Skip to main content

After the Storm

The Grand Decision, acrylic/spray paint on canvas 36" x 48" (Sold)

It's been awhile since I've updated here, mainly because I've been busy and partly because my head hasn't quite landed from all the craziness it takes to put on a show. Now that it is up I'm a bit out of sorts, I got used to the high pressure cooker and now I've been taken out of it and it's.... Strange.
Work doesn't stop though and its back to catching up with people's requests and making sure I have stuff for upcoming exhibitions. (Yes, more exhibitions!)
I wanted to impart my advice to any young artists who want to exhibit a body of work somewhere... And you should! My advice is to MAKE the work THEN book the show because as much time as you think you have for it... you don't. And somewhere in there a kind of desperate mania can set in. It will thwart your ideas, whisper you're not good enough and make you question why you are doing this to yourself.
I always put myself in financial ruin when I take on a show. I have to decline mural work and commissions in order to get stuff done. Don't do this. Don't be like me. I'm a sadistic twisted artist apparently.
Get the work done first, then book your show.
I will probably never follow this advice but you should.
In Our Shangri La , acrylic/spray paint on canvas 36" x 48"
(Available through Kirk Hopper Fine Art)

I created a lot of magical pieces for the show. I experimented with new techniques, challenged myself, dug deep into new color experiments and themes and am generally pleased with the new pieces. This is one of my favorites, I'm kind of hoping I get to keep it forever.
A lot of the themes deal with where you want to be as opposed to where you are or being where you are and being content. These mice are content in their Shangri La but they are definitely up to something and it's kind of small there. I wonder how long they will stay?
I'll be updating here with the new work and a little about the process I went through. I'm a different artist now, this show changed me in a lot of ways. I learned a lot. A LOT!
Tectonic Shift, acrylic/spray paint on canvas 20" x 20"
(Available thru Kirk Hopper Fine Art)

One thing I learned is how much I enjoy working on smaller pieces. I really found it necessary to bounce between the large pieces back down to small format work. 
Another thing I found interesting was how totally isolated from the world you can feel when you're on your ship following your route and doing nothing but painting day in and day out.
At some point I snapped and required social outings and conversation and... People!!!! Yes I just said that, hermit girl who is happily in bed by 10pm just said that.
What a strange trip ....and I've made this my life so I better get used to it.
Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive through it all, you know who you are! 
Kisses!!!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jim Rockford was keeping me broke

Ah Rockford files, a comfortable and silly way to unwind after work. Yes, I am completely aware that I've turned into my Dad and watching Dad shows totally cements that theory. I had to start looking at the handsome James Garner in a new light though... He was a rich and famous star in his time and every evening spent curled up watching Rockford Files was an evening a painting wasn't getting worked on. No painting, no art show material. No painting, no galleries. No painting, no money. Would James Garner be watching TV every evening in a tired drowsy ball and not getting stuff done? Probably not.  So I pulled myself away from TV land in the evenings and devoted at least a little time in the mornings as well. Even if it's just ten minutes. Even if you are just filling in all the blacks, blues or whatever... It is progress. Something is better than nothing. I'm proud to say this little habit tweak has totally kicked my butt into gear and I'm producing at a rate I'
Post a Comment
Read more

How I had the best art year

  This was the year I got rejection letters from every open call I applied to. Granted, it wasn't very many I applied to because I am very picky about what I sign up for AND I am also very jaded about these things of late.  However, this was my best art year to date and I kinda love that it was all rejection notices this year and I STILL HAD THE BEST ART YEAR EVER. Takeaway: Today's open calls are very "agenda based" and the jurors they choose to judge have their agendas. Some want more millennials and younger artists and shun the older artists, some want you to tackle race, gender identity, politics, feminist, pro this or that.... And my art does not. I'm going to stick by  my "Nature is more important than most bullshit" stance till I die because the very atom of life and Nature is more important in my eyes than most of the stuff humans do to feel more important than another group.  But I digress! I did not get into the velvet rope clubs and it was gre
Post a Comment
Read more

The Backstory- cliff notes edition

  Skip navigation  little backstory I was totally working for myself as an artist and you know what? It was HARD! Harder than hard and harder than any job ever. But it was the most rewarding experience and I learned so much about so many things and I want to share that knowledge with you guys... My VIP art club. I didn't get a fair shake from the very beginning of my art career. I suffered a back injury at my "muggle" job which required a lot of physical therapy to get over and which I will have with me forever now. It was actually the impetus for me to quit my job and start being an artist! So I turned my bad luck into fuel for my fire. I saved 5k (painstakingly while enduring all the BS at a terrible job) and then I made the leap. I was so excited and optimistic about working for myself! I had sold little pieces here and there and was sure it was only upwards from there. 2 weeks into my freedom- my Dad died unexpectedly. What came next was indescribable DEPRESSION and a
Post a Comment
Read more