Dipping my Toes in the Water

Line of Trees, 6"x12", Oil on Birch Panel, 2010

So I guess I might be the stubborn sort. I want to keep this blog going even if I have been moving further and further away from it lately. Maybe it's all the fame and fortune it brings me that lures me back???? No, probably not that, hehe.

But there is something here, because every day for the last few months I kept thinking that I should write a new post even though I didn't really feel like it. Maybe I just needed a good long break to reassess. It has also occurred to me that maybe, and it's a real longshot, I have become totally sick of talking about myself all the time. Maybe I am preferring the short sound bite style mentions of myself and my activities that I post on Facebook. The ones that seem to fulfill the same need to express what I am doing, but take much less time and thought and get much more immediate feedback. Or maybe 4+ years for a blog is a really good run and I should close it up. Just a few of the many theories that I have been pondering in the last two months.

Well whatever the reason, here I am again and I will keep trying to find my balance in all this social media stuff until some sort of answer clunks me in the head.

Ok, so here is a brief update on life in Tracyland during the last few months:

-new hen house in the garage
-45 new egg layer chicks
-raised 40 meat chickens
-drove my kids everywhere everyday
-kids at summer camp and at Outward Bound at various times, but never at the same time
-husband out of town on our 17th wedding anniversary
-signed up to participate in a community yard sale day then bailed out because we were overwhelmed by all the sorting that had to be done
-read 'Open' by Andre Aggassi, my love
-mucho gardening but mucho problems with critters and weeds
-The Fabulous Beekman Boys
-me sending paintings to a new gallery for a try out
-me getting the paintings back after they received ZERO interest from customers
-one of my black paintings being accepted into a national juried show
-the start of a new series of portraits that I am SUPER excited about
-spending July and August preparing for a solo show in September
-a few shows added to my schedule for 2011
-and signing up to do several things I have avoided in the past which could be good but I am doing them mostly because the art business has been pretty slow again this year.

The list of things that I have NOT done this summer and should have, is much, MUCH longer.

So who wants to hear more about what? Speak up, otherwise the next post will be all about raising meat chickens. heh.

Pregnancy and Painting

Patterns, 2009, Oil on Birch Panel, 20x24

So several folks asked me about the use of paintings supplies and materials during pregnancy. I wrote a rather lengthy post about my studio practices a few years ago and after rereading it I think it is still accurate. Since I didn't actually paint though while I was pregnant, I can't really offer much advice other than to say that one of the main reasons that I didn't paint during those times was because I was leery of the effects of using oils while pregnant. I had heard so much conflicting info on art supply safety, but in the end I just didn't want to risk it.

However, y'all got me started on the pregnancy thing so I will tell you what kind of art I did do while having babies.

When I became pregnant with my first little baby, I wasn't really doing any painting or drawing. I owned a small company called redesign (see picture of my product line here and had been making handmade clocks, picture frames, mirrors and boxes. I was taking them to trade shows in NYC and doing pretty well, selling them to small gift shops and catalog companies (Ballard Designs carried one of my mirrors once) but then we moved to Utah and poof! most of my business dried up. I was still filling an order or two when I got pregnant, but I let everything go after that. We were already raising our adopted son too, so I decided that I wanted to focus on being a parent. But because I was so incredibly tired, I mostly ended up watching the entire O.J. Simpson trial while growing that baby. My son might not realize it yet, but he learned everything about the trial of the century while in utero! He was conceived, born, and almost walking between the time of the murders and the acquittal.

When I was pregnant with my second baby, I was filled with unbelievable energy and that's when I really started to miss making art. I still didn't feel comfortable using oils, so I decided to focus on drawing. I went to a figure drawing class each week, where everyone watched me get bigger and bigger, until one week I brought the baby to class with me and she slept in a car seat next to me while I drew the figure. I haven't looked at those drawings in years, but at the time I felt like I was doing the best figurative works I had ever done. I mostly used charcoal or graphite woodless pencils, which are still my favorite thing to draw with. Also during this time, I taught myself how to knit and to sew and began making a quilt. Never did finish it, but I do still have a box of squares stored away. Someday.

I kept up with all this after my oldest daughter was born (still had awesome energy) and even decided to take a volunteer position at the local arts group where I organized the visual arts department, scheduled classes etc. And that is when I took a pastel workshop with artist Colleen Howe. I fell in LOVE with pastels! They were easy to pick up and put down, great for someone with three kids, including a toddler and a baby, I love the drawing aspect and the colors! Wow! That was how I began using saturated colors.

