I was thrilled to have my Vivify painting series featured at this special event celebrating Dr. Aldona Spiegel and the Pink Sisters that she has aided. Two paintings from the series found new homes that night!

I'll be there! Please join me for a fabulous show including these amazing artists:

Julia Abbott, Sarah Holloway Smith, ​Jonas Criscoe, Madison Luetge, Chenxi Gao, Jalon Isabell, Audry Rider, Silas Breaux, Jacqueline Blanco, Hugh de Witte, Jessica Hilvitz, Matthew Wood, Shane Wiggs, Tonya Trest, Ian Grieve, Josie Del Castillo, Jose Vazques Ramirez, Karla Gabriela, De La Fuente, Veronica Ibargüengoitia, Atinuke Aduleke, Daniela Flint, Jessica Baldivieso, Julie Flandorfer, Rhoda Savage, Nikita Coulombe, Frank Herbert, Daniela Maria Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas, Steve Griffin, Lesley Anderson, Suzanne Truex, Lori Solley, Clair Gaston, Kendall Papathanasiou, David Dennis, Jesus Trujillo, Jane Helslander, Brenda Robson, Janie Stidham, Cosmo Jones, Jonathan HillJoshua CrockettEric Sweeney, Wes Coke, Sandison Montgomery, Marianne Howard, Hannah Brown, Scott Bell, Cyde Steck, Kat Warwick, Karen Eisele, Elena du Plessis, HP Bloomer, Ryan Stalsby, Kenneth Tan, Drake Heptig, Sue White, Mylinda Farr, Andy Buchanan.

This year CraigHead Green Gallery celebrates the 30th anniversary of the famous New Texas Talent exhibition! For this special occasion they appointed a very special juror: Scott Simons! Scott has been an artist represented by Craighead Green Gallery for decades, but before that, he worked at the gallery in the 1990’s. During his tenure as Gallery Director, he conceived and launched the first New Texas Talent juried exhibition.
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Scott is a sixth-generation Texan who’s lived in Austin for fifteen years. Scott has shown in multiple galleries and art spaces over the past twenty years and has been a practicing painter for most of his life.

"I'm so excited to be a part of such an auspicious and respected art exhibition. If you are in Dallas, please stop by and see the show. I will be attending the opening on July 15th and look forward to meeting you!" Julia Abbott Artist / ImageMaker

Houston, Tx. - My current Vivify painting series will be exhibited at Circa Real Estate in the historic Harold's building in the Houston Heights on 19th Street. The show will be on view from July 1st through September. Come and view the show during the famous Height's White Linen Nights in August. 

Be sure to check back as there will be a meet the artist wine night in September. 

My new "Vivify" Series is derived from my battle with breast cancer. Rich saturated color with rounded images alluding to my feelings regarding my personal experience of loss and rebirth. Life is JOY! More to come. Stay tuned.

Flight Behavior is 48" x 48" and made with resin and ink. If you are interested in a commission, please contact me at julia@juliakabbott.net

Curator and Houston Mayor's Ambassador to the Arts, Lester Marks.

Installation presented some very real challenges. Not only did we have to contend with the weight of the three painting panels, which were very heavy, we also found the the metal tabs that we had added around the painting made the panels just slightly too big to fit in the existing  antique oak panel spaces. It took four of us to make necessary adjustments and get the paintings hung. The company that built the panels also added antique gold trim work.

​I find that the best metallic paint for this kind of trim job is Modern Masters Metallic Paint Collection  

Screws were used to secure the panels from all sides and the added trim work aided in covering up the screws. Once secured, I went through and cleaned away all of the hand prints and shined the panels up. The client is planning to add special lighting to simultaneously  feature the painting while minimizing glare.

Given that I have never done a painting nor resined a painting this large before, it became quite the challenge. The first issue was that of temperature. As I mentioned in my previous post, it is extremely hot here in Houston especially in the summer which is when I am paining the piece. Curing resin requires temps in the 70's. The triple digit heat led to my need to resin these three panels inside our house. My concerns over the fumes had me sending our daughter to grandma's house and thankfully my husband had to go out of town as well. Perfect timing!!!

Boy, our dining room looked like a scene from some murder story. I had put up so much plastic to protect the room that it looked as though I was ready to wrap a dead body in it. Scary stuff.

Given the sizes that I was dealing with, it was necessary to create dust covers specifically for the panels. I chose to utilize cardboard box corners, thin plastic drop cloths and a staple gun. I'm thankful to have come up with a reasonable solution having gone on You Tube for ideas. I didn't see anything close to the size of my triptych.

I also unfortunately found it necessary to coat each panel twice with the resin. The gessoed panels gave off a great deal of off-gassing resulting in air bubbles on the surface well beyond the hour adjustment period for the resin cure. As you can see, I also used Frog tape on the edges to protect the hanging tabs and create a barrier where the resin could pool.

Named - With the impute of a dear friend, I have settled on the name for the painting commission... CENOTE-SOLACE. It is a reference to a positive memory that the client has and the feeling that encapsulated my intention with the piece.

Here is the latest video progress update. I can sum it up in one word - HOT!!!!!! As in my studio is in Houston, Texas and the heat index is at 100 degrees. I don't have central a/c in the garage studio so I am fighting off heatstroke and have to take a/c breaks in the house to cool down. It doesn't help that I have to wear a respirator and gloves while working. That is my gripe for today.

On a high note, I love where the painting is going and hope to be moving on to resin, God willing and weather permitting next week!