Virginia Area Dressage Association Lexington Show

A weekend Saturday spent with friends at the enormous Lexington VA equestrian show grounds. I've chronicled Bethany Wood and her horse Wickers, preparing here for the Intermediate II dressage test.

At this point everyone is just plain anxious, but fortunately Wickers was unperturbed. It was a gorgeous October day, with lots of competition and excited competitors. Here, Bethany in her "penquin tails" along with her mom Michelle bridle Wickers as the test slowly approaches.

Gorgeous Fall Weekend in Earlysville

Hope you can swing by today and see my paintings at:

There's also a beautiful winery nearby in Free Union:

http://www.glasshousewinery.com/

So make a beautiful central Virginia fall day of it!

And please note: yes, some of the paintings have sold, and thank you beyond belief to those who purchased! I am painting more, I do accept commissions, and would love to talk to you, so feel free to contact me.

Bleak House Plantation Barn, Earlysville, VA

Best,

Catherine

Vesalius Trust Lloyd Museum Art Collection

Urinary System: Kidney

For those who believe in the furthering of science, here is "Urinary System: Kidney" ©1987 Catherine Twomey • All Rights Reserved.

This comprehensive medical illustration, I am honored to say, is entering the Lloyd Museum's collection along with four other pieces. This particular illustration was done in 1987 on a beautiful sheet of Canson paper, and has a piece of clear acetate taped to the top. The acetate was imprinted using a method called PMT or "Photo Mechanical Transfer" which was very common in the 1980's but soon became obsolete (computers struck again!).

So on the top is the acetate inked PMT illustration. On the flip side are very fragile and soft pastels and carbon dust. What's shown is a sectioned kidney, then to the right an enlargement of the functioning tubules of the kidney's system. The big lumpy round thing at the bottom left is actually microscopic in size, and of all things is called the glomerulus. Inside of this structure, the blood is filtered before it is sent back into the circulatory system.

This illustration was produced for a college-level textbook audience. The Vesalius Trust describes their mission as "Supporting research and education in visual communications for the medical and life sciences."*

*from the Vesalius Trust  website

Twomey Show Hanging

I don't quite know if saying "I'm going to hang today" is the best omen, but that's what I'll be doing! The show at Mud Dauber Pottery goes up today for the Opening Reception tomorrow. 

So given the busyness of the next two days, here's my last post until I can take a breather. It's a tribute to Suzanne Crane at Mud Dauber, and her willingness to take a chance on me and my work by letting it show along with her extraordinary ceramics.

Macro Glaze Dauber (oil)

For years I stared at cells through a microscope, and I always loved the abstractions that would appear. Looking very closely at a Crane plate I cherish, it was the beautiful shapes, glaze colors and rhythms that appeared in Sue's work that sucked me in. 

Thanks Ms. Crane, more than you know.

Twomey's Blue Ridge Blue Road

Off of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, there’s a steep but worth it trail. I hiked up there with my paints and easel to find lots of happy peeps taking in the outrageously beautiful fall view. That blue road is Skyline Drive meandering through the ridges. What a day. Hawksbill Mountain has an elevation of 4,050 feet. The summit of Hawksbill Mountain is the highest point in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.

This painting will be available at my upcoming show at Mud Dauber Pottery in Earlysville, VA, with the opening reception this Saturday Oct. 13 from 10 - 5.

Twomey's Huckstep's Garage at Sun Down in Free Union Virginia

Huckstep's Garage off Buck Mountain Road

Right down Buck Mountain Road to the west of the Earlysville General Store is Huckstep’s. This landmark building was put up in the 1940’s, and I sure believe it. 

I just loved the way the sun hit it at the end of the day along Buck Mountain and Free Union Roads. A stunning reminder of all that it serviced, I hear it’s just been sold. I really hope they don’t tear it down; it’s too dignified for that.

This original painting will be featured in my upcoming show at Mud Dauber Pottery. And here's a link to Suzanne Crane's Mud Dauber site.

Vineyard on Buck Mountain Road in Virginia

Vineyard Along Buck Mountain Road, Earlysville. Virginia

Driving along Buck Mountain Road as the sun was starting to head down, I suddenly pulled off the road when I saw this sight. The most stunning view of the day - the vineyard, the vines, the farrows, the mist in the Blue Ridge mountain valley's, the way the sun blasted the foliage. 

