Taking Over the House

I know I am fortunate to even have what I can call a studio space in my home. I am lucky that my domain is not the dining room table therefore requiring that I pick up and put everything away at the end of every session and store my paintings . . . where? Even so, I still feel cramped.

Each one of the three kids loves to come into the studio, ask questions and paint with me, and I love that too. . . But they are often right under my feet, literally, and I am often tense that they will bump into something wet or fragile which wouldn't be hard to do. My stress level goes through the roof if they all venture in there at the same time. 

I also don't have much wall space to work with since one wall is taken up by books and a few completed paintings, one by windows and one by Rosie. Hanging up drawings and other in-progress paintings to study becomes difficult if not impossible, so I have slowly and silently commandeered other available wall space. 

The tv room/laundry staging area now shares space with my study drawings. (This series includes a third image on the right/proper left that hasn't made it to the larger tracing paper yet) The slate paintings are replacing the full length mirror on the bedroom wall where I hung them at a comfortable height so that I can work on them in my bedroom - when my husband isn't sleeping - instead of hauling them up and down to the studio. 

I suppose the silver lining is that I get to look at something I'm making in at least three different rooms of the house as I go about the normal business of the day. If one or more details continually pop out at me every time I walk through the room and look at them, then I know what I need to fix the next time I go to work. It may even make my studio time a little more productive.  

The down side is that I don't always get to feel how the images interact with one another in one space. 

To Work or Not to Work

To work or not to work. . . When your work hours are 11pm - 2am, or if the juices are really flowing 3am and later? Tonight I decided work. Each time I make the decision to fight the fatigue and put in some time in my studio I am happy. I am not filled with regret the next day when my energetic kids wake me up to play, play, play.  I am only excited to run back to my studio at the earliest opportunity to re-examine what I accomplished the night before and mentally plan for the next available painting session.

There are no shortage of paintings to work on. I have several pictured and not pictured that are in progress. The painting on the easel was commissioned at the end of May and is getting the most attention this summer. 

Sometimes it is difficult deciding which one to work on. The deadlines and the desires don't always match up.

Sometimes I look at the studio shots and feel like I need to spend a day organizing and cleaning . . . 

Rosie's Progress

Pole Bean Pair Studies

For the next painting I did a number of drawings to get to know the subject. It is an image I've been sitting on for a while. It was one of the first images that I took when I began looking at sprouting seeds a number of years ago. For a long time I didn't feel like I was ready to be able to turn it into a painting that would do the image justice. I'm glad I waited. This image is going to go onto a beautiful piece of slate that my good friend gave me over a year ago.

Graphite and Lead on Toned Paper

9 x 12"

Colored Pencil on Toned Paper

9 x 12"

Graphite, Lead and Red Chalk on Tracing Paper

16 3/8 x 19"

Sweet Pea Pairing 2

Sweet Pea Pairing 2 (Sisters)

Oil Pastel on Slate

11 1/16 H x 18 1/16 W"

SOLD

I got some slate roofing from a good friend 1 1/2 years ago. When I mentioned that I was working with recycled materials she offered to bring me some slate that had been saved after a barn was removed from her acreage many years before. The next time she passed through town for a visit she gave me a few beautiful pieces of it. I love drawing on it. It makes the oil pastels feel extra buttery and creamy. The painting surface is so textured and the translucency and thin application of the pastels allows some of the tones and texture of the slate to come through. 

Rosie Rising

11/13/15

Sprouted Mandan Bride Corn and a Residency

Sprouted Mandan Bride Corn

6 3/16 W 3 9/16 H x 5/8 D inches

Wood, oil paint

Every time I go to a nursery I look through the seeds. I can't resist. I bought these Mandan Bride seeds two years ago because they were so colorful. I had fun sprouting the Bloody Butcher Corn and Black Aztec Corn that I found at the farmer's market the winter before and this packet of seeds from the Seed Savers Exchange looked promising that gray, end of winter day. 

From the packet: "From the Mandan Indians of Minnesota and North Dakota. Extensive color range includes some attractive striped kernels. Use as a flour corn or for fall displays." I love the pinks and purples of this particular seed with the green beginning to emerge in the stem. 

In other news, I was not only happy to learn that I was accepted into the Art Students League of New York residency program at Vyt, but I am also honored to receive a Ruth Katzman scholarship to cover my costs. I will be participating in the special two week session at the beginning of December. 

http://www.theartstudentsleague.org/Residency.aspx

I am so excited to be able to take advantage of this program! I can't wait for the time and space to paint and draw uninterrupted and I look forward to the critiques and conversations. It will be such an incredible gift during the holiday season!