The Artist's Life Experiment

Focus

2012-01-31T03:25:00.000-08:00

When we had a chance to visit the grounds of Schloss Nymphenburg this fall, I took several pictures of the ducks in the canals. The water was lower for the fall season and the reflections of the trees along the canals in the water was as interesting to me as the ducks.

It was a bit of a challenge to paint, since there was so much detail in the water, and I still wanted to be able to see the duck. I finished it, but I was not happy with the balance between the duck and the tree reflections. I let it sit, then worked on it again two weeks later.

When I took photos of the finished painting, I thought the close-up detail was better because it focused only on the duck. After letting the painting sit where I can just see it as is, I have gone back to liking the duck a little bit lost in the tree reflections.

It is a question of focus, and that is something I have to ask myself when I am choosing what to paint. Am I communicating what I intend to say? The painting is split between the tree reflections and the duck because I liked them both equally. I suppose in that respect, it is a success. I probably should have chosen one or the other, but I am leaving it as it is for now.

Swans Revisited

2012-01-16T06:06:00.000-08:00

When I wrote about trying to find my "style" , I had a success doing an underpainting for the painting I called "Duo". I hesitated doing the final colors because the water in the photo I took was so muddy and dull looking. I didn't know how I could make it look attractive.

Finally, I just started with the swans because I could just see what colors they needed. Usually in oil paintings, you start with the background first so that the foreground looks like it is over the background, but I did it backwards.

The funny thing is that once I had the swans finished, I could tell what colors I needed to mix for the water. It was a funny, muddy color, but with the right highlights and shadows I think it worked really well and I am very happy with this painting. I think it would make a lovely greeting card. I am renaming it "Duet".

Is it Good or Bad?

2012-01-06T09:32:00.000-08:00

When we were hiking through Garmishpartenkirchen in November, Jeff spotted a pair of cats on a balcony of one of the houses. He took the picture for me since my camera was low on power. I was hopeful that I might get a good painting subject.

When he shared the photos with me, I thought the grey cat was particularly interesting and I wanted to do something as a Christmas card.

I didn't use any drawings or underpaintings, I just went straight to work. I had just read a great article by Eric Maisel in the latest "Professional Artist" magazine about developing your own voice. He encouraged artists to take risks and to wait to judge a painting as good or bad. My favorite thing he said was that "if you have never heard your voice, you may not recognize it."

When I finished the painting, I thought it was pretty ugly. Jeff on the other hand thought the cat had personality and was interesting like an illustration from a story. On his advice, I didn't try to change anything on the painting. The cat did remind me of an irritated old man, so I thought of calling the painting "Bah, Humbug."

Good or bad, Happy New Year everyone!

Style

2011-12-01T07:09:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about my "painting style", the thing that makes it possible to distinguish one artist from another. No one would confuse a Rubens with a Raphael.

The last painting I posted I spent several hours drawing and trying out designs because I wanted to incorporate the idea of a brocade. I didn't end up feeling very pleased with it either, it didn't seem to be quite real, neither did it feel fanciful enough. I would like to develop a distinct style, but frankly, I am not sure how.

Jeff told me to just paint and quit worrying about it. After all, he said, just getting a three dimensional object on a two dimensional surface while interpreting it through paint would be unique enough.

So yesterday, I went back to just doing the underpainting in black and white, straight to the masonite surface, while looking at one of the photos I took last week. It was really fun...no fuss, not trying to convey some extra layer of meaning, just trying to capture what I found beautiful. I am pleased that so far, it doesn't seem so stiff and formal as the last one. If I can maintain that feeling when I add color, that would be an accomplishment.

I am more likely to paint when it is enjoyable. It does bother me that it is "just swans", nothing more or less. I have all kinds of ideas, but getting them on the canvas isn't easy! I do take comfort that Van Gogh went through several styles before he found the one that everyone knows him by. In comparison, I just haven't painted enough yet to really find mine.

Space to Paint

2011-11-24T06:26:00.000-08:00

Well, after seven weeks here in Munich, I managed to get one painting reasonably finished. I am amazed at how much time it has taken for me to get settled. Of course we moved from the first apartment the first of November, so that did put me back some extra time too.

I love the second apartment. It has a south facing balcony and there was room enough for me to set up a small painting space that I can leave out on the desk in the bedroom.

I have seen much that has been inspirational, but I have had a real fascination for the swans in the park. I grew up with grey geese on the canal at home, and charming as they are, I wanted to try painting some swans.

My idea was to incorporate the Bavarian swirls and patterns I see on the buildings here as part of the rippling water. On the watercolor sketch, I added some of the English Garden roses. I couldn't decide if I wanted them on the final piece or not. Honestly, I am not completely happy with the painting right now, but I decided it was best to just post it and move on. I may change it and post it when I figure out what it needs,

The landscapes are changing from fall to winter and I know there will be more ideas to consider. Now that I am started, I want to keep up the momentum!

Getting Acquainted With Munich

2011-10-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hello Dear Readers, I have been seeing and experiencing so much here in Munich that I haven't even begun to know how to process it. I have loved being able to get out in the park they call the English Garden. It is like Central Park in the USA. I liked seeing the people who do impromptu tight-rope walking on straps between two trees. There is surfing on a standing wave in the Eisbach river that runs through the park. German people seem to love their dogs and have very well behaved ones walking with them in the park. I was very inspired by all the fall leaves and loved the texture and color. I am not familiar with the way they lose their color in silver spots along the veins of the leaf, but it makes a some beautiful patterns. I spent several hours just trying to get some photos that would capture what was inspiring to me. I gathered several leaves and then tried to take some photos in the apartment. I think the best ones are when I held the leaves up to the window with little bit of afternoon sun shining through them. I thought I would share some of my favorites with you.

Emotional Overload

2011-08-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

Hello dear blog readers, after my last blog my father had a stroke and I was lucky enough to be able to travel the 700 miles to be with him and help my family for awhile. I am glad to report that he is regaining some speech and we can talk on the telephone. He has also been able to help my Mom again, since she had a stroke last November.

At the same time, Jeff was accepted in the Masters Degree program at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. After much discussion, we decided that we would sell our home and land that we dearly love so that we would not miss this opportunity.

I have finally had to deal with the things I have had stored for twenty years since I can't possibly keep everything. I have been on an emotional roller coaster since April and have not created any art. I did find this sculpture that I made in college. I decided not to keep it, but I took pictures before I gave it away. No, it is not a self portrait, I don't know the name of the girl who posed for our class, but she had great red hair. I thought it still looked fairly good, especially since it was the only portrait bust I have ever done!

I think I am feeling better and plan to be posting blogs more frequently in the future.

Hello Spring

2011-04-23T18:21:00.000-07:00

I had a tulip bulb that had accidentally ended up in one of my indoor planters because I am guilty of reusing dirt from other pots. The last two years, it has sent up green leaves but never blooms.
I thought that it just didn't get enough sun, being inside and all, but I never moved it.

This year when the leaves came out, I was amazed to see two buds. Oh my, what color would they be? After reading about tulips, I realized that the bulbs need to get cold before they will bloom again. This year was record cold, 22 degrees below at our place. I am reminded that good things can come from difficulties.

I finished one painting, Cat Trip, when I was doing my "relationship" paintings in February. Because of several difficulties, I haven't painted much since....but I can take heart that like the tulip, maybe these troubles will help me bloom later unexpectedly.

Lucky Kitties

2011-02-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

The Millicent Roger's Miniature show was last Sat., Feb 19th. I had entered the 5" x 4" painting of Muffy cat titled "I Am Not Amused" which I had actually painted for this show last year, but I didn't get it finished in time so I entered the watercolor "Look What The Human Dragged In" in it's place.

I didn't expect the watercolor cat with attitude to sell because the watercolor roses I painted the first year I entered didn't sell. Then again, the yellow daisies painted in oil on canvas didn't sell the second year.

I was holding my breath because I thought that the painting selling last year, my third try, was a fluke. If the second cat sold, maybe I was on to something.

I was able to exhale when I saw that my painting was one of the 33 that sold that night out of about 157 entered. The gallery does take 45% of the sale which is really fair for all their work in promoting the show and it is a fund raiser to keep the museum going.

So far, the cats are up two and flowers down two. At least for this show. Let's hear it for little purry mammals!

Relationships

2011-02-14T15:48:00.000-08:00

My challenge theme for February is relationships. I have about five paintings in various stages of completion, but I wanted to get the first one I have completed, titled "Cat and Mouse" posted. I like that I now have four paintings related to doorways. It feels like a series! Has anyone seen a greeting card company that might like this style?

I spent today getting pictures ready of the paintings I plan on posting on e-bay soon. This took all of my "painting time" today, but I am determined to keep this goal of getting actual work out to sell this month. I am grateful that I have a relationship with Jeff, because he has been invaluable in sharing his "how to" knowledge of e-bay.

I am also grateful for all of you who have encouraged me and voted for "In The Shadows", I made 2185 out of 5000 entries! Thank you!

New Year

2011-01-29T20:39:00.000-08:00

I set a goal to paint with more concepts in mind, and for the month of January I considered new beginnings. This got me thinking about doorways and the anticipation or dread of going into unknown territory.

I liked the "Waiting" painting so much because it sent me back through our travels in Greece and the many doorways and cats that we saw there. I wanted to explore more of those themes.

"In the Shadows" was inspired by our trip to an abandoned silk factory. I wanted to capture the warmth of the red bricks exposed in the heart of the walls in contrast to the cold concrete. I also wanted to have some of the sense of mystery of "what is in the next room".

"Safe Passage" reflects the sense of hope I feel looking forward to the coming year after being in a twilight of worry for the last few months. A golden cat, for me, represents a good messenger and guide.

"Fortune Teller" is the desire we feel in wanting to know the future, but we can only see such a small part of what is ahead of us. All the constellations of the zodiac are there, but can they really tell us anything?

"Fire and Ice", the leaves caught in the winter ice by our spring and "Sheer Gold", the one amber iris I had bloom this summer are part of those beautiful moments that I just love to capture and share. I hope you will enjoy them too.

PS: I entered "In the Shadows" in the Saachi Gallery Showdown 3, a free online gallery for any artist. If you would like the fun of being an Art Critic, click on the link in my "also like"list and then enter my name in the "Search for" box. When you click to vote, you get to sign up for free on their site and then vote away! Have fun! (You get to vote for me vs. another artist, and then for all the others you want--feel the power!) The winning artists get $500.00 and the publicity.

Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall

2010-12-20T14:12:00.000-08:00

I had a great half-marathon in August, and then everything seems to have "gone off the wall" since then. First, work slowed down to a quarter of what it had been all year. Of course, I had to have a root canal in October, very expensive. Then my Mom had two strokes in November. I was lucky to be able to spend three weeks with her since I didn't have any work. While driving the 700 miles back from my parents, my transmission decides to start slipping, also very expensive. Then to top it all, another tooth filling decides to fail resulting in, you guessed it, a crown. Unbelievable.

There is some promise of work in January and February, but with warnings that things may be a bit slower. All this has made me really look at being more in control of my own work. I need to set more definite goals with deadlines for completion. I am considering seriously putting my work on E-bay. That will require that I produce more work. I have been trying out the tiny 2.5" x 3.5" artist trading card format. I like that I can complete a painting in an afternoon instead of days. I think my images are just as good if not better than some that are selling.

I am posting my first three super tiny paintings, which are canvas on tiny wood frames. I would love your feed back, dear readers, if you are still out there. I think I should get $30.00 each, what do you think?

Jeff's Corner: When life hands you lemons, throw them at someone!

Late Bloomers

2010-09-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

I planted my sunflowers later than I wanted to this year. Actually, I have never planted them up here before, but I wanted to see how they would do, even if they got a late start. They did come up, and after learning that I had to protect the seedlings from the birds, who ate about five of them, I managed to get nine plants growing.

As summer has ended, three of them are blooming and I keep warning the others that the frost is coming soon. The classic tall "Silver Stripe" are the ones that are not open yet, even though their bloom heads are formed. The smallest, "Music Box", which is only about 16 inches tall has three blooms on one stock, is already open and so pretty.

I feel like I have been a "late bloomer" my whole life, and I hope that my efforts to keep progressing with my painting will yield some beautiful results, even if my progress towards a career is pretty slow right now.

Shades of Grey

2010-07-04T15:43:00.000-07:00

I am enticed by all the flower catalogs that come in the mail and I do my best to resist buying anything. I know all to well that not many plants will survive the weather or the animals here on the mountainside. But last fall, I couldn't resist the "Reblooming Irises" offered by Brecks. I was anxious all spring to see what flowers would appear. So far, only two of the six plants have bloomed. The earliest was completely white and so pretty. I have to admit, I was hoping for something with more color, since painting white flowers is still intimidating to me. Anything "white" is basically every color but white because of the light reflections and shadows. I took a lot of photos, hoping to get something I felt inspired to paint.

I hesitated over the challenge, but decided to dig in. I experimented with mixing ivory black, yellow ochre and white to get a nice warm grey, as suggested by Helen Van Wyk. This looked pretty good, but when I added some alizarin crimson to get cool shadows, it just seemed a bit pink. The principle is to add cool violets to yellows to get nice shadows. My next attempt I tried dioxazine purple instead of the alizarin crimson and that seemed better. Although, when I was near completion I had the feeling that it just looked too purple and basically awful. Jeff confirmed the too much purple part, so I took heart and added back some more yellow ochre and burnt sienna, which is in the yellow family.

This is the odd thing about painting. Often, it will look like such a failure because it doesn't match what I had in mind. Sometimes if I will just take a break and come back with the idea of judging what is there, not what I think should be there, the painting will magically transform from a complete mess in my mind to something that is not that bad. I definitely had that happen this time and only within a few minutes. I was disappointed because I thought it was so ugly I wasn't going to be able to put it on the blog. When I decided to just judge at it as itself, it suddenly looked much better. It does look different than I imagined, but I will leave it up to you to judge!

Alla Prima

2010-06-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of trying different painting techniques, I wanted to try "alla prima" which is an Italian phrase that means "at the outset" or as we would say, "all at once". No underpainting, no preliminary drawing, just putting down the "shapes, tones and colors in one opaque application", as Helen Van Wyk describes it.

