and then having the added pride of being in the #1 gallery as my first gallery show. Not a small feat by any stretch. Of course, this naturally led to my not being able to come up with any good ideas for subjects to paint.
Several months later, it clicked. I was going to do a series of paintings based on The King In Yellow, published in 1895 and written by Robert W. Chambers. Tying these paintings together is The Yellow Sign, so they're not only just a series of pieces with a similar subject but also have an identifying mark connecting them all together. You could say it was a plot device (much like the fictional play "The King In Yellow" which Chambers created and had his stories based around), if there really is a plot.
I'll leave that up to the viewers when everything is unveiled at the opening, which you are invited to if you happen to be in the Chicago area come Halloween time.
Oh, and just so that you know, The King In Yellow isn't quite finished with me. He has some very definite plans which are to be revealed soon enough.
