Sally J Prince

Those of you that know me know that I am an animal lover. Dogs happen to be my greatest weakness, however I am intrigued by cats, birds, ferrots, rabbits, prairie dogs, and just about any other warm-blooded animal you can think of. I have a fear of spiders, but that’s another story… Since I have four dogs of my own (the city’s legal limit), I volunteer at the Watermelon Mountain Ranch here in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The reason I chose this non-profit animal rescue is that it is a no-kill shelter and it has an amazing staff that truly love and care for these abandoned, surrendered, injured, abused and elderly animals. My heart aches as I hear their stories…a cat left in a vacated apartment for weeks without food or water (a dog was left also but it didn’t survive), a dog that was hit by a car and not taken to the vet but rather dropped off at the Ranch… what stories they could tell if they could talk or write. It is my heart’s and life’s work to make better the conditions for these dependent, helpless creatures that give back so much unconditional love in return. Gratitude is a beautiful thing and we can learn so much more about it from these rescued animals. Living in the moment and learning to trust again is another gift of the animal kingdom. If my art can serve to help fight for animal rights and to find loving forever homes for them then I am truly blessed. They need our help and protection.

One of my newer paintings was juried into this year’s MasterWorks Show to be held at the New Mexico EXPO’s Hispanic Arts Building through the month of April 2011.  The Opening Reception will be April 1, 2011 from 5-8pm.  My 88 year old Mother is coming to visit during this time and it will be extra special to have her with us at the show’s Opening!  The painting was inspired by a trip to the Zuni Pueblo when friends Mary and Tim were here from Minnesota.  Having visitors is a great way to see more of the “Land of Enchantment” and all the beauty New Mexico has to offer!  February was an excellent month for me as I was chosen to obtain a scholarship from IAPS (International Association of Pastel Societies).  I will be studying with Urania Christy Tarbet, an excellent and well known painter who resides in California.  My hope is to take her July workshop in Littleton, Colorado this year.

This is a first for me.  “Last Rose of Summer” was juried into our PSNM National Show which is held Nov. 5-28, 2010 at the Hispanic Arts Building at EXPO New Mexico (Fairgrounds).  I am co-chairing the show this year but have the least amount of work to do.  Bev Snyder is the real deal and gets most of the anxiety as well!  It was a great surprise to get this painting accepted, although somewhere deep inside I must have felt it was worthy.  There were over 300 entries for this competition and over one hundred were from other states.  It is an honor to be selected for this show, particularly since many of my artists friends who are extremely talented did not get selected.  May the “Great Creator” not only continue to inspire me, but keep me humble as well!

My painting of “Baskets of Beets” was juried in to the SMALL WORKS SHOW which runs concurrently with our PSNM National Show.  This show runs from Nov. 5-28, 2010 and is held in the Hispanic Arts Building at EXPO New Mexico.  It is a show of local New Mexico artists only.  My inspiration was the Farmers Market (downtown).  Friend, Dot Hoffman, got her painting of ”Radishes” in also which was inspired from a photo of mine taken at the same time.  It’s the “Year of the Veggies”; who knew?  Aside from the pure pleasure I get from painting, the “you are AWESOME” from son, Matt, and husband, Lee isn’t bad either.  This is my second year in this show.  I have had unusually good luck here in Albuquerque entering juried shows and hope, having said that, that I don’t jinx myself…   We paint because we must, but the joy is tripled when we put it out there!

This year’s Masterworks Exhibition will be during the month of April at the New Mexico Expo Hispanic Arts Building.  My painting “A Perfect Pear” made it into this show in the larger works division.  Not sure how this happened as I probably won’t have entered it save my husband, Lee who said, “Aw, go ahead and put it in, ya just never know…”  Bless his pastel-pickin’ heart!  I also entered four small paintings in the Miniature Show and won’t know if I got them in until almost showtime!  I used to do a lot of miniature paintings when I lived in Minnesota because I lived in a 540 sq. ft. condo and didn’t have room to do large paintings.  Thanks to more room and actual studio space now, I can have two or three larger paintings in process at the same time!

Below are four miniature paintings that I will submit next weekend for Masterworks.  Click on images to see them full sized and larger.

Last November my painting “Secret Garden” made it into the Small Works division of the National Pastel Show here in ABQ, NM.  It was the first juried show I ever entered, so I was delighted to get in!  Even better, the painting sold and I made my first $125 selling my pastel paintings at a juried show…WooHoo!  Luckily, I made a print of it so that I have one too.  Afterall, it is MY garden!

Happy 2010 New Year everyone!  This has been a great year for painting for me and I was fortunate to get three commissioned paintings to complete for holiday gifts.  This one was a “First Home” painting done for Scott Hughes who is the son of a friend of mine who lives in Henderson, Nevada.  Julie saw my website on facebook.

This young girl had her face painted by me at an outdoor summer festival in Fort Collins in 2004.  The location was Old Town and I think the event was called “West Fest”.  For a couple of years I face painted for a professional company called “Merry Makers” who were based out of Greeley, Colorado. They provided all kinds of party fun with balloons and costumed characters.  Although the work was part-time, it took me all over the state of Colorado and I got to meet all kinds of great folks!  I still enjoy face painting for fun and service to local non-profit organizations, ie: Susan’s Legacy here in ABQ, NM and St. Baldrick’s fund raiser in April.  Any excuse to use my art will do and I welcome new challenges as far this goes…no full body painting however, we need to have boundaries, don’t we?

This was my first chair painted for Susan’s Legacy’s “Charity Event” in 2007.  I called it the “Catbird Seat” (for obvious reasons).  The chairs that were donoted for this event all had the same cutout design on the top which made it harder to be unique with each chair – but then beggars can’t be choosers, can they?  My friend, Nancy, asked to see this chair a little closer so I’m hoping that I can make that happen as adminstrator of my own BLOG!  (Thanks for the training, MB.)

Face Painting For A Cause

Every year at the end of April, UNM (University of New Mexico) Hospital hosts the St. Baldrick’s Foundation event in which volunteers raise money for childhood cancer research.  Some shave their heads “bald” with contributing sponsors and others, like myself, do less risk taking activities like face painting to raise money for these kids.  I hope to get more close-up photos next year as their are so many fun designs to do, but this gives one an idea of the faces and hats worn on this very special day!