Hanging with Artists

Jerri Lea & Mary in St. Augustine

I caught up Jerri Lea and Wendy today, who I haven't seen in a year. We browsed the shops in old St. Augustine (where I live), in and out of chatchki stores, cafes, and galleries. We stopped by Bob and Colleen's spice store, had some coffee, and went for crab sandwiches for lunch.

We immersed ourselves in the local galleries. St. Augustine galleries showcase a bit of everything - some galleries show the top artists in the world, while others are gallery/gift stores with local jewelry and beach art.

While not all gallery art is great, or even good, there are some great paintings there. I see it and want to do some of my own. When I grew up in Philadelphia, I'd cut school to spend my days at the Philadelphia Art Museum or the Met in New York. It was a shot in the arm - I'd always come home ready for painting.

Now, great museums are a plane ride away, and museum visits are far and few between. I may visit once or twice a year - but I need more. And I'm certainly getting it - there are modern masters all around me in St. Augustine. At the galleries.

I'm loving the local galleries, which are just as inspirational as the world-class museums. You see current painters in galleries. Local galleries are current . . .  today . . . immediate. Not everything is great, so you have to seek out the awesome, but it's always there somewhere.

You can't beat the world-class museums with Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Vermeer. You can't dispute their technique, mastery, genius.

But while I adore them, I simply don't paint like the old masters. I live today and relate to modern-day masters. The artists of today who show in the galleries. My art "fixes" in the galleries are definitely not a step down from the great museums - because I'm seeing the latest masterworks from today's master artists.

I walked out of the galleries today as inspired and awed as when I walk out of the old-world museums. I truly found today that today's artists are tomorrow's old-world masters.

Thanks for listening. Keep arting!

--Mary Hubley
maryhubley.com