ATLANTA
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| Atlanta Artists Center |
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| Restaurant across street |
If you have been watching the news then you already know about the "big" storm moving through the country. Based on the storm, A. Paul & I decided to forego the gallery visits around Atlanta and head out early to Nashville in an effort to beat the storm there. We did have time to squeeze in one visit to Atlanta Artists Center in a artsy little neighborhood in the Buckhead region of Atlanta before we departed.
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| A. Paul with Judith Schonback |
Inside, A. Paul & I were greeted by writer, editor, watercolorist Judith Schonback, who gave us a brief history of the center. The Atlanta Artists Center and Gallery is Atlanta's oldest continuous not for profit arts organization. Its mission, since its conception in 1954, is to foster the growth of artists through artist collaboration, workshops in marketing, sketch groups, gallery shows, auctions, and meetings where artists can exchange ideas. The membership in the center is 450 strong, incorporating emerging and established artists from over 20 countries.
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| Gana Van Laanen, artist's model |
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| Lynda Ellis |
While we were at the center, a sketch group was well underway in a separate room and group leader/artist Lynda Ellis permitted A. Paul to photograph the group and artist model Gana Van Laanen while the group worked.
Outside the workshop area, the gallery space displayed works by member artists of a recently juried show. There were a number of works that were clearly worthy of the ribbon that adorned them, such as Jodi Hutchens "Lavendar Cloche" which took First Place, Jan 2011.
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| "Lavendar Cloce" Jodi Hutchens |
With the gray clouds forming to the west, A. Paul and I knew it was time to get on the road for our 4-1/2 hour drive. We had hoped to stop at a wonderful new museum about an hour north of Atlanta, the Booth Western Art Museum, that the Center told us about but the brooding weather propelled us towards Nashville, TN. We will have to put the museum on our return list but we will share the link with you so you may visit it at your leisure
http://www.boothmuseum.org/
DRIVE TO NASHVILLE
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rainy freeway
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Though the sky darkened on our drive northwest towards Nashville, the layered shades of gray in the Tennessee mountains were stunningly beautiful. Eventually, the rain did come in sheets but when the rain passed, the roadways and lights of the streets in Music City provided a wonderful canvas of color and glorious welcome into Nashville.
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| Drive to Nashville |
and, for you music aficionados, the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. Until tomorrow, stay safe in this storm.
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| Broadway Street, Nashville, TN |
