TUESDAY NIGHT BOOK CLUB

Last night at class we did not peruse any new art books.  Instead there was a buzz in the room about the recent publication on David Park  While no one had the book yet we did discuss who had it on order and when they would  let us see it.  This monograph David Park, Painter: Nothing Held Back is written by his daughter Helen Park Bigelow.  With the ability to study his work for decades Park Bigelow chronicles his prolific yet brief career as an artist and integral member of the Bay Area Figurative painters and features over 100 of his paintings.  As an owner of the book Bay Area Figurative Art 1950-1965 and others of Diebenkorn, Bischoff, and Oliveira this too will just have to be an addition to my fan club of immensely gifted artists who created an inspiring art movement.

ARTIST GIFTS

A friend and artist offered me some watercolors that she had received by mistake.  I accepted thinking it was a couple of tubes and after making sure she really didn't want to keep them.  I was surprised by the generosity of this gift.  This was not just a couple of tubes but several and all are exciting fun colors like Leaf Green, Horizon Blue and Jaune Brilliant #2.  When it comes to art supplies I am a hoarder.  Everything else in my house, except for family and pets, gets edited and sent packing.  This is due to living for several years in a New York City studio apartment where one learns to perform spring cleaning  in all seasons.  But art supplies are a different matter.  They may sit for months in my studio waiting for attention.  They are emblematic of "what if " and "someday" and also, like a new toy, they ask me to play.  So my friend if you are reading this I thank you for this generous gift of new shiny toys.

A STEEL M

A large steel M is something I would like on the roof of my studio.  This letter can mean many things besides my name and today I am thinking of the largeness of Monday, the start of another week, the day after a relaxing Sunday, the day one needs to get serious and back to work.  For most artists like myself everyday we are working at our profession and no matter if we are distracted by other endeavors of employment or life's daily demands we are thinking, feeling, scribbling, and projecting in our mind about work in our studio and those paintings yet to be painted.  I had a very jammed pack weekend of working and that ability to work without interruption has inspired me to jump on the day and start anew.  I wish  everyone a beautiful Monday!   

SELLING

TRACING
watercolor
16 x 20 framed
sold September 2009

FACEBOOK

Today I changed my profile photo on Facebook.  Since I am a former fashion designer I thought a painting of clothes would be a better representation than the mug shot.  This is an oil on canvas done in 2007.  I have been going through the archives of stacked canvases looking for inspiration.   The photo is focused.  It is the painting that is fuzzy as it has never been finished.  Unfinished work can be inspiring and motivating.  What is hiding in your studio?

TUESDAY NIGHT BOOK CLUB

I will have to do a weekly post after my drawing class and call it the Tuesday Night Book Club.  Once again I have been dazzled by more inspiring artist publications.  At class last night I was introduced to the work of Euan Uglow in the book Euan Uglow: the Complete Paintings.  And I thought that introduction alone was worth the price of admission.  Yet  another superb artist was revealed in the book Bruno Fonseca: The Secret Life of Painting.  This class could get expensive in acquiring these books and more if each week reveals published works of new artists  For now I will add them to my wish list and stay inspired by their work to get to work in the studio.

DISCOVERING NEW BOOKS

On Tuesday nights I am taking a drawing class at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts .  I love taking art classes and workshops not just to sharpen my skills and learn new methods of working but also for the discovery of new books.  This book was introduced to the class: Colors  What They Mean and How to Make Them by Anne Varichon, Harry N. Abrams Press, 2007.  This is a delicious book I now must own (and read).  The author, an archaeologist and ethnologist, writes of their history, production from olden days to modern techniques, cultural symbolism and mythology and takes us around the world and through  the centuries.  Of course this would already break my September resolution of not buying anymore art books until I read or reread my current collection.  More on that later....

SMALL WORKS

August
oil on canvas
10 x 8
2009

This was inspired by the beach cabana at Fogland.  I love that name.  It conjures a place of mystery, magic and atmoshere and makes me want to do a series of paintings based on the name alone.  (please note this was also taken w/ my digital camera with only 72 ppi.)

SMALL WORKS

Next Door
oil on canvas
10 x 8
2009

SELLING

Saturday night the gallery had a reception and even though a drizzly rain fell we still had a enthusiatic gathering of art fans. I discovered that my painting Stillness did not sell but it was another small painting called The Summer House (oil on canvas 10 x 8).  While I do not have a clear image of this work (my digital camera at only 72 ppi) one can get an idea.  This is all palette knife done plein- air.   I did three of these 8 x 10 oils while staying in Tiverton, RI during a sizzling week in August.  Quite a contrast from a rainy two days.  The other two paintings are Next Door and  is the house across the road and August the beach cabana at Fogland Beach (see next post).

SELLING

I love those special calls from the gallery telling me a painting has sold.  It is such an honor to have someone like your work enough to purchase and bring the painting into their home.  This weekend my watercolor Stillness was bought.  I painted this in 2007 and it has not been shown until this year- first in the South Coast Open Studio tour in July and just recently brought to the gallery.   All my watercolors are large measuring 22" x 30" on full sheets of 300 lb paper.  This one is small and simple yet rich in color. Sometimes it is important to remember to work this way and know it would be welcomed into the world.