WIP Finished!

Try as I might, I can't seem to get a picture of this that satisfies me. However, I am still going to show it to you because I am excited that it is done!

36"H x 24" W

I have painted the edges, sprayed on its final protective finish...so yeah, finished! yay!

As this is just for fun, and something I would take more care with next time, in that all the shots are different angles and such...but for this time around it will have to do...

How my painting progressed:



So...what's up next? More in this series I think...at least that is my thinking this a.m....could be different by this afternoon! But really, right now this very minute, I am fighting angst about my messy studio, and trying to prepare panels for the next paintings, so they are ready to go when I am, because I really really hate that part of the painting process...

Oh...it's not so bad I guess...but you know...sanding...gesso...sanding...filling...sanding...it's just sort of mindless. And sometimes, mindless is good, I'll grant you that. And right now, given my aforementioned studio angst, it's all I can handle.

Still, I've got a show in November coming up, and two art hangings at the beginning of 2012 (!!!!). so I need to get my sh*t together.

WIP monday night

Here's what I did this afternoon/tonight:

First I felt like just a wee bit of blue was needed (it's really sort of a bluish green)




detail:



Then I put on some iron paint to rust:



The patina solution is on there but the rust hasn't developed yet...hopefully in the am it will have developed...

FEAR NO PAINT!!!!!!!

Tomorrow a.m. depending on how the rust looks, I will either add more iron or I will begin to knock back the rust a bit with some white/off white. We shall see. G'night all!

I didn't get to paint at all yesterday. which sucked. But oh well. I got up this a.m. and did what I wanted to do yesterday:


a detail:




So... you see...sometimes you really ARE rewarded when you take the plunge and set fear aside and experiment. Well, I confess that this is not exactly an experiment...I mean, I knew what I was going to do, for about two days. I know what I am going to do next. It's IS an experiment in the sense that I don't know how it is going to look exactly, when it dries. It should be more translucent than it looks here because the paint in this layer is mixed with soft gel and thus, should be more glaze like. I didn't have the heavy gel I had planned to use, so I had to use soft, which is not quite what I wanted. But then I thought...ok Amy...you can make do with what you have, or you can put it off until you get to the art store to buy what you want. I still plan to go buy some heavy gel, because I think it would give me the texture I want in the future..but...I didn't want to put off painting for yet another day.

Oh and surfing around the art blogs I found out that Cy Twombly, who has recently passed away did the coolest stuff....and how come I didn't know about him???? Google him and see what you think...

The Key is...what?

So...I have been having a discussion with a good friend about art lately. I have been posting updates on my current piece and she mentioned that she would have such a hard time covering up the layers that I had done....and that my ability to do this is what leads my art to have depth, that it seems to be the key...

Well, I don't know about depth...but I certainly was flattered by her comment. :) In part, here is my response to her comment:
It *IS* key...one of the things that Jesse Reno talks about in his classes is this process of covering up and rediscovering and making things better...even if they go through these ugly phases...those are my words, not his. And it is SO hard...and you know...most people in his classes can't or won't do it. He makes it seem so easy...he keeps going when the rest of us would have stopped...but it's not easy for most of us...certainly not me...but I think that the PROCESS is almost key to really developing as an artist...getting too attached to things is not always a good thing... So I just grit my teeth and started painting over it, and collaging and so forth... I figured that initial layer was the EASY part. It really was, it was fun and effortless for me and I LIKED it. And so I forced myself to go on. I know that I can do it again on another board at another time, especially if I hate this one when I am done. Or I can paint over this one...I mean...it's just paint, right? the trick really is to balance the idea of the sacredness of the paint and the mundane aspects of it. Because really it is both mundane (if I hate it I can paint over it, it's only paint) AND sacred (oh my, I really love this, love what the painting says, the feelings I get from it, etc.)

I am a big fan of Jesse Reno's work, have taken a class with him, etc. And I remember the distinct ... discomfort in the room that day when he would encourage people to paint out sections of their work, or even when he would paint out sections of his own work! You could nearly cut it with a knife! And yet....being able to let go of something in the hopes/belief that what emerges next will be even better is so important. I don't know how he makes it look so easy...so effortless!

