Gallery Newsletter#1

Porta Gallery Newsletter View this email in your browser Welcome to My Gallery Newsletter! I'm giving away a few original paintings, a handful of books, and some prints, so skip to the bottom to find out where. Books are the story of the day. My first novel has been out for six months now. I'm giving it away for free on kindle to promote the sequel which should be out early 2016. There's also book of poetry called Jet Trails Over The Gulf. It's not out yet, but I'm hoping to enter it into Amazon's new poetry contest. If you'd like an advance copy send me an email. Now on the art side: I've had a busy year full of commissions. Most of my best work has been the result of special requests. Here are some more commissions I've finished this year. I got into two new galleries this year, Coastal Magpie in Ocean Springs and Art-ology in Pass Christian, Mississippi. I'm also in The GCAA gallery in Orange Beach, Frame Corner in Daphne Alabama, and three restaurants: Portabella's Restaurant in Foley Papa's Pizza Fairhope and Big Daddy's on Fish River.  Our move to Mississippi has been good. I had to leave my old workshop behind, but I gained a big living room and a cat who thinks he's an art critic. I'm missing my favorite morning markets in Mobile, but I've been able to do the night market in New Orleans instead. I'll miss my Fairhope friends, but I still hope to visit from time to time. Here's a picture Zach took of Jenny and me in his pottery workshop a few years back.   The gulf coast is a long way from home for a Pennsylvania country boy. And professional artist is the last thing I thought I'd be doing. But after college, I got into sailing and decided to help my dad restore this old wooden boat that had always sat in the yard next to our home. We launched Phoenix for a father-son cruise up the Atlantic coast and the motor immediately died. By the time we fixed it, he had to go home, and I had found myself a job at Fly Creek Marina in Fairhope. I bought a second boat to live on, used Phoenix as an art studio, and worked at the marina. I had a bike for transportation, a boat for a home and a group of artist friends with boundless creative energy. Among these friends were more established artists, writers and creative professionals, living proof that making art was not only possible, but a great way to make a living. That was phase one of my life as an artist. This year has been phase two. (More about that in the next newsletter.) And if you're looking for a original piece, you'd better get one before phase three kicks in because sometime in the near future we're taking the show on the road. Thanks for signing up and reading my newsletter. Feel free to look me up on twitter, facebook, instagram or on my website www.dustinporta.com My books are at Amazon.com and my paintings are at a few different places, but the easiest way to get just what you want is to send me an email. For my writing newsletter, I'm doing a paperback giveaway. Go here to sign up for the newsletter. Now the last order of business is the Lionfish Giveaway. I've just emailed the winner, so if you got the notification, congratulations. If not, there are going to be a lot more giveaways to come. I'm also sending some goodies to anyone who joins my physical mailing list. That's right, actual mail. Send your mailing address to portadactyl@gmail.com and ask to be added. I'm hoping to send a postcard out a few times a year along with a little catalog of new paintings and a some frame-able prints of my artwork. There's just something special about real, actual mail so I hope you'll get in on that. Thanks for taking the time to read this. It feels good to check in with everyone after such a busy summer. Feel free to email me back and say hello and if you're not already following facebook.com/portapoetry, please do.  Have a great thanksgiving, ~Dusty Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*