Wednesday's painting

I returned from Atlanta, which is always an adjustment. Spending time with my sister and her kids and mom......I am watching my sister struggle and I am amazed at her strength and resilience, but they have been heavily on my mind since returning so I haven't been able to tackle anything this week, only a little shoving....I delivered the painting wednesday to Fredericksburg. It is something like dropping off your newborn at the nursery.......I did finish one painting yesterday. I am unsure if I want to do much more with it....I thought of covering it with paintball splatters....my late grandfather would love that idea because he hated cats....send any good ideas my way.

FCCA prep day.....

A day of processing and readjustment always follows being away. Back from Atlanta and doing laundry and getting the painting ready for the FCCA show.

I decided to go for the spray ketone varnish and have been applying thin coats all day....have the headache to prove it. I have a skeleton statement ready....a lot of artist release these amazingly wordy and obtuse statements. I am of the opinion that statements can hurt the work either by interpreting the work for the viewer or distancing them from it by general artist weirdness. As a matter of fact, artists are directly responsible for the pervasive idea that people other than artist cannot understand art. Some ideas in these statements are so bizarre (it seems the more bizarre the more artists like it) that NO ONE can get it. Artists seem to forget that the number one reason a patron buys a work of art is because it matches their couch. Sorry, fellow artists but its true. They don't care about our obscure theories.

Today's painting

Today's painting. I guess it doesn't look too much different from yesterday, but it is 3 hours of painting. My camera has a big issue with high contrast, too.I have no idea how to paint wool so I am working that out by trial and error. I begin with covering the entire canvas with a chromatic black......

New painting on the easel

Day one.

Long way to go.....this is the hardest part. Getting the drawing right and pushing the first applications of paint around can be frustrating. I haven't learned the lesson that it WILL come together. Whites are always tricky, too, because there are really no pure whites....

Ovis Nectarus - completed painting

"Ovis Nectarus"

24" x 30"

Oil on canvas

Final Varnish

Having just a few weeks to prepare the painting for the FCCA show I realized I still need a final varnish. After researching all the options and reading too many opinions about all the specifics of application, type and brand I came away with a major headache.
I think sometimes that artists just want to be contrary to prove that they are quirky. Some tend to give strong opinions about technique and management without giving any reason for their stance or giving a 2000 word thesis of nonsense for their stance. I wonder what percentage of artists have mental disorders?.....Or hope to cause others to develop one by reading their weirdness?!
And why anyone would want to fool with the old Dammar varnish, collected from trees in India, is beyond me when there are several new synthetic applications to choose from which are easy to remove for later cleaning of the work and easy to apply. No cooking here!......AAARRGGHH! I think synthetic is the way to go...... Anyway, these Dammar folks usually make their own paint, too. Kickin' it old school.

Today's painting.....Ovis Nectarus

Getting there......still wrestling with the idea of lots of them around the base of her neck....I did much more standing back and looking today than painting. Once I get the right placement I can start applying more detail.

Mondays are weird. We had a rather socially busy weekend and getting back to the easel is sometimes a struggle.....I am looking for images for the next painting as this one starts to wrap up. There are three idea I am ruminating on now.

Tomorrow I am headed down to Fredericksburg to meet Pam and have a look at the FCCA venue.