While I was pregnant with Ginger, my third baby, I still did the occasional pastel, but at that point our house was bursting and the only place I had to work was in a very small three season porch, right next to the cat litter. So mostly I just kept up with the knitting and sewing. Right after Ginger was born, we bought a larger house and I spent several months overseeing the remodel it needed. I fell in love with that whole process and learned more about plumbing, electric and how not to get ripped off by the sub-contractors than I ever thought I could learn. Once that project was finished and we moved into the house, I really felt like I would just die if I didn't get back to painting. I had my own studio (don't get me started on how big and beautiful that space was or I will cry) and was able to get a few hours here and there and for awhile a neighbor girl came in and played with the girls so I could paint. I was also doing some pastels during this time, but frankly once I picked up the oils again, I wasn't quite so interested in the pastels any longer. My boxes of pastels are still tucked away and someday I will pull them out again.

Anyway, I have often regretted taking so much time off from making art, but now I see how much those other activities really feed into my current work. So I just try to do what I can to be a good parent AND to make up for the years that I didn't paint. I am a firm believer in silver linings.

My Road Map for 2009

Plaid Dress, Oil on Birch Panel, 12x16

Ahhhhh. The last day of 2008. But more importantly to me at this moment, it's the last day of the month, which means I am done with posting here every. single. day. Not that I have hated it, mind you. In fact it was fun, a good challenge and it also came at a good time. I was feeling a bit like I needed a break from the blog and now after posting so much, I feel energized about it all again, even if it has taken quite a bit of time each day. However, I feel great about the last month here-I had a birthday present contest, wrote a few sob stories a bit about my background, struggled with a decision about going to a residency and even participated in 100 Things, a meme going around in blogland which is the sort of thing I don't usually do. I do wish I had been painting more though, so I could have posted more new work.

The last half of 2008 was a slow time for me, I didn't have much, well anything really, going on show wise and even though I was trying to develop some new work I was pretty lackadaisical about it. I wanted to be busier but just couldn't be. I guess I just needed a break and it came at a good time, because looking back I see that I was getting pretty close to being burned out about art completely. As it is I am only close to being burned on painting landscapes, and I think I have even backed away from the edge of that by taking such a good long break from it all. On a more personal note, the slower time was really important for me to adjust to Ginger's diabetes as well. I have had time to research it, and get used to it all and I needed that. So I have no regrets about my less than productive second half of 2008, except that I wish I had spent more time enjoying it rather than feeling guilty about my productivity.

But now I HAVE to get moving! I have an exhibit schedule this year, as well as some goals to move my career along. I had a plan for all this which included spending a month at the Vermont Studio Center, however that was scrapped because of our personal finances. So I have rearranged things and in some ways it is much more practical for me to stay home and work in my own (new!) studio.

I am not making new year's resolutions exactly, and I don't usually like to talk about what I will do (I worry about jinxes) but I am feeling pretty excited about all this so what the heck. I have most of the coming year mapped out which will just so happen to start on January 1st, actually more like Jan. 5 which is when the kids go back to school, but whatever. This is what I have planned for the next three months:

1. I am taking the whole month of January to work on the figurative paintings. I have decided not to pursue new gallery representation based on my landscape work, with the possible exception of finding a new seasonal gallery, perhaps in Cape Cod again. I already have two galleries showing the landscapes/barns and I don't want to go back to doing quite so many paintings for so many different places and events (I still love painting the landscape and want to save myself from burning out on them).

To that end, I will finish 20 figurative paintings on panel in January and hopefully at least 15 of them will be good enough to send out in order to pursue new representation.

2. In conjunction with the figurative work I will do at least five monochromatic underpaintings on gessoed paper each week, of the figure, with the intent of leaving them as is, meaning no color glazes.

3. I will continue to paint 5-10 small paintings per week to sell on my other blog.

4. And even if it kills me to do it so early, I will put together all my tax info from 2008 by the end of January. It actually doesn't take that long, it's just one of the things I really tend to put off doing each year until the very last minute.

5. I will also spend an afternoon each week or so, working on some collage ideas I have which combine my painting with the photographs I have been collecting for the figurative work. I did some of this in college and it was something I never really pursued after. So naturally, that's all I can think about doing now. heh. Anyway, this is just a fun thing to do, something I didn't do enough of in the past when I had so much going on.

In February, I will have to shift gears a bit as I have a solo show in April to prepare for. So continuing on:

6. I will paint at least four landscape/barn paintings each week in February and March, with several being large scale (for me), 40x60 or so.

