"Evening Bouquet" Watercolor & Gouache 25x35"

I’ve been working on new paintings for the Salem Art Fair and getting them framed this week. The painting above is larger than my usual work, which means it is more difficult to frame. I feel like I’ve made a breakthrough though, in that I finally figured out how to cut mat that is oversized on my mat cutter. Today I will pick up the glass, and then the whole thing can go together! This painting has taken longer than many, and gone through many versions. I took my time, though in the finishing & I’m very pleased with it. I love the creamy colors you can get with gouache!

I hope many of you will plan to come out for the art fair this weekend. Not only is it a great chance to see art & hear music in a beautiful setting, but it is a valuable fundraiser for the Salem Art Association. The art association brings such wonderful programs to the community. One way you can tell, is by the fantastic volunteers that show up each year. I’ve been doing the show for quite a few years, and made so many friendships in Salem! I’m looking forward to seeing some of you See the link above for complete information… hours, maps, etc.

I’ll leave you with a picture from yesterday morning… as I was talking to a friend on the phone, this sweet young thing pranced into the lower pasture. I barely caught it on film before it was gone

Another reason I’ve been waking early is the chickens, or more precisely, the rooster. It seems we have a rooster in the flock and my godson has named him Benny. He is becoming more proficient at crowing, and recently practices throughout the day, beginning at 5 a.m. He’s taking quite a liking to his ladies too, and I’m hoping that signifies that they are reaching the stage when they may start laying. Here is a collage of some of these lovely creatures They are really fun to watch.

I’ve still been making time to paint… Here are a couple of new images.

"New Vista" - Watercolor & Gouache 15x22

"Contented Solitude" Watercolor & Gouache, 11x15 copyright 2010

I’m deciding which new paintings will be framed, which will be entered in juried competitions, which will need more work. My next show will be the Salem Art Fair & Festival, July 16, 17 & 18, 2010. I hope to see many of you there! Mention my blog for a 10% discount My gift to you! Directions, hours and a listing of participating artists are available on their website: http://salemartfair.weebly.com/visit.html

I’m also so excited to be readying one of my paintings for shipping to the Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition. The juror this year was Judy Morris, whom I respect & admire for her beautiful watercolors. The show runs from September 11 – October 31, 2010 at the Foothills Art Center in Golden, Colorado. If you find yourself in the area, stop in & see the show. It will showcase 80 of the top watercolor entries from across the United States & beyond.

Finally, I’ve been spending lots of time in the garden. The vegetables are up and need daily weeding, and we have finally finished the gate and fence surrounding the patch. I did lots of research online until I found a gate design that I liked, and my husband built a very close replica. Here is a link to the original idea which I found on the site of Kirsch-Korff.com. They have some beautiful gates! And here is the gate we made! We still need to install the arbor above…

Now we are hard at work on the hillside below the vegetable garden. This was originally lawn, but so steep I didn’t like to take the riding mower on it. A few months ago, we had the tractor guys, Bob & John DeNino, move some of the huge boulders from our pastures to the hillside. Last week they came back (now that it is dried out finally) to do some digging.

John & Bob, hard at work

Last night my husband & I took our little tractor and moved some more rocks, digging them in by hand to make steps and a path in the terraces. We have more to do, but here it is in progress:

Almost ready for planting!

It's hard to be patient till it is done!

I have been shopping for plants and have a good stash built up, but still need more This garden is keeping me fit!

Finally I’d like to thank all the new subscribers who have signed up for email updates. I’m sorry it has been so long since my last post! I guess I need to get up earlier!

Here at home, I have to prepare my own snacks. Often I reach for something sweet or salty… crackers or cookies… brain food! By the time I’ve munched a little bit, I feel restored enough to face the next decision in the saga of my painting. I lost quite a bit of weight last year, but if I keep this up, I’ll have to go on a diet all over again

Just for your entertainment though, I’m going to share a recipe that had been haunting my memory until just recently when my friend Ellen kindly shared her recipe for ‘Kin Kahn.’  Kin Kahn means Golden Treasure in Japanese, and these kumquats steeped in Sake are a true treasure.  Ellen shared these little yum-yums at our book club retreat a few years ago, and I couldn’t get them out of my mind.  Another friend tells me that in Argentina these are made with brandy and can be quite strong. Maybe I’ll try that next.

