A mixed bag of metaphors this week, too many balls in the air, too much on the proverbial plate. First off, big news from the UK. Ebb Tide, my photo above, has been selected by The SIDE Gallery in Newcastle for an online show titled Local Color and will be shortlisted for a future physical show that hasn’t been announced yet. They are highly respected and known for their photography archives - here’s a link to their website. https://sidegallery.co.uk/ In other news, the build up for my show at The Commons, which I’m hanging next week, is going well although I’m on the fence about framing one more piece. Here’s a link to my page on their website’s calendar of events. https://www.provincetowncommons.org/commons-events/2026/4/29/works-on-paper-the-charcoals-by-maureen-mccarron. Also the press releases I sent out got responses from both Provincetown publications, and the Independent has asked for more images so they can feature me on their Indie’s Choice art section of the paper the week of the opening.

In the meantime, the art advisor who has a number of smaller paintings on hold for her building interior project will be here Friday to make her decisions. I have added a few to her selections as suggestions because they work so nicely with what she has already picked out. A couple of them needed a bit of retouching, and this led to some more serious reworking. Calliope, the black cockatoo above, is one of them. I wanted to see if that which worked with the charcoals would work with paint, and I have to say I don’t hate it. There’s another one that’s not done but now has a hot metallic background because Regina, below, one of the art advisor’s picks that needed a little retouching, has one as well. I’d forgotten how much I love a gold background - the way the color changes with the light or when the viewer moves, the contrast of the shiny surface with the matte satin of the bird’s colors. I may be doing more of them as a result soon. OK, on with the day - let’s go.