7. I will continue on with the figurative pieces, painting at least three per week (or possibly every other week since I don't have unlimited storage). These are most successful when I work in batches so I should have at least three going at a time.

8. I will continue with the monochromatic paintings, and will probably still try to do five per week. Once the paper is prepared and everything is set up, it is just as east to do five as it is to do one or two, so I may as well do as many as I can.

9. And this year, I plan to keep up with recording my expenses each month, instead of going back and digging out the receipts at the end of the year. It should be easier this year to keep up, since I am pretty well stocked for supplies, have no money to spend and don't plan to go anywhere or do anything. Might take me all of 2 minutes to do a bit of bookkeeping each month....

10. And also in February I will begin sending out my info to the list of galleries that I have been putting together that I think may be receptive to my figurative paintings.

I will suspend everything though in the last few weeks of March so I can finish everything up for the show that opens at the beginning of April. I have another show in August and will have to prepare for that in June and July, mostly June actually because the kids are out of school in July and I figured out a long time ago not to expect to be able to get much done when they are home on summer vacation.

Unless more exhibition opportunities come up, for the rest of the year I will work on finding a way to balance working on both figurative and landscapes. Both subjects need different things from me, but I am sure that if I keep working consistently I will be able to get better at doing both at the same time.

And because no list of resolutions goals is ever complete for me without including losing a few pounds and exercising more I will add that as well. I have let my exercise go in the last few years and even more in the last few months, so that along with a recent issue involving Lindt dark chocolate truffles means I need to get out for a walk each day at the very least. So a daily morning walk (and no chocolate)is number 11.

12. Ok, let's make it an even dozen while we here. I will have to post here just a bit less in 2009. When I started the blog I was pretty faithful about posting each weekday, but in the last 6 months or so I got a bit spotty with that. Not because I didn't have time, but because I didn't have so much going on, at least as far as making art goes. I was also feeling like I had told all my good stories and I wasn't too sure that I had much more to share. Like I said though, this last month helped me feel more enthusiastic about the blog again. BUT once I sit down at the computer to write a post, I tend to go on to other things and before I know it the day is almost gone and the school bus is coming up the road. So I will need to have at least a few days where I don't sit down at my desk first thing each morning. I have decided to post Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays, posts where I talk a lot (but don't worry, few will be as long as THIS post, thankfully:)). And if it turns out that the work I am doing is presentable, I will put up an image or two in between.

Well, this is my plan. Now that I have put it out in public, I will stick to it right? Um, right. Actually I feel pretty confident about this, I am excited about what I will paint and anyway I have a few tangible deadlines to keep me on track.

A quick comment about the piece shown above: I think it is one of the best portraits I've done so far. It has many of the elements that I want my portraits to have; a sense of reality, a few abstract qualities, somewhat disturbing emotions and good color. It also happens to be on my favorite support-birch panel. Coincidence? You decide...

Thanks for reading my little old blog here, and for sticking with me through this crazy post-every-day-for-a-month-thing. I am going to take a few days off now, but will be back on Monday, all ready to prattle on, and to paint too.

Happy new year, everyone!

Purse Lady

Oil on gessoed paper, 11x14

So I did manage to get quite a bit of painting done yesterday after all. I finally got the color on to three underpaintings that have been sitting here in the studio for nearly two weeks. The ones that have making me feel really lazy during this entire last week. You know, for trying to have a holiday without working in the studio.

I am still feeling giddy from last night's late night painting session as my true calling is to be a night painter! Alas, real life is suspended right now during school vacation and so the possibility of night painting will end next week when I must start my days before 6am which will render me totally unable to see clearly after 8pm, or 10pm if I am lucky.

Anyway, this painting shown above is the first one I did yesterday. It's another portrait of my favorite unhappy looking woman and I like this one much better than the first one I did of her a few months ago. Doug says it's a little creepy and somewhat disturbing and I take that as a high compliment.

And in other news (about me, of course, what else is there, heh) I got second place in Making a Mark's Best Portrait by a Female Artist. Thanks to everyone who voted for me! I really was excited to have this new work nominated, but I also think that the piece that did win "Zen" by Nicole Caulfield, deserved the top spot. I actually might have put "Paul" ahead of myself as well. Katherine has also awarded me the “Tales from the Frontline” Mention in Despatches / The “Amusing Musings” Trophy for 2008 in her end of the year awards and I am very excited to add a new trophy to my shelf full of 30 year old bowling trophies. Especially if it is a virtual trophy and not a shiny statue of a bowler with some sort of tacky, yet very glittery five inch high base.

