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.