. . . did nothing artistic

yesterday. I did clean up the basement/studio a bit and the paint table is ready to rock and roll. It's almost too clean. I hate to mess it up. Still waiting for that irresistible urge to create to hit me again. It will. Not to worry (talking to myself here.) I did try to figure out how to mat and frame some small piece of my art to give to my sister as a hostess gift for having Easter at her house this year. And I went out to the garden to see if there was any damage from the hard freeze the last few nights. The only thing that I could see immediately was that some of the redbud blooms looked fried. Soon I will go out and clean up the detritus from the winter, but I'm glad I haven't done it yet, because I think the leaves and stuff kept some of the shoots from taking a hit with the freeze.

Here are a couple of reproduction posters that I have, that I will probably never use. They came out of the artist's cabinet that I purchased years ago. Do you think the original of these posters were considered porn when they were issued?





No doubt they were at least titillating, don't you think, at the turn of the 20th Century.





This lady appears to have an artistic bent. I guess painting in the nude would certainly save your clothing from becoming paint spattered. These poster/reproductions are probably only about 10 x 12 or so. I was going to list them and a bunch of other paper stuff on etsy, but honestly, it became a project involving too much time for too little return. Okay, so just call me lazy.

. . . spent excessive time

trying to save a couple of small paintings that probably should just have been scrapped in the first place. I don't know what got into me. . .I kept working them over and over. Now I have officiallly given up, put them away. Yesterday I spent some time cleaning up the mess in the studio that comes with a burst of activity and creativity. That burst has dissipated. . . I don't know where I'm going next. I'm in a holding pattern, waiting for the next burst. . . kind of like little kids who exhibit sleeplessness or excess crankiness right before they go through a growth spurt. That's me, waiting for the growth spurt. I have been reading a lot, finished two books in two days. I have been sleeping a lot, too. And I have been reading and watching art technique books and DVDs. And I feel like I have lost a bit of my own "style" of painting in trying to emulate some of the things I have seen in those books and on those DVDs. So I will continue to clean up the mess downstairs today, examine my paintings to see what I like and what I don't like about them, and try to find myself back to making my own art.

. . . went, studied, learned

So I went to the art auction last evening. I went pretty early, and initially there were not many people there. I had an opportunity to study closely at all the art on display, everything from oils, acrylics, mixed media, collage, sculpture, photography, clothing, furniture, even some pretty famous artists (of course, I forget the names, but I do remember them as recognizable.) It was illuminating to see my art displayed amongst all the other pieces available. I had eleven pieces displayed, including one I had forgotten about. I had to look twice to make sure it really was mine. And even though I signed up to bid, the prices were completely beyond my buying capacity (but then, almost anything would fit in that category.)


I was standing over in the corner looking at some of my small pieces, all of which I have posted on this blog. A man came up and told the woman with him that he wanted to bid on two of my small pieces that would be perfect in their newly refurbished den. In fact, he wanted to paint the den one of the colors in the paintings. So far, so good.


As I was leaving, the place became more crowded, the music started, the food came out, and things were really getting busy. The silent auction ended at 7:59, but I left before that so I don't know if the gentleman bought my pieces or not, or if I sold anything else. Todd, the guy in charge, told me as I was leaving that he wanted to discuss some other opportunities for me to show my work in other venues. That's a good thing.


Here are some things I learned: In a venue like this, to be noticed, bigger is better. Brighter is better. Red shows up on the walls better. Odd is still odd, but can be eye-catching. Lots of people don't understand lots of art. People do buy art to match their decor. Furniture can definitely be art. Art is expensive. People are still buying art, and are willing to pay $10 for an opportunity to bid on it. Even though I try to keep an open mind, there are some forms of art that I do not appreciate. I saw some pieces that I thought were poorly executed, kind of sloppy, really, but perhaps that was supposed to be part of the art itself.

. . .had nothing, nada

to show for my work yesterday. I should have gone shopping, but instead I hung around experimenting, and it's one of the few times that all my experiments went awry and I made a lot of pink and pale purple mud. I also tried an inkjet gel transfer onto a heavily textured foamcore piece I had laying around, which might have worked if I had left it alone long enough, but oh, no, I had to peek at it and ruined it. So I'm posting this photograph from almost a year ago because I hate to post without some kind of picture.