Thanks Katherine, you have been so supportive of my art and also of my little blog here. I really appreciate it!

Painting, Painting

Under the Sky, 2008, Oil on Gessobord, 5x7
Well, so far this vacation has passed in a somewhat boring haze of nothingness. The kids are watching just a bit too much tv, we are all staying up too late and sleeping too late in the morning and are wasting away much of the day as a result. I have been trying to get some painting done and I could, since no one is bugging me too much up here in my attic hideaway, however I have been caught in the web of my computer and so not much has been accomplished.

But today I turned on the lights at my easel, which nearly always gets me going. Then I set up my paints which is the real clincher! I have finished one of the the portraits that I started before all this holiday silliness began and I am planning to do another one after I post this.

So you'll forgive me if I go now. My paints are calling me, and I am anxious to put some color on my crabby old lady portrait. I will leave you with this link though, to a couple of self-described old ladies whose blog I came across during the recent election. I have been enjoying every word they write and I can only dream of being so blunt when I am their age. Warning: If you are a Sarah Palin fan or a George Bush fan, do not go there - you will become upset, I promise. If you are NOT a SP or GWB fan, go forth and enjoy!

I am Choosing to Look at the Bright Side

Storm Clouds, 2008, Oil on Gessobord, 4x4

My sales have slowed down considerably since June when my NYC gallery closed. In fact, September was the worst month I have had since I began exhibiting in 2004, with only one small painting selling from a gallery. Since June, two more galleries that represent me have closed and sales of my work are way down at all of the others. As I have said before, I do not take this personally, I know it's the economy. I am not established enough for my work to be viewed as an investment, and my prices are too high to be considered an impulse purchase.

I have mixed feeling about all of this. I can't say that I don't miss selling my work, I love the feeling that people like a painting of mine well enough to pay money for it and then live with it in their home or office. I really love that and it is a big part of the satisfaction I get from painting; that other people like what I do. Maybe that is politically incorrect to say if one is an artist, but I don't care.

So now, though, paintings aren't selling and I have some options (luckily I do have options because while my income is useful, our family is not completely dependent on it, thankfully:), most of which are a lot of fun. So despite feelings of unease about my "career" and where it's headed, I am also very thankful to have this time to reassess things. I am trying to develop new work, taking a much needed break from painting landscapes (I was edging close to burn out on those after painting so many, so fast, for years), yet I am able to go back to painting on a small format just for fun, and with a new vision of painting landscapes, all of which is very exciting. Although I haven't yet, I can do other things that interest me and that have been on the back burner for so long, such as drawing, collage, and working with encaustics. I am also taking my time in considering which galleries to stalk pursue and am holding out for one or two that will advance my career, not simply move it sideways.

There are some drawbacks to this silver lining though, the main one being that I don't really have any deadlines. I don't handle self-imposed deadlines well, and without constraints, I have a tendency to flounder a bit, and I certainly have been doing that. But for now I am relatively disciplined and am managing to be fairly productive.

This is a worrisome time for all of us. I can easily get myself so freaked out about what may happen in the future that I become immobilized. However, I just try to do what I can today, and remind myself that things are ok today. And today I have things to do. There are always things to do, right?

PS. But don't think for a minute that we haven't hashed over a few alternative plans. After all, Doug's company does sell expensive and ultimately unnecessary items (fossils) and while they are still doing fine, there are no guarantees. We have had more than a few conversations about how we could farm our 22 acres full time, pay the mortgage and feed ourselves; all of which will certainly include less art making and way more shoveling shit. Heh.

I Can't Even Think of a Title for this Post.....

Triangle, 2008, oil on Gessobord, 5x7

Hmm, surprisingly, I have very little to talk about today, however I didn't want to go another day without posting so here I am anyway.

I have just been puttering around lately. I have gotten a bunch of paper gessoed, there is a new batch of small paintings in progress, I have shipped out some new work to one of my galleries and have attended many, many, soccer and football events. Ach.

We did have some visitors which is always super exciting out here in the sticks. Even the dogs get really excited about visitors. A friend of mine, Amanda, who I met at the Vermont Studio Center last winter, stopped by on Monday along with her boyfriend. They are checking out grad programs and stopped to see us on the way to Syracuse. So that event necessitated some house cleaning which was a good thing, and then it was great to see Amanda again and to chat with both of them for the afternoon.

I have also gotten back to the figures and portraits. I did this underpainting last Saturday:
The underpainting makes me happy, it was fun to do and I like how it turned out, however I am not so sure that I will not muck it up at the next stage. Guess I won't know until I jump in. Doug has suggested to me that maybe the underpaintings should just be the paintings (with some modifications), and I am taking that under consideration.