I had tried this before with oil paints and ended up with a mess. This time, I chose a subject I have painted before, a pink columbine and I followed Helen's directions exactly. First, prime the canvas gray so it is better to judge the color on. Sketch the placement of the image using paint. Put in the main body tones of the subject. (Not the extreme lights or darks.) Know where you light is coming from and paint the background from light to dark accordingly. Surprisingly, the dark side is where the light is coming from. Add light tones. Know where your focal point is and don't detract from it with extra fussy details elsewhere in the painting. Add dark tones and then the final highlights. Be sure you have layered and overlapped your shapes so that things in the foreground look like they belong there. Piece of cake...

Five hours later I had a pretty good little painting. I was hoping for two hours since my canvas was only 4" x 5", but size doesn't seem to matter when you are learning.

I will now share the amazing answer of what happens when you mix Alizarin Crimson and Viridian Green. I was sure I would get some weird brown, but it was the loveliest shade of purple gray. The color mixing principle I was using was to get the shadow tone of a pink flower by adding it's color complement, green. You can see this color on the pink petals of the columbine. I love learning new things that surprise me and I think I will try this style of painting again.

Jeff's Corner: What? Size doesn't matter??!!

Trying A Different Path

2010-05-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

We have had a very wet and cold spring here at 8,500 ft. Amidst the gray and sometimes snowy days, the brave daffodils showed their pretty faces and I felt the definite itch to paint them. I decided to try a different approach and try to capture the concept of their boldness to bloom in such bad weather without my usual careful drawing and reference photos.

I chose an 8 x 10 canvas and decided to use acrylic paints because I wanted the quick drying time, so I could change the painting more easily as I painted. I struggled with getting the look of seeing the flowers through a wet window and in getting the sense of form to the flowers.

After some thought, I felt I needed a refresher course in basic value study. I found my copy of Helen Van Wyck's book on painting flowers and and went to work on a tiny 2 and 1/2 x 3 inch canvas to study on. She is so good at explaining body tone, body shadow, cast shadow, reflected light and highlights. I had forgotten her great color mixing ideas. Mainly adding the complement to get lively shadows and highlights. A little Alizarin Crimson added to the Cadmium Yellow made my dull shadows look so much more alive.

Feeling more confident, I decided to try another tiny canvas with oils. I didn't do a refined drawing, but I did get a bit stuck and had to get one of my photos out to get the placement of the shadows right. Even Helen was painting from actual flower arrangements, so it is good to have reference. I just want to learn how to not need it so much, and that will just have to take practice.

Does anyone have any guesses what fabulous color you get when you combine Alizarin Crimson with Viridian Green? I will share the amazing answer with you in the next Blog post!

Jeff Corner: My guess is Alizaridian!

Illumination

2010-04-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

When we were visiting the church of St. Nicholas in Demre, I thought some of the decorative work in the stone and frescoes reminded me of Celtic designs. I had learned about the famous Book of Kells when I studied art history in college. The intricate Celtic knotwork combined with Christian iconography was very memorable to me. I had even tried my hand at creating some of my own Celtic designs a few years ago. I didn't expect to see artwork that reminded me of that style in Turkey.

I haven't discovered the exact connection, but I did read that the tradition of ornamenting books was something that passed down from Egyptians, to Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and then of course Constantine, who made Christianity legal in 325 A.D. in Turkey. By the early fifth century, the religion had spread to Ireland. The Book of Kells was decorated by Columban monks sometime in the late eighth or ninth century. They may have been located in Iona, a small island in the inner Hebrides, off the western coast of Scotland. This island was known as a center for Celtic Christianity.

I don't know if the decorative work I saw in Turkey had any connection to the later work by the Celtic monks, but they certainly took the style to a new and extremely elegant art form.

Jeff's Corner: St. Nicholas knows if you've been "knotty" or nice!

It's All In The Details

2010-04-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I just felt I couldn't take in the whole effect of some of the ancient city ruins we went to. When I realized this, I set a new goal for myself, namely "focus on the details". I wasn't sure how this would play out, but eventually I began to recognize patterns and could get very excited when I found something new.

The cities that had a lot of Roman and Greek influence: Ephesus, Hierapolis, Pergamon and Patara had similiar column styles, square details from the ceilings, the human figure carved in a certain way. I photographed any detail that caught my eye.

One morning when we were seeing Asklepion, the ancient medical center, which is just outside Pergamon, I saw a pattern I hadn't noticed before. I got a photo and moved on. Later that day, we were at the "Red Basilica", which didn't look like much at first since the marble covering was long gone and only the red brick core still stands. There were mostly only marble pieces left, but as I was looking, I realized some of these "details" looked very Egyptian, and the detail on the dress of one of the figures was the same as the detail I had seen earlier at Asklepion! What was going on?

We found a plaque that explained that the name "Red Basilica" was a bit misleading. It had originally been built as a second century AD temple to the trinity of Egyptian gods: Serapis, Harpokrates, and Isis. It had been converted into a basilica by the Byzantines. It was one of the seven churches addressed by St. John in the Book of Revelation. He referred to it as home of the "throne of the devil", perhaps he was referring to the Egyptian cult that still had it's followers! We had no idea. I was thrilled to see a little piece of design that had found it's way through time. Does anyone else see how this design has surfaced in our day? Maybe it is just me... tell me what you see.

Jeff's corner: Jeff is headed for New York, but if he has any comments I will post them.

The Chimera Are Real!

2010-03-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else read the "Wind in The Door" by Madeleine L'Engle? The Chimera were fantastic beasts, but I always wanted to see one...

We spent the last week on the warm south coast with the orange and lemon trees. The apartment we rented in Kas was lovely and had a great view of the Mediterranean Sea. It was a small town and it helped to be out of the hustle of the big city. From there we could make day trips to Myra (Demre), which is where St. Nicholas was Bishop and Patara, the Roman city where he was born. We climbed up to a Byzantine castle located on a mountain top and admired the strategic view. And we sunned ourselves on Kaputas beach. Jeff was brave enough to get in the coolish water on the spring equinox!

The most surprising day was taking a tram to the top of Mt. Olympos or Tehtali Dag, depending on if you are Greek or Turkish and saw the snow. After the tram ride, we drove down to sea level again and went looking for Chimera. The ancient sailors thought it was the fiery beast trapped under the mountain. We had a nice trail to hike, but steep, and as we came out of the forest, there were the flames coming from the ground!

Of course there is the sensible explanation of methane gas finding it's way to the surface. I prefer the "eternal flame" that the Greeks here used to light their torch for the Anatolian Olympic games, and the best of all, the Chimera.

Jeff's Corner: I wanted to see an R.O.U.S. !

Driving Like Crazy in Turkey

2010-03-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hello from Izmir! Finally, a computer where there is not a fee to use it. We are staying at the Hilton, which is lovely and helps the culture shock, but it is in the heart of downtown and driving here is rather difficult.

We flew into Istanbul six hours later than planned because we missed our flight in France, because they had to bus us to the other side of the terminal to get to our flight. It would have been much nicer to have walked on the connecting walkway that was indicated on the map. Apparently, it is no longer in use.

Arriving in Istanbul at eleven p.m. was probably better than at the five p.m. rush, but after taking an hour to rent our car, we were driving around pretty tired and not understanding a thing about the road signage system....if there IS one. It took us two and a half hours before we finally found our Hilton at three thirty a.m. Nerves were a bit frayed. Instead of sight seeing the next day as planned, we slept all day. We chose to stay at Hilton because Jeff had all kinds of free points to use, but it is definitely not our style to deal with the big cities, even when we are home.

We took a taxi to go see the Ayasophia in town the next day. A beautiful church that had been the largest enclosed architectural space in it's day; before St. Peters in Rome was built. The mosaics of the Madonna and Child, and Christ were so delicate, I thought they were paintings. We walked around the Blue Mosque, but didn't make it inside because the long afternoon prayers were in session and we needed to get back to check out of the hotel. Quite powerful to be there with the call to prayer and the faithful going inside to worship.

I will try to add pictures next time. We saw Gallipoli and Troy yesterday and Ephesus today, believe me, I have pictures!

Jeff's Corner: I will never complain about driving in New York again!

Let's Talk Turkey...

2010-03-08T12:15:00.000-08:00

I can't believe tomorrow, Tuesday March 9th is already here. We fly to Istanbul, Turkey tomorrow for a three week vacation, i.e. see as many historic sites and try as many interesting new foods as possible.

We have been watching Rick Steves "Travels in Europe" for years and I set a goal to only take two carry-on bags. Rick has helpful packing lists on his web site, so I am putting them to use. I am hopeful, but I still haven't quite perfected it yet.

This trip, we decided to just take sketch journals instead of the whole painting studio in a bag like we did in Greece. That will definitely help in the "one less bag to worry about" category. I hope to be able to post some updates in the blog during the trip. We won't be staying in one place this time, so I will have to look for places to get on the web.

Don't worry, the earthquake this morning was not in an area we are traveling to. Until later...

Jeff's Corner: I can't get to the pistachio baklava fast enough!

The Third Time IS the Charm!

2010-02-22T21:15:00.000-08:00

After some introspection, I set a goal for this new year that is easy to remember and that I thought I truly needed. This is it: "Less Stress; Generate Joy". I don't usually do the whole "goal" thing because I usually end up so frustrated since I set such unrealistic expectations for myself. But in the interest of following the advice of Eric Maisel in "Coaching the Artist Within", I needed to set a "purpose" for my creative life.

The deadline for the Millicent Rogers Museum show was a month earlier this year. This is my third year to enter, and I had been working on an idea, but with all the craziness around Christmas I wasn't able to finish the painting I had in mind. Instead, I remembered my goal and asked myself what I could reasonably accomplish in the time I had. So I ordered a frame for the the acrylic painting of "Oh My, Look What the Human Dragged In" and submitted that piece on time.

The opening for the show was this last Saturday, Feb 20th. After finding where my painting was hanging in the show, we made another round in the gallery to choose our favorites to vote for the "people's choice" awards. When we made it back to my painting to give it one last look before going home, Jeff noticed that it had sold! This was particularly sweet since there were some big name local artist's who hadn't sold their pieces yet. I felt particularly rewarded for choosing to have "less stress" and boy, did that sale generate some joy!

Jeff Corner: Now I'll never NOT be able to take pictures of cats...

"Take A Whack At It..."

2010-01-17T11:49:00.000-08:00

"You can't hit a home run unless you step up to the plate." This was the advice from the card from the "Whack Pack" which I drew a few weeks ago when I was dithering about how to proceed on an idea for a painting I wanted to do. I was hoping to finish this new painting of a small disdainful Muffy cat in time for the Millicent Roger Museum's annual miniature show.

As usual, I was trying to know the end from the beginning and forgetting that often the answer comes while you are working on the painting. I came up with the idea of collaging a fictional news story behind Muffy, explaining why she looked so disgusted. I liked the idea, but I wasn't sure how to get the typewritten piece to put behind her and I worried that it might be too distracting from the main painting.

That advice was just what I needed to get moving instead of thinking. I wrote my story on the computer and then copied it onto a sheet of tracing paper. I ordered the picture frame I thought might work on line. I made several scale copies of Muffy's photo so I could see what size image would work best on a tiny 5"x 4" canvas. Finally, I got to the painting.

I made the right decision by doing a black and white underpainting of Muffy before I added the "news article" type. That helped so I could see the image as I added other layers of collage. I should have tested the tracing paper for buckling. It did get a bit bumpy when I put the collaging gel on it, but I decided to keep it anyway. While I was working, I remembered I had a piece of sheer green collaging paper that was just the color of Muffy's eyes. I added it over the whole image, hoping it would still go with the picture frame I had picked out. I had a moment when I thought I had ruined the whole thing, but I kept painting and I am very pleased with the result. It is different than I imagined, but I think it is better. Leaving room for the unexpected is a good idea.

Jeff's Corner: Paint first, ask questions later!

Virus!

2009-12-15T20:09:00.000-08:00

Well, the good news is I didn't catch the virus, our poor computer did! It took Jeff many hours and phone calls to get our machine back to health. We sure realized how much we rely on this great tool and I wished a similar disease to strike those who create those kind of things. Talk about creative energy gone awry....and yes, I know I am vengeful, which is of course, another waste of energy.

Anyway, I do have a painting I wanted to share, which is another one from my "fall leaves and collage experiments." It is called "Masquerade". My inspiration was from a photo of the heart of one of my Dutch Irises from this summer. I have been looking over my flower pictures and trying to see some abstract designs or other themes that are not just obviously flowers.

With the fall leaves I added on the canvas, I also used some very sheer papers that had metallic designs that I thought worked with the sparkle of the real flower petals. I also hoped to capture the sense of a mask. Was I successful? What do you think?

Jeff's Corner: Next Halloween, I am going as one of Tina's paintings.

Tiny Fun

2009-11-15T18:11:00.000-08:00

I wanted to do a small painting for a card for a "get well" card for a friend. I decided to use one of my photos of cats from Greece, mainly because this friend is a great lover of cats.

I haven't tried painting with acrylics on watercolor paper for at least a year, so I thought I would give it a try. I couldn't believe a 5" x 7" painting could take five hours, but it did. The happy part about acrylics is that I could adjust the cats face several times until I could get it right. The cat's expression was key to the whole punch line of the card, (see the photo title).

Since the painting did take so much time, and I had another sick friend, I decided to do a color copy of the card onto good photo paper. The color density of the acrylics made for beautiful copies. Another plus for acrylics!

I just got the entrance form for the Millicent Roger's Museum miniature show for this year, and this painting gave me some ideas for my entry. Needless to say, I have small cats on my mind.

Jeff's Corner: "Morris, time for din din!"

Inspiration

2009-10-28T21:12:00.000-07:00

After our snow storm in September, we actually did get some warmer days and some beautiful fall colors. I was particularly inspired by a group of Popular trees that were such a rich golden color, they fairly glowed in the fall sunshine. I stopped to pick up some of their leaves from the parking lot that was under them, and the combination of the black asphalt, yellow leaves and the red coat I was wearing gave me an immediate inspiration for a painting.

I don't often get flashes like that, but it was great to be able to see something in my mind's eye that I wanted to create. Lately, I had been considering incorporating some collage into the background of my paintings to give them more interest and texture. I saw those leaves as an excellent resource to practice with. I purchased some "Golden" brand acrylic gel medium, which was suggested for collage, and got to work.