Kin Kahn – Golden Treasure – (I call them Drunken Kumquats)

About a dozen kumquats – prick each 2-3 times with a toothpick , cover with water and simmer 10 mins.

Drain & discard water

Mix 1 1/4 cup water, 5 tbsp. Sugar, 1/3 tsp. salt, 2 tbsp. sake  and simmer kumquats in this mixture for 30 mins. Refrigerate, letting the fruit rest in this liquid overnight.

Delicious served with toothpicks as an appetizer, or with a little pot-liquor poured over vanilla ice-cream. (twelve is only enough for one or two people in my humble opinion! You might want to double the recipe)

Next time you’re faced with a tough decision in your painting… try the ‘snack’ method. It works for me What do you do when you reach that point?

Very few people possess true artistic ability. It is therefore both unseemly and unproductive to irritate the situation by making an effort. If you have a burning, restless urge to write or paint, simply eat something sweet and the feeling will pass.   Fran Lebowitz.

I can’t believe time has gotten away from me for so long. It’s been three weeks since I posted! I’m torn  between trying to catch up in one long post, or dividing this post into shorter, topic specific posts. I guess that would probably be the best way.

The past three weeks have been spent: Painting at a workshop with Skip Lawrence in Santa Barbara, babysitting my 3-yr. old godson for 3 days, visiting my oldest daughter at OSU, spending some down time with a doozy of a cold, and working in  the garden. Spring has sprung and I’m so happy to be getting things accomplished!

I loved every minute of painting in Santa Barbara last month. Some of my paintings were successful and others weren’t, and that is a good thing. I think that if all of them were successful, I wouldn’t have been pushing myself. It was great to have a whole week to just focus on painting and nothing else. It is amazing what that can do for your creativity and confidence.

I wonder when people see my work at a show or gallery if they realize that its always a struggle to make time to paint. I wonder if they realize that Pollyanna doesn’t always sit in the room with me saying how wonderful each work is. Doubts creep in, rejections are recalled, the laundry needs to be done, the weeds are sprouting, the darned phone starts to ring just as you pick up a brush.

One of the women in our class invited the whole group to her beautiful home in Montecito for a potluck dinner on Thursday night. One of the highlights for me (aside from the stunning views and gorgeous art collection) was visiting her studio. I love to see where artists work. I wish I had snapped some photos of the actual space (but it was full of artists!) One thing I did bring home as a souvenir though, was a list she had taped to her easel.

NOTES TO MYSELF ON STARTING A PAINTING

(RICHARD DIEBENKORN) 

-ATTEMPT WHAT IS NOT CERTAIN – CERTAINTY MAY OR MAY NOT COME LATER. IT MAY BE A VALUABLE DELUSION. 

-THE PRETTY, INITIAL POSITION WHICH FALLS SHORT OF COMPLETENESS IS NOT TO BE VALUED – EXCEPT AS STIMULUS FOR FURTHER MOVES. 

-DO SEARCH, BUT IN ORDER TO FIND OTHER THAN WHAT IS SEARCHED FOR. 

-USE AND RESPOND TO THE INITIAL FRESH QUALITIES BUT CONSIDER THEM ABSOLUTELY EXPENDABLE. 

-DON’T ‘DISCOVER’ A SUBJECT – OF ANY KIND. 

-SOMEHOW, DON’T BE BORED – BUT IF YOU MUST, USE IT IN ACTION. USE ITS DESTRUCTIVE POTENTIAL. 

-MISTAKES CAN’T BE ERASED BUT THEY MOVE YOUR FROM YOUR PRESENT POSITION. 

-KEEP THINKING ABOUT POLLYANNA. 

-TOLERATE CHAOS. 

-BE CAREFUL ONLY IN A PERVERSE WAY.

I giggle to think of the illustrious Richard Diebenkorn trying to channel Pollyanna while painting. Reminding himself to keep a positive attitude… let it flow. I think there are enough grains of wisdom in that quote to expand into several posts.