Some of you may have noticed the list of my followers up at the top of the sidebar. I was unaware of this feature until I noticed on my blogger dashboard that I had two followers. This little glimmer of attention encouraged me to show off that I actually had two people following me so I figured out how to add it to the sidebar and now there are a bunch more! Most of you I know, but now there are a few that I am not familiar with and I am looking forward to checking in on those blogs. Anyway, thanks for following me. Heh.

Well, maybe something exciting will happen here between today and tomorrow so that the next post might be a bit more interesting. I make no guarantees though.

Here Comes the Night

Crazy Fields, 2008, Oil on Gessobord, 6x6

In the old days (before kids/husband/any kind of responsibility whatsoever), I only felt comfortable working in my studio at night, after dark to be exact. When I had to, I could get some work done in the daytime classes but that was definitely under duress. I was a night owl through and through and loved the night. The quiet, the darkness, the solitude, the pool of light at my table, even my scratchy eyes from being awake forever. I loved all of it and always felt as if I did my best work at night.

After the kids though, the nights were not my own anymore. They belonged to crying babies, breastfeeding, changing diapers, a snoring husband and the desperate hope for at least a few hours of sleep. Studio time, day or night, was not an option then, at least not if I was going to raise my kids the way I wanted to so I put it all aside for many years.

When I began painting seriously again, everything was different. I still felt like a night owl, but wasn't anymore. I had started waking up by 6am each morning and all of my activity was during the day; getting the kids off to school, cleaning, cooking, after school kid stuff, etc. By evening it was all I could do to stay awake until 9pm, I think because I was really working against my natural inner clock that wanted to be up half the night and then sleep in a few hours or so in the mornings. But I also decided that if I was going to work, it would have to be while the kids were at school only and that when they were home I was all theirs. This has worked pretty well for the last five years and I have been incredibly productive, even (gasp) making pretty good art in the daylight!

Now though, things are gradually changing. I still get most of my work done during the day (um well, I would if I actually had any lately, but that's a whole different post, hehe) but ever since I have gotten my own studio, which is a bit separate and even has a door that closes, I have been spending a lot of evenings working under my comforting pool of light. Not so much actual painting, but other things, like preparing supports, doing sketches, organizing ideas, etc. and quite often on the weekends I HAVE done some painting well past sundown.

I am totally loving my own time in the studio late at night, still with my scratchy, tired eyes, and cloaked in darkness. I even have some patchouli incense which totally makes me think of college, but mostly helps to get rid of the musty attic/new construction smell. My iPod has made listening to music while painting much easier (no getting up to change the album) and every song I hear now is my favorite. I even love it when Doug comes up and we talk about art while I work. Maybe this is the grown up version of studio time at art school.

I sleep even less now than I used to and although I know I could actually fall asleep at any time, anywhere, each day, I don't. And when evening comes I get my second wind and enjoy my studio time all over again and I marvel each time about how cool it is to have my nights back.

PS. Well I should add that I do go to bed a bit earlier several nights per week now that the TV season has begun. Oops, so much for the love of art. Heh. Sometimes mindless wins out.

When You're Right, You're Right

Horizon Lines (Seven), 2008, Oil on Panel, 4x4

Doug has told me more than a few times in the last few months that maybe the reason I have been feeling "off" lately is because I derive a good part of my daily energy from painting (I have done very little painting since early July). I scoffed at this observation at first, thinking that a. he was nuts and b. surely I should be able to function properly and with enthusiasm, WITHOUT painting all the time. After all, I did that for years while I was having babies.

Finally, yesterday, after he made his point yet again, I decided to prove him wrong. I scrounged up a bunch of small panels for a project that I am thinking about (more on that later) and spent the afternoon doing underpaintings. Mostly landscapes, along with a few barns, and in a bit of a looser style than I usually begin with. It was blissful getting my hands in the paint again and losing myself in the process. I can't believe I almost forgot about all that.

Today, I woke up feeling really enthused about everything, working in my studio as well as finishing up some of the other things I have going on such as painting the new living room/old studio (more on that later too). I am looking forward to doing some more underpaintings this afternoon and have decided to get back to my previous painting schedule, even if I don't have events coming up. I need to get back to it and end this strange limbo I have been in. Even if I did enjoy it at first, somewhere along the line it took a turn and I lost the enjoyment of a more relaxed schedule.

