While in this drawdrawdraw mode, it is still necessary to think about other parts of my business. Three Rivers Studio Tour 10 is at the end of March, and people like to buy stuff from the artists. I’m real glad about that. It is helpful if I have things to sell to those fine folks of good taste. Here is a little sample:
These are 2×2″ canvases, and they look so cute sitting on little easels. Awwww. . . love those California poppies!
I had a 5×7 oil painting of redwood trees in snow that I used to like. The longer it hung around and wasn’t sold, the less I liked it.
No problem. I have a paintbrush and I’m not afraid to use it!
Look at this weirdness:
Fear not. I have a plan.
But wait! There’s more!
Shocking, isn’t it? It will improve. I will show you. You will be pleased. (If you like poppies, that is.)
It was getting a bit long yesterday so here is the rest of my pencil version of California artist.
5. . . . the houses you draw often have palm trees.
6. . . . sometimes you draw poppies.
7. . . and you keep drawing oranges because everyone likes them.
5×7 reproduction with color added, $10, email me to buy (not on website)
8. . . . you wade through dirt clods in your friend’s vineyard to get good photos of grapes for drawing.
Sweet and Seedless, colored pencil, matted and framed, 12×15″, $150
Fruit on the Vine, reproduction of pencil with colored pencil accents, 11×14″, $20
9. . . . you draw lots and lots of Giant Sequoias and call them “big trees” but think of them as Redwoods because you went to Redwood High School
But Wait! There’s More! At the bottom of the staircase mural of Giant Sequoias is an open area with 6 doors leading off of it. Now, each of those 6 doors has its own identity!
Behind Door #1 is the library. Over Door #1 is dogwood, carolinus florida, or, as it is known in Three Rivers, “Karl Opitz’s tree”.
Door #2 leads into the workout room; feel happy and inspired to sweat by viewing these Bigelow Sneezeweeds.
Door #3 is a closet, and those blurry blue-ish flowers are bush lupine.
Door #4 leads to the Crew’s Quarters, and it is graced by Redbud.
Door #5 leads to the Captain’s Quarters, a room for crafts with California poppies providing inspiration.
Door #6 is the under-the-stairs closet and those are (happy sigh, love these little ones) Baby Blue Eyes.
This is a painting of poppies on an antique window. (Thank you for asking, Carol!) You can read about it here:
Reason #5: I make art because it beautifies spaces.
Real life is messy. Artists get to clean it up in 2 ways. We can draw and paint in a manner that eliminates the cruddy stuff in the view. We also get to cover bare or ugly walls with beautiful things. That is a satisfying motivation!
Think about how the town of Exeter would look without its murals. Buildings would be empty, bare walls would contain graffiti, there wouldn’t be nearly as many good places to eat or shop, and it would be easy to find a parking place. (not that there would be a reason to park. . .)
Think about your home without anything hanging on the walls. It would echo, and it wouldn’t have much personality.
Almost makes you want to paint, doesn’t it?
My customer is so happy with her poppy window that she said she’d like to be a guest in her own home! That is just doggone high praise for her decorating abilities combined with my painting – what a team we make! I guess she really believes that “Poppies will put them to sleep!” (If I ever decide to run away from home and these bossy cats, I know where I’m going!)
The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is sort of an off week. People are off work, school, schedules, diets, and budgets. (Hopefully they aren’t off base or off track too.) I think of it as the Nonweek, when there really aren’t many obligations.
During the Nonweek my expectations of myself are low. Write a few thank you notes, put away the Christmas decorations, get the number off my odometer, pay a few bills. Maybe. Maybe not.
This year I set a higher goal. Murals fade. My very first one, a Mineral King scene, was looking sort of tired, so I repainted it during the Nonweek.
If I had taken a before photo, you’d be shocked at the difference. Oops. Didn’t do that. Sometimes I just do my work without thinking about all the ramifications of possible blog posts.
See? Shabby buildings, fancy murals, and a wreath on the studio door to validate the time of year.
Now the California poppies mural looks faded to me!