In our class, there was one woman who had never picked up a paintbrush before. She is a successful physician and signed up in the hope of learning to paint before taking an extended trip around the world. She had admired the work of another artist who studied with Skip and recommended him as a teacher. 

As experienced artists know, it takes much more than a week to learn to paint. But her enthusiasm and naivety allowed her to create something quite wonderful on the first day. On subsequent days, her critical mind got in the way and she was less successful. It was an interesting phenomenon to watch… Pollyanna was helping her on the first day! Once you’ve been painting for quite a while, it’s harder to get Pollyanna to stick around to watch but if you could tie her up in the studio, telling you things like wow! great job! that’s beautiful!, etc. it just might help.

The sun is shining & I’ve GOT to get out in the garden! Next post I’ll share some of the work I did in class. I’m quite pleased with some of them. Do you paint near Pollyanna? I’d be interested to hear your perspective.

"Wetland" Watercolor on Yupo at the Riversea Gallery

Recently at my opening at Riversea Gallery, I tried to make note of some of the questions and comments from the patrons in attendance. One question  I’ve heard before that came up was “What’s with the Birds?”  I guess this is as good a time as any to address that question.

I can’t remember a time when I was not attracted to birds. As a shy, introspective child I would sit apart on the school bus and stare out at the hedgerows and trees, searching for nests for the entire torturous duration of the ride. On visits to the garden center I hovered near the pet aisle, breathing in the happy chatter of the budgies and canaries and marveling at their brilliant color. They always seemed so exotic to me. I found peace and solitude walking  in the fields and forests, observing the redwing blackbird in the marshes, the raptors hunting over the grasslands, the goldfinches fluttering in bursts of brilliant energy on my grandmother’s dandelion studded lawn.

I’ve been a hobbyist birdwatcher, waiting each year for the return of the wild swans to the wetlands, marveling at the loud plumage of the Evening Grosbeaks, searching the cherry tree for the Cedar Waxwings dropping pits on the ground.  Each seasonal visit from the more unusual species kept me wondering where they came from, how far they traveled, what their winters or summers were like. My favorite perch as a child was a small bench in the crotch of the enormous cedar tree, away from the clatter and noise of our busy household.

When I began to develop as a painter, my initial focus was on still life. Many of my early paintings included bird imagery. Birds were a part of my daily life, watching them indoors and out… at various periods I kept a canary, a parakeet who learned a large vocabulary and a cockatiel. But I also loved the symbolism that birds offered, the allusions to literature or music offered by a blackbird vs. a canary. As I transitioned into a figure painter, birds showed up in even the earliest paintings.

Is it necessary for me to explain what the birds in my paintings mean to me, or is it enough that they hold significance and symbolism? In some cases, I don’t know. I only know that I feel compelled to include them. In general, I feel that when I include a bird in a figure painting, it allows the figure to be content with their solitude. The bird’s presence is voluntary, it is a gift given freely, though possibly fleeting. It reminds us of the beauty of nature, its power, its capricious nature.

The Swan

 

Did you too see it, drifting, all night, on the black river?

Did you see it in the morning, rising into the silvery air -

An armful of white blossoms,

A perfect commotion of silk and linen as it leaned

into the bondage of its wings; a snowbank, a bank of lilies,

Biting the air with its black beak?

Did you hear it, fluting and whistling

A shrill dark music – like the rain pelting the trees – like a waterfall

Knifing down the black ledges?

And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds -

A white cross Streaming across the sky, its feet

Like black leaves, its wings Like the stretching light of the river?

And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?

And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?

And have you changed your life?

 

- Mary Oliver

 

This week I had some very good news! My painting “Garden Companions” has been accepted into the California Watercolor Association’s 41st National Exhbition. The show will run July 14 through September 19 at Gallery Concord, 1765 Galindo Ave., Concord, CA 94520, phone (925) 691-6140 for hours. If you’re in the Bay Area, check it out!