I chose to paint with acrylics because I knew that would mix well with that medium and because they dry fast. I didn't start with a drawing, I just started putting down the colors I wanted. My only rule was that I had to go with what felt right, and that I couldn't stop and think about it too long. This was incredibly fun and I ended up getting surprised mid-way with an idea that I wouldn't have thought of to start with, it had to evolve with the painting. A good lesson for me, since I often like to know the solution to many problems before I even get started!

Soon I felt I was finished, so I asked for Jeff's opinion, and he had one excellent suggestion to add one red leaf. Perfect. That is why it is good to have another pair of eyes that you trust. I signed the painting and hung it up. After a few days, I ended up turning it upside down and I think I like it better that way. I have posted it with both views, because I am interested in hearing some other opinions. Tell me which view you like better!

Jeff's Corner: I've looked at leaf from both sides now...

Update. I realized I didn't make it clear that the leaves in the middle of the painting ARE real leaves that I added onto the canvas using the acrylic gel medium. Thanks for asking and for voting!

Fall Preserves

2009-09-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

Summer is officially over when it snows here, and that was on Sept. 21st. My garden is mostly done. I managed to get the tomatoes under cover, but they are still only as big a golf balls. I made a valiant effort to grow things at this elevation, 8500 ft., but it did prove just too cold for squash and pumpkins. There were some potatoes to harvest and some very small corn. Lettuce and chard were definitely the winners.

Luckily, my family sent me home from Utah with peaches, blackberries, squash, normal size sweet corn and some cucumbers. My creativity has been focused on making jam and trying to bottle pickles for the first time. Thankfully, I had some success. It is more fun when my efforts pay off in good things to eat.

I have been working on some new flower painting ideas, but I am not quite ready to show the results of those. I thought the jars of jelly and jam were quite lovely to share for now.

Jeff's Corner: Now I know why Euell Gibbons was eating pine trees... (and what's in Grape Nuts anyway? No grapes, no nuts...)

Half-Marathon, Anyone?

2009-09-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

I knew that setting a goal for myself to run a thirteen mile race would help me stay motivated to exercise. I didn't expect to learn other things that I think are applicable to making art.

First. Having other people to encourage me was invaluable. I would have given up in July if my niece hadn't been there with other training strategies and her belief that I could do this. I have read many times that artists can thrive with support from other like minded artists. I have to admit, I have avoided this type of contact because of my memories of "critique sessions" in college. I provide enough critique in my OWN head, thank you. Perhaps it would be possible to connect with others that are not out to destroy me as an artist. One of my brothers actually ran with me, even though he could have run faster. I usually run alone, and I wondered if it would be weird to have to talk to someone while running. We had the best time, it was fun to talk, and I know the physically difficult part of the race, when my legs were aching, went by a whole lot faster with his help.

Second. It was good for me to do something that was hard. I didn't expect the elation and sense of accomplishment that lasted for weeks after the event. I felt ready to set new goals. Write a whole albums' worth of music. Hike the Himalayas. Tackle painting that portrait of my friend! I have more confidence that I can succeed. I wasn't the fastest runner there, but I did beat my own goal of three hours by ten minutes, and that was good enough for me.

Jeff's Corner: I am going to comment about him. Jeff is wonderful! He was so proud of me for finishing my goal.

Finally!

2009-08-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

I was able to have some time last week to finally complete the commission of Muffy's portrait. Getting my boss's artwork ready for the big show it August took most of my time and desire to even work on art projects.

The happy news is that I was very happy with the finished painting. I was so glad that the cat's fur didn't look too "stiff". Also, my client was so happy she gave me a tip and sent me a thank you note. I am looking forward doing something else challenging of my own. Perhaps finishing a portrait that I started two years ago...painting people terrifies me, so I should try it, right?

Jeff's Corner:

Mental Gymnastics

2009-08-13T06:46:00.000-07:00

I originally started this blog with the idea of testing what changing my thinking about my art making process might do to actually getting some art done. I think I have made some progress, but like anything, it takes practice. After reassessing what my mind set has been lately, I thought I could use a mini-workshop to get back on track.

I had purchased a set of cards called the "Creative Whack Pack" a few years ago. These were the invention of Roger Von Oech who is an author of several creativity books. The deck consists of 64 cards with each card having a different creativity strategy. There are four, sixteen card suits: Explorer, Artist, Judge, and Warrior. These represent four types of thinking involved in the creative process.

Anyway, I decided to get these cards out and try one of the suggested exercises to determine what type of creative style I have. My strongest suit turned out to be "Judge", which is evaluating an idea and deciding what to do with it. The next was "Warrior", this is the action suit for implementing ideas. (I thought that was good). "Explorer",which is for discovering resources to create new ideas and "Artist", transforming resources into new ideas were my least used strategies. No wonder I feel like my thinking is a bit stale! Obviously, all these strategies are good in their own way, but I can definitely see that I need to balance them out more evenly.

Now I am randomly choosing a card per day and applying that strategy to my day. So far, "Loosen Up" and "Asking, What IF?" were the most interesting and helpful. The "Experiment" is back on track!

Jeff's Corner: Suit yourself!

Putting first things first...

2009-08-03T18:30:00.000-07:00

Last week I had a great comment on the blog that reminded me about doing what is most important to me first. I know that Eric Maisel suggested that in his book "Coaching the Artist Within". Lately, I have not been following through on that principle as far as my artwork goes. Consequently, my productivity has really suffered.

I did try put this concept back into play Saturday, and I succeeded in four and a half hours of blissful painting. It was a bit of a jolt to get back to the laundry, dealing with stacks of paper, etc. and I didn't get my floors swept or all the plants watered. I will admit I was a bit grumpy later when I was finishing dishes late at night. Jeff reminded me that I was just going to have to make up my mind about what I was going to be happier getting done, and quit trying to insist on doing it all. Blasphemy! I hate it when I can't be superwoman.

I spent a bit of time Sunday afternoon replaying some music for the piano I had written a couple of years ago. I have wanted to do this for a long time, but kept putting it off because I thought it would be such a disappointment. I had given it up in disgust at my lack of ability to write down all the music that I could hear in my head and I couldn't seem to get the music writing software, a computer and a keyboard that were all compatible at the same time to make up for my writing handicap. Amazingly, I could read and play what I wrote and got a great deal of enjoyment from hearing that music again. I would like to finish some of those compositions. Obviously, I am NOT superwoman and can't do everything, but I felt much happier this weekend actually doing more of what I like and less of what I "should" do.

Jeff's corner: My motto is - Don't "should" on yourself!

Moving Forward Slowly

2009-07-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

I truly thought that when summer was here, I would be getting much more painting done than I have. I have not been doing my painting hour in the morning because I have been using more of that time to train for a half-marathon that I wanted to attempt the end of August. I also thought that once I got my garden planted and growing, it would take less time. I think I will have to be less ambitious next year and stick to lettuce and radishes!

Frankly, this week has been a real battle with depression over my whole "Artist Life Experiment". I haven't felt like writing because I think my progress has slowed so substantially and that I don't have anything to share other than my own discouragement, and that is not what I wanted this blog to be about.

I did manage to get some of the background color on the portrait of Muffy, and that did cheer me up. I think it is a good start. I can see that perhaps I need to re-evaluate my goals and decide whether to be content with doing many goals and getting a little done on each, or going back to being more focused on just one goal, then stop giving myself a guilt trip! Does anyone else always think they can do more than they really can? How do you deal with it?! Life is short, and I want to accomplish so much.

Jeff's Corner: What? Life is short?! Oh crap!...

Nothing Like the Real Thing...

2009-06-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

We just got back from our whirlwind trip to Amsterdam. I wondered when we went if it would be worth the jet lag to do such a short trip, but I have to say that seeing the Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, and Van Gogh paintings in person was well worth the effort.

I liked that the museums we went to made the effort to put the history of the country and the history of the various artists work in context. Nothing is created in a vacuum, although it sometimes seems that way when all I have seen were the great masterpieces in my textbook in college.

The Van Gogh museum where they had many of Vincent's early paintings showing his learning process and how hard he worked before he even came to his famous style was particularly important to me. I was also moved by how he didn't realize that he was doing the very thing he was trying to accomplish, but he couldn't see it! He despaired and desiring not to be a burden to his brother anymore, he took his own life. How often have I felt that all my efforts are not amounting to anything! Sometimes it is so hard to judge when you are in the middle of things. If Van Gogh could have just held on ten more years, he would have started to see the interest in his work begin to blossom.

This is only one of the many things I felt I learned on such a short trip. I have to say, that there is nothing like experiencing and seeing the world for myself and not just seeing it on t.v. on the travel channel.

Jeff's Corner: Standing at Rembrandt's easel in his studio was amazing!

Go Van Gogh...

2009-06-16T22:05:00.000-07:00

What a whirlwind my life has been lately. Deadlines for artwork for my Artist Boss's show coming up in August, summer visitors, trying to keep the garden going, and we decided on a last minute inspiration to go to Amsterdam for five nights!

I haven't made any progress on my artistic projects and I have been feeling rather disgruntled about that. Going on an artistic field trip IS the next best thing though, and helps me feel a bit better about the lack of time I have spent painting.

We already have our tickets to the Van Gogh museum, Rembrandt's house and the Rijksmuseum. The club Melkweg is also on the list in order to get some musical inspiration from a cool band called the "SilverSun Pickups" (Jeff's idea.) It will be short and sweet and a much needed break. I hope to come back recharged to paint...once I get over the jet lag!

Jeff's Corner: "Stay-cation" my a**!!!

To be like Georgia, or not...

2009-06-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

I finally had some of my own Irises bloom this spring and this morning I had a great photo taking experience. I have been wondering how I could make my "back-light" flower series of paintings more interesting and have considered closer angles and unusual view points.

Of course, these start looking reminiscent of Georgia O'Keefe's famous flower paintings. The only difference is that I would have more of a sense of light shining through the petals. I have always admired her work, but I don't like to be a copy cat. I suppose all I can do is try out the idea and see if I like it. Sometimes something that looks great as a photograph doesn't translate well onto canvas.

Ah, choices.

Jeff's Corner: "Georgia on my mind..."

One Year Later...

2009-05-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

A good test of what I have learned in a year was to try and do another painting of the little fox and compare it to my experience of painting the first one last year.

First of all, I knew that if I started with a grey value underpainting, I should make that painting accurate to what I wanted the finished artwork to look like. I spent a lot of extra time on the first fox trying to cover up problems with the value underpainting.

Second, I knew what colors to mix to get the fur tones I wanted. The first painting, I wasn't very familiar with the oil paints. After a year of working with them, I was a lot more confident.

Third, I did learn something about the anatomy of foxes from all the drawings I did last time, and that did help me in getting a better drawing in less time.

Overall, it was a happier and less stressful painting experience. I did struggle with getting the eyes right because I couldn't use an exact photo reference, but I learned from that too. Mostly to trust myself when the painting seems off. I learned that painting is just like anything else, practice, practice, practice makes all the difference. I often have a faulty belief that I should just be automatically good at something just because I want to do it. Rats, all my teachers were right about having to work to master the skills!

Jeff's Corner: She couldn't find Carnegie Hall on the first try either...

Twilight Zone

2009-05-12T21:56:00.000-07:00

I have been working out of town for the last three weeks. It has only been for three days away from home each week, but I have to say my schedule feels completely turned upside down. I have been helping to develop new ideas for sculptures for the fall show for the artist I work for. This is surprisingly tiring and some times frustrating work. I think I know what she wants, but then after spending all day on a concept, it isn't quite what she was after and I have to change the shape of the piece again.

I tried taking some of my own drawing and sketching work with me, but I didn't make much progress. When I got home, my extra time went into catching up with all the garden plans that needed to move forward. Growing plants insist on more space and sunshine! The cute little seedlings I have been starting inside the house are wanting more permanent accommodations, and I don't have all those ready yet.

I did manage to get two underpaintings in grey tones started. One of Muffy, the Disdainful Kitty and one of a baby fox. I had an interested buyer for the original fox I did last year, but she expressed a desire to have the fox looking up instead of at the ground. I delved back into the world of trying to get inspiration without copying someone's photo. I think I have made a good start, but something looks a bit strange around the fox's eyes...oh well, just more time in the twilight zone.

Jeff's Corner: Jeff is at home and I am away, so we STILL don't get to enjoy his witty remarks! Believe me, I miss them too.

Childhood Memory

2009-04-23T19:46:00.000-07:00

Last week, I heard about a birthday party for my aunt who is turning 80 years old this May. When I was four years old, my Mom became very sick and sometimes some of my siblings and I stayed with Mom's sister, who is the Aunt that is having the birthday.

One of the things my younger brother and I remember is eating the roses made of "decorator's frosting" that my Aunt used to adorn the wedding cakes she made. She would let us have the extra ones that she didn't use and we would sit under the table with the wax paper sheets studded with the lovely colored flowers. I always admired how pretty they were before we devoured them, saving the purple ones for last because I liked that color best. Actually they all tasted the same and I think only small children can have such a tolerance for such an intensely sweet treat!

I decided I wanted to do a watercolor rose birthday card for her in honor of the occasion. I have'nt painted with my watercolors for almost a year now and I was interested to see how it would go. I was pleased to find that I actually had a better sense of the layering of the color washes and solved my light and dark values much quicker that I used too. This is such a help, since watercolors can look muddy and overworked so easily. It is always a happy day when I feel like I am making progress in becoming a better artist. I hope my Aunt likes the card!

Jeff's Corner: Jeff will be returning to his "corner" tomorrow, after a two week business trip away. I am so glad!

Balancing Act

2009-04-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

I went out of town recently to visit my family which involves a 12 hour drive. I have made it a goal to take my camera with me more often when I go anywhere and I tried to capture some good pictures in what I call "guerilla photo taking" on this trip too. This often involves shooting out of a moving car window, (yes, Jeff was driving) or only taking a quick moment to take a picture when we made a stop.

It was great to see my family and I was very pleased to discover that many of them have been following the blog. Some haven't commented, so I didn't know they were reading along. I have been contemplating ways that I could use my flower painting images in more ways than just the finished painting. I appreciated the great response from the idea to put them on cards. I would also be open to any other appropriate suggestions.

Traveling away for a weekend made me realize how fine the balancing act I have been doing in order to get any art work completed. In between work, church, housework, and trying to start a garden, a long week-end away meant I didn't make any progress on the paintings. I felt anxious that I hadn't been creating anything and didn't have something new for the blog.

