Tuesday, December 29, 2009


Detail of "Nine Stones"
Oil on board, nine panels, 23" x 23" each
Copyright 2009 Don Gray


Katherine Tyrrell's website, Making a Mark, is one of the most active and popular art blogs on the web, so I was delighted when she shortlisted my "Nine Stones" series for her "Making a Mark Award for Best Picture (Still Life) on an Art Blog Award." There are nominations in three categories, Portrait/Figures, Places and Still Life. You can see all the nominees and, if you wish, place your vote for the final awards here: http://makingamark.blogspot.com/2009/12/vote-for-best-artwork-on-art-blog-in.html

I was nominated by the very fine painter David Page Coffin. I hope he doesn't mind if I quote his nominating text:

This is actually a post about a series of nine related images, so you can consider my nomination about the first in the series if that works better. Why I chose the piece, and the series, for this category is that it's expressly about "still life," i.e., the life force in still stones, as well as being an outdoor object portrayed for its own sake and not about the place it was found, so it stretched my idea of what a still life might be about in an interesting way. Why I like the piece is that apart from being a beautiful example of making the commonplace extraordinary with paint and vision, it also is the artist's effort to stretch his own style and his audience's expectations, so it's also an image of artist courage.

Thank you, David and Katherine, I deeply appreciate this honor.

12 comments:

Steve Gibson said...

I hope you win in the still life catagory. Todays blog painting is great.

Katherine said...

I loved what David had to say. Very insightful. You deserve this nomination. What a validation for this sensational series, the voice of your soul.

Becky Joy said...

Congratulations. Very nice painting.

Dogs by Bri said...

Congrats Don. Your work deserves all the awards and recognition it gets. I truly love looking at all you create.

Thanks for sharing with all of us. Hope to see you and Brenda on New Years Eve, even if you leave after "Herb and Dorothy"

Bri-

Anonymous said...

you absolutely deserve those words and recognition for contribution to art and inspiring others Don. best wishes r.

Sheila Vaughan said...

Great stuff Don. Congratulations on this public recognition which you thoroughly deserve. I love David's phrase of "artistic courage" !

Don Gray said...

Thanks a lot, Steve.

Don Gray said...

What a nice thing to say, Katherine--thank you!

Don Gray said...

Thank you Becky.

Don Gray said...

Hey Bri, thanks. We hope to make the party--sounds like a great time will be had by all.

Don Gray said...

Rahina, I thank you so much. Happy creating in 2010!

Don Gray said...

Sheila, I appreciate it. David's comments made me think differently about the painting myself, and that's a real gift. Happy 2010!