Tonight I am definitely going outside my comfort zone. I am going to wander down to the Art*Bidz Auction in which I have a few pieces to see what's going on. AND I'm going by myself. Now this is a big deal for me. I generally don't go out by myself after dark (I know, what a wuss) and this auction is not in the relatively safe suburbs, either; but I have to start sometime and this is as good a time as any, right? Plus I don't know anyone who will be there. . . and what if no one likes my pieces? I also don't know what to wear to this kind of event, but I'm going for comfort, because I will be uncomfortable enough without having to worry about my clothes.


So, having revealed all my insecurities, I will leave you all to have a wonderful weekend. Please send up a message to the art gods tonight at about 5:00 p.m. CDT asking them to watch over me.

. . . did retail therapy

today? For a Christmas gift, I received a gift card to Nordstroms. I saw it, I saw Betsy playing with it, I took away from her for safekeeping, and I forgot where I put it. I remember searching through all the trash, gift wrappings, boxes and bags, with no luck. Then the other day I put on a pair of jeans, checked the pocket, and there is was. That means I only wear jeans about once every three months, I guess. Now I have to decide. . . do I use it now or save it? I don't need anything right now, especially not from Nordstroms. I kind of wish it was a gift card to the grocery store. But maybe shopping would give me a boost. Maybe I could just go and look, and if something caught my eye, something that I couldn't live without, I would at least have the option. . .Yeah, it's truly burning a hole in my pocket, almost literally.





Here are a couple more small paintings on canvas, 6 x 9". Honestly, they're all starting to look alike to me. Must find something new and different to keep my interest engaged. Just another symptom of my art ADD. The sun is shining so brightly on my computer screen that I can't really tell whether the color is true on these paintings or not.



Here are

. . . kept painting small

Here are a couple of new experimental paintings that I continued to make using up odd bits of canvas. I have just a few more pieces left and then I will have to break down, buy a new roll of canvas, and try to translate what I'm learning on these small canvases to the big canvases. But I'm becoming convinced that small paintings are the way to go these days. More affordable art, possibility of sales to new clients, plus I like making them. I used some of my new mark-making tools in these paintings, probably most noticeable in the bottom one where you can see the diamond-shaped texture from the gutter guard stuff and the round PVC thing with the lines in the opening. These are 6 x 9" and I scanned them, and usually on scans I get a pretty good likeness. But in person, these paintings are much more moody, sort of darker, brooding. Not as much red. . .oh, I don't know, they're just better in person, trust me.

Onto another topic: Do you work to live or live to work? I read an article in the newspaper this morning that surprised me: about 2/3 of the people questioned in a recent poll said they lived to work. I hope those who live to work really enjoy what they do for a living. I know people who live to work but have forgotten how to enjoy anything, including their work. And this brings up another question: do you identify yourself by what you do or who you are? Or is it the same thing? I read in another place recently that in the United States, most often when you meet a new person, you want to know "what they do" but apparently in parts of Europe it is considered impolite to ask that question. Here's another quote from another source: "For a long time, whenever people asked her about what she did for a living, she always said, 'Artist,' though that implied that she was compensated on a regular basis, which wasn't true. . .In recent years she'd say, "I used to be an artist. . ." (From The Ten Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer.) I don't have a logical conclusion to this, just random stream-of-consciousness ramblings that are somehow connected.

. . . watched painting DVD

I was lucky enough to be able to purchase "Acrylic Abstract Painting: The Evolving Image," by Virginia Cobb. For about an hour and a half I was fascinated by watching Cobb paint three abstract images using acrylic paints. Each painting started from a different design element: line, shape and texture. Each painting was presented in three stages, from the initial random paint applications, through the fine-tuning of the design elements, to the final addition and perfection of the details. I loved watching what tools she employed to make her marks and spread her paint. I found myself trying to anticipate where she would make her adjustments, and being pretty pleased with myself when I guessed correctly. She used a lot more water with her paints than I usually use, maybe because she's primarily a watercolor artist. That's something I want to try, too. The best advice I took from the DVD was to walk away from the painting and think about it when you get to the point that you don't know exactly what you want to do next. Seems obvious, I guess, but I tend to plunge ahead and usually end up having to redo something or I make a mess of it.


I purchased this DVD from Creative Catalyst Productions, Inc. This company is now offering online "rental" of these DVDs for short periods of time, which I think is a fabulous economical idea.