No wonder I love this place - this landscape view is about five minutes from my house and has brought me great peace and happiness.

This original oil is going to be available at my upcoming show Twomey One Person Show Earlysville.

Would love to meet and talk!!

"You Have A Gorgeous Mug"

You Have A Gorgeous Mug

"You Have A Gorgeous Mug" was inspired by Suzanne Crane's lovely ceramics. 

I bought a group of these mugs and have given them away as gifts, so I thought: "You love it -Paint it!".  There's something magical about the colors and precision that Suzanne uses to produce her work. It is an honor to be featured at her store and to be given this opportunity to collaborate.

This 4 X 4" framed oil painting will be available at my upcoming One Person Show at Mud Dauber Pottery, 4225 Earlysville Road in Earlysville, VA.

This work is in a beautiful and unusual frame called a "floater frame". It allows the painting to wrap around the canvas sides and still be visible. It also helps a small painting like this make a big impact. The show will run from Oct. 13 thru Jan. 1, 2013.

Earlysville White Oak

Ancient Earlysville White Oak 

I'm thinking back to the day I was able to sit underneath and paint this tree. It probably saw General George Armstrong Custer during the Civil War, heading to battle over Rio Hill along Seminole Trail Road.

And what about all those trips Thomas Jefferson took up the Trial and over to visit his Montpelier friend, James Madison?  This tree knows a lot. 

This piece will be available in my upcoming show starting Oct. 13. 

From the Daily Progress, Oct. 12, 2008:
Taking a bough

Among the estimated 172 million trees in AlbemarleCounty, the Earlysville Oak is royalty.
It’s the second largest white oak (Quercus alba) in Virginia, and when it was first setting its roots the nation was just starting to grow as well. From its position near Earlysville Road it has seen oxen drawn wagons evolve into fume-belching vehicles, and then aircraft join the birds flying above its spreading crown.
The regal tree has seen the Rivanna Post Office come and go and, for generations, felt the grip of tiny hands climbing and clinging to its boughs. Now it stands alone in the approach lane to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport, a venerable symbol of the community’s love for this special tree.
“The story as I understand it is that they had to extend the apron of the airport’s runway, so the [Federal Aviation Administration] said the tree had to go,” said Robert Llewellyn, who as a professional photographer has been photographing Virginia’s landscape, as well as its people and historic places, for nearly 40 years.
“Then the community came together and said, ‘No, we want to save this tree,’ and for the moment, it is saved. It’s a unique tree. The base of it is flared, which is very unusual for an oak to have that much flare at the bottom.

One Person Show in Earlysville, Virginia

Hope you can come sometime between Oct. 13, 2012 until Jan. 1, 2013!!!

From TED and ArtInPlace to a One Person Show: “Iconic Earlysville”

Earlysville, VA (Oct. 3, 2012) Earlysville artist Catherine Twomey will be featured in a one-person show at Suzanne Crane’s Mud Dauber Pottery at 4225 Earlysville Road in Earlysville. The Opening Reception will be Saturday, October 13, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

Since arriving in the Charlottesville area over five years ago, Catherine has painted the Piedmont en plein air (“in the open air”), primarily in oils and watercolors. The upcoming exhibition, “Iconic Earlysville” includes the old farms, buildings, trees and mountain views that make Earlysville such a beautiful and distinctive place. 

In the fall of 2010, Catherine’s oil painting East Fall Blue Ridge won the Art In Place (http://www.artinplace.org/) mural award, and is currently on display as a 12’ X 24’ mural on Barracks Road.

As a medical illustrator, Catherine has carved a career that has garnered national and international awards and accolades in the world of science and medicine.

In the fall of 2011, the medical branch of the prestigious TED (Technology, Education and Design) Conference selected and featured Catherine’s medical illustration work for presentation at the TEDMED Conference in San Diego, which is touring nationwide.

A horse lover and equestrian, Twomey also received the prestigious First Place in Open Illustration award category for the “Da Vinci Horse: Biomechanical Piaffe” illustration. The illustration was created for the September, 2007 cover of the USDF Connection magazine, with prints in collections worldwide.

The exhibition will run through January 1, 2013:

Mud Dauber Pottery

4225 Earlysville Road

Earlysville 22936

http://www.artscraftspotteryandtiles.com

Studio/Suzanne 434-973-7943