Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Coming Soon, I promise!!


I know, this isn't it, but this is proof that I've been doing something creative while on holidays. I got this tired looking portrait of my DH last night while he was watching TV. I haven't had the light to paint at night since I've been here, and that is usually the only time that I have to paint...AFTER THE KIDS ARE IN BED!! That's my time, when my muse can come out and work uninterrupted. It's amazing how much one can accomplish in those few hours before sleep comes knocking. So, I bought a clip-on light today with a full-spectrum bulb, so I'll be able to paint in the evenings. BUT...My painting's almost finished! I have been working, really. A few more days, I hope, and it should be done. It is a big one, 18"x 24", no more of these 6 x 8's for me, I'm going big! I felt the need to breathe, stretch out that painting arm. That said, this one is sure presenting me with some problems...Have you ever started out, and the underpainting turns out amazing, and the first layer looks amazing, then one part looks really amazing, and then all of a sudden, the whole thing looks like crap!?!!???!@#$%^&*()_!!! I can't believe it, the first few days I'm like "Wow honey, this is going to be the best painting I've ever done," and now I can't even stand to look at it!
Well, I bought "a BOOK" today, and it's going to get me out of my rut, I know it!(fingers crossed behind my back) Is it that I put too much pressure on myself? Did it become all TOO Important?
All of the above... and, I met Jia Lu the other day, maybe that is what it was. She is an absolutely incredible, internationally acclaimed artist whose paintings sell for like, $120,000. She is so sweet, and unassuming, but I almost cried when I met her, I felt so inadequate. It made me question my abilities, my art, my purpose as an artist...all of those things. I was depressed for about four days after, and my husband said I should stop trying to put pressure on myself to paint while we were on holidays. It was affecting him and the kids, and well, me. But it was good, because last night I had an epiphany, an AH HAH moment. I realized what it was that was bugging me about the whole thing. I hadn't been totally sure before what my purpose as an artist was. Being a mom of two small children, with very little time to paint, I spend my few hours before I drop off from exhaustion, doggedly painting from whatever good photographs my crappy little digital puts out that half-ass inspire me, or, I ask photographers who are much better than me for permission to use their work. I realized last night, that the problem with this, is even though for the most part, I paint from my own photography, that these photographs lack intention. I mean, I take the picture because I see something that is paintable, but there is no conscious thought, no planning, no intention other than to create a pretty picture. So, that the painting produced from such a photograph, is just a reproduction of something pretty, with no thought behind it, even if I tweak it and omit busy things, etc...
What touches me about Jia Lu's work is the creativity, the thought process behind the painting, etc...I hope I don't sound like an insane lunatic, it's just that I think I've finally GOT IT! I need something more.
So I decided that I will get models, and set up scenes, and if I have to "photograph" them because of the time restrictions of being a parent, I will, after doing some value and color sketches. Or if I see a scene that screams out to be painted, I will ask people for permission to take their pictures. (Oh yeah, that's another thing. I am a people painter. That is my passion. That is what touches me.) I've tried to paint for ebay, or what the market demands, or on commission, but the artist inside of me rebels, and I end up getting stuck and blocked.
So to all of you artists out there, IF YOU WANT TO BE A HAPPY ARTIST, BE AUTHENTIC!!
( Not that I would pass up a thousand dollar commission if it came my way! LOL!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

New Painting in the Works, Finally!


So here it is, the sketch I promised...I'm not getting near as much painting done as I had hoped. I'm going to have to get more disciplined, I guess. There's just so much other fun stuff to do and sights to see in Hawaii. I'm taking lots of pictures for future paintings, and visiting as many art galleries as time will allow.
This has all thrown the kids for a total loop. My once almost weaned daughter is now up every two hours a night to nurse. If I don't nurse her, she won't sleep sound, so that every time I so much as sigh, she wakes up screaming, demanding "Sa Sa", (the Nuxalk word for nurse). So I'm back to total, ridiculous exhaustion. I even checked out the SuperNanny site last night to see if she had any words of wisdom that I hadn't already exhausted. Not so. Nothing works. So I give in.
My usually sweet-natured son has become a whining, demanding troll. He complains all day, and makes his sister mad or hurts her on purpose. We're in Paradise, but the kids just know that their world has been turned upside down.
Well, if I could get them back on schedule somehow, things might start to settle a bit.
For now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and just hoping for time to paint.
I got the underpainting done today, and it's a big one-18" x 24". It's going to be fun. I'll keep you posted.
Ciao for now.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

ALOHA!! from Maui

I still haven't painted anything new...I'm embarrassed. But, I did finish my commission (and I forgot to photograph it before I sent it off), and it has been so busy since Christmas...excuses, excuses. AND...I'm in Maui! It is so beautiful here, so inspiring, so amazing. I feel like I've come home. This is where I'm supposed to be. There is so much art here. So many artists, so many galleries, so much opportunity, and I did finish the sketch for the painting I'm planning next. If I can figure out how to install the scanner here, I will upload it tomorrow for your viewing pleasure. Anyways, aloha and mahalo from paradise.