I decided to take a look at what I had accomplished. I took some cool pictures, I found out I had more support than I knew about, and I took stock and realized that in a year from when I first set out to paint more seriously, I have completed 13 oil and 9 watercolor paintings. That is a marked increase from the one painting a year I had been doing the for the last twenty years.

I suppose every juggler drops the ball now and then, especially a new juggler. I can pick up where I left off and keep going. Thanks everyone for the positive feedback!

Jeff's Corner: Jeff will comment when HE gets back from his business trip out of town...

Spring Fever and Winter Chill

2009-04-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

We had a couple of warm weeks in March and I was itching to get going on the "garden". I did some preliminary digging and was very excited about what I was going to plant. I was considering a whole painting series on the color green and the light shining through new plants.

The next exercise for writing the artist statement is: "I am most inspired by...." I have to say that particular green color of new plants is very inspiring to me. I also like the bird song that starts to be heard this time of year. Every spring, I always realize anew how much I missed it all winter.

Well, then like missing that last step on the way down the stairs, the temperatures dropped to four degrees overnight and the wind and snow were here again. I really don't mind the snow so much, any moisture is good moisture, but those steep temperature drops are harsh and cooled down my spring fever in a hurry.

I was inspired by the brave rhubarb, daffodils, and tiny lilac bush that I just planted last year and I thought would be ruined by that freeze. But there they were, not blackened and still green. Also those tenacious little birds were still singing! I have a lot to learn from such determination, since I am easily frosted by negative comments. I don't want to be a hot-house flower.

I did make progress on the pink columbine painting even though I had many distractions. It was on the blog several entries ago in it's grey scale beginnings. It still needs a little color balance, but I will share it in it's imperfect state.

Jeff's Corner: This year March came in like a lamb and went out like a polar bear!

The Subjects and Style I Choose are....Because...

2009-03-25T19:34:00.000-07:00

That is the first "exercise" I had to write about in my first attempts at creating an artist's statement. I am using Alyson B. Stanfield's book, "I'd Rather be in the Studio" as my guide.

I have to say, after writing for the required thirty minutes on that topic alone, I did unearth some things I didn't expect. Namely, that I really am passionate about living, growing things. I know that about myself and yet I hadn't really put it down in words before. Alyson's point that artists have to understand what they are trying to accomplish with their art before they can explain it to others in a coherent fashion really hit home.

Saturday, the first really warm spring like day here, I spent three hours hand-digging a new garden spot with a pick. Then while turning soil in one of my garden spaces from last year, I was plotting and planning how I was going to try and outwit both weather and chipmunks for a more successful growing season this year. I hadn't planned on spending so much time outside, but I was so inspired by the idea of beautiful growing plants. It is no wonder that I love painting them and try to capture the light shining through their leaves.

This is, of course, only one of the required writing exercises. I have a lot more to do. Hopefully digging about in my subconscious will eventually yield a harvest of good ideas to put in my final statement.

If anyone would like to know more about Alyson's ideas on artists and self promotion, check out her blog at http://www.artbizblog.com She has some really helpful suggestions.

Jeff's Corner: Always call the utility company before digging around in your subconscious!

Hello Kitty

2009-03-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

I have not made much progress on my "artist statement" and was wondering what to write about since that was my plan to document my progress on writing it.

Hurrah! A commission has come my way for another cat portrait and I am thrilled to have a good reason to take a little more time for the writing of said statement.

I had fun this weekend getting acquainted with my new subject, Muffy, a beautiful cat with a lovely disposition as long as you were petting her ears and not trying to take her picture! She is fourteen years old and would make such faces of disdain by squinting her lovely green eyes everytime I pointed the camera at her. I wasn't using a flash at all, she just did not like to have her picture taken.

Finally, some neighborhood dogs stopped by outside the glass doors and I got one really great picture of her while her attention was on those dogs. Thank you doggies! I am still working on the flowers, but I am excited to get working on this portrait.

Jeff's Corner: "Who let the dogs out? Who, Who, Who..." Baja Men

Poppies in Process

2009-03-09T19:11:00.000-07:00

I finally made progress on the pink poppies this week since I wasn't distracted by sneezing and coughing. I still think they need a little color balance work, the smaller bloom seems a bit too purple, but overall, I feel the painting is close to being done.

I've decided that I am going to go ahead and do the backlit flower series that I had originally planned on. I am setting a goal for 15 paintings. I recently saw an opportunity in the Art Calender magazine for an open call for artists to show in the Community Convention center in Santa Fe. I thought this would be a good goal to try for since there isn't a hard fast deadline for me to stress out over, yet it gives me something to reach for.

To apply for this opportunity, I also need an artists resume, and an artist's statement, neither of which I have written and need to do. Again, another reason to get me moving. I also like that they are considering artists of all levels, so I don't have to have had years of gallery experience to apply. It feels good to have a goal again.

Jeff's Corner: Calvin:"A good artist's statement always says more than his art does!"
Hobbes: "You misspelled Weltanschauung..." Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Waterson

Reality Check

2009-03-01T17:05:00.000-08:00

I had every intention of having the pink poppy painting I was working on ready to post on the blog this week. Two weeks ago, I had a suspicious scratchiness in my throat and the next morning there was no doubt about it, one of those tenacious viruses had made itself at home and I was going to suffer the consequences for its visit.

I thought since I wasn't going in to work, that I would "make lemonade" and try to get some painting done. I managed about an hour's worth of work before I had to admit defeat. It may not seem like a person is working very hard when they are painting, but for me the concentration and focus did take a good deal more energy than I even imagined. I was glad I could at least make it to the Miniature Show opening with the help of Ibuprofen and Coca Cola.*

The next week, I did manage to go to work, which was good since there was a deadline for a piece of artwork that had to be finished that week. Jeff had been able to work on the piece while I was sick, but the bad news was that stealthy virus decided to visit Jeff and he took his turn to feel miserable.

I thought maybe I would paint in the evenings, but I was still feeling drained from being sick and after working all day, I just didn't have the energy. I am glad a didn't have a real deadline other the the one I put on myself to have the painting done. I think it is a good reminder that sometimes other realities happen.

While lying in bed, I did see some great sunlight through the leaves of one of my houseplants and I just had to take a picture. I am sharing it with you today. I just love backlight!

Jeff's Corner: *"I hear Keith Richards lives on that stuff!" (see above)

Miniatures Show

2009-02-22T17:31:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, Feb 21st, was the opening for the miniatures show at the Millicent Rogers Museum. "Miniatures" was defined as any artwork that measured less than 10"x 10"inches. Paintings did not have to include the frames in that measurement. The museum has been hosting this show for artists living in the county for the last six years. Last year was my first year participating and this was Jeff's first year.

We were able to invite a few friends as our guests and apparently everyone else did the same because the opening was very well attended. A new feature this year was to have those attending vote for their three favorite artworks. With two hundred artists participating, it was hard to choose just three! Besides paintings, there were wood carvings, pottery, and jewelry.

It was an enjoyable evening. We have been to many excellent art shows for the artist we work for, but it was really fun for us to have our own work in the show for a change. There were some works there by some really well known artists in our area and it was great to be in the same show with them. Best of all was that we were able to meet our goal to be there.

And I personally think that Jeff's painting was the best "church" painting at the show.

Jeff's Corner: So do I!

Spinning My Wheels

2009-02-15T18:28:00.000-08:00

I finally finished one of the flower paintings I had planned for the spring show that isn't happening. I knew it would only take me a couple of hours, but I just couldn't seem to get started. It took me two weeks to get the momentum to paint for two and a half hours! That painting sitting on the easel just waiting did add to guilty feelings and caused me to wonder what was wrong with me.

The other bothersome thing is that I had developed an annoying muscle twitch under my left eye. After reading up on what might be happening, the diagnosis of "eye strain" is what I found. I guess working all day on carving detailed designs on pottery and then painting at night was taking it's toll. My eye muscle is less twitchy, so I guess I did need the rest.

I also had a bad round of feeling like my paintings are too stiff and lack a real sense of emotion and meaning. Thoughts like these are great for adding slick stuff to spin my mental wheels in. My goal this week is to get to the bottom of what I am feeling so I can get some traction again. This being an artist business really makes a person think.

Jeff's Corner: My policy is to take a break if any of my body parts start twitching...

The Saga Continues...

2009-02-08T17:16:00.000-08:00

We had been hoping for a spring show of our artwork at a local resort as many of the great readers of this blog know. We received an e-mail this week from the art director that the General Manager decided that he wanted a "consistent" look, so he is going to continue with one artist they are showing already and not use us!

It just goes to show that the lesson from last week of pleasing ourselves was the best lesson possible. I have to admit, I was a bit relieved because I have been working so hard on paintings every spare minute I had in order to try and meet that deadline. It was nice to feel like maybe we could go snowboarding on a weekend and not feel guilty about it. We haven't gone at all this winter. At the same time, I do feel a bit let down not having a specific goal to meet. But, I am confident that with a little research and thought, I can come up with another one.

Speaking of other goals, we are submitting a painting each to a "miniatures show" at a local museum. This is full circle for me, since I did some watercolor paintings for this same show last year. It was the first thing I did in honor of making the resolution to myself to start making artwork again. The really great thing is that this year, Jeff has one to enter too.

Jeff's Corner: It's no use forcing a square peg into a round hole.

Landscapes, Oh My...

2009-02-01T16:54:00.000-08:00

I finished my Canyon Sunrise painting and sent it to the art director at the resort in hopes it would fit the southwest theme that her General Manager would prefer. She wrote me back and said that the GM liked my flowers and not Jeff's churches!

Joy for me, but disappointing news for Jeff. She wondered if he could send in some landscapes. At first Jeff thought he could, but after a week of thinking it over, he found that he just wasn't that excited about painting them. I understood exactly how he felt. Painting is actually quite demanding work, and it is hard to do when you are not inspired by the subject matter. He has completed two more paintings of churches with a different color palette, which he hopes they might like better. If they do, great. But if not, he is not going to worry about it.

I really appreciated the comments on the last two blogs. It helped me realized that I am in charge and that I don't have to immediately try to please everyone. It's also important that I feel happy with the arrangements when I show my art work. Thanks so much!

Jeff's Corner: "It's alright now, I've learned my lesson well. You see you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself..." Garden Party by Ricky Nelson, 1972

Shifting Gears!

2009-01-18T19:46:00.000-08:00

What a week. We sent a sample of three paintings each to the art director at Ojo Caliente where we are hoping to show our work this spring. We received a nice e-mail back where she explained that she loved my flowers, but she knew the General Manager almost always went with southwest landscapes or themes. !!!

I called her and said I could try to have an example of my landscape work in a week. She did apologize for not getting back to me sooner. I had sent an e-mail in December explaining my intention to paint florals, but I didn't get a response. Anyway, I have been scrambling through my photo collection to find suitable landscapes and generally freaking out.

I was so looking foward to having two finished paintings to post this week and I had chosen the rest of my flower subjects and canvases. I could picture the whole show, and now I am completely turned upside down. Poor Jeff has been very patient with my stress, although he says I am like a cat with her tail poufed out. Unfortunately, that is a pretty good description of me right now!

Working like crazy all weekend has yielded one 11"x14" painting, "Taos Canyon Sunrise" that still doesn't feel quite right. I am not posting it because I am not happy with it yet. I really had my hopes on doing that show, and all I can do is try my best. I wish I had time to paint another subject this week, but if I can get the sunset to work, it will be really impressive. Crossing my fingers...

Jeff Corner: If you get her cornered and her tail poufs out- leave her cornered!

Tool Kit

2009-01-11T19:48:00.000-08:00

Now that January is here, I really feel the necessity to get to work on my goal to have at least twelve paintings ready for the spring to show at Ojo Caliente. That means completing at least one painting a week for the next three months. I decided to focus on flowers and have researched all my photos from last summer to choose my best subjects. I am glad I took so many pictures!

I debated whether to try the grey scale underpainting with the flowers. The last time I tried it, I was very frustrated with the results. I have learned since that the key to success with the underpainting is to have a more complete image with all the darks and lights where I want them. My frustration from before was trying to change dark areas to light. If I changed my mind, those areas took more time to fix.

With the dramatic results of the Petra cat painting, I decided to give it another try. This time I did very detailed drawings of my subject before I even started the underpaintings. I used a technique that I never liked to use in the past, because it always seemed to take forever and I wanted to get to the painting, but I think it helps save time in the long run. I created a pencil drawn grid of squares on my canvas and then made a small grid of the same proportions. One useful thing I learned from art school, is that if it looks good small, it will look good big. I drew my desired image on the small grid and then I could transfer my drawing to the larger canvas grid. While I was drawing, I kept hearing the voice of a dear friend of mine who once told me that "real artist's don't use grids, they can just create from their heads directly to the canvas".

This statement has always bothered me, and Jeff and I had a discussion about artwork and tools. Essentially the grey scale underpainting is also another tool. Is the artwork created using these helpful ideas somehow less than artwork just painted spontaneously with no pre-thought? I like the results of using these tools, I spend less time re-painting because it feels right the first time. I was feeling badly about not being a "real artist" and Jeff said he would like to see an example of "fake-art". Laughing made me feel better, that is why I keep him around.

Jeff's Corner: Would the statue of "David" been any less beautiful if Michangelo had used power tools?

The Lilies Of The Field

2009-01-04T19:26:00.000-08:00

I entered a floral painting for a call for entries this fall for the LDS church. I have had this on my goal list for at least ten years and I finally did it. The subject for the art show is "The Great Things of God" At first I was contemplating a complex still life, but then I thought "what can I reasonably do with the skills I have so far?"

Since I was focusing on flowers this summer, I decided to see if I could incorporate that subject to fit into that theme. I kept thinking about the scripture that talks about the lilies of the field and how they were more beautifully arrayed than King Solomon.

I did some research on what those "lilies" in Jerusalem might have looked like. It turns out that they are a Red Corn Poppy that grows wild in the fields in that part of the world. I found some good references to work from, but again I had to create my own arrangement and use some of my own photos of poppies to get a better sense of light. My pictures of poppies were of the California variety, and the Red Corn Poppy has a similar center, but fewer and less frilly petals. Like the fox painting, not having my own perfect reference photos makes things more difficult and time consuming.

Finally, I did get a painting done on time for the submission deadline and I sent it in. I didn't like the way the shadows looked on the middle poppy, but I couldn't seem to do any better and I decided to just let it go, after getting Jeff's reassuring opinion of course.

