Been thinking about this subject lately. A month or so ago, I showed a few of my paintings to a gallery owner. For the first time in my painting career, I was told that my paintings don’t have enough detail, that they look as if done plein air. That is French lingo for on site, which translates into “I’m painting as fast as possible because the light won’t hold still and I can’t possibly be careful at this crazy pace”. Exclamation of Surprise! I LOVE detail! I am a pencil artist, first, last, always! Can’t help it – pencil and the detail possible with that humble instrument have held my attention since 6th grade. So, I don’t have enough detail, eh? Here is my conclusion: my style is still sort of mushy. I don’t mean my paintings are mushy, but that I haven’t settled on the best way to paint. By “best”, I don’t mean best selling, most award-winning, or if I were in school, the highest grade grabbing style. The evaluation and valuation of art is very subjective, and “best” is defined by the viewer, whether a judge, a gallery owner, the artist, or most importantly to me, a customer. As I achieve greater proficiency with paint, brushes, and canvas, I’m hoping that my true style emerges. It will be defined by several things – the subject matter, the level of detail, the way I use light and color, the texture of the paint. My goal is this: to consistently create the most consistently beautiful paintings . Yes, consistent – constant, regular, uniform, steady, undeviating, dependable, reliable. Why? So that people can always recognize my work as mine!
A look at the process of painting
First, the shapes get blocked in, scribbled, just a first coat of the thin color.
Next, another of paint gets added to the background with more attention paid to the correct colors and textures. This only has the far hills covered – my attention span seems a bit limited here!
Now I am seriously out of order. For some reason, I felt “led” to do the foreground details. It’s my painting and I’ll do it the way I want! Besides, I intend to detail this particular painting right to the very edge of photographic realism. Do I have the skill? That remains to be seen, because lately I haven’t pushed a painting to that degree. This brings me to my next subject – style!
Painting, continued
Getting better already, eh? It starts getting rewarding and fun when I get to make all these itty-bitty marks that remind me of drawing with a pencil!
Homesick?
How can one be homesick for a place one hasn’t lived? I dunno, but today I have an almost overwhelming longing to return to Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Thank goodness for the internet – it allowed me to see photos of the place in the fall. On the other hand, that may not have been such a good idea since it exacerbated the desire to see the place again, this time in October instead of August. There was a hint of fall in the leaves the day we we left Blowing Rock.
As a realist, both in life and in art, today I will remember the good things about the beautiful place where I actually do live. Fall color is here too, and there is no reason to be melancholy (so suck it up, Toots!) Have a look at some recent paintings celebrating the colors of our autumn:
These and other 6×6″ paintings will be available for sale on Saturday, November 6 in front of the studio and gallery Colors in Three Rivers.
The Painting Factory
That would be the workshop where I paint. October may be the busiest month, or perhaps it is November. There are a handful of shows/sales coming up, along with something else big and new. This means it is imperative that I produce as much a possible. Every year I am puzzled as to how I got into this squeeze – it isn’t as if the Fall shows are a surprise! Have a look at all the pieces hanging around in various stages of drying.
There was a small difficulty today – every time I returned to my chair, it was occupied by this creature:
Kaweah Kitty has brilliant green eyes, but she is not willing to pose (or to move!)
Mural Celebration!
It was hot, reallly really hot.
If it hadn’t been my mural, I doubt I would have braved the heat, but these folks were hardier than that!
Mickey gave a thorough history on the Mt. Whitney Power Co. and the dams in Mineral King. I hadn’t settled in yet and was hanging out in the back with my friend from the Three Rivers Post Office, so I had this nice view of the group.
When Mickey passed the mike to me, I asked the crowd if I could photograph them for the blog. I love doing that – it always makes people smile. Besides, who would have the courage to say “NO DON”T DO THAT”?
I told a few things about how the mural idea happened, a few facts about the dam at Franklin Lake, and a few stories about painting the mural. I said a pile of “Thank Yous” to the wonderful folks who helped make this mural happen. We ate some REALLY good food (that tri-tip from Exeter Meats was so tender it was easy to eat with a plastic fork!!). We even square-danced a bit – it was much cooler standing up away from the tables after dark, and Paul Pfeninger is a terrific caller! I got to catch up with lots of friends (including Ron Hughart, famous local author) and made a new friend, Matthew, who is also a painter. Despite the heat, it was a lovely evening!
Another Long Walk
This walk was on Sunday. We took a load of firewood to my sister-in-law, who gave us a nice soft bed, fed us very well, and watched a bunch of baseball with Michael. I did a lot of knitting, waiting for the long walk to begin.
Told you so!
Kind of intimidating to be with all those athletic people. . . no worries, because they all took off and left us walkers in the dust.
This man got us started and then showed up again about 4 miles later. I’m thinking he had a ride.
The scenery was beautiful, of course.
This was a welcome sight!
I walked as fast as my short fat legs would go on short fat feet that kept going to sleep, got blisters, and finished #29 of 39 women in my age group. And, I finished 7 minutes slower than last year – prolly from all the stopping to adjust my shoes! I’m done with these expensive organized athletic events. Perhaps I’ll even let the Inner Lazy Slob have free reign for awhile.
So there.
Studio Tour
Since the show at the Creative Center ended, First Saturday September is over, and the show at Lodgepole didn’t happen, my studio looks full and good! Thought you all might like a peek inside:
I sure can cram a lot of items into an 11×14 square foot room! Incidentally, if you would like to visit, you can call or email for an appointment. I will even sweep up the dead scorpions in preparation for your visit. 😎
A Pair of Minutes, continued
Amazing how much work can be accomplished when one sits down, removes distractions, picks up the tools and works for just a pair of minutes! You can see how this very large drawing is nearing completion:
The right side of the water wheel, brick pavers, some ground cover and a few detailed flowers in the foreground are all that remain. But wait! There’s More! – the final step in all drawings is the “nit-picking”, also known as the refinement stage. This is when little changes are made that cause a significant improvement – darkening the darks, lightening the lights, increasing contrast in the important places, sharpening the edges on some areas and blurring out others.
Labor Day Weekend, Part 2
Labor did happen over Labor Day weekend, all projects not requiring electricity, of course!
A birthday was celebrated – note the gift wrap appropriate to the area.
This guy and several of his relations kept us entertained throughout the weekend. The busy-ness of the Golden Mantle squirrels always signals the end of summer.