Currently on the Easel and Update

We had really bad weather here yesterday, so this is the first opportunity to get an image of where I am on this.

Also, I had an idea for painting that I thought was already finished. This happens on occasion and the clear image came while I was running a few days ago. "Liar" resides on my bedroom wall, so I see it every morning. A wasp or two more to add and his story will be complete.

This afternoon, I am off to Alexandria for a meeting with the NVFAA about a future exhibit.

Today's Painting

Back to my simian friend today. I really have battled with my mind over the last week or so after such a set back on this painting, but I was damn determined to get to it this morning.

I have exchanged the sparrows for swallows which was the right fit all along. I remembered the pair that returns every summer to our breezeway. I wrote about it on The Helium Burden blog back in June. What a great lesson on perseverance they are and I needed that reminder while struggling with this painting. So, I have talked about the crap lighting in here, so I will unload a photo in the morning of work done today with my swallow lesson in mind and Marvin Gaye as my musical companion.

Thanks, all, for your kind words and encouragements regarding this painting.

Gallery Opening and Tag

Silk painting artist Deborah Younglao tagged me in a post today. This a third tag for me, but you can read my own tag post from back in November here. Many thanks Deborah.

Craig and I went to the Touchstone Gallery last night for the Double Vision opening. The gallery is a co-op and for this show members of the gallery invite another artist friend to exhibit a piece along with one of their own. What a great idea for a show. I don't get the opportunity to connect with other artists face to face often, so chatting with Michele Cormier and Charles St. Charles was a treat. Both were engaging, friendly and even interested in my work (my husand tells everyone.) It has been some time since I went to an opening and have in mind to go regularly this year. The district and surrounding cities have great art walks monthly, so there is no lack of art to see and other artists to connect with.

Thanks all....

Thanks to all for such great and helpful comments on my revised artist statement. How amazing are you guys?!

I just learned that my mom and dad are coming tomorrow, so on a cleaning and cooking frenzy today. I have had a string on introspective days lately mulling over "that painting" and another in the wings. I am not sure I will be able to paint again until Monday.

I was invited to meet a local museum director next week to talk about the possibility of a future exhibit of my work. So, though my proposal was not accepted, I still may have the opportunity to exhibit at some time in the future.

Hope you all are making good progress on your amazing works of art this week. We all struggle along together.

Music and Painting

Music is such a huge catalyst for my own creativity. I was reminded of that Sunday night watching Radiohead and Coldplay on the Grammy's. I have heard every possible mantra about listening to music (or not) when doing creative work. One guy insists that artists should listen exclusively to classical music because of the lack of words which he believes interferes with right brain waves. Another claims silence is the ultimate companion. Even musicians follow the same lines of thought, many feeling that listening to a lot of music contributes to their work, others feel it is intrusive and go on musical fasts at various times.

I have been almost exclusively listening to Shearwater with a few slices of Bon Iver in between for many months. For me abstract words and non-linear lyrical structure really stir the creative pot. The lot of paintings that have come out of my recent musical companions has been really strong. There is something in the meshing of the music, particularly Shearwater, and words that expands my creativity in a manner that is difficult to articulate, but I feel and see the result.

Revised Artist Statement

Write an artist statement is hard, right? You have to put words to all the intuitive ways you move in your work. I worked on mine today after getting a proposal rejection.
Here it is. I covet any thoughts or feedback from my artist family (i.e. is it coherent? does it seem complete? good opening and closing?..you get the idea.)

"As a child my three ring binder full of drawings of horses was a prized possession. To me, horses had a mystical almost phantom-like quality I was drawn to from an early age. I became transfixed just seeing one in an open field from the car window. Today, I recognize this mark in all animals as the fingerprint of the infinite imagination of the Creator. In my experience, there is a creative communion that takes place between me and God when painting or in the presence of animals.

With animals as my subjects, I discover great freedom in employing my own imagination as a catalyst for new mythology. My paintings pair dramatic images and short narratives to set the stage with a surreal and timeless atmosphere as inspiration for this new mythology. I invite the viewer to continue the journey by finding a story in their own imagination.

A painting begins in my mind with a word, a string of words or a clear image that appears like a dream. I am an oil painter."

Currently on the easel: Painting that is Threatening My Sanity

Having to face the current painting this morning and still be in a battle this late in the day is disheartening. I am not even going to post a photo, but you can see it as it was before today by looking at previous posts. The reworked background is still unsatisfactory. A break for lunch (and for my sanity) before going back.
I may have to put this one aside for the week and move on to another painting looming in the wings. There is a point where you have worked and reworked until the medium laden canvas needs to rest. I look at my lovely subject and feel like I am abandoning him there is some watery dream without his friends, who have been painted over.