I just recently heard from the art selection committee, and they didn't choose my piece for the show. That is O.K., because my main goal was just to submit something and now I can share it with all of you on the blog.

Jeff's Corner: I think Toto and I will just lie down here and take a little nap...

Jeff's Turn To Shine

2008-12-26T15:27:00.000-08:00

The week before Christmas, Jeff received a commission for a southwestern church painted in his dramatic style to be given as a gift. Of course his friend wondered if he could finish it in time for Christmas! So, what to my wondering eyes did appear, but an amazingly bold painting as the end of the week drew near.

Jeff chose acrylics because he knew they would dry lightning fast, and they were what he used on his other church paintings. It really helps to be familiar with your media and the color palette. Jeff painted for years with acrylics before he tried the oils. His art loving friend actually wanted to buy the "Zuni Pueblo Church" painting, but Jeff wasn't ready to part with that particular piece. Jeff reassured him that he could do something very similar and his friend was very happy with the result.

I was impressed that he has such a distinctive style. Some people love it and others don't, but it is something they always told us in art school you must have so that people could instantly recognize your work. He has held back for a lot of years because he got an initial response from someone that he respected that was somewhat negative. (I believe the term used was "horror show".) Lately, he has had some more positive responses, and this commission has been the best of all. I am incredibly proud of him and hope he will continue to paint more great paintings.

Jeff's Corner: "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine..."

Under The Surface

2008-12-18T19:38:00.000-08:00

I made good progress on the second Petra painting, but I realized that in between all the cookie baking, snow shoveling, and other holiday commitments, I didn't enter a blog last week! Hopefully, everyone else has been just as busy and didn't notice.

I am coming near completion of this painting, and I feel like the color balance is much better. I had a friend comment that it must be just like paint by number once you get the black and white values in place. It might seem that way, but I still had to make a lot of choices to get the right colors. I tried an idea I read about recently where you cut a small square out of a white piece of paper and look through the square to really see the color you are looking at. This was especially helpful on the ground color because last time I kept seeing it as too brown and didn't get enough gray, blue and green.

The black and white underpainting does help a bunch for placement and it is kind of magical how all the colors seem to have the right value now and don't seem so overly bright and unnatural. Eventually, I may learn to do this by mixing the colors with enough black in the first place, but for now, I am really glad to have a tool that I know will work.

Some positive results from my fixation with painting cats is that I may have two more commissions from other folks who love their feline friends. I am delighted with the opportunity to keep on learning and provide people with something they will enjoy.

Jeff's Corner: You should see my paint-by-number Mark Rothko...

Cats and Dogs

2008-12-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

This fall I had a successful animal portrait titled "Cheech Puppy". At the time, I was experimenting with not doing a black and white underpainting first, and I thought this particular painting worked very well.

Because of that portrait, I received a commission to paint a cat named Petra. I started this painting without an underpainting before we left for Greece, so it was waiting for me half-finished when I returned home.

I had a goal to have this commission finished early in December and I went straight to work. Imagine my dismay when I was getting near completion and everything with the color just felt unconnected and "off". The leaves seemed too bright, the ground too chocolate brown, and Petra's eyes too green.

While we were in Greece, I did one painting of a black and white kitten I titled "Who, Me?", and I did use a black and white underpainting which really was helpful in getting a successful painting. Reluctantly, I came to the conclusion that I would have to start over with Petra. Even though it would mean an extra week of drying time, I did do the underpainting with black and white aqua- oils instead of acrylics just to see if the painting would have even more depth.

Thankfully, I already feel the painting is more unified, and I hope that when I add the color this week, it will maintain this unity. Stay tuned until next week...

Jeff's Corner: Underpainting? I thought she said black and white underpants!

The Odyssey

2008-11-28T17:59:00.000-08:00

It all started with a little change of our scheduled flight out of Rhodes from 6:40 am to 7:10 am. The airline said we wouldn't make our connecting flight in Athens to Munich, so we changed our departure time to 9:40 pm the night before and planned to make the best of staying in the Athens airport for nine hours overnight.

We searched for seats without armrests and found them already occupied by other travelers spending the night. Jeff finally gave up and slept on the floor. We managed to get a few hours sleep before an irate group of French speaking people arrived around 4:00 am. They were certainly angry about something! We got up and had breakfast at the McDonald's Cafe on the third floor. It was quiet and we discovered a museum nearby containing some great artifacts they found before the new Athens airport was built on the archeological site.

We arrived in perfect time at our departure gate to find all the seats filled with passengers waiting for the flight before which was delayed because of weather. They moved us to another gate and still our flight was delayed 25 minutes. So much for our heroic efforts of staying in the airport overnight so we would be on time!

When we arrived in Munich, we anxiously went through check in and the passport check line and then RAN with our heavy carry-on luggage to gate H-36 for our flight to Chicago. We missed the flight. Walking back to the Lufthansa help desk, we were uncertain what would happen next. The lady there was so helpful, she was determined to not only get us a flight to the USA, but a good flight schedule. An hour later, we had plans to fly to Frankfurt in the morning and then a direct flight to Denver. She also called Aegean Air and they agreed to pay for our hotel for the night. Our helpful angel was a bit frustrated when she couldn't get our ticket from Denver to Alberquerque to print out. Writing us a handwritten ticket, she warned us twice not to lose it.

Waiting outside for the shuttle bus to the Sheraton Hotel was a chilly proposition. It was around 35 degrees and damp. The Germans gave us some puzzled looks since we were not dressed for the occasion. My bright purple flannel shirt was strange among all those black and dark blue coats. Our hotel stay included a lovely dinner and light breakfast and we we were so grateful not to spend our few remaining Euros.

The flight to Frankfurt was perfect and we had plenty of time to catch our next flight to Denver. Our concerns started to rise again when we got to our gate and there was a huge crowd of people and nothing was happening. Eventually, instead of boarding the usual way, they led us down several stairways and down a long hall, and finally loaded all four hundred of us on buses! After a long ride, we boarded the airplane from the tarmack. The pilot apologized that for some reason the airplane had not been cleaned. He said that it looked like a "frat party" had occurred on board and that was the cause of the delay. Thankfully in the ten hour flight, the pilot was able to make up ten minutes of the 20 minute delay, so we landed in Denver almost on time.

Unfortunately, several other international flights arrived at the same time and the line to go through customs was huge, plus we had to claim our checked bags and recheck them on United to go to Alberquerque. Again, we were running to get to our gate and arrived just in time to watch our airplane backing away from the boarding dock! Arrrgh. We were not late, but they left a little early because they didn't know to look for us because we were not in the computer because the ticket wouldn't print in Munich and we only had the hand written ticket!

Back to the United Gate, who sent us to Lufthansa, who sent us all the way back to the Lufthansa Desk in the main terminal, where we encountered a line of about 30 unhappy Germans who had also missed their flights.

Jeff was supposed to leave for Chicago in the morning for work, but after some discussion and several phone calls, we decided to stay in Denver. The airline wouldn't pay for the hotel, since they were only nine minutes late, but we did get a substantial discount which helped. We were so tired and jet-lagged that we waited in the wrong place for the shuttle bus. Finally, we got to the hotel where Jeff fell asleep with the t.v. remote in one hand and a bag of uneaten cookies in the other.

We arrived at the airport the next morning optimistic and with a nice two hour time cushion. While we were going through the security check, we were flagged and given the full TSA search with the body x-ray and our carry-on baggage completely unpacked and searched. We were flagged because our flight plan had changed in the last 24 hours!

Finally, we go to board the train that will take us to the concourse we need to be to board our plane. We realize the terminal is filling with people and the trains are not running. Our time cushion is slipping away! Eventually the trains start moving, but it takes several before we can get on. I actually have a small laughing fit because this is all beginning to feel completely ridiculous. We arrive at our gate just as they are beginning to board the plane. Whew!

We experience a miracle in Alberquerque when our checked luggage actually show up on the carousel, we had no idea where it might be. Our three hour drive to Taos is pleasant, the weather is lovely. We stop to get some groceries in town and then go to drive the last nine miles home up Taos canyon. At the entrance, we find there are police cars and an angry officer that won't let any one pass. Eventually, we learn there was a fatal accident and it may be a three hour wait or more.

Considering our options, we decide to take the gravel forest service road that goes over the mountain and comes out about a mile from our house. An hour and a half later, we come to the junction where the dirt road meets the highway, and find an angry, frustrated fireman who won't let us past. Amazed, Jeff parks the truck on the side of the road and we wait. It's getting cold, I feel like crying, and Jeff is wondering if we could walk that last mile. Finally, the fireman comes over and apologizes. He thought we were just more people trying to go down and get a look at the accident. After promising that we sincerely just want to go home, he lets us pass. We arrive home 81 hours after we left the apartment in Greece! A full two days later than planned.

We have really discussed and pondered what all this was about. I have decided that perhaps I was to learn that delays do not necessarily mean you won't get to your destination. Staying calm and having a sense of humour are invaluable. I am keeping this is mind as I consider my art career and the recent financial crisis. I am grateful that we were fine, even though we didn't know what would happen next!

Jeff's corner: The Odyssey by Homer Simpson: "D'oh!!"

Time Warp

2008-11-18T20:03:00.000-08:00

Hello all, I had plans to write about our trip home which is quite the story, but I am short on time and still trying to adjust to being home. We have found that it is taking longer than we thought to get back into the swing of things. Jeff got an extra bonus by getting sick the day after we got home. All my paranoid taking of garlic and germ fighters for enclosed spaces seem to have paid off, I didn't catch what Jeff had, which for those who know me, the Queen-of-Colds, is quite the miracle!

Another thing we didn't expect was to still have any sort of employment. Our talented boss decided that maybe we could work out something long distance. We have still had to move the part of the studio we will be using here to a new location, so that has taken some time and adjustment. I did request an extra day off each week to work on my own artwork and she was willing to accommodate me.

Jeff and I met a lovely lady when we were at a friends wedding this fall, and she is interested in showing our paintings this spring at a local hotel-spa-resort. They are interested in Southwest themes and so we will have to put the Greece paintings on hold if we want to be considered for that show. We would love to take advantage of the opportunity and plan to go out and try to see and photograph this area just like we did in Greece.

Our photos from Greece are still in our cameras and I have not completely unpacked one of my bags. I am trying my best to hold on to the calm, easy attitude I had there and not get so stressed out with everyday life. Our mantra on the trip was that "everything works out", and it did, when I relaxed and let it! I am posting my most favorite photo from the trip. It was supposed to go on the "Wild Things" blog, but I couldn't find it last time. This cat came by while we were on the beach with all the confidence in the world and made himself quite at home on my towel. When he had received the attention he thought he deserved, he continued on down the beach to greet the next lucky person. Everything works out, eventually.

Jeff's Corner: Airplanes are just flying germ cans! (cough, cough)

Wild Things

2008-11-08T19:35:00.000-08:00

My jet-lagged mind is finally starting to clear and I realized it had been over a week since I last posted on the blog! Thanks so much to all of you who have been reading and commenting, it meant so much to up to hear from you and it kept me focused to keep on writing. It was a good exercise to try and crystallize our experiences as they were happening. It did take effort to write it all down, go to the internet cafe, pay a Euro and a half for an hour of time, then type like crazy amid cigarette smoke, loud music, and the twenty-something crowd playing video games.

If you asked me what kind of wild life we saw in Rhodes, besides the people at the internet cafe, I would have to answer "cats". They were everywhere; in the dumpsters, on door steps and on the beach. I couldn't resist them and Jeff teased me about taking pictures of "another cat". But when I was starting to run out of space on my photo card towards the end of the trip, he took some of the most wonderful cat pictures for me. What a sweetheart!

The second type of wild life I would mention would have to be goats. They would casually cross the highway, sit unconcerned on the warm pavement, and eat your stuff on the beach if they thought you weren't looking. We were greatly amazed when we visited the castle ruin at Asklipio. We were taking pictures from the outside of the castle walls, when I looked up and saw what looked like an rear end of a goat hanging over the wall. When we got inside, there were goats sunning themselves on every wall imaginable. "Ancient Castle With Goats" was the title we decided would be appropriate for the painting inspired by those photos.

I later asked one of the island locals if anyone was actually watching all those wandering herds. He said they did belong to people, but if you accidentally hit and killed one of the goats with your car, the owner couldn't claim damages.

The donkeys carrying the tourists to the top of the castle in Lindos were not exactly wild, but hearing them bray every now and then was a sound we didn't expect to hear. There was a funny postcard with a donkey watching a cruise ship come in. In his thought bubble, he was unhappily remembering his journey with the last shipload of overweight tourists.

I couldn't resist doing a painting of one of the wild life I loved the most. A little street kitten I saw in Rodos, Old Town. I loved his bright-eyed expression. I hope you will enjoy it too.

Jeff's Corner: My favorite wild life were the nudists on the south end of Tsambika beach.

Yes, But What About The Paintings?

2008-10-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

Many of you are wondering if we are getting any painting done with all the sight-seeing, beach hopping and learning of history, etc.

We did end up discussing this very topic early on in our adventure. I thought we should be painting more, and Jeff thought we shouldn't miss anything here. Jeff claims he had no idea there would be so much to do and see. I have to say, it far exceeded my expectations. At the closing of our time here, I'm glad we went out to see all we possibly could.

We tried to develop the quickest way to get paintings done in this more humid climate. Doing a detailed underpainting with black and white acrylic paints dries very quickly and makes adding the color with the oil paints much easier. We could also use thinner coats of oil paint and that also helps the drying time.

My original expectation was that in a month, each of us could at least have eight to ten paintings completed. The actual final tally is that I have three completely finished with color, and Jeff has six, but only one complete with color. Of course he had to do a detailed triptych of the Palace of the Grand Masters....

Many times life just doesn't match what I first expect or believe. We have discovered that the airport here has a section just as sleek and up-to-date as Munich. The flights from Europe come in there. WE came in on the section the local people fly in on. They don't care about bathrooms because they live here.

In the little shops that looked so "touristy" at first, we have discovered some of the nicest local people. We have been invited for Sunday dinner, which we gladly accepted the invitation. Another family let us know about their daughters performance of Byzantine Greek style music in a traditional Greek taverna. We were the only tourists there, and the music was amazing! There are elegantly designed homes and neighborhoods as well as the older, more worn ones. It was well worth exploring the places that the tour buses didn't go.

