A great night out!

Top painting is by Keith Larson from Salt Lake City, Utah
Middle painting by Michael Malm from Wellsville, Utah
Bottom painting by Trent Gudmundsen from Logan, Utah

I have to start out saying a big THANK YOU to my husband. For weeks I've been feeling torn between the art show in Park City and the mother/son night at our school. I felt guilty trying to arrange a way for my son to go to the magic show without me, but I also knew he would still enjoy it without me and we could plan an awesome night out on another night together. I almost decided to just take him and then my husband finally agreed to take him - since I reminded him I went to Dads and doughnuts one time when he couldn't go. What a wonderful man! He said the only other man there was the Principal. They had a great time :)

I got to Park City a little late. As I arrived the sun was beginning to set on the ski resorts and the blue sky with airy clouds looked glorious with the pink light on the ski runs.

It was pretty hard to find parking with all the skiiers from all around the world. I had to park at the top of Main Street and when I was over half way down to the Montgomery-Lee Gallery I saw a parking meter and realized that it was not 3 hours free parking but it was up to 3 hours paid parking. A little panicky I ran up the hill to my car, receipt in my had, praying there wasn't a ticket. Relieved by the bare windshield I put my ticket on the dash and headed back down the hill.

I hadn't thought about how much colder it would be in the higher elevation and was glad I had on my warm winter coat. I was so excited to see the art of two of my favorite figurative artist and to meet them. I had seen pictures of Trent Gudmundsen so I recognized him right away. But I didn't really know what Michael Malm looked like. A man started talking to me and I wondered if it was Michael Malm but I found out it was Keith Larson - the third artist that I didn't know much about. He was really nice and was a good artist. A woman working in the gallery asked me if I had any questions and if there was anything she could do for me. I asked her if Michael Malm was there and she brought me to him and introduced me to him and his wife. They were so kind and charming. His artwork has always amazed me.

I looked around at all the figurative and landscape paintings and felt like I was in heaven. I heard people commenting on Trents work. A woman said, "you know when you look at his paintings you feel like the people are someone you know". Her friend resonded, "I know!". I heard another woman say to Trent, "You have such a wonderful talent with light. You could hang these paintings in a dark room". I know what she meant. They seem to glow.

A couple months ago I drove by Porter's Place in Lehi at night and immediately thought of Trent and his restaurant paintings. I was struck with the thought that he has to paint this place. It's a historic place in Utah that many people love. I went in there and took some pictures and e-mailed them to him. I was delighted when he found some he wanted to paint right away. Then, there at the gallery I recognized a picture I had taken in his painting of "Porter's Place".

When I finally got a chance to meet Trent it felt like I was talking to an old friend. What a wonderful, humble and friendly person. He's the kind of guy that could never have and enemy - so down to earth. I heard someone else say, "What a great artist, and such a nice guy". He asked if I had seen the painting of Porter's Place and I said I had. I told him that one of the guys in the painting is our home teacher from church. I loved all of the paintings.

So, I had such a great evening visiting galleries and feeling inspired. It really made me want to paint more and learn more from these great artists. The figurative show will last for several weeks so you still have a chance to see it.