Mastodawn

The Life We Lead

Hello

If this is your first visit, welcome to Musings. Today I am musing about being an artist. If you have been here before, welcome back. Over time we are going to talk about many things: the past, the present, perhaps the future, travel,

The Arteest!

How Long Did It Take

I’m often asked “How long did it take you to do that?!’

The answer, I think, is that it is not the time. It’s the journey. Mine has been long. I will tell you some of it.

My degree from University of California, Berkeley, was in Fine Arts (painting) and for several years I taught art in high schools. Eventually I left teaching and, not being willing to go through the financial uncertainty many artists endure, I went into the corporate world. In my personal time, I continued to work as an artist, producing and exhibiting. About twenty five years ago the company I was with was acquired and I resumed art as my main focus.

Originally my studio was in a small commercial building I rented. Today it is in my home.

Getting Work Seen

For an artist, getting one’s work seen is always an issue. In the beginning, I exhibited at art expositions in Atlanta and New York.

Eventually, I had gallery representation in Massachusetts, Charleston, South Carolina, several in Florida: Boca Raton, Palm Beach, Jupiter, and one in Los Angeles. It’s a tough business. They have all closed over the years, all but one.

I’ve had my share of success.

In 2007 I was one of nine artists representing the United States in the Salon De La Société Nationale Des Beaux-Arts held at the Carrousel de Louvre. We know it as the Paris Salon.

My painting “Lifeguard” was exhibitied.

It was sold.

Later, I was contacted by a woman who said , I saw your painting in Architectural Digest.

She had me do a similar piece for their home in the Hamptons.

Another time a gallery representing me called and excitedly told me that a person had taken seven of my pieces for “consideration”. She was certain several would be sold. We were disappointed when they were all returned.

Some time later a decorator I work with said, “I saw your work in Waterfront Home and Design“. Hmmm!

There were several pages, with my paintings shown, in the rooms being highlighted. That was why they took so many out on “consideration”. They needed decor.

The stinkers! At least they gave me attribution in the text.

Over time I have had my share of exposure.

During the 90’s, limited editions of four of my paintings were sold on cruise ships. Every now and then I am contacted by someone who bought or inherited one, usually wanting to know how to resell it. That is also a tough market.

Remember the television series, The Good Wife? If you watched it, you likely saw my work. Some of my pieces were used in the series.

FishpondStill Life with BlueStripes

Today I promote my work through Art Store Fronts (www.ttribby.com) and Fine Art America and I show work locally at Jennifer Garrigues and Palm Beach FrameMakers in Palm Beach

MORE TO COME

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RECENT WORK

Polignano A Mare

Matera Afternoon

ARCHWAY

On a Different Note

I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest

Take a look at my website:

www.ttribby.com

Works on Paper

On The Waterfront

Impressions of Florida

#Art #caves #Italy #life #Matera #nature #oliveOil #oliveTrees #paintings #Pulia #Tauck #Travel #VisualArts #wine #writing

Thomas L. Tribby Artist Apr 25

The Happy Wanderer

Hello

If this is your first visit, welcome to Musings. Today I am musing about travel … in southern Italy. If you have been here before, welcome back. Over time we are going to talk about many things: the past, the present, perhaps the future, travel,

I’ve been everywhere man!

“I’ve been every where, Man! I’ve been everywhere!‘ Remember that song?

Well . . . that’s not us.

We’ve been alota places but we had never been to the south-east “heel” of Italy, a section called Pulia.

Now we have. Just got home a couple of days ago and still dealing with jet lag.

Our Happy Group

We went on a Tauck tour. It was our second with Tauck and we have been very pleased both times. As you can see, it was a small group.

Tauck Tour Group Max was a great tour guide

Pulia

Puglia is different from the more northern areas we knew. Older, very rural and, until recently, not as prosperous. Among other things it is prized for its wine and olive oil.

There are olive trees and olive orchards everywhere, covering acres and acres. The trees have been diseased by a blight of some kind and many of the orchards have lost their trees, trees that were several hundred years old.

There are five varieties of trees and four are threatened by the blight. The orchards are being replanted everywhere we went with the fifth type of tree, however it takes four years for a tree to be productive.

So, when you go to the store and see how expensive olive oil has become, you will know the reason.

Matera

The first town we visited was Matera. According to our guide, it is one of the three oldest cities in the world, cities continuously inhabited for thousands of years.

The mountain on which the city is built is limestone, a material that is relatively soft and can be dug into. The original inhabitants lived in caves. A cave was everything: bedroom, cooking area, toilet, stable, dark, damp and smokey. Where they could, they dug them out to become larger.

Most of the people were very poor. The more wealthy added onto the caves and built out what you see in the photos. Behind the structure you can see, in many cases, is one or more caves.

Here you see caves in the distance. Obviously these were not built out, but my understanding is the area where the city stands was originally the same.

Wine

We visited a co-operative winery. It was owned by the local farmers and had been producing wine for more than 100 years.

These are the storage tanks for the wine. It is sold to other producers to be blended with other varieties to produce the final product.

This was modern, clean and impressive. But not as interesting as seeing how the wine was originally produced.

We went through a maze of rooms, twenty I think. They were all linked to provide a museum like walking experience. But originally each was completely separate, four walls (no doorway) and a ceiling with a small opening.

When these were in use, there would be no doorway, no machinery, just an enclosed room with the opening you see in the ceiling on the upper left.

These were the storage rooms for the wine while it aged. Through the opening in the top the wine would be poured until the room was filled. There were about 20 of these rooms. That is a great amount of wine. Imagine the rooms of your house being filled with wine to the ceiling. Wow!

When the wine was ready it had to be pumped out. Once it was out, a workman entered the room through the ceiling and scrubbed down the walls, and floor to remove the residue. I can only imagine how hard that would have been. No window for air, dark, fumes . . . that must have been torturous.