It is a good thing to look deeper than my first impressions, and adjust my expectations. We may not have completed many paintings, but we have certainly been energized and inspired to paint, and we wouldn't trade any one of our experiences here. Sometimes the "Giant Cross You Can't See" just happens to sit over the crest of the hill, and if you take the bus by-pass, you can see it perfectly for miles!

Jeff's Corner: The last impression I made was a butt print in the sand on the beach!

A Tale of Four Cities

2008-10-23T01:39:00.000-07:00

In 408 BC, the three city-states of Rhodes: Ialyssos, Lindos, and Kamiros joined together to form the new capitol Rodos at the northern tip of the island.

Learning about the city-states, I really felt the tie to our own country's history. They were designed to protect their citizens, their rights, ensure their liberty and provide them with opportunities. In return, citizens were responsible for participating in politics and in obeying the law.

Early on, we planned to visit all four cities. I was a little disappointed that Ialyssos had the least amount of actual Greek ruins. It's strategic location high on a hill with good land for growing crops nearby was attractive to the Byzantine monks, Genoese merchants, Christian Knights, Turkish, and Italians too! Everyone built something on, or around the old city.

Lindos had the most stunning setting high on a point jutting into the sea. More of the acropolis was left because thankfully, the Knights of St. John simply built their castle walls around it. We were delighted to see the small harbour where the Apostle Paul landed around 52 AD to teach the Greeks the Gospel. The city of Lindos still sits below the castle walls and is filled to capacity with bus loads of tourists. Even in the "off season", we counted twenty-six buses in the parking lot. Beautiful white city, but go EARLY in the morning!

Kamiros was the smallest of the city-states. After a severe earthquake in 226 BC, the same quake that took down the Colossus, the city was abandoned and only rediscovered in 1859. We loved wandering around here because we were in the actual old city. The walls of the homes and public buildings were still in place. We explored them, then climbed the long central stepped street up the hill where the many columned stoa and temple of Athena stood, and looked out to the sea. The columns were no longer in place, but we could imagine how beautiful it would have been.

The new capital, Rodos, was laid out in the "new" grid system which was much in vogue at the time, with planned residential and commercial quarters. When Jeff saw a map of the ancient city, he was instantly in love. It was nothing like the twisting maze of roads that exist in the medieval city and the modern city today. We could barely imagine the original Greek city walls that measured 15 kilometers around, but the few corner columns left of the temple of Apollo are massive! We also liked the restored theater and stadium which are still in use for events.

A hundred years after the city-states created Rodos, the city was attacked by Demetrios of Macedonia. Rodos successfully withstood the siege, and celebrated by using the materials from the abandoned siege engines to fund the building of the Colossus. Talk about public funding for the Arts! The Colossus was one of the inspirations for the French artist who designed the Statue of Liberty. The radiating "rays" from the head of the sun god Helios look familiar to us encircling the head of our Lady Liberty. Sometimes we don't realize how closely our present is linked to the distant past.

Jeff's Corner: If the grid system existed today, I could get to the beach quicker!

Joy Ride

2008-10-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

Our horizons definitely opened up when we got a car. The first day we immediately headed down the west side of the island and soon we could see the rocky coastline, pine forests, and spectacular blue water vistas we had been waiting to see.

Finding a wonderful castle perched on a steep cliff just outside the small town of Kritinia was a delight. Most of the castle was gone, but the shell that was left was great to explore. Just down the road was another castle at Monolithos. Those Knights of St. John were busy! We now know of six castles on this island, plus others on the islands of Halki and Symi.

In Switzerland, we managed just fine without a car. Even though we stayed in a fairly remote area, the railway system got us were we needed to go. The bus system here is good, if you just want to see the big main attractions. It is also pretty crowded even in the "off season" and it doesn't go to the southern part of the island very often, if at all.

So far we have logged about 1,000 Kilometers on that little grey car, exploring most of the roads on the island. It's been worth every penny to beat the crowds for photographing the acropolis at Lindos, getting to see the frescoes at the remote Thari and Yeoryis Vardhas churches, and having a stretch of golden sand almost to ourselves at Mavros Kavos beach.

The local drivers are a little pushy, especially the ones who drive BMW and Mercedes vehicles. Sometimes the signs can be tricky to find, but it is still driving on the right side of the road and Jeff has excellent reflexes!

Jeff's Corner: It only took seven days before I was complaining about how slow the tourists drive. I feel right at home-

Adventures In Walking

2008-10-14T03:50:00.000-07:00

The first few days we were recovering from jet lag. It is nine hours ahead here, so Jeff was up most the night and I couldn't wake up in the morning!

We didn't have a car yet, so we were walking to any destinations reasonably close by. Thankfully the supermarket was only a block away.

The first serious sight-seeing location we attempted besides the beach, was Filerimos hill. Located about three miles away, with many layers of history. The Turk, Suleyman the Magnificent, directed the successful 1522 AD siege of Rhodes from the Byzantine castle here. We also wanted to see the ancient acropolis of Ialyssos, one of the founding city states of Rhodes, plus the temples of Zeus and Athena built atop an older Phoenician shrine. The barrel vaulted church of St Ai Yeorgis Hortas with fourteenth and fiftheenth-century frescoes also intrigued us.

The defining marker on the hill is a huge 70 foot concrete cross the Italians built after they took over Rhodes in 1912 during the first World War. We understood the cross could be seen in nearby Turkey, so we thought we would easily locate the correct hill. After an hour and a half of walking, trying to understand Greek signs and dodging traffic, we finally gave up and walked to Rodhos, Old Town which is four miles away instead.

We were so energized after seeing the great sights in Old Town, that we decided to take the beach walk back to Ixia, even though it was longer than the way we walked in originally. It wrapped around the farthest north point of the island and was very scenic with the sun setting over the water. Wow, absolutely worth it!

However, after the sun went down, we got to the part of the walk way that they were still finishing. Working our way around construction and with the adrenaline rush over, I was wishing I was on one of those buses whizzing by! Eventually we got back to the apartment, had some dinner and the world was a great place again.

Days later, after we rented a car, Jeff was determined to find out where we had gone wrong going to Filerimos. Imagine our chagrin when we discovered at one of the confusing busy intersections we had been stuck at, a small sign on a tall post pointing to Filerimos. We didn't see it because we had been standing right under it!

Jeff's Corner: Don't forget to look UP....

The Old and The New

2008-10-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

We decided to walk from Ixia to Rodhos, Old Town, and save the eight Euros for the round trip. We found that the sidewalk lasted about two and a half miles and the last half mile or so was an interesting exercise in keeping out of the way of traffic while navigating the drainage ditch! I thought we were the only ones doing something so adventurous, until we saw another couple comin g down the hill towards us!

We entered Rodhos town in the section where the regular people live and not where the tour buses go. The homes and businesses were not big or fancy, but we smelled some wonderful food cooking. After studying several maps, Jeff had a basic idea of where we were headed, but there were not regular street signs to give us much direction. (The locals know where they are going.) We did come across unexpectedly some ancient Greek ruins, we think they are tombs. They were located right at a busy intersection, with just a small sign to note they were even there. The old was right in the middle of the new.

Another accidental find was a beautiful church that was still in use. It had paintings on the outside illustrating the life of John the Baptist in the old Byzantine style. It also had a lovely bell tower. There were notes to the congregation for recent memorials posted outside the doors.

Eventually we found an entrance to the medieval city built by the Knights of St. John. It was stunning walking through the huge gateway in the outside wall, over the the moat and through the outer and inner doors of the city wall. We were admiring the stonework when we were startled by a car coming up behind us and then several people on their moped bikes. We couldn't imagine anyone being allowed to drive modern vehicles in the old city! When we walked into the city itself, it looked just like some ancient fairytale. Narrow cobblestone streets, beautiful doors opening to shops on every side, and people milling around everywhere. It was like an ancient stone labyrinth. After several twists and turns, I had a moment of claustrophobia thinking I was like a mouse that didn't know where the exit was, let alone the cheese!

Jeff reassured me by showing me the map with the eleven city gates that surround the city and I relaxed. We went down some side streets and realized that there were people still living here, with their cars and moped bikes parked just outside their doors. We realized that we were thinking this was a National Park, but it wasn't, it was a living city. We could see Real Estate signs for homes to buy. Some entrances had fallen into neglect and we could look through and see an old courtyard and rooms crumbling away, yet next door could be a beautifully painted and restored home. The old and new together.

It took us two days to see the whole city. There were two Mosques from when the Turkish ruled the city, a Jewish synagogue, several Greek Orthodox churches, many Knights' residences, and an amazing castle that was the headquarters for the Knights of St. John. Of course there were plenty of shops geared towards the tourist trade. Especially inside the gate that faces the harbour where the cruise ships dock. But even this new type of market had it's place. It gave the city a feeling of life and energy. Looking at it from a distance, we could imagine it was any era with people going about their business.

I saw a sticker on one of the mailboxes at one of the residences. It said "I Love Old Town". It was strange at first to consider living with all those tourists everyday, but I could see loving something that had so many layers, like a great cake. This latest was just one of the many, and also to be enjoyed.

Jeff's Corner: I particularly liked the people driving their hybrid cars through the medieval gate to get the ATM located in the 600 year old building. (Too bad it didn't dispense drachmas...)

First Impressions

2008-10-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

From the airplane, Rhodes reminded me of Hawaii, a vast expanse of blue water with clouds and islands scattered about. The airport was filled with a lot of different languages besides Greek, there was English, Swedish, German, Russian, and some we didn't recognize. Hardly an American accent to be heard. The airport restroom was markedly different than the sleek accomodations at the Munich airport. Luckily, I did have my own paper.

After changing some dollars into Euros, we gathered our luggage and went to wait at the bus stop. Yes, we are being cost conscience, but we were also warned by the "Rough Guide" that the taxi drivers like to take you where they think you should go. Mostly the places that offer them a kickback for every guest procured.

Jeff asked a local fellow waiting at the bus stop where the bus was going and how much it would cost. He didn't speak English, but he wrote down the desired information. A very impressive bit of friendliness considering how many tourists come here every year.

Once on the bus, the city whizzing by the windows didn't look particularly impressive. A lot of small businesses, one after another geared toward tourism, many with that faded patina of age. Several buildings looked half finished with re-bar sticking out of them. Later we learned that the owner saves on taxes if their building isn't finished!

We were trying to read the bus stop names, but we just kept seeing the same Greek phrase. Finally, Jeff realized it was "BUS STOP" in Greek letters. Apparently the city funds didn't cover bus stop signs. Jeff asked the bus driver for Avra Beach, and he seemed to understand what that meant. I was relieved since I was envisioning us with our four pieces of luggage riding around the island for hours with no idea of where we were! Getting off the bus was a bit disorienting, but soon we located the Napoli Restruant. The staff knew to take us to the apartment just around the corner.

I felt such anticipation at the apartment door. Would it be as nice as the photos, or would it be a long month of disappointment? It was perfect, and even better than we had hoped. After twenty six hours of travel time, we hit that futon bed and slept for sixteen hours. (Once we figured out how to open the darn thing!)

Jeff's Corner: My first impression; I suspect Greece is the New Mexico of Europe.

The Island of Rhodes

2008-09-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

Rodhos, as the Greeks call it, is located in the southeast Aegean sea near Turkey. Many travelers go there because of the numerous sandy beaches on it's south east coast. We are staying in the town of Ixia, which is on the more gravelly and windy northwest part of the island, which makes the lodgings more affordable. The good part, besides the financial savings, is that Ixia is only about 4 miles away from Rodhos town.

Rodhos town is described as a "remarkably preserved medieval city". The crusading Knights of St. John used the island as a main base from 1309 until 1522. One of the things that attracted us to Rhodes was the great old architecture. We hope to fine lots of inspiration in the old town

We are also traveling during the "off season", which is something else we always try to do since we don't like a lot of crowds. It saves money and right now the weather in Rhodes is in the 70 to 80 degrees instead of the baking hot temperatures of the high summer season.

I always wanted to see the harbor where the "Colossus of Rhodes" stood. The bronze statue of the Greek god Helios didn't straddle the harbor like some of the Fifteenth century drawings show, but it did stand 107 feet high. Having worked on creating bronze statues, I can really appreciate this. Unfortunately, the finished piece only stood about fifty years before and earthquake in 226 BC broke it off at the knees. In fear of offending their god, Helios, the Greeks didn't dare move the broken pieces. It stayed there for 800 years when the invading Turkish armies dismantled it. It would be great to create a piece of art that people still came to admire even when it was broken!

Jeff's Corner: Looks like Tina has finally become a "Rhodes" scholar!

Preparing For Take Off

2008-09-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

Many times we give ourselves excuses for not creating because we don't have the perfect dream space to do it in. I realized that we are challenging that assumption by taking our own art studio in a suitcase. My space for a studio at home is small, but the space of two suitcases, one sized at 18 x 24 x 10 and the other 14 x 21 x 9, is quite a bit smaller! Much like solving a Chinese puzzle, it involves placing all the pieces in just the right order.

Our essentials include: two portable easels that we found at Art Supplies Online (I would definitely recommend these easels), paints, brushes, medium, palettes, and of course, canvases. Our canvas sizes are small, 11 x 14, 9 x 12 and 6 x 9, but we have a total of 28 of them. Jeff is brilliant at figuring out the volume available in a suitcase. We are also taking digital cameras and a tiny photo printer. If we decide we need a light source, i.e. a lamp, we will have to buy it there.

The master plan is to check the bags with the studio supplies in them and carry on one bag each containing our clothes. We thought this would be the most efficient strategy and would fulfill any airline regulations. Now I just have to get everything I need for a month in one bag. My biggest problems are running shoes and vitamin supplements, neither of which I want to live without. One of my friends suggested rolling the vitamins up in a cloth pocket pouch. Pretty good idea. If anyone else has any fun packing suggestions, let us know!

Jeff's Corner: "You can't always take what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you can take what you need..." (with apologies to the Rolling Stones)

The Persistence of Memory

2008-09-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

When I decided to start the water, I tried to match the main blue color near the beach towards the middle of the painting. Once I established that color, I could add a little black to make a shadowed version or white to lighten it. I had three brushes loaded with those different color values, depending on what one I needed.I was really careful to not cover the reflective pinks and yellows with too much blue.

As I was painting, the most surprising thing happened. I found myself remembering the time I lived along the Oregon seacoast years ago, and the sound of the ocean and things I had observed came back to me. I remembered the way the water crashed and swished around the rocks along the beach and how certain patterns of white foam formed on the really dark water. I thought about the patterns the waves make as they come in and how the shadows form on the wave sides facing away from the light.

