It’s September, and the Fall art season begins.  I have been accepted into a show called Art of the Land, held by the Land Conservancy of McHenry County. Since its inception in 1991, The Land Conservancy has been active in helping to protect over 1800 acres of our local prairies, wetland and woodlands.  This is their third annual Art Show & Benefit.

September 23 & 24
Hosted at The Starline Gallery in Harvard, IL
Tickets:  $20 in advance, $30 at the door
Friday:  Sept. 23  6:30 – 9:00 PM  will include “Voices of the Land,” a coffeehouse-style showcase of poetry, short videos, original music and storytelling by local talent
Saturday:  Sept. 24 6:30 – 10 PM Art of the Land Amateur Photo Contest entries will be displayed and winners announced that night.
Former DJ, and Woodstock Realtor, Rick Bellairs will reprise his groundbreaking, early 70s radio program Crossroads – he was playing “Classic Rock” before anyone else in the area!
Food from Duke’s Alehouse & Kitchen, plus drink & fun!

See more information:  On Facebook,  on The Land Conservancy Website

If you scroll back to my blog entry on August 23, you can see the first element of artistic process for some of my pieces . . . collecting art materials from nature.  My kayak becomes loaded down with bits and pieces collected from the water.  The next step is unloading and drying at home.

driftwood by linda oefflingdriftwood drying, alongside my lavender on the patio

Some of the wood, in fact, all of it on this particular trip, was sitting on the mucky bottom of a lake.  I let it dry completely in the summer heat on the patio stones before bringing it inside.

Raven by Linda OefflingRaven by Linda Oeffling

Here is a finished piece, one that I probably will feature in the Art of the Land show.  There are a couple of influences at play here, one being a gallery called Raven’s Wish, where I have several items on display.  This gallery is one of my favorites; I am so proud to be featured there, and I would love to be able to buy from every artist there as well. The raven is also a strong element in Native American mythology, and so I tried to give this piece a Southwest feeling.  Raven’s Wish captured my imagination with their “About Us” statement:

“What might a raven wish for? Wide-open spaces…colorful and shiny baubles…never-ending updrafts…days full of adventure.” -Alicia Reid, Owner, Raven’s Wish

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