Darin Dykstra's Art Exhibition held at the Hannibal Alliance Art Gallery December 17th, 2011

It has been over 2 months since I wrote last, but it was due to a very hectic time of traveling and preparing for my art exhibition held at the Hannibal Alliance Art Gallery December 17th, 2011.  See the article in the Hannibal Courier.  As many of you know, Hannibal is known for a very famous author and character by the name of Mark Twain..........or Samuel Clemens.  The exhibition was held in the historic downtown area of Hannibal just a few blocks from Clemens' boyhood home.

This is a picture of me during the show printed in the Press News Journal's December 29th issue.  It is a PDF file with the picture on Page 7.  The PNJ is a local paper from my childhood hometown of Canton, MO.  The pictures can also be seen on the Hannibal Alliance Art Gallery link above. 

The turn out was good considering Christmas was the following weekend.  As any artist, I was hoping to sell all my paintings!  It didn't happen of course, but I went in with the idea that if I only sell 1 painting, it would be worth it, just for the experience alone.  Well, I can say that I feel extremely blessed and was able to sell much more than 1.  I had a total of 30 paintings, but I only had room to display 17.  Needless to say, I still have plenty of paintings available for sale!  :)  The feedback I received was very encouraging and I particularly enjoyed speaking with people answering questions about Malta and discussing my techniques and style of painting. I have just been informed that 2 of my paintings were selected to be on display until March in Hannibal at the Hannibal Arts Council.  The title of the show is Winter Blues.  This is a great honor as well and I hope to be able to enter in other exhibitions or competitions in the near future. 

The above book is a collection of a majority of the paintings I had on display or available for display.  This book can be viewed on Shutterfly.  You will need Adobe Flash to view it.  You do have the option to order if you like, but I do not receive any profits from this.  This is strictly through Shutterfly.  What I can say is that however hectic the preparation was, the outcome was more than I could have expected.  I would sincerely like to thank Brenda Beck Fisher, Ann Miller Titus, Pat Kerns and all the artists at the Hannibal Alliance Art Gallery for all their help. 

I am excited to get back to painting after returning home and to start planning for the next time I will be able to exhibit my work.  I hope the next time I will be able to exhibit in Malta.  Stay tuned and until then, enjoy. 

Darin

Reflections of a Maltese Luzzu (Fishing Boat)... Acrylic Painting

Hello again! It's been a long time since I posted anything without me realizing how much time has passed by......and so quickly. I have been busy painting a lot for the past 7 months straight in preparation for the showing of my work on December 17th at the Hannibal Alliance Art Gallery. I will be a guest artist and will be in attendance on Saturday, December 17th from 4pm onwards.

My latest painting of a Maltese Luzzu, or a Maltese fishing boat, will be on display (for sale) during this showing. This painting is acrylic on a 12 x 16 inch canvas. I normally paint in watercolor, so my approach to complete this painting took more time than I expected. I once again had to "re-learn" the use of acrylic or oil that is much different when compared to watercolor. It is also more forgiving! The Maltese Luzzu vary in color schemes, but the most common include Yellow, Blue, Red, Green or White. The bow is normally pointed with a pair of eyes. These eyes may be the modern survival of an ancient Phoenician custom (also practiced by the ancient Greeks); they are sometimes (and probably inaccurately) referred to as the Eye of Horus or of Osiris. The town of Marsaxlokk is especially famous for the large numbers of luzzu and similar craft operating in its harbor. As always, your comments are more than welcome.