"Garden Companions" watercolor on paper 15x22"

If you like birds as much as I do, take a look at the new treasury I put together on Etsy last night… Happy BIRDday to me http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=125716

Creative work makes me happy, but the subsequent pauses for rest are all the more painful, for then one begins to think things over. – Hugo Wolf, Composer

"Gathering" Watercolor on Yupo 25"x25"

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I posted! Tomorrow will be my opening reception at Riversea Gallery, and I’m both looking forward to seeing the work hung, and aprehensive. It is always a jittery feeling wondering how the paintings will all look together, whether any will sell, whether anyone else will like them.

When I delivered the paintings on Wednesday I was very excited by the feeling of accomplishment. It has been a good month getting so much work done, and seeing their positive response was gratifying. But now, on the eve of the reception, I start to have doubts. Thank goodness for the steadfast few of my friends who have promised to be there to ease my jitters!

There is so much to be said for making a public declaration. Once it’s out there, it really motivates a person to follow through! I recently sent an email newsletter to my email contact list. If you’d like to join, you’ll find a button on the sidebar to sign up! The newsletter has resulted in a few small sales (Thank You!) and a bit more productivity for me. I publicly stated that I’d be listing a few unframed originals on my Etsy site, and now I’ve done so! Also, if you haven’t checked out the new class listing on TeachStreet, be sure to do that. I’m trying to make it really easy to sign up!

Have a great Weekend

part of our new flock

 I’ve been busy this past week painting, getting photos taken of the new work, planning my framing strategy, writing my artist’s statement, and generally worrying whether my paintings are looking their best. It’s kind of like the frenzy of getting ready to give birth!

Amidst all this activity, spring has arrived here on the farm. We’ve been planning our garden spaces, adding new babies to the flock, enjoying the new blossoms, building fences, and generally nesting in our new home. Here are some images to share:

An orchid shows her beautiful face in the window

Artist buddy Laura Mack's new baby at the Salem Art Association Auction

Jamee Linton and her cute husband at the auction

I’ve really been enjoying the support of my fellow artists lately. It is difficult to imagine what it’s like to put yourself out there, at an auction, exhibition or gallery unless you’ve been there yourself. It’s nice to compare notes, and realize you’re not the only one!

One of the ways I connect with fellow artists is by blogging. It was nice to meet artist and professor Jessica Burke at the Salem Art Association auction on Saturday night. We had exchanged messages via blog, but it was so much fun to meet her in person! Blogging is not just for networking, but also inspiration. Leslie Avon Miller shared a thought-provoking question on her coaching blog this weekend:

What is one of the top energy boosters in your creative practice (or life) that nourishes your creativity, your body and soul, and how can you honor that even more?

For me, it’s not just nature and life, but also music and poetry. I almost always have music on in my studio… all types. I love the random setting on my ipod, and it’s always interesting the way the songs that come up serendipitously dovetail into what I’m painting. I keep my poetry books close by, and sometimes type out parts of poems to keep on my inspiration board. These are some of the things that provide my daily inspiration, what about you?

Winter Morning View

I’d be interested in your response to this question… leave me a comment!

New work, influenced by my new surroundings!

"Private Tune" watercolor on paper 9x12"

I’ve been really focusing on my studio habit this month in preparation for my show at Riversea Gallery next month. This means I have to say no to more social things, be really focused on routines and habits, and be really efficient in my household tasks. A lot of support from my husband helps too!

I’ve noticed that the search for new inspirations has really opened me up to trying to pick up other habits too. Spring is a great time to do this! We seem to have increased energy, the light lasts longer, and I can feel new things shooting up everywhere.

One of the new things happening for me is the advent of more landscape influence in my work. I wrote that I had felt this coming on in this post…way back in August. I had such a positive response to the landscape painting I did for The Whistling Season show for Lake Oswego Reads, and it was so much fun to do too…. The painting even sold at the show! Maybe the recent press in The Oregonian was an influence there… In the actual newspaper my image was featured. I always wonder who the purchaser is. If you are an artist, does this make you curious too?

Meeting Ivan Doig was a huge inspiration. He was a brilliant speaker, easy to talk to at our exhibit and had wonderful things to say about the creative process. When someone asked me how I got such color into my landscape, he quipped: “Just tell them the same thing I do: you used your imagination!” Another thing Doig said that has stuck with me was a quote from Vladimir Nabokov about writing: “The writer must use the PASSION of a scientist and the PRECISION of an artist.”  By this he meant that to be creative, you must be a passionate explorer… one who is always asking ‘what if’? But you must also be able to find the perfect balance of imagination and reality… be the artist who can fool us into believing that the illusion before us is real.

