Monday, February 25, 2008

OPEN HOUSE





















Welcome to my Open House! Here is a (somewhat "virtual" tour!) Looking in the front door, then moving around the space in a counter clockwise direction. Enjoy!


As I mentioned in my last post, I have been in a mode of frustration lately--trying to work through some ideas in new mediums and processes. So going into preparations for the Open House was definitely an uphill journey. AND all at the last minute (of course!)

The weather forecast was terrible. It stormed all day Saturday & I worked on getting set up til late Saturday nite. The wind blew ferociously all night and Joey (big scairdy dog) kept climbing in bed with me, stepping on me & hogging the space & the covers. So no sleep for either of us
I got up early Sunday morning to resume my setup, and then the power went out, which stalled me for awhile. I went over to the bakery to get some coffee (they had a generator) and that got me going again. Miraculously, the power returned about 10:30 and the rain stopped just in time for the Open House. Yay!

I managed to pull things together, and was just returning from the store with some plastic cups when the first guests arrived. It was nonstop after that.
I was very happy with the turnout, and some people I hadn't seen in a long time came, which was lovely. And the enthusiasm for my work and for the new space was just wonderful!!! It catapulted me out of that space of frustration and I am ready to jump back into work again!!!

Saturday, February 16, 2008

WINTER DOLDRUMS


Sporadic blogging seems to be the order of the day......too much to catch up on. I am still getting the studio set up & my Open House is next Sunday the 24th. Yikes! I have already realized that there is no way that I am going to be "ready"--so anything extraneous is going to get stuffed in a storage area. I still need to hang up more work, and I ordered some new cards--they are giclee prints, nicely done by the printer who does my other prints, and I won't have to make the handmade ones! And the new ones are larger, so they show up better. I will still have the handmade ones for awhile, but will be in transition from one kind to the other.

And I am quite frustrated, working on finding a medium I can work in that is more suited to my shows with the Red Umbrellas group. These shows are outdoors, with no shade. My gouaches are difficult to deal with, because of how they're framed (they can get moisture inside from exposure to the sun), plus the paints are not truly colorfast, so I worry about fading, and the glass frames are problematic, because of wind--that can be quite unpredictable here in the Bay area. SO!

I have been experimenting with small acrylics on canvas, acrylic and/or gouache on claybord, and acrylic on paper. Did I mention that I am also attempting to change the way I paint---a little bit looser, faster, etc? Anyway, at this point, I am not pleased with the results I am having & I have spent the whole day today working on some pieces on paper that I am really dissatisfied with. I love the ideas for the images---but not how they are turning out in this medium. Back to the drawing board (so to speak)! Nobody ever said that being an artist was going to be easy.

The image above is a small acrylic on canvas (9 x 12) entitled "Sunrise"