Messages from Ariana - Archive

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Best Regards,
The Ariana.org Dev Team

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Hi! This is Ariana.

I know I haven't been able to keep up communication as well as i would like with you because of my commitments, so I would like to give you a personal voice message. You may wonder what I fill my days with now that I am focusing on developing my art career, so I thought I'd give you an example of a day in the life of Ariana as an artist.

I think I will begin with a story of how I was out painting, and someone came up to me and said, "Oh that is so wonderful that you get to paint! It must be so relaxing!" Being a painter may be many things, but it is not relaxing! When you are working on a painting you must use the right and left brain in concert to balance inspiration and technique. I ask myself, "Am I going to make the painting loose, painterly and bold, or am I going to make it sensitive and more rendered?" These and many more questions fill my mind as I choose the subject and as I paint.

It seems like there is never enough time to paint! I have galleries calling me saying they need work for a show I'm in, and it is a constant struggle just to get enough work done; also I do commisioned work part time - portraits and landscapes. It is important to participate in juried exhibitions and museum shows, so I add those to my gallery schedule. I spend albout half my time at the easel, and the other half my time networking and managing my computer database, updates on my art website and contacting and maintaining relationships with collectors and fellow artists. I get all my artwork photographed and wrap it and ship it myself; I maintain my inventory of frames of frames and art materials. I also spend time scouting for good locations to paint or preparing my ideas and sketches for figurative pieces. If that wasn't enough, I'm also a co-founder of an art group in Santa Barbara, California - I help to manage their activities.

But you know all this said, I still get treated like royalty. Artists are celebrities too! I enjoy the glamour of dressing up in evening wear and going to gala art events. I still find myself featured on the covers of magazines, and I'm often asked to sign my autograph on my articles. Another benefit of being an artist is that I get to experience first hand the beauty of the places that I paint, and I have the flexibility to travel to different regions for painting if I wish. One of the greatest fullfillments is when someone is truely moved by my work. As some of my collectors have said, "Everytime I see the painting in the house, it makes me feel happy." That is one of my best rewards.

Hopefully this clears up why you haven't much from me lately. But I want to know that I keep you in my thoughts, and I appreciate you being there for me. I send all my best to you. Until next time,

May your Christmas Season be filled with light.

I have been thinking of how much I appreciate the ARIFC, and how great it is that you're interested in me and my work. So here is a Christmas greeting. This is truly one of my favorite times of the year. I had a special Christmas with my family- filled with warmth and togetherness-I really feel blessed. I also had a good time singing some Christmas carols-one of my favorite Christmas activities.

I've been focusing on my oil painting work, and enjoying it very much. I've been selling more paintings lately, and I'm looking forward to doing more gallery shows this coming year. I want to say a heart felt thank you for being so devoted in contributing to the site. I look forward to a chance to answer some more of your questions on the bulletin board soon. Here's to a New Year filled with much joy!

Merry Christmas!

Hello,

I want to thank each one of you who offered condolences and comforted me during my time of losing Sunny. It meant a lot to me that you cared so much. I want to let you know that I have come through the grieving process. It took a while to mourn his loss because there was so much beauty that he brought into my life. Now, I hope to bring that beauty forward in my life in new ways.

I wouldn’t have been able to get through it these past weeks as well had my art community not been there. This community acknowledged my loss, but it also gave me an avenue to continue my creative efforts and express how I feel and having people that value my art provided the impetus to continue my work even when I felt no inspiration. Gradually, the feeling of inspiration and enthusiasm returned to me. I know that painting helped me to move forward in my life. I have gained new insight and inspiration into what I do now and hopefully have become a more compassionate person.

Once again, I am struck by the amount of caring it has taken to create and maintain this website for me. It is a labor of love and I am grateful for it. Not many people have such a community to care about what happens in their life and I recognize this as a gift.

Gratefully,

Hello,

It's become such a small world!--What a pleasure to meet up with you here on this exquisite website.

I want to thank those who contributed to building and maintaining this site. I especially love this new forum feature!

Now that there's a forum, I am looking forward to keeping more in touch with you.

As you know, I'm studying and developing my skills as a plein air oil painter, but I never let acting move very far from my thoughts. I'm not going out on auditions seeking work at this time, but I have accepted starring roles in two feature films in development and will let you know more as they progress.

Being in development means the producers are working on completing the funding and casting process. It can take months to complete this work, or may never happen at all.

Nevertheless, I like the projects and the people I've committed to, and hope the films work out.

The Autumn Salon gallery opening last night was a big success. It's a one of the biggest shows of the year in Traditional Contemporary art in California. I was delighted that two of my paintings were chosen for the show and that one of them sold on opening night. If you'd like to see images of these two landscapes on line, we'll be posting them to GalleryAriana.com in the next few days.

I'm happy and working hard to become the best artist I can be. I feel very supported in the painting work and am involved with like minded people.

I know there are many questions about my career(s) that have not been addressed. Now that we have this forum, I hope to start answering some of them soon.

Thanks again so much. I really love this site and I feel very grateful for your thoughtfulness.

My best wishes to you,

Hi!

Hope you're having a terrific summer!

I just finished performing as a soloist lead in a musical production of selected works, as part of my college program - I just couldn't stay away from performing!

Here's my most recent photo.



Until next time!

On Christmas Day of 1999, Mr. Gregory B. Jackson received a response from Ms. Richards regarding some of the questions submitted by ARIFC members, along with a couple of photos (accessible from the Multimedia section). The first had been formerly released while the second one was previously unseen. Here are the Ms Richards' responses to the first four of the questions submitted.

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Q: If there was a fire, is there a particular material possession that you would try to salvage? If so, what would it be?

A: I would try to save the artwork in my house, especially paintings by my grandmother, my mother, and sister--these paintings are treasures.

Q: Do you have any famous ancestors to your knowledge?

A: My well-known ancestors I know of include the Crevelli family of artists who lived during the Renaissance in Italy. Secondly, William Lloyd Garrison, an abolitionist editor, who ran the underground railroad to free slaves around the time of the Civil War in the U.S. Another relative of mine is John L. Sullivan, the Irish-American boxer.

Q: Do you still participate in equestrian sports? Would it be possible for the ARIFC to obtain some pictures of you at some of your competitions?

A: Yes, I still enjoy riding my horse, Sundancer and train in hunter/jumper riding. He "lights up" when we ride and jump, it is a lot of fun. I enjoy being at the stables in my spare time.

Q: What was it like playing an implied atheist on "Prancer"?

A: Playing an atheist on "Prancer" was so strange for me! The casting was ironic because the girl who co-starred with me didn't believe in Santa or God, though her character did. I believed in God and Santa and my character didn't. The movie was also directed by a man who didn't like children or animals either. Go figure!

Ms. Richards also had this to add:

"I want to wish you all happy holidays and a wonderful Millenial New Year! May it be filled with warmth, joy, and discovery!"

Love,

It's Ariana here. I just had to write to you after I explored this site for my birthday. Thank you so much. I was blown away by it. It was so FUN to see. You did an awesome job.

The title page with the overlapping photos and creative designs and lettering is truly a work of art. I thought the entire layout was amazing; it was so easy on the eye and interesting to read. The colors are beautiful- I especially love the blue tones and graphics. I enjoyed reading the stories. They made me smile.

Once again, thank you for this wonderful treat! It is a treasure and a work of art. I'm very happy to designate the site as:

Warmest Regards,