So it turns out that my husband knows me pretty well after 20 years and I will be thanking him tonight for his astute observation;).

Chuck Connelly (Edited 7/18/08)

Dandelions Forever, 2008, Oil on Panel, 9x9

Last night Doug and I watched this documentary about Chuck Connelly. I had learned about it a few weeks ago from a post at Edward Winkleman's blog and also Doug knew Chuck Connelly in college, they were at Tyler at the same time. So we were really looking forward to seeing it.

While nearly all the criticism I have read about the actual documentary was valid, we were engrossed by it and stayed up talking about Chuck, his art and art in general until midnight. It was sad to see a man so messed up, but yet, even though his career has been in the toilet for almost 20 years (it has been revived lately) what I found to be so awesome is that despite his alcoholism, anger, hatred towards the art world/dealers/other artists and well just about everyone and everything, he kept painting. It didn't matter that he wasn't selling them, or that he had lost all of the momentum he had had, or that he was a wreck, poor and destitute, he still painted. He made thousands of paintings because he wanted to, or maybe it's all he could do. But whatever the reason I admire him for continuing on. I am not so sure I would have had the same resolve and probably would have moved on to something else.

And while he clearly did not handle his gallery relations well at all, I have to say that I don't exactly disagree with many of his opinions about the NY art scene. I would not be happy with a dealer buying a painting of mine for $500 and then turning around and selling it for $10,000 and keeping the profit either. Not that I am even close to THAT art world though.

Anyway, I totally loved seeing a profile on a true painter and even though Chuck Connelly is NOT a person I would like to be around, I truly respect his work and his determination.

Since we do like to buy art now and then, and after seeing the show I rally liked his work even more, I visited DFN Gallery's website to see what was available. He currently has a solo show on display, which just so happens to coincide with the documentary. I emailed to ask the prices on the three paintings that we liked and they were all in the $35,000 dollar range. Oops! Not good for us, quite a bit out of our range, but good for Chuck Connelly. That is, if they sell more than just a few....

Drying Times

Bands of Color, 2007, Oil on Panel, 30x40

Jayne asked me a question about whether my paintings are wet when I send them out and also about using varnish. So here is my very wordy answer to her quick question in the comments of my last post. Poor girl!

Most of the time I like to work fast. So over the past few years I have developed a manner of painting that facilitates that need I have, but is flexible enough to allow to plan and consider detail, which is another aspect of how I like to work.

And my one of my limitations right now is that, for the most part, I can only work during the day. Since I have always liked to work with glazes it was fairly easy to accommodate that sort of schedule, with just a few adjustments.

So to start with, I use oil paint straight from the tube, and in forming the image I end up wiping most of it off, so it is a pretty thin base. After having a lot of difficulties with the drying times at this stage (read here), I found that Gamblin paints dry faster and since they have a color that I like for the underpainting, I was able to switch over. It takes about two days for the underpainting to dry, so I usually do them on Fridays and then they are ready to go by Monday.

The rest of the color layers are mixed with liquin, and they generally dry overnight. Unless I do a thicker, more opaque layer. And there are a few colors and/or brands of paint that take longer to dry. But for the most part I paint a a layer or so on each painting each day. Which is why I paint in batches. By the end of a week or so, I have anywhere from one to a dozen paintings finished. Depending on scale of course. And my energy level. Heh.

Anyway, when I am finished with the color glazes, the surface has some spots that are shinier that others, because in some areas I use Liquin more than in other areas. So to even it out I brush a clear coat over the entire surface. This is not really for use as protection the way varnish is, it just evens out the dull spots and also brings out the color. A more matte finish would make the paintings look entirely different.

I have read conflicting opinions about using liquin as a varnish in some of the artist forums. But personally, I have always used it as a last coat (except for some experimenting in college) and have never had any problems with it. The pieces that I coated with Liquin 20 years ago in college, still look great (well except for a few dings from being stored poorly in garages, attics and barns over the years, but that's a whole different issue). I can rework the painting if I want to or repair it if necessary, without having to remove and then reapply varnish. The last coat dries overnight, although if I am going to pack it up for shipping, I try to wait at least a few days.

I know that most painters apply varnish, but I have to say that having to do that might be a deal breaker for me! I am way too lazy to deal with varnish. Guess that could be considered another one of my limitations. Heh.

A Near Miss

I rarely show my work in progress, for a couple of reasons. First of all, I don't really like to get feedback while I am working on something-with the exception of when I ask for input from Doug. Secondly, it literally never occurs to me to take a picture before the piece is finished.

