At the Water's Edge

ABC has purchased the right to show “At the Water’s Edge” on Desperate Housewives.  It will probably show up on camera somewhere this Fall season.  I don’t know when or as part of what set.  But I’d really like to know.  So, if any of you spots it, please comment here or drop me a line.

They have purchased a 12 x 16 inch print on gallery wrapped canvas, so it could appear framed or unframed.

So far it has been a surreally fun experience.  ABC/Disney has entered into an agreement with the on-line printing house Fine Art America, to facilitate licensing images for use on sets.  Artists selling work through Fine Art America can opt in or out of the program.  I opted in and then promptly forgot about it.  It seemed much too unlikely.

But Wednesday morning I got an email from the design staff at Desperate Housewives.  Thursday they arranged for FedEx to pick up the signed license agreement and Friday they purchased the print.

The young women who facilitated this has no idea which episode or where.  Not surprising really.

My husband suggests I add “Painter to the Stars” to my resume.  Slight overstatement?  Of course.  After all picking artwork for sets is akin to picking artwork to go with the sofa.  It is fun, but not a critics seal of approval.

Prints of the painting may be purchased here.

I will be attending a family reunion and touring Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota with the girls for a few weeks. Stephen draws the line at shipping paintings, so paintings purchased before I return won’t ship until after July, 6th.

I hope to come home with a pluthera of paintings, sketches and photos for paintings.

Romantic Memories

I am not Ruth Armitage. Ruth Armitage also lives here in the upper Willamette Valley. And she also paints watercolors. She is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society and a past president of the Watercolor Society of Oregon. Her work hangs in my favorite gallery in Salem. And yes, like me, she likes to paint figures. And in my opinion, she does fabulous work.

I knew these facts, and yet I was still not prepared for connection, when I displayed a large number of my watercolors at the Oregon State Fair. Apart from, “these are lovely,” and “are you the artist,” the most common comment was, “are you Ruth Armitage?” The second most common comment was, “are you related to Ruth?” Given Ruth’s stature in the Northwest art community, those were flattering questions.

But the woman who asked, “then why do you use her name” floored me. Jenny Armitage is my name. I place a prominent “J” before Armitage in my signature. And while I like her work, my paintings have not been influenced by Ruth’s. Nor, much as I admire her, do I want to be Ruth Armitage. I want my work recognized as my work.

[This week,  most common search phrase used to find this blog was, "are jenny and ruth armitage related."  The answer is no.  Neither are our husbands.  ---added 3-1-10.]

Saturday at the Office (private collection)

Elizabeth Edwards just published an interview with me for First Angel and Friends. I love it. She asks great questions and I had a blast answering them.

You can read the interview here.