It's Getting There

I left for Richmond last Wednesday and got home late Saturday night, gave myself a day of "rest" and then hit the studio yesterday for 4 1/2 hours. Initially, I had promised myself no longer than two hours and to just work on two areas, but it's always better if you keep all parts humming together, so that's what I did. Now it's singing a happy tune that sounds something like..."It's getting there...It's getting there...". When that's the case, it's often a good idea to let it sit and start on something entirely different. We'll see if I can resist the urge to get out a straight edge and work on some things that are wonky. I need to channel another song, "Let It Be", and move on to my doggy portrait. Maverick, the doggy in question, stands taller than me on his hind legs and is full of joi de vivre as is what I consider an inborne trait of Goldens. I am praying that I capture that in the portrait and have chosen my photos to work from with that in mind. Then, when that painting has to rest, I can get started on any one of 5 paintings I want to do from my trip to Richmond, Monticello, Carters Mountain Orchard, Williamsburg (where I didn't photograph a single building) and Newport News' mouth of the James River.

Let It Rest

One of the keys to enjoying your painting is to not obsess over it. That said, who doesn't obsess over the good and the bad when you're working on something you care about? I just call it my "magnificent obsession" and try to quit working by 6:30 p.m. so it doesn't keep me up all night. I solved the problem I was having with the water and am not really sure what I did that made the difference. If you had seen it at 4 p.m. yesterday, you would have thought I was out of my mind because the colors were all over the place and it looked doomed. But, scraping and paper towels took off what I didn't want, and adjusting the hue on some shadows really did the trick. Had I not been obsessed with "getting it right", I surely would have given up. One of the other keys to happy painting, I've learned, is to give it a rest. Sometimes it's just a matter of leaving it in your studio and getting on with other things that take your mind off of painting. In my case, with this painting, I will be leaving town for a few days and so will let it rest here at home without me. No, I don't always book a trip to get away from my paintings, but it seems to be the case with this one, haha! I did the major drawing and then left town for 9 days. I immediately had to get ready for a camping trip, so it had to sit all by its lonesome another week and a half until I had finally cleared my calendar and my life for some dedicated painting. I've put in something like 12 hours this week, so that's why it's moving along so "fast". Now that I have the bridge in, I will turn my attention to the clouds. I actually love them a lot, but know that they need to be lightened up some to be a reasonable part of the scenery. If you encountered clouds that dark, you wouldn't expect to see any defined shadows, but the day we were up there, the sun peeked through in different parts of the sky, so I have to represent what you aren't capable of seeing from the view I'm painting. So, I'll give it a rest and plan out where to hit it next week. It also gives you "followers" a rest from this dialog. Enjoy your time off!

Shoulda Left Well Enough Alone: the Painter's Lament

I like to take pictures of the progress I make on a painting, for all sorts of reasons. I think it's instructional to see it in it's various stages, it helps me to see it from "afar" so as to judge it in a more detached way, people who eventually own the piece like to have a chronicle of its creation. But, sometimes it will turn around and bite me in the butt with the "painter's lament", why didn't I leave well enough alone?? All I can say is that I knew I needed to bring up the value of the water on the right side of the bridge and you wouldn't believe how much paint I put on and scraped off, leaving little bits of color, in an attempt to bring in the different shades of the ripples and the reflected light off the clouds/sky. But, on another note, the strength of the huge bridge has been established. So, there's that.

360 Bridge II In Progress

I started the painting sketch of this bridge a month ago, knowing that I was going to be out of pocket for at least 3 weeks with Sami's move and then our camping trip. I'm glad that I did, because then it was so easy to step in and start the painting without worrying about the drawing. It's a big canvas (36x48), which will take a number of painting sessions, and I have a Christmas deadline so it was wise to get that early start. I worked on some of the water on Thursday and liked what I got, but then messed with it more after I had been working on the rest of the painting and am not so sure about the green-ness of it. I may go in with a red glaze and see if that brings some of the depth back. I wanted to get everything covered with paint for a good start and then bring in the bridge. Everything seems a little intense and sloppy (my usual beginning), but I think the strength of the bridge as focal point will work nicely to pull it all together. I'll, of course, work on the cloud and plant forms more, and there are plenty of other details to consider, too. We shall see.