But I had an interesting thing happen with a recent piece and I did get some photos along the way. Mostly because I had thought it was finished and then after a few days I ended up reworking it.

And I don't do that very often either, making drastic changes can really result in an overworked look for me and a loss of the transparency of the layers.

The underpainting looked fine (above, top). I have to say that generally, I am pleased with the all of the underpaintings that I do. Once in awhile there is a dud, but even then, changing it in a later stage can be successful. So if I decide to let an underpainting dry, it's going to be a full color painting. Maybe not a good one because there are still plenty of chances to mess it up, but it will at least have a shot.

So anyway, I began to add the color here and after the first session, the foreground was fairly light (no picture of that stage, sorry). The next day, I decided that wasn't working so I darkened it and softened the path (second photo). At this point I thought it was finished.

But I couldn't seem to get myself to photograph it. After looking at the piece for a few days, and talking about it with Doug a bit, I decided to get rid of the hill in the back. Very rarely do I make such a change in composition, especially at this point, but this time I figured what the hell. I didn't think it was really working so there wasn't anything to lose, except that maybe I wouldn't have to drag the dang thing out onto the porch to sand it down if I could get it to work. I made the sky an opaque blue and left a bit of the purple around the trees. When I did that I felt much better about it and then I finally documented the painting (third photo, above). Then I saw the image on the computer I realized that I hadn't gone opaque enough and so I had to paint the sky yet again. grrrr. THEN I took the last photo (below).

I have to admit that I don't always stick with a painting this long. If things aren't moving along I often bail and I have a pile of bad paintings to prove it. But when I still feel some energy about a painting, I will keep going and do what I can to pull it back. It's a nice feeling to be able to do that.

This painting will be included in the show at Enderlin Gallery, that opens this Saturday.

End of Days, 2007, Oil on Panel, 36x36

Anything Goes

Shore Houses, 2007, Oil on Panel, 24x24

Yesterday's brief post about my hair in the paint led to some interesting comments. I started to write a response but it became as long as a post, not surprising given my chatty nature, so I thought I'd address the issue again in a post.

Chris mentioned that he was told by a gallerist that hairs in the paint are extremely irritating to them. I can understand this, as seeing hairs in certain kinds of work can be really distracting. However, if I heard this from a gallery that I am considering working with, I would take that as a big old sign that we would not be a good fit. My work is imperfect, messy, comfortable and full of texture. There are globs of paint on the sides of the panels, blotchy clumps of dried paint crud here and there and random gesso brush marks underneath it all. It would almost be unfinished if there WEREN'T a hair or two to be found.

I think most artists do what they can to get the hairs and whatever out of the paintings (I am particularly impressed with the efforts that Martha goes to, by cutting out the hair, sanding the ridge and reapplying the varnish. I have tried those sorts of things, but any kind of sanding will take my thin layers of paint right off so I am usually bettor off leaving it). But thankfully, we are not automatons and our studio environments are usually pretty relaxed. Pets are often included in the fun, not to mention expensive brushes that still lose their bristles. I have seen $20,000 paintings that are all slick and shiny and beautiful, but still have an occasional brush hair.

Personally, I love it when I see hairs and whatever in other artist's paintings. It's nice to know that others have the same issues that I have. And I love art that is so passionate that the artist doesn't notice or can't stop to pull out a stray hair before the paint dries over it. Seeing stuff in the paint gives it another layer of intimacy and a connection to artist and their environment. But while that is just my personal preference, what I love most about painting is that artists can do whatever they want, from having a warts and all approach to displaying their finest OCD tendencies, and everything in between.

So where on the scale are you? I think I am one step over from the warts and all approach. It's not quite anything goes for me, but it is close.

Voices

I have been getting just a little bit of work done each day. On Monday I finished up some smaller pieces and though I rarely do this (maybe I should, but that's a rant for another day) I reworked a painting that I had felt was finished, had already photographed and even posted awhile ago. It was sitting on the shelf just bugging me. You know, calling out, shouting at me and insisting that it still needed a few things. So I worked on it a bit and am glad I did. Especially since the voices have now quieted down. Heh.

Finished version of Tilting, 2007, Oil on Panel, 8x10

My Art Star Status

More houses on deck for today. I did this underpainting last week.

Despite trying to spend less time on the computer I ended up in a blog and internet-reading marathon on Saturday.

