Persevering

Last week I substituted in the high school English classroom.  I was intrigued by a poster on the wall  which reminded me of my goals as stated here last February. My journal entry from the poster is pictured here.  So, I went back to review those goals.  Here they are...and I've admitted where I stand, so far!

1) Post on this blog at least once a week. Well, maybe averaging about 10 days instead of 7.
2) Add 15 followers to blog.  I think there may be 4 new followers since February.  Please add your name to followers if you are not already there! 
3) Add 100 to mailing list.  I should have counted my list in February to legitimize this!...maybe 40.
4) Enter and get accepted to National Collage Society Show. Entered this contest 2 weeks ago...notifications are in November.
5) Sell $2000 of art--will need to MAKE MORE ART!, find venues, explore PayPal. I've sold only one painting in the last year.  Surprisingly it was purchased over a year after it had been shown in our local medical clinic.  Never underestimate exposure.  I am researching a couple of online options, including Etsy.  This part about MAKE MORE ART might be some of the problem...procrastination...I have at least three pieces awaiting appropriate framing.  Daily art. Daily art. Daily art!
6) Renew website and make it an official .com thing. No progress here.  I have researched some online website hosting, but more exploration is necessary before decisions can be made.
7) get tax number, instead of sharing husband's.  Is it just an excuse when I say I don't need a tax number if I don't sell anything?
8) Submit for NE Arts Council Governor's Mansion Show.  I was not prepared for the application deadline which was May 31st.  Now it is on my calendar and I am working toward a cohesive series to use in an application.  I'd like to have at least 4 more in a sunflower series, and I may include some aerial landscapes.
9) connect with other artists at least 5 days/week through Internet, guilds, classes. This is going pretty well...  internet helps...I'm learning a lot, and I'm getting better about commenting on other's blogs. I am trying to attend the Ogallala Art Society meetings more regularly (that's not happening all the time, but Janette is good about calling to remind me!)  I went to North Platte last week to paint with Sandy Meyer's cancer survivors class.  It was VERY inspiring!
10) Give back to community without compromising sense of self-worth (limit donations of art, time, expertise or teaching to 4 worthy causes.)  This one is coming along.  So far I don't feel used.  I'm working on starting a therapy painting class...more on that later.

Business?

Back on track! During the last week I spent large parts of each day doing art. It's amazing all the roles an artist plays in creating a real business from the art...sort of reminds me of being a mother! Many art blogs speak to the importance of balancing time creating with time doing business...and doing the creating as more than a hobby...as in--even when you don't feel like it!

Today on Fine Art Views I was met with the following jump start questions (or guilt trip questions, depending on the mood!): "A business cannot succeed if a myriad of jobs remain neglected. Artists are no different. Do you take the time to balance your books? Do you regularly communicate with collectors, dealers, etc.? Do you keep your studio and office clean and organized? Do you set aside regular time to assess your art and business in relation to where you want to be? Do you spend enough time in the studio creating? Do you spend enough time with all the other necessary jobs?" So... it must be time for a business plan reality review, and a thorough cleaning...but, first I want to get some more creating done!

Framing, and finishing are on the agenda, including varnish on the doodlebox pictured here, done as a donation for the local cancer walk to be held October 3rd. The box includes words to the second verse of my favorite hymn: "Make me a channel of your peace. Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope. Where there is darkness, only light. And where there's sadness, ever joy." I first heard this hymn in the funeral service for Princess Diana in 1997. The wording is from the prayer of St. Francis. My hope is that the box will be a blessing to whoever receives it as a doorprize at the event.

National Collage Society Juried Exhibit

Cleaning out my inbox, I found a reminder to enter the National Collage Society 25th Annual Juried Exhibit. In all the busyness, I had not entered the date on my calendar and the deadline is TODAY! So, I set up a paypal account to take care of the fee, filled out the entry form, and attached my photos. The show will be displayed at Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia from November 6, 2009 to December 31st, 2009. Cross your fingers and say some prayers that one of my two entries pictured here is accepted.

Our first football game will be played at the new home field tonight. As long as you are saying prayers, include the safety of all high school football players, and especially my son. This is a nerve wracking situation for mothers...all the benefits of competition, camaraderie, and leadership, with all the potential for injuries. Maybe the fabulous weather will ease the stress...and, here's to all the time and effort from coaches and players. (Thanks Danny!)

This week I was honored to be able to play the piano, and accompany my brother's singing for the first of two services in memory of my dear cousin, Susan. She fought a courageous battle with cancer, and leaves a grieving husband and two grown children.

Since the last blog post, I finished reading Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth. First published 20 years ago, it's now on Oprah's Book Club list. It's historical fiction (I know--wierd favorite genre!) about building cathedrals in the middle ages. I get sort of lost in the age...can you even imagine living without electricity, toilets, and cars (let alone cell phones!) all while designing and constructing massive stone cathedrals, fighting rogue lords, and playing the politics of the catholic church and the monarchy system?

Back to art...(!)...last week my father-in-law helped me cut some masonite for backing on two large paintings, and we cut channels into frame moulding allowing glass to be held away from the texture of the artwork. It is sort of an experimental framing style. I'll report on the details when I get it all put together. Does anyone out there have any great solutions to framing heavily textured collage works...short of the ready-made shadow-box options at art supply stores?

Bridal Blog, Surfing, 21 Excuses, Storying

Challenge: I'll post if you post!