Plein Air Painting on a Campout

We had the most beautiful weather on our annual camping trip to Inks Lake State Park. Every day was clear and sunny, the shadows long because of the time of year. The lighting was dramatic on the landscape and made my eye very happy! However, since I wanted to be social with all our fellow campers, I needed to set up my easel on my campsite and work quickly. Well, one works quickly while painting en plein air anyway, because the light changes so fast. I chose the view from my campsite, the light in the reflection in the water under the log I found fascinating. I initially was only going to do the sketch and then go launch the boat and drive around the lake for a bit. Then, come back and put in the color that I knew would be there later in the day. But, my hubby was content to sit with a beer and hang out with our friends in the next site, so I just kept going and going. And used the painting knife. Friends would come over and watch over my shoulder, which I found a little embarrassing because my work always has a sloppy look to it when I'm working. It smooths out as I work the layers with the knife, so I think it looks okay now and definitely has the feel of how quickly I was working in that hour!

"Zilker Gardens Water Lilies" 9x12 oil on canvas board I forgot to mention that I attended my first Plein Air Austin paintout at Zilker Gardens last month and my painting of water lilies was accepted for the PAA show which is up right now at Bass Concert Hall, 5th Floor Gallery. The reception is Sunday, October 10th, 2-4 pm. I understand that the gallery is open during the weekdays as well if you can't make the opening.

Further work on "Sami's Sonata Lilies"

Ready to be signed. "Sami's Sonata Lilies" 14x18x1 1/2" oil with knife on gallery wrapped canvas. What a thrill to finally get to put in the yellows! What a chore to work through all the shadow colors, though. Why is yellow so hard??

Sami's Sonata Lilies

Daughter Sami is moving to Richmond, Va. in 4 weeks to live and work at their state health department as an Emerging Infectious Diseases Fellow, a position she got through the CDC after graduating with honors with a degree in Microbiology from University of Texas. She's one smart cookie. I decided to do a couple of paintings for her new apartment and have started on the first of the series of Sonata Lilies from a bouquet she got from her boyfriend celebrating their 1st year anniversary. They were the most wonderful flowers, staying fresh and opening more and more for over a week. I took two series of photos, once at 5 p.m. and another time at around 10 a.m. I liked the light on both of them, but wanted to do the more golden light of late summer afternoon for Sami. I'm sure the other photos will provide plenty of inspiration for more Bonga Botannicals. I like to do a value sketch in a complimentary color and then bring in layers of glazes on top. That means that nothing I do is ala prima and can take 4-5 painting sessions for these smaller works (18x24). I'm looking forward to using the painting knife more tomorrow and bringing in the wonderful yellows of the lilies.

Sorry 'Bout That

"Berkeley Bird of Paradise" 24x30x1 1/2" gallery wrapped canvas. Oil with knife. "Hibiscus II" 24x30x1 1/2" gallery wrapped canvas. Oil with knife. "Tulip" 24x30x1 1/2" gallery wrapped canvas. Oil with knife. "Off Season" 30x40x1 1/2" gallery wrapped canvas. Oil with knife. "Turtle Tree" 30x40x1 1/2" gallery wrapped canvas. Oil with knife. I thought that perhaps I was a few months behind on paintings postings, but not 6 1/2 months! I had hip replacement surgery on my right hip, at the end of March, which went well. I was back to painting within 6 weeks and have had some good success with paintings since then. I'll just post them all and let you browse a bit. Pretty soon I'll be changing the layout, so that I can use this site as my primary paintings site since ekaweeka seems to be down permanently. Bummer.

Update coming soon

Mo' Paintings (in progress)

I Have A Painting In This Show

Turtle Tree

I'm so excited about this new painting. The colors mellow me right out and I think it has an Oriental feel to the composition. It's called "Turtle Tree" because the turtles love to sun themselves on this low hanging tree which barely skirts the water. Since this is just the initial block-in, you can expect several more posts of the painting in progress.

"Storm Wave" is done!

"Storm Wave" 30x40" oil on canvas I worked mostly on the foreground which needed a little more defining. Added some lights on the tops of the waves and adjusted the height of part of the wave. I love the colors and wish I had a place to hang this to look at it every day. What I'll do, instead, is keep it on the easel downstairs until it gets replaced with the next work-in-progress. AND, I will enter it in a couple of juried shows and see if anyone bites. One of the shows is meant for working artists who've cut their teeth on lesser shows, but I figure I need to get my name out there and don't mind entering (and being rejected) until I do make it. It's all part of the process.

