Featured on our cover this month is a new painting titled "East End Carriage House Alley" by local artist and gallery owner René  Wiley. René and her husband Ben Wiley opened René Wiley Gallery 14 years ago in the Downtown Cultural Arts District in Galveston. The gallelry represents award winning painters including René, her daughters and several other accomplished local area artists.

In this issue, we feature René and her private studio in the first of a new series of articles on artists and their studio spaces. It's an opportunity for our readers to get to know artists better and see the spaces where they create their works of art. 

This month at the gallerym, René has a colorful new collection of oil paintings of historical neighborhoods of the island viewed from above and pastoral farm scenes from her coastal orchard on the mainland. The painting above titled "Pink House Alley" is one of her new paintings.   

The gallery located at 2128 Postoffice, is open dailty from 11am-5pm.

Normally I would take the time in this column to unveil what you can expect to find in this September issue. But this month, I'm instead going to focus on a phrase I often use -- less is more. 

Enjoy the Island!