I was amazed that painting a seascape brought back the sights and sounds so vividly. Many times in art classes we were advised to go and experience a subject so that you can really portray it. I often wondered if it was really worth the trouble, but after this experience, I am excited to actually go to Greece myself and see how that affects my perception for even better paintings.

Jeff's Corner: Yeah, but where are the melted clocks?

Road Blocks

2008-09-04T20:02:00.000-07:00

I wanted to practice painting a landscape with the oil paints before we go to Greece this October. After finding a copyright-free image that I liked, I started with the drawing. Using my imagination, I added the tops to the buildings that were cut off in the photo. Then I adjusted the composition by adding more sky space to the top and more sea to the right.

When I had a drawing I liked, I transferred it to the canvas. Next I painted in that golden sky and some of that same color as highlights on the water, then progress stopped. I did have to go out of town, but even when I returned I couldn't seem to get going again.

After a week, I examined my feelings and realized I was very anxious. I chose this image because I liked the low golden sunlight on the water and the buildings, which is want I wanted to capture in the painting. This was also the reason I was stuck. I wasn't sure how to proceed and I feared making mistakes. Once I realized that was the problem, I knew I had to move past this mental "creativity killer".

When I got up the next morning, I didn't allow myself time to think about it. I settled in, brushes in hand and decided I could get all the dark and light values in the rock face behind the buildings. This went so well, I continued with the rocks in the front of the buildings. My painting time was up, but now I felt like I wanted to finish the painting.

I am still uncertain on how to do the water, but I think if I just focus on the dark and light values one section at a time, I will be all right. I feel a bit nervous putting a painting that isn't finished out for everyone to see, but I am learning it is all about facing the fear!

Jeff's Corner: Sometimes your roadblocks may just be sobriety checks...

Is It Real or Imagined?

2008-08-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

I had a discussion with Jeff on the subject of "realistic" paintings. If a painting has a recognizable subject matter and looks like something that exists in the visual world, does the artist use their imagination to create such a painting or not?

We talked about the color choices the artist could make and decisions about composition. What elements of the scene do they leave in and what do they leave out. Do you make your subject look better than it really is, like the portrait painters for the royal Spanish courts in the 1500's? What parts of the subject matter do you bring into focus and what do you leave in the background?

After considering all the different choices an artist could make, we decided that even a realistic subject requires quite a bit of imagination.

I thought of some of Jeff's paintings of churches he completed a few years ago as an interesting subject to consider. I will include one, even though I don't have his original inspiration to show you. I decided also to show an example of one of my flower photos and the painting I created from being inspired by that photo. What do you think?

Jeff's Corner: What you see is what you beget!

What's In Your World?

2008-08-21T21:38:00.000-07:00

Imagine a world. I've been thinking of this idea all week. I haven't imagined a would since I was at least six. I remember what it used to feel like, but somewhere along the way I decided I would rather read about other people's worlds in books. I think I stopped believing I was creative enough to make up my own.

I've been reading Eric Maisel's "The Creativity Book" which is full of a years worth of exercises to help you become an "everyday creative person", no matter what your personal creative passion is. This particular exercise really got to me. I realized how incredibly organized and goal oriented most of my thinking is all day. I get a lot done, but it feels like I never let my mind out to play!

I also happened to see the movie "Bridge to Terebithia" this week and it was all about two young people who use this creative ability to deal with the difficult things in their lives, i.e. school bullies, parents, and death. It had more substance to it than most "kid" movies and it made a good point on how our imaginations can help us.

Think about it. What kind of things would you do in your world? Who would you meet? So far, I know I would have my own flying car, I would go to a beautiful deserted beach and then some adventure would ensue involving a giant fish that swallowed the moon....

Try it out. It's a great stress reliever. Let me know if you surprise yourself!

Jeff's corner: In my world, every road would have a special lane just for me, and all the traffic lights would be GREEN!

The Fox and The Hound

2008-08-17T16:40:00.000-07:00

After such a difficult time painting my first oil painting in twenty years using the red fox as a subject (see my entry "Who Said Oil and Water Don't Mix"), I feel very proud of my latest accomplishment. I decided to do a 6" x 8" painting of a Rottweiler puppy as a birthday gift for a friend of mine. This was a much better experience and I would like to share with you what I learned.

First: Good reference photos. Good reference photos! Good reference photos!!! This means that there is a clear light source so the shadows and light parts of the subject are easy to see. To me, understanding where these light and dark parts really belong make a great painting.

Second: Get the personality of the subject. Get up close so you can really see the expression of the subject.

Third: The photo must be in focus. No guessing about what is going on. I know artists are supposed to use their "imagination" to fill in things, but when I am trying to learn a new subject, it's not a good time to do this.

Fourth: Have a great drawing first. I did a drawing which I transferred to the canvas. Instead of doing a one color underpainting for placement, I could place the darks and lights right where I needed them the first time, which saved me so much time and headache repainting.

The result was a painting that took me half the time, was twice the fun to do and felt very satisfying for me to complete. Lessons learned. Tell me what you think!

Jeff's Corner: Just like a news story, a painting is only as good as its source.

Old Dog, Old Tricks

2008-08-12T18:02:00.000-07:00

The next flower painting that had back light shining through the leaves and petals, I chose to use a watercolor technique that I know very well. My subject was yellow daisies, so I painted the whole canvas the yellow I wanted for the main color of the flowers. The next step is to paint everything else that isn't flower petals and leave that yellow basically untouched for the flowers.

It worked really well. I got that nice sheer glow that I wanted and not that heavy dull color that can happen when white is mixed into a color to lighten it. Jeff laughed when he saw that painting and said "you have made an oil painting look like a watercolor!" He suggested that I add a little more weight to the rocks because they did look a bit too sheer like the flowers. Since the rocks were reflecting light and not having light shine through them, this was good advice.

I was glad to learn that I could bring some of my old watercolor skills to this new style of painting. This change also helped me to finish the painting faster than the pansy, i.e. ten hours instead of fourteen and a half. This is very encouraging to me.

Speaking of encouraging, I would like to thank Kathy for lifting my spirits on a tough day and for her interest in the little fox painting. Most of this battle for a change in my life is in my mind. I knew it would be, but it is wonderful to get reinforcements from outside now and then!

Jeff's Corner: "Sit, Ubu, Sit (Woof!) Good Dog..."

Letting Go

2008-08-08T19:23:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, May of 1997, I finished a 24"x 18" acrylic painting of a purple iris. I was so pleased, and felt it was the best thing I had ever done. Of course I showed it to friends and family because it felt like such an accomplishment.

I had one friend actually ask if I would sell it to her. I was surprised and flattered, but I couldn't let it go because I had such an emotional connection to the painting.

Now in the present, I thought I would have an easier time letting go of paintings. I am finding it is still hard. It's funny how things you don't deal with are still there waiting for you! I know it's necessary if I am going to really sell any art. If any of you have some helpful thoughts on how you have learned how to let go, I would love to read them. Yes, I still have the painting.

Jeff's Corner: If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, you probably put the wrong address on the package.

Flower Power

2008-08-03T17:59:00.000-07:00

After my adventures trying to paint wildlife, I decided to do a subject I am more familiar with. I chose from my flower photos a single pansy viewed from the back with light coming through the petals. I love when the sunlight makes the flower petals glow. I chose another small canvas, 6"x 8".

I started with a value sketch underpainting in black and white. This gets everything in position and is supposed to make things go faster when you start adding color. I found that this caused me some trouble if I wanted to make a change to the painting. I was hard to cover over the black and still get that glow in the petals I wanted. I had to repaint in a lighter color and let it dry, then glaze over that with the color I wanted.

When I had worked with the colors I had for awhile, I realized I couldn't get the color right and had to buy some different paint. Namely,Mauve and Rose Violet in the Duo brand that were sheer colors without so much white in them.

I was keeping track of the hours it took to finish the painting. Because of the repainting and changes, it took fourteen and a half total hours. The fox took twenty hours, so it was an improvement, but still not the six hours I was hoping for. I have a bad habit of thinking I can just do things perfectly the first time, and then getting discouraged when it doesn't work out. If anyone has any positive suggestions on how to change this sort of mind set, please let me know!

Jeff's Corner: Sometimes it's not necessary to reinvent the wheel...

Testing My Wings

2008-07-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

After going to New York, I had this feeling that maybe there was more of the world I could go see. I also had plenty of worry about money and the future buzzing around in my head every day.

One morning, I was asking myself what I wanted to do. I was so sick of the worry thoughts that I just said to myself "I want to go to Europe and paint." I let that roll around in my head for awhile before I said it to Jeff. It felt good and so I told him what I was thinking. He said "great, where do you want to go?" I thought about France and Italy, maybe Norway and then I said Greece. I think because it is sunny and we had been having a lot of late snow and cold all the way into the first week of June and I was sick of it!

Jeff has great skills for planning trips and finding deals. He went online when we got home and found a great apartment on the Island of Rhodes that had a kitchen, laundry and an adorable little courtyard. I liked it right away. He took some time to compare it to others, but we didn't see anything as good. I knew it would deplete our savings, but we both felt good about it, so we bought airplane tickets and reserved the apartment for the whole month of October.

The plan is to go to scenic places early in the morning to get that great light. Take lots of pictures and sketches. Go back to the apartment and paint all day, then go out and play in the evenings. Hopefully we can get a nice painting portfolio started for both of us. We would also like to explore the idea of painting the same subject so that we get a "he saw, she saw" series of paintings happening.

Making a decision like that is scary, but it also has had the effect of giving me something positive to think about instead of all that worry. It feels like investing in my future instead of worrying about it!

Jeff's Corner: Out of the frying pan, into the Greece!

Learning To Fly

2008-07-27T18:06:00.000-07:00

This spring I had the opportunity to go to New York city. My Talented Boss was having a show there and Jeff would be transporting and setting up the artwork. I could stay in the hotel with Jeff for four days, if I wanted to buy my own airline ticket. I would be flying by myself for the first time.

This probably seems like nothing, but twelve years ago I could barely get on an airplane. It wasn't the fear of crashing. I always believed in those statistics that it was safer to fly than drive. It was the claustrophobia, the not seeing out, that out of control feeling and fearing that some strange person would be coming apart emotionally. Oh, that would be me. I know I watched way too many of those "Airport" movies in the 70's.

For someone who has never had an anxiety attack, this probably seems ridiculous. Just imagine your heart pounding, hands shaking and mind racing with your worst fears for an hour or two. It's like a bad dream you can't wake up from. I would have avoided airplanes my whole life if I hadn't married a man who loves to travel and dreams of seeing the whole world. This was a stress on our relationship and I prayed that I would be able to change but I wasn't sure how.

Looking back, I can see that this was a journey of changing patterns for me. Ten years ago, Jeff really wanted to go to Hawaii. I was terrified of that eight hour flight. I had a friend who was a hypnotherapist, and she felt she could help me. I learned from that experience that my huge fear was actually trying to protect me. I had to learn to judge between the really dangerous versus the perceived dangerous. This did help me. The next trip we planned to go to Hawaii again. Hurray! I can do this. Then 9-11 happened. We were scheduled to fly five days after the attack. I was crying before we got on the plane, but I did get on.

Last November, there was an art show in Chicago that my Talented Boss was participating in. I was able to fly with other employees but no Jeff. I had to learn then to have all my stuff together without relying on him so much. At least I still had people I knew and they understood my anxiety.

This brings me full circle to New York. The flight was delayed for two hours because of mechanical difficulties. That gave me a long time to think and worry. It was tough work keeping my mind in control. Eventually the flight got on the way, I made the next connection, and my luggage didn't get lost either.

What I learned is that I could have saved a lot of energy by not worrying so much. I got to see Van Gogh's painting "Starry Night" at the Museum of Modern Art as well as original Monet and Picasso paintings that I thought I would never see. Central Park was amazing and New York bagels are the best. I realized that there is so much in this world to see and enjoy if I don't let my fear stand in the way. It's helpful to look back and see how I was able, one step at a time, to accomplish something I never thought I could do. I hope to apply this concept to making a living with my artwork, which at this point seems just as terrifying as flying did twelve years ago. My seat is in an upright and locked position!

Jeff's Corner: "There's trouble in the cockpit!"
"The cockpit? What is it?"
"It's a little room at the front of the plane where the pilot sits. But that's not important right now..."
(Airplane, 1980. Some of us were influenced by different movies...)

Stuck In The Worry Groove

2008-07-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

This has been a rough week. I think I was born with a "worry gene" because it has been a favorite hobby of mine for years. I remember being a little kid of six and worrying about school and what I was wearing and who would say what to whom, etc. As part of the pattern changing experiment, I made a promise to myself this spring that I couldn't worry about the future or past, only about today. It seemed like the only way I could keep myself moving forward and not getting stuck in thinking about my job moving away this fall.

I had been doing quite well, the excitement of changing my life was keeping me going. But it seemed like this week the news just got to me. Oil prices going up, housing market stalled, banks closing, food prices increasing and I am going to go out there and make a living from my artwork? Am I nuts? It didn't help that our refrigerator stopped working and the roof started leaking! One of my favorite mental demons of years past perched grinning in my head telling me "who wants art when they can't afford a house or food?" The funny thing is that I had this same worry twenty years ago. I wish we had the economy of twenty years ago now!

The other promise I made to myself in May was that I was going to get up at 6:00 a.m. and paint everyday for an hour. Then I would exercise and then go to work. The plan was to do one small painting a week and by mid-July I would have about ten paintings. I have done a pretty good job of painting every morning, which is amazing since most of my life, no one would call me a morning person. The disappointing part is that I have only finished two paintings since May. Not being able to meet my expectations really took the wind out of my sails. Enter the Worry Monster. How are we going to pay the bills? We are going to starve!!! Hello familiar groove.

Two things helped knock me out of my mental rut. I happened to look in an old portfolio of watercolor landscapes I had made when we were living in Montana in 1994. At that time, I didn't think any of them were very good. I remember feeling that way then, but I was looking at at least four paintings that are just lovely to me now. How can a perception change so much? What is real? The other thing that helped was Jeff asking me if I really wanted to do anything else. No. I want to do this now. He also reminded me that history is full of ups and downs and the artists just do the best they can. If anyone else has any good kicking yourself out of the ruts stuff, let me know. It takes a lot of energy and mental gymnastics to stay out of them!

