Artist diaries

Okay I am starting a new painting project and I wanted to follow my progress on the blog here. There is a big art show in Castle Rock every year called the Castle Rock Artfest, and this year I am going to try to get in. This is a juried show which means every artist has to submit slides of their work to a jury and be selected. This show draws about 25,000 to 30,000 people. I am desperately trying to create more work because I don't have enough to bring to a show. So over the next 8 weeks or so I am really going to start focusing on my paintings. The first one I am starting is a collection of two paintings that will hang side by side. They are long and thin, 51 inches by 14 inches. I am using pictures from the same series that I painted "Where the skirts Fly", but in these paintings I am intending to abstract the image even further than before. I have been thinking a lot about my art, who I am as an artist and what sort of relationship I have with my art. I can't say that I have any answers but I have started this dialogue. I have also been considering the work of one of my favorite artists who is Georgia O'Keeffe, and last night I was reading in one of my old art history books and they briefly discussed her work. I will quote from the book titled Art Since 1900 by Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, Yve-Alain Bois, and Benjamin H. D. Buchloh. They state in the section of Early American Modernism that, " It was left to Georgia O'Keeffe to salvage the lyrical subjectivity that some artists hoped to wrest from the machine age, but in order to do so she abandoned images of production and consumption altogether. After a decade of intermittent paintings of New York, she turned away from the city, and eventually rediscovered, in the desert landscape of the American Southwest, a relation to objects and images that reasserted rather than overwhelmed the body... with her abstracted flowers and landscapes... [she] recaptures self-creation for her own art of nature... In doing so, she charts an alternative identity for American artists, especially for women, one that departs from the machine age and its myths of modernity," (2004, p. 225). I love the idea of turning away from the hustle and bustle of society and rediscovering the beauty of creation. I feel that through my art I am creating a place that I believe exists but that I can never quite find. I love the beauty and yet the solidarity found in the American Southwest. There is this duality and tension between lively, colorful culture and the quiet reverence of the desert. Anyway these are some of the initial thoughts that I am having.

I wanted to post some pictures of my temporary work space and the canvases that I've made. I will try to keep updating as I make some progress.

Pictured here is the first canvas and you can see that I have begun to draw out my painting. Essentially the blue edge of the skirt will weave in and out of the painting. The size is turning out nicely because if it is hung low and you stand next to it you almost get the feeling that it is your skirt flying through the air. And yes that is a bag of sunflower seeds, which is a necessity for me and making art, I'd like to thank my brother for that.

Late afternoon sun.

Here is a slightly clearer shot of the sketch so far. 

Until next time...

It is finished

Alright, I finished my painting of the fruit, and not a moment too soon. I got it to my friend Saturday, and it was for a Christmas present, so to say the least it was down to the wire. I think it turned out well, I don't usually like still life's but it has this dramatic feel to it, so I think it came together.

I just want to take a break and enjoy Christmas for a few days. Though I am sure there will be a bunch of stuff that I will have to do before I can take it easy.

Day 3

Alright so in an earlier post I talked about a painting I am doing for a friend of mine for Christmas. She is paying me (yay, this is the first time ever!) and I need to get on the ball with this one. So last night I got the picture all scetched out on my canvas, which I made the other day, and today I started the painting process.

I thought it might be cool to chronicle the process. I have to say I am really nervous about this one. I hope she likes it. I get so paranoid that I will put all kinds of time and energy into something and that whoever I give it to won't like it.



So this picture is what I did last night. I sketch what I am going to paint onto the canvas, this ensures that everything is mapped out the way I want it to be and that all my portions are correct.



Today I started putting down some paint. I began by blocking out some larger areas. I am using Acrylic paint, so when I am ready to do detail stuff I have to work quickly because it dries so fast. I worked on the bowl for a little while, but it just wasn't working the way I wanted it to so I moved onto the first lime. I am usually hesitant to show people my work while I am working on it because just that, I am still working on it and I don't want people to dislike something that hasn't been finished yet. I got a majority of the lime done today but there are still some details I need to work out. As I continue the painting, it is not unusual to revisit parts that I have already completed because a lot of the time I have figured out a way I want to work it. Sometimes you just need to move on and come back to it. Every time you force something, it never comes out the way you want it. Kind of like life I guess.


Alright, so day 3 is complete and I will try to keep everyone posted on my progress.

New Project

I am still working on my coffee table, which I am beginning to think might be slightly evil, but I have accomplished several things for which I am proud. One, all of the painting in the house is complete, (I know I already said this, but it was a big job and I am happy that it is over), Jay/Bob Villa built some shelves for our entertainment center, and I pretty much have all of my pictures hung.

So besides the continual work that I have to do on the coffee table, it is time to get painting. On an earlier post I put up a picture of a painting I want to work on, which I still do, but I have another that is going to supersede it for now, (because I am getting paid to do it!) The painting is going to be a still life consisting of a bowl of fruit. At first this did not sound overly interesting, but I took some pictures yesterday and they came out pretty good. The picture I am posting here is nice because it is a fairly dynamic picture of the fruit, and compositionally (I know this is not a really word p.s.)it is well put together. I love the light and how it brings this drama to the picture, yet it maintains a certain level of serenity. I was showing my Mom these pictures and she informed me that she now wants one and that I should do a series, which I might to depending how this translates into a painting. I think this would be a great candidate for oil pastels as well. I am really excited to get working on it, and I think it would make for a good photographic print as well!!!

I also wanted to post one other picture. I went shopping last week with darling Jennifer and I was pretty proud of my purchases so I took a picture of the loot, (I acknowledge here that I totally ripped this idea off of her, and you should check out her blog which is castlerockcouponqueen.blogspot.com, which is also listed in my blog roll.
Not pictured are 4 whole chickens that I bought at 68 cents a pound as well as about 10 pounds of ground beef!

One may notice a correlation in these pictures, and that would because I took them all in my kitchen on my island. I have to say that is one of my favorite spots in the house! Sneak peak... I am planning to put a very rustic chandelier in there!

Schedules, and the sequel

I think if I were an Olympic track athlete, I would be a sprinter, here is why… I seem to be able to get a ton of stuff done in a really short period of time and am able to find ways to maximize my efficiency. However, endurance is not my game. As soon as I have pushed through the hard part, I can’t seem to find motivation to keep it up. I bring this up because at the beginning of this week I had a laundry list of things that I was determined to get done before Friday, and let me share that I have completed almost none of them.

What is my deal? If I could maintain a certain level of efficiency I could get so many things accomplished that I would like to, but I don’t, and in this way I am my own worst enemy. So I need to slap my self around a little and get it together. I am thinking that I am going to try out creating a fairly detailed schedule so I maximize my day. We will see how it goes, I think I will try it out next week. A quick p.s. on this one, I would love any tips (advice or money is acceptable. If you are interested in the latter, I would love to work out payment options.)

I am going to quickly note that I switched out my background today, and it was a serious pain! I really wish I knew how to design a blog from scratch. I don’t know why it has to be so difficult.

Another note. Jay has kindly set up a work space/ studio for me in our new basement. I have been missing my daily painting adventures. I have one painting that I am going to start for a friend of mine, and then after that I have found the next picture that I want to do. As many of you know, this past summer I spent a lot of time working on a painting called “Where the Skirts Fly”, and I have found another picture that I took that would make for a great painting.

I am hoping that it can have the same dynamic qualities as my first one. So here is the picture. I am going to get rid of the signs in the back, but other than that, I think it will look really good, especially if they were shown together. YAY I am so excited!