So Nice To Sign A Work

The title does not bely exactly the feelings I have when I sign a work. It's actually more like panic, haha! Like, am I sure I have no more to say with this painting? The panic usually gives way to a sense of completion but rarely is it one of glee or a state of celebration. I don't know why that is. When you finish a project, don't you immediately want to go out and celebrate? The signed piece is the "360 Bridge", 30x48" impasto oil on canvas. It was a commissioned piece and I keep wondering why he's content with the title since this bridge has been named Pennybacker Bridge. Perhaps, like me, he's used to calling it the 360 Bridge. Just like Town Lake is Town Lake and not Lady Bird Lake and MoPac is rarely referred to as Loop 1. Gotta love Austin for its ambiguity. I thought I'd include a photo of a work STILL in progress. "Storm Wave" is going slowly, but I don't mind since I'm enjoying painting large swaths of color with my palette knife and scraping off areas to reveal the color underneath. It's been nearly pure pleasure to do this one and I think I'll miss it most of all when it's done. When I sign it, I will KNOW that it's done because the canvas won't accept another bit of paint, haha! No, seriously, for some reason I just know that the next time I pick up a palette knife and work on this painting will be the last time as well. Time to move on and I can't wait to tackle the next one!

Updates on Work

I am still working on the 360 Bridge, but this week is its last in my possession. I will add one more car to the bridge because it is bugging me to have all the focus on just the two. I'll paint the sides and then it's wiring and varnishing time and off to its new home. "Pond" is in its new home. It sold at the Maranda Pleasant Gallery Holiday Art Box Show on Saturday, December 5th. "Potholes" is hanging in the juried 12 Buy 12 Show at Austin Art Space and was used in the ad in the arts section of the December issue of Austin Monthly. It's the "Cool" issue, and that was my reaction when I saw that my piece was one of only 4 used in that ad. I have started and finished another painting in the 12x12 format. It's from my hubby's hike to Devil's Hole at Inks Lake State Park. There are tons of rocks, big boulders, so I didn't make the trek this year.The water was running like crazy after some great rainstorms this past Fall, which has been a rarity the past few years. Made for some great inspirational photos for me!

360 Bridge and Pond Update

Here's the latest on the 360 Bridge. I'm nearly ready to include cars...if I decide that that is what it needs. It could also have a boat being loaded on a trailer. We shall see. I don't think I'll work on this until I get back from visiting my mom. It's good to let paintings sit and percolate without the daily viewing that mine get, sitting in the dining room. This second one is a 12x12" that I started yesterday. It's of a small body of water, like a pond, near the waterfall at Devil's Watering Hole at Inks Lake State Park. I didn't get tight and define the rocks underneath the water, even though I was gaining my inspiration for the subject from a John Singer Sargent painting of a pond with underwater rocks. The format is too small for much detail with a knife.

Potholes and 360 Bridge

A friend of mine reminded me that I've been lax in posting, so here's the latest on my work in progress, 360 Bridge, and my finished one, Potholes. We just got back from 4 days of camping, so I don't have much time to go back and find earlier versions of the bridge in its progress. But there will be plenty more, I can assure you! I was so inspired by the light on the trees at Inks Lake, that I think there will be a painting that takes precedence over the storm wave. I would have painted out there, but people all arrived at different times, so there was really no alone time. I may have to go back if I can't remember that tree well enough with the photos I took. I took them from shore and from my boat.

Bummer

I just looked at my last post and realize just how much I loved the initial sketching in of the storm wave. It looks nothing like that now, because I'd gotten ahead of myself and brought the values up too soon. What I have now is nearly all middle values and the process will be to slowly bring up the values so that the light looks like stormy weather is approaching. I hope I'll love it. I worked on the Potholes with my new paints and am in love with them! They're nearly all translucent which makes for some lovely layers of paint. This piece is becoming a favorite of mine, but is destined for a show at Austin Artspace, which means it will probably sell if it makes it through the jury process. People buy at those shows and 12x12 is a reasonable size for most folks. I'm learning to not get too attached to what I'm working on. I should just enjoy the process. I also have finished the painted sketch of the 360 Bridge. That is going to be one really fun painting! Can't wait! I finally had some sun today, so I got a better photo of "Vieux Lyon" and a final photo of "S. Padre Sand Dune II", since that is also finished. Hooray! My very talented brother, Ski, is thinking of creating an artist's website for me. I'm looking forward to that and hope that him hitching his wagon to my "star" will be profitable for him (and me). Enough for a good bottle of wine at least!

Updated Photos To Come

We've had rain and overcast skies for days, so it's not all that easy to get photos of what I've been working on. I think Wednesday is supposed to be nice, so I'll try again. I will just do a short update on the S. Padre Sand Dune II (30x40), since I've worked on it since this photo and consider it done. Just need to sign it and photograph it. I've started 3 new paintings since my last post: The 360 Bridge (a commissioned piece), a small (12x12) abstract painting of an area in S. Africa called the Potholes, and a huge storm wave (30x40)! They're all fun, all compelling and all exhausting to work on. I'm in my element!