But of course I am not Jesse, or any other artist, for that matter. I can only work on own stuff, work through my own attachments, expand my own thought process... And it's really hard sometimes...

and you know...sometimes...a girl just wants to make a good painting...without so much THINKING! :) And SOMETIMES...you are well rewarded for setting aside your fears and doubts and just diving in and seeing what happens...

I really should know better than to paint in my good clothes. Seriously. Will I ever learn? maybe. Maybe not.

anyway - here's a progress shot of a painting I am working on tonight...It's got to dry over night before I can do more. And really I have to clean up this studio so I can work on more than one thing at a time. Sheesh. Oh how I'd like to rent a warehouse and paint there! yeah...that's not gonna happen any time soon...

Greetings everyone! It's been a couple of weeks since I posted last. As much as I enjoy reading other art blogs you would think that I would make more of an effort to update my own. It's all I can do to update my website! sheesh.

I do have some good news though - I sold 7 paintings to a couple that had been waiting patiently until they had the money to buy some pieces from me. isn't that amazing! So, never discount the possible client who expresses interest in your art, because you just never know! they are such a nice couple and I was happy for them to have my art too.

Of course this makes me realize that I need to get cookin' if I want to have enough stuff to hang at the salon next February... AND I plan to do the Puget Sound Gift show in Edmonds in November. I need to make some things for that too....small paintings and perhaps some more bracelets... It's the first time I have done that show, but I hope it is a success!

I did rework a painting that I had done...oh...probably 3 or 4 years ago. It was hanging on the wall in my studio...just hanging....it was ok...just not...great. So I re-worked and I think I am satisfied...for now, anyway.







I've also been doing little doodly things in my art jouranal...which is both writing and pictures...Here's a sample:


OK - that's about it for now. Hopefully more pics to follow soon!

I've been checking out other people's blogs lately....and have decided that I extremely LAME when it comes to keeping up with my art blog. Seriously LAME. Sigh. Oh well - onward and upward!

ARTSplash 2011 went very well and my jewelry did great! I am happy about that because it's been a long time since I showed any jewelry. I also managed to get a few new paintings done, 3 of which sold. woohoo!

I am considering doing some short videos for youtube...just too how they are received...that is IF I can screw up my courage to do so...nothing like a camera to make all of your self-conscious monsters some out of hiding... I'll try to keep you updated.

Here's a new painting: Ghost tree, 18x18, mixed media on panel:


Looks like I got a few reflections when I took the picture (probably because I did it at the show...)

Upcoming show angst

Hi all - it's been a while hasn't it? Life does seem to get in the way of updating the blog about... life! At any rate, I've got a few things on my mind. First and foremost is the upcoming ARTSplash show in July.

Yes, that seems a million years away, but if you know anything at all about deadlines, then you know that they approach very quickly.

So, I have got some things in mind to paint, notes in my notebook(s), but... I am toying with the possibility of also trying to sell a few pieces of jewelry on my little table in front of my art work. I always think I am going to offer cards and prints and so forth, but I never do seem to get around to the actual production. and then there is the conflict I have selling jewelry at a show where I know there will be OTHER fabulous jewelry for sale...and of course I know these other artists and consider them friends...

So, those of you who have known me for a long enough time, will know that I used to make jewelry a million years ago. I recently unearthed my unsold stuff, which is quite a bit! And man...some of it is really awful! I know we grow as artists, but really..what was I thinking when I made some of this stuff???

I've been a little obsessed with making jewelry lately, mostly because it's easier in so many ways to set it aside when life gets in the way, which is often.

Now of course I have to struggle with the thought that maybe I am using jewelry as an avoidance technique for not painting! Ack! Talk about conflicted. I've always been a big lover of jewelry, love to make it, wear it, admire it. Painting is newer to me, but not that much newer.

I don't want to burden you all with my angst about what to actually do/make/sell at the show, but if you see jewelry there too, don't be too surprised. Sometimes it's good to type this stuff out...get the mental juices flowing!