(By the way, I completely jinxed myself with the post on Friday. I said our snow was melting and then we had a storm that day that dumped almost another foot on us. I said I was going to have the house to myself all evening, so then naturally the circus was canceled and I watched a movie with my husband with 3 interruptions involving the most trivial of childhood disagreements-who did what to who first and who gets to watch what on the other TV. I said the sick chicken was doing ok and then she died on Saturday afternoon, during the one hour of the day that we left the house to go to the neighbor's maple sugaring off party. God only knows what will become of my painting when I try to get back to it today. Heh)

Anyway, I got a kick out of my -30 score on Lisa Hunter's Art Star Game. Clearly I am not art star material. Darn! Luckily though, no one that I have worked with as of yet, has ever been concerned with my age, my looks, my degree or my waistline (except for me, but that's a given). Of course I am not in the blue chip, NYC art world, and I suppose things are different over there, but I don't really care about all of that. And actually being an art star sounds like a pain in the ass. Twenty years ago I might have been interested but now I realize that all of those distractions probably wreak havoc on personal relationships, family, studio time and whatever mental issues one already has. I just want to raise my kids properly, paint, and hopefully make a half decent living at it.

Speaking of painting, I must get to work early today. I have a number of pieces that I must finish up this week, and since Doug and I will be going to the city on Thursday, I only have a few days.

Updates

Every Other, 2007, Oil on Panel, 20x24


A few super thrilling updates on life here in the country.

The chicken in the house (the laundry room to be more specific) is still alive. She isn't exactly better but she isn't worse either. Which leaves me in a bit of limbo. She can't go back into the coop because she still seems to be unable to walk very well, but I am not sure how long we should keep her in the house either. It doesn't seem to bother her to have numerous cats staring at her all day or a bird dog sleeping in the crate below her, so I will give it some more time I guess. She is eating though which is a good sign.

We have had enough rain and warm temperatures in the last week or so to make some excellent progress in getting rid of a lot of our snow. The huge drift on our patio is still pretty big, but it's much easier to get around to fill the bird feeders and get to the chicken coop. I felt giddy the other day when the front sidewalk became visible.

Painting? Oh right, this is a painting blog. I have been working each day, still at a fairly slow pace and starting too late in the day to be really productive. Yesterday I worked on another house painting, got the whole thing painted and then decided that the colors weren't working. So I rubbed off parts of it thinking I could try a few different colors to make it work but finally I just took all of the paint off and will go back to it today. I am not as frustrated as I probably should be, because I had this hinky feeling the whole time that I was working on it and was not in the groove at all. Which is totally no fun. So I am glad to be able to start again today as it is a nice composition, worth saving.

Despite working so slowly when I was hibernating and should have really been able to crank out some paintings, I actually have quite a bit of good work stacked up, waiting to be delivered to various galleries. I will be taking a short trip soon to do that.

And Doug is finally home, which we are all very happy about, believe you me! He was in the city for two weeks doing back to back trade shows and even though we are used to how much he travels, this was a bit much. The up side for everyone now is that he is totally in charge of everything this weekend. Darn, that means I'll be missing the (lame) circus to be held in the high school gymnasium tonight. I'll be so sad about that while I sit home in a quiet house and watch a DVD. Without interruption. I am practically in tears just thinking about it.

The Suburban Edge

Suburban Edge, 2007, Oil on Panel, 18x24

I have been working very slowly on the four underpaintings of houses that I did about two weeks ago. Whenever I look at them, I feel enthusiastic but when I actually get in front of them with a brush in my hand and the paint all ready, I freeze up. Where to start?

Usually, in the barns and landscapes, I find that the busier the image is, the less it works for me, so I simplify. The house images have so many more elements than the barns or the landscapes and so I struggle a bit with what to do and where to go. I am not used to thinking about color so much! Usually I just pick a color and the rest flows from there.

And coordinating the colors has been the biggest challenge. In this piece I had initially painted the house on the left a beautiful purple and the house on the far right was the same red that it is now. But the middle one wouldn't cooperate with what I wanted it to be. I probably painted it five different colors, white, blue, green, yellow, pink. Nothing worked to bridge the red an purple. Finally I wiped all the paint off of that house and left it until the next day.

When I looked at it the next day, the the answer seemed obvious to me. Even though I LOVED the purple house, that color was the real problem. I painted over the purple and changed it to the yellowish orange you see now, which allowed the initial color that I had envisioned for the middle house to work. So I ended up painting it almost exactly the very first color that I had tried the previous day-white (actually Naples yellow) with blue shadow.

It still needs just a bit of refinement, but it is basically finished and I am quite pleased with it. And it was good to be reminded of how important surrendering a part is to make the whole piece, well, whole.

Now I am off to try again with getting a purple house into this series.