Paintings At Georgia State Capitol

David Ralston, Leishea Johnson (staff) and me with my painting "Dawn of A New Day"

"Area Art Fills David Ralston's Capitol Office" is the headline in The News Observer dated Friday, June 25, 2010, which is a newspaper of Blue Ridge, Georgia. David Ralston is the new Speaker of the House and decided he wanted artwork from North Georgia. He commented "I never want to forget my roots. These people have been good to me, and I want to be reminded of this daily."

His interior decorator, Marcie Culpepper, contacted me during the winter and said they had looked at my work in High Country Art & Antique Gallery in Blue Ridge, and then went to my website and were interested in several paintings for his suite of offices. Unluckily, two of the three were already sold. One of the sold paintings was named "Golden Opportunity" and she told me how much David Ralston loved that scene and also the name since he felt his new position was a golden opportunity! She asked if I had something similar or would I suggest work that was from the North Georgia area. I had just finished a new 4'x3' oil painting and told her to look at it online. I had posted a photo of it on my blog -- but not on my web site since I had not officially finished it and named it. She loved it and couldn't wait to see it in person. We set up a time for her to visit the studio to see paintings. I will tell you, they always look better in real life!

When she walked in and saw the painting, she turned to me and said "This will be perfect. When can I pick up the paintings?" She did choose another replacement one that was from Ellijay, GA and liked the framing on it. The only one that was not sold from her initial list was a plein air piece from downtown Blue Ridge. I did have that painting, but the frame needed to be changed since she wanted to hang the two smaller paintings together. I also needed to sign the large one and spray a preliminary light varnish on it. Two days later I had them ready for delivery! And, the name for the large one . . . "Dawn of a New Day." Here is a photo of the painting:

The article shows several photos of three or four of the artists and their piece of art hanging in the suite of offices for the Speaker of the House at the State Capitol. There is a photo of me, David Ralston, one of the staff and the painting where you can get a good sense of the painting. Also, the last paragraph in the article is great! . . .

. . . "One of Ralston's favorite pieces of art in his office is entitled, "Dawn of a New Day," an oil on board by Marsha Hamby Savage that portrays the mountains of Blue Ridge. 'It's a new day in the House of Representatives,' he said."

I couldn't be more pleased! The reception they had for us once the decorating of the office was done was wonderful also. I have a couple of photos from the reception here for you also. The top one before my writing is essentially the same photo shown in the newspaper article.

This last photo is the reception room of his suite -- the top painting is the plein air pastel of the train and station in downtown Blue Ridge done during the World Wide Paint Out last September, and the other painting is an oil from outside Ellijay, GA.

Many people enter the Speaker of the House suite of offices! They will all have the opportunity to see artwork from our North Georgia mountain area. It was quite an honor to be chosen!