I had a nice compliment this week from someone who bought a print on ETSY… she said my painting made her think she WAS the girl in the yellow dress at the flower market. That is always my clue to when a painting is finished… I can forget about the details and feel myself in the painting. Here is a new one… I am walking the dog It has undergone a few minor changes since I photographed it, but it is near completion at this stage. Look for the differences when/if you see it in person. After I get the show together, I will be rephotographing things and updating my website (finally!) I also plan to list a new class here in my home studio. It will be Thursday mornings, starting in mid-May. More details to follow

Winter Evening Walk, Watercolor on Yupo

 I will leave you with part of an inspiring, motivating poem by Mary Anne Radmacher  (used with permission) that I have hanging in my studio to remind me to work hard:

Be avid,

Create apart from perfection. Risk failure. Cover your words with sweat. Run a little.

My favorite part is “cover your words with sweat.” That’s what I’ve been trying to do lately….

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. (20^th century abstract expressionist painter Hans Hoffman)

Getting ready to move is an exercise in getting organized, and I need it badly! People often look at the volunteer activities, teaching, parenting and art that I do and assume that I am organized. I assure them that I am not. I just work hard. Really. I’m not joking. I-am-not-organized. My house assumes the illusion of being organized, but beneath the surface there is a jumble. Everything in its place? nope. Everything is someplace though, and I do mean everything. It is amazing what a house can hold in its dim dark recesses.

Yesterday I woke up, took a peek at the comments on my blog, and suddenly realized…. horror of horrors…. I had framed and sent the wrong painting for the NWWS show! As I was framing the painting in a rush on Monday, I thought to myself that it didn’t seem as good as I remembered it. The figure’s arm and hand looked wonky… the background was too simple…. it didn’t stand a chance to win an award.

As I glanced through the blog yesterday morning after already delivering the painting it hit me… I had framed the first version of “Explorer” not the second, much finer version. I ran upstairs and quickly shuffled through the paintings in the flat file…. no Explorer. Where was it?

Oh no, did I accidentally sell it? No, I wouldn’t have done that… I knew it was a competition worthy painting. Did I take it to the gallery? No, I hadn’t framed it yet. Did I accidentally leave it at critique? No, someone would have called me. Did my private student accidentally pack it home in her portfolio? I called her… nope! Panic was setting in now. I started saying the rosary passionately. I dug out the St. Anthony (patron saint of missing items) key chain.  I called the woman who is transporting the paintings to Seattle, explaining my dilemma. She said I had until late evening to find the painting and switch it.

OK… it must be here somewhere. I tore apart the flat files and moved them to see if it had fallen behind the huge pieces of furniture. Nope. As I was doing that, I meticulously sorted through each drawer, looking for that darned painting on each side of paper, beneath mat board, collage papers, sketches from life drawing…. etc. I searched both portfolio cases, behind the paintings I had done in that same month that were already matted & shrink-wrapped, thinking maybe I had done it on the back of one of those. My friend arrived to paint the utility room. We moved the dryer and found the masking tape & paint roller. I wondered if I was losing my mind.

I contemplated fabricating a story about how someone had broken into my house and stolen just that piece of artwork as I explained why my painting could not be exhibited. I reminded myself of the plans I had just made to attend the opening with my friend Mary from Montana. I imagined greeting the juror and explaining why my painting didn’t arrive at the show, and the look of derision on his face.

Finally the only place left to look was the back of the image I had already framed. I wouldn’t have been so stupid as to miss framing the correct painting just because I had the wrong side of the paper would I? I called my friend. She opened the frame. There was the elusive “Explorer”. I had framed it wrong side up. I guess that will teach me to try to be thrifty by painting on the other side of my rejects. I’m just so thankful that I realized my mistake before the painting actually travelled to Seattle!

Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it’s not all mixed up. (A.A. Milne, English author and creator of Winnie-the-Pooh)