A Little Bit of Country in the Middle of the Desert

I absolutely love this picture my husband took of me, standing in what is actually the middle of a long row of large focal pieces.  The perspective and lighting are just perfect.   This was Tuesday, March 28th at my artist reception for my show called "Down Country Roads". We had a few minutes before the guests started to arrive at the reception and he did a great job documenting the gallery and how my pieces looked hanging there. I also couldn't have been more happy with the response I received from my friends, family and even total strangers.  One young boy that appeared to be about 11 even asked if I would be in a picture with him like I was something important.  How cute is that?

Solo art shows are a tremendous amount of work and for this show I have been painting for several months, trying to add new pieces to make my "Down Country Roads" collection larger and more impressive.  It is hard to describe the feeling you experience as the artist when you walk in the gallery for the first time and see all your hard work hung on the wall.  The closest analogy that I can of is it's like arriving to a family reunion where you actually LIKE all your relatives!

Besides displaying a total of 29 pieces of art, the Library District allowed me to include 12 of my poems.  Of course I would expect that a library would be a poem friendly environment.  Most of them have been written over the past year or so and just like my art, each of the pieces have an element of humor to them.  Pretty much everything I do is geared to hopefully make you smile.


I decided that to make the event even more special I would have a drawing and give away artwork as a prize.  Here are a couple of happy winners.

I had the chance yesterday to run back to the library to meet my daughter there.  I spent about an hour observing complete strangers walk into the gallery room and look at my art.  I was blessed to watch an older gentleman walk around the room reading each piece.  The last piece he read just happened to be my "Go Grab a Tissue Please" poem that accompanies a sketch of a cute calf using his tongue to lick his nose.  I was so pleased when I heard him actually laugh out loud.  That, my friend is the exact response that I am hoping for.

My really good friend is a high school English teacher and she tells me that she is planning on bringing her senior class down in April for a field trip because in April they have a poetry unit.  Now I call that perfect timing.  Someday I hope to publish a book of my art and poems and maybe only my grandchildren will want a copy but for now I'm just thrilled to have them hanging on the wall of the Whitney Library on Tropicana and Boulder Highway.

Let me share "Go Grab a Tissue Please" with you here and if you are interested in seeing more of my artwork or reading my poetry then please check out my website at Julie Townsend Studio

Go Grab a Tissue PLEASE!

By 

Julie Townsend

Picking or licking your nose is a bad habit I say

I promise you will regret that you did it someday

When all the other calves are playing, jumping and having fun

You will be too embarrassed to join them to rumpus and run

So when the hay fever strikes and won't slow

And the snot runs free like a steady river flow

When that fountain is turned on and you have the urge to sniff and snort

And even though God has given you a tongue that is far from short

Please! Oh please! Go grab a hanky or better yet, a wad of tissue

To handle the problems of your snot and dripping green issue 

Blowing your nose is so much better than using a tongue to lick

Be considerate of those around you for you will surely make us all sick

  

  

The Poetry of Julie Townsend