I'm feeling uninspired and inadequate as I try to keep up with my daughter's witty blogging and the need for making art. So many distractions, so many excuses:

1.on vacation (photo of me and daughter number two during surf lessons on Carpenteria Beach, California)
2.getting daughter number two to college, sorority rush, research professors, check tuition costs (yikes!), buy books, meet roommates
3.son's first day of school, football, computer fees, installing car stereo, listening to his favorite music, rearranging schedules
4."studio" too messy to paint
5.altering bridal blogger's bridesmaid attire--must be done now to be mailed in time for friend's wedding (seemaikablog.blogspot.com)
6.school needs me (will pay!) to do reading mastery testing
7.cousin dying of cancer--can't stop thinking of her
8.managing family health needs and prescriptions
9.weather too cold or too windy
10.want to finish framing stuff before starting something new
11.piles of laundry
12.blogs to read
13.facebook to catch up on
14.computer not working--desperately backing up files
15.county fair swallowed time, left stuff all over house (but allowed cousin's daughter and friend to visit for Little Big Town concert.)
16.bills to pay
17.reading(Pillars of the Earth, Fountainhead, Whatever it Takes)
18.need a nap!!!
19.what's for supper?
20.cleaning cupboards
21.walking dog

Blogging daughter reminded me that sometimes the blog can be about life -- how it happens and sometimes gets in the way of what you think is your purpose. It's all a part of the story. And STORY, in the end, is what it's all about. She also said, "People buy art anywhere. The only reason they'd buy yours is because it's great, or because it has a story. People buy art because of the art or the artist." (I think her tuition was well worth it and the journalism school bias is quite transparent!) So, I'm thinking of writing down all the thoughts and processes that go along with each of my paintings...sort of like the quilt story histories that have been encouraged for quilters...also reminds me of the folk art store I visited in Summerland, CA (Just Folk) where all the art is made more interesting by artist biographies posted throughout the store. This is sort of paradoxical, as folk art is defined by the fact that it is historically by untrained and anonymous artists! Seems that history academicians have changed not only attitudes, and values of quilts and other folk art, but created a blurring of definitions!

This blog is part of the storying that goes with my art. It makes a difference, and gives my art meaning. (However justified, writing about my paintings and posting to my blog only create more distractions from actually making art!)

Surfing and Gallery Show

Just returned from a short trip to Santa Barbara, where daughter number two and I surfed...yes, these landlocked Nebraskans actually stood up on surf boards in the Pacific Ocean! (Thanks to Eric at A Frame Surf Shop.) It was a great visit with my cousin, his son, and nephew. We had fabulous food, new haircuts (Patricia Noel Studios in Summerland), cultural surprises (Native American funeral ceremony), pictures at the gates to Neverland, abelskiver and antiques in Solvang, El Presidente of Fiesta on our plane, a hike on the San Ysidro Trail. All this may inspire some art...just need time to study my photos and journal...maybe after school starts!

Daughter number one has jumped into the blogging world (seemaikablog.blogspot.com ) She's a great writer--enjoy.

The Art Society of Ogallala will be featured at the Meadowlark Gallery in Grant, NE during the month of August. I am a member of the Ogallala group and six of my paintings (including High Plains Aerial #2 shown above) are in the exhibit which is open Fridays and Saturdays 6-8pm.

Checking my Google Analytics today, I found several visits to my blog from Brazil! If you're still around, welcome, hello, glad to have you!

Inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright's Liberty Magazine Covers

About 12 years ago, I took a class through UNKearney with professor Ray Schultz. This was a tour of art museums, sculpture, and architecture in and around Chicago. One day we toured the Oak Park Home/Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as homes he designed in the area and the Unitarian Church he built. I wrote a research paper relating his religion with his artwork, and came to love his work. The series of covers he did for Liberty Magazine are some of my favorites. I had found some stationary with prints from one of these covers and recently pulled it out to use for invitations to a party. As I worked with this print, I felt compelled to dig out my graph paper and colored pencils to try similar geometric designs.

This week I am playing nurse for my daughter's recovery from wisdom teeth extraction. Between making mashed potatoes and jello and watching lots of movies and extreme makeover shows, I haven't been able to paint in the "studio." But, I have been able to sit on the couch and play with this FLW idea...it's a bit like coloring graph paper designs in grade school. I've tried to use only three colors, which adds to the challenge. It's been a joy trying to vary the design elements, create balance, and centers of interest(and spend time with my daughter!) But, it's making me want to get out the old stashes of fabric and make some quilts...Try it yourself!

Sunflower Painting Process

Sometimes the creative process is flowing so well that it's hard to remember to take photos of the progression of a painting. But, I often look at a finished product and am amazed at how it changed from where it started. So, a concerted effort was made to capture the process with this painting...although I wish there were a few more shots of different stages! Here are four of the most distinctive stages, occurring over three and a half months...I have a lot of distractions!

This actually started with a "pour" of acrylic over gessoed masonite. The pour was not great, so the board sat around for at least 3 years. When we were in Reno for the Safari Club convention last January, I made a sketch of images around me at an auction. It included the silk daisy centerpiece with an American flag, giraffe and zebra prints, geometric ceiling tile, cowboy hats, and candles. That sketch was inspiration for this new addition to my sunflower series. It may be titled "Savannah Sunrise."
What do you think?

Plaster was used for texture, applied with a palette knife to form some background and the basic shapes of the animal skin spots and flower. Then, several layers of acrylic stain were put on and wiped off. The stripes popped out at me from the pour peaking through the background, so I painted them in more definitely. Metallic highlights happened after a friend viewed it and said she missed the metallic that is in a lot of my other paintings. I love the copper wire mesh, suggesting the seed placement in the flower. Both the mesh and the small petals (taken from a waxy, acrylic covered silk flower) were applied with 527 bond glue. A lot of shading and the white outlining was done with oil pastel. The painting is larger than usual for me at 24" x 36". Now my challenge is how to frame it!