Jeff's Corner:
"Slow down, you movin' too fast
You gotta make the moment last
Just kickin' down the cobblestones
Lookin' for fun and
Feelin' groovy____________"
(Paul Simon, Fifty Ninth Street Bridge Song)

But We Don't Have A Computer...

2008-07-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in one of the past blogs how doing something everyday toward my goal of making art was a new mind set for me. Since I enjoyed submitting paintings to the miniature show so much, I decided to subscribe to Art Calendar to see if there were other shows I would be interested in. I have known about this magazine which lists shows, grants and fairs and festivals for at least ten years, but I never felt I was doing enough art to make it worth subscribing to.

The second issue I received was all about art and the internet. We had looked into selling art on Ebay about twelve years ago, but we didn't think it was worth the time to do since it didn't seem like the artists were making much money from the sales of their paintings. The other issue was that we didn't have a digital camera or a scanner to get our images online. Our top priority was building the house, so all extra cash went to that project.

There are all sorts of things about marketing art online now. One of the things they talked about was blogging and letting people know what you are doing and why you are doing it. I want to thank two artists Justin Clayton and Elise Tomlinson for their excellent advice about blogging and how to get started. I wouldn't be writing now without their help. You can find Justin's blog at www.dailypaintings.blogspot.com where he posts an original beautiful painting everyday and sells them on e-bay. Elise Tomlinson talks about Alaska and posts her paintings. Google her site at Alaskanartistblog

Twelve years ago, I was juried into a co-op gallery, where a group of artists get together and share the costs for rent for the space and do all the work like sales and bookkeeping. It was a good experience for getting feedback on my artwork, but it was really frustrating on how few people actually saw the art. I only made enough sales to cover the cost of the rent and I left after a year and a half. What I like about the internet is the possibility that more than a bus load of people can get a chance to look at your artwork. There are artists making good money on Ebay now, such as Patty Baker and Vana Howell. They often paint two or three paintings a day to make it happen which is amazing. They also gave some good advice about how they have succeeded.

Of course all this interesting information made me want to get a computer and encouraged me that maybe there were some other ways to make a living with my art. Our last good computer had been ruined during a lightning strike and we have not had good luck replacing it. We had been using the computer at work for almost two years. Enter the Economic Stimulus Package. We bought the computer we were hoping for and more batteries to power it. Is the change in my thinking bringing things together? Is it just coincidence?

I posted last week my first oil painting in twenty years. I asked Jeff if he would like to post his first oil painting ever, if you don't count the paint by numbers he did as a kid. Jeff's passion is trains. I'll turn the blog over to him if he has anything to say.

Jeff's corner: It was awfully nice of Uncle Sam to help us out with our careers!

Who Says Oil and Water Don't Mix?

2008-07-16T20:08:00.000-07:00

Because of necessity, I taught myself how to paint with watercolors 20 years ago. After graduating from college, my husband and I moved about twelve times in eight years trying to find the right combination of work and place we wanted to live. During that time, packing around canvas and wet oil paints wasn't very practical. We did buy a used 1972 Prowler camping trailer in Alaska during one of our adventures and lived in it much of the time during those eight years. Needless to say,we were very short on storage space. They didn't build those RVs for long term living back in the 70's. I had loved painting with oils in college, but didn't do very well with the turpentine fumes then, so that was another reason to try another medium.

It took some time, but eventually my watercolors started to look good to me. I found that they were wonderful for painting flowers which is one of my favorite subjects. They were also great for painting birthday cards and small studies of landscapes. The things I didn't like were the framing with all that glass and mat cutting and the tendency for many watercolor pigments to fade.

A few years ago, we started to hear about these new oil paints that were water soluble which sounded great, but I wondered if they could really be that stable to paint with. Time seems to be proving that they are a wonderful new way to use oils. In the interest of changing my old "I can't do it" patterns and not having to cut another mat for one more painting, I decided to invest in a new set of the water-soluble oil paints. We bought the Holbein Duo brand because they were also using non-toxic pigments and their Medium to mix the paint with didn't give me a headache.

This was so exciting; new canvas, new paint, and certainly I would have no problem remembering how to work with oil paints! I should also mention that my Talented Boss had told me that her gallery was looking for someone who could paint wildlife. Since I was still feeling good about having my last paintings juried into the miniature show, I thought sure, I can give wildlife a try.

I decided I wanted to do a small 6"x8" painting of a red fox. Piece of cake, right? I do all my flower paintings from my own photos so there is no copyright problems. Finding images of a fox I could use was not easy. Especially one that had any decent lighting and color. I rented wildlife films and sketched and sketched. I ordered a book on drawing animals and sketched some more. I spent eight hours one Saturday and finally got a simple drawing I felt worked and didn't infringe on anyone's copyright. I was relieved to finally be to the painting part.

Good Grief! The underpainting was fine, but then it just seemed to go downhill from there. I wasn't used to paint that didn't dry immediately anymore and I kept making mud. Ugh! Thankfully, the water-soluble oils do dry in four or five days so that did help me. I spent more time studying my old oil painting books and trying to remember what used to work for me. Eventually, with several re-paintings, I got my little painting to a place where at least I didn't think it was horrible. Jeff told me to try something I know, like FLOWERS!... I finally agreed with him and put the fox away.

What I learned from this little adventure is that is good to stretch and try new things, but you can make yourself crazy and depressed if you try too many all at once. I should look into joining Overachievers Anonymous.

After doing three small oil paintings of flowers, I took out mister fox this week and finished the painting. Hurray for happy endings! I still think he looks a bit stiff, but hey, I can only get better and I'm ready to let this one go.

Jeff's corner: I came up with the title for this entry!

Changing The Patterns

2008-07-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite beliefs in creating great art is that you have to be inspired by a great vision and you also need large blocks of uninterrupted time. It also helps if you are living on the edge emotionally, physically and mentally. I always felt I was too sane to really do anything good and besides, who has the time when you have a regular job and a house to build? I did get a few things done occasionally. Mostly when I wanted to give a painting as a gift or make a great Christmas card. The result was that I only produced a few finished paintings a year.

Enter Mr. Maisel with the belief busting idea that you must "make art in the midst of things." Even with bills to pay, you must show up regularly and work on your dream just like a regular job. Having a vision is good, but you have to work every day whether you are inspired or not. Actually not having your life in complete chaos is a good thing and don't expect everything you do to be brilliant. It's o.k. to create less than great art as long as you are consistent: eventually something will shine. It's just the law of averages. I liked that Maisel compared this idea to a fruit tree and how not all the fruit on the tree is going to be perfect. For someone obsessed with perfection, this was like getting a "get out of jail free" card.

Obviously my first pattern I had to change was doing something regularly. I decided I could manage an hour or two on Sundays and that I was going to finish a project I had started at least five years ago. It was a series based on the cycle of creativity from Jeanne Carbonetti's book called "Making Pearls" The challenge of this for me was doing something that was strictly for my enjoyment. I know this may sound very odd to some people, but I have had another deeply held belief that nothing was worth doing unless it pleased someone else. I also wanted to address and change this pattern.

I decided to do this mid-winter and my little studio is heated with a wood stove and separate from the main house. It was tempting to make excuses and I was surprised at the anxiety that going to work on something when I didn't have a clear idea what it was going to be gave me. The paintings were supposed to express concepts, not an actual thing. Eventually with time, I realized how much I was enjoying myself and looked forward to those creative evenings. Sometimes I had to battle the guilt of "not doing something worthwhile." I did finally realize it was doing something worthwhile for me. I felt better about myself.

With some deliberation, I've decided to post some of my creativity series paintings. They are so personal, yet I feel they are such an important step in this process I am trying to document.

Jeff's Corner: Most of my change is in the ashtray of my truck.

Tina's Rebuttal: That is so bogus! He is all about change!

So, what are you thinking about?

2008-07-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

Do our thoughts make a difference in the actual physical world? Great question, and Lynne Mctaggart the author of "The Intention Experiment" decided she wanted to really find the answer to this question. I read this book this spring with my book club. As I read, I realized I was rather behind in the field of quantum physics and many of the latest experiments that have been taking place in the last 20 years. I have several books on changing your life through changing your thinking, and I do think they help, but I had never read one that was trying to prove it scientifically.

In Mctaggart's words: "This central idea, that consciousness affects matter, lies at the very heart of an irreconcilable difference between the world view offered by classical physics-the science of the big,visible world-and that of quantum physics: the science of the world's most diminutive components. That difference concerns the very nature of matter and the ways it can be influenced to change."

I have always been rather intimidated by the seemingly big and immovable world. It is a very different mindset to consider that the atoms that make up the physical world are "tiny clouds of probability." That the subatomic world is "not a solid and stable thing, but exists simply as a potential of any one of its future selves." That said, the whole rest of book is trying to determine what measurable effect we can have on that world, and what ways are most successful. I have to say, it made it seem more realistic to try some thought changes when there was some evidence to back it up that it might actually make a difference. I thought it would be very interesting to run my own experiment using my life as the lab and document the results as we go along, hence the name for this blog.

Lynne Mctaggart is offering for anyone who is interested in participating in a group Intention Experiment can go to their website at www.theintentionexperiment.com I like that there are people out there trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. Anyone can also post their own experiments and the results.

I know it sounds a bit hokey, but you should read the book and decide for yourself or just read what happens to us! Our basic intention is: "To support ourselves comfortably financially using our best talents in creatively satisfying ways." That is a mouthful, but you are supposed to be very specific. I hope that is specific enough!

Jeff's corner:I tawt I taw a puddy tat!

What I Learned From Art School

2008-07-06T17:42:00.000-07:00

I am grateful that I learned a great deal about design and the elements that add to interesting art. Also, all the art history I learned has been helpful to me. What hasn't been so helpful is the belief that if your art isn't brilliant and cutting edge then there is no point in trying. I certainly didn't want to be mediocre, and I judged my fascination with painting light passing through flower petals to be just that. Expectation of brilliance is a real creativity killer, only I didn't know that twenty years ago.

I also learned that your art isn't worth anything unless someone else tells you it is. It never dawned on me that if it mattered to me, it was worth something. Eric Maisel in his book "Coaching the Artist Within" said it beautifully: "If you don't really think that you, your ideas, or your work matter, you won't have the motivational juice to create." That is the key I had been missing for so long. So much of the focus at school was how to make great art, which is good, but very little on how to keep being an artist and survive in the world once you leave art school. Frankly, I don't think they knew what to tell us. Good luck! Hopefully you will be able to pay the bills!

There is something about creating that feeds the soul and when that isn't recognized and respected, it manifests itself in negative ways. For me that was depression and sometimes anger at not doing what I felt I was supposed to be doing, but it didn't matter to anyone if there was another piece of art in the world or not, and it certainly wasn't brilliant, so why do it? So the argument circle went on and on in my head for years, until I finally read Eric's book and decided that I would matter.

This January my Talented Boss told me about an art show at a local museum that she had been invited to and told she could invite other artists she knew to submit artwork to be juried into the show. This was January 16th and the deadline was February 10th. I usually would have said there is no way I could have some new work ready in time. This time I said give me the information. It was a miniatures show, nothing bigger than 8x10, frame included, so that was good. I had to do some creative things with time, but I made the deadline with two paintings to submit. Much to my surprise and delight I was juried in; both paintings were accepted. Going to the show was such fun. I had been to many beautiful shows for my Talented Boss, and I took pride in what we had accomplished, but this was something different for me. I found myself wanting more.

My two paintings didn't sell. I didn't care. This deciding to matter thing was good. I am posting photos of the paintings without the frames. They are both watercolors of roses.

Jeff's Corner: It doesn't even matter if your "dumb ol' husband" tells you it's great...

No Electricity Bills

2008-07-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

Early on in our marriage, my husband Jeff had a dream of building our home and making it an energy efficient passive solar house. We moved around about thirteen times for the first eight years of our marriage following jobs and looking for that right piece of land to build our dream home on.

Twelve years ago, we found a place in the mountains with trees, water, and only forest service land behind us. Perfect. We started with having to cut a road and build a small bridge before we could even get to living on our piece of property.

We have been slowly building as time and finances would permit and just moved into the house the fall of 2007. It still isn't finished. We still haul water and use a outhouse, but the view is everything we wanted. We have solar panels for all our electricity. It is a small system, so a few cloudy days can make using the computer difficult. Even with the inconveniences, we love our place and would rather be here than anywhere else.

After a lot of discussion about moving with the great job, we asked ourselves what was our original vision. It wasn't living in an apartment in a city, even though that does have it's advantages. We are actually living the way we first imagined, although I did envision plumbing! We just need a way to make money that can pay the bills and not kill the soul. In the small town that we live near, there are not a lot of options.

We have achieved half of the dream by building the house, now we would like to make it complete by earning our living as artists.

Jeff's Corner: At least she has closets...

First, the theory...

2008-06-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Have you ever wondered if any of those self-help books really do anything for anyone besides make the author a little bit of cash? I've decided to document my efforts to change my life using the skills I've been learning from a couple of books that I have been studying this year.

Approximately twenty years ago I graduated from college thinking I would make my living being an artist. I didn't realize then what an issue I had with fear. The paralyzing kind. In those twenty or so years, I painted a few paintings, did some graphic design work, waited tables, put labels on mugs, (a high point indeed) and ran a concession stand among other things. Five years ago I got the opportunity to work in the studio of an artist that was doing so well she could afford assistants. What a glorious job! A steady paycheck and working with a talented, generous artist.

Last December my talented boss announced she is moving to a new city over 100 miles away. My husband, Jeff and I discussed and decided not to move with the job for reasons I will blog about later. And now for the Self-Help.

Also last December I had been re-reading Eric Maisel's "Coaching the Artist Within". I had had this book for a couple of years, but I hadn't really done the work he was suggesting. This time I actually started to do the exercises. In April, the book club I belong to decided to read "The Intention Experiment" by Lynne McTaggert. These put all kinds of ideas into my head that maybe my artist dream wasn't quite dead yet. Maybe my wonderful job ending is not the terrifying financial end it feels like. With the ghosts of jobs past haunting me, I hope to face the fear and take the first steps on the journey of actually making a living as an artist. I hope this will be as intesting to you as it is for me. Tina

To add another another perspective to this experiment, I've decided to add a comment from my husband with each entry and call it "Jeff's Corner"

Jeff says "Remember, God never closes a door without throwing you out the window..."