Balance

Trying to maintain myself as an artist when I am teaching full time is stressing me out. How do you do it???

Smaller works? Very few shows?? This weekend I looked into applying to some shows and the logistics of finishing work, getting it framed, photoed and off to submission -- with just a few hours available every weekend boggled me. Maybe I must just focus on doing artwork and showing etc later when I am freer??? any ideas anyone?

Sennelier Experiment

Yes!!! just as delicious as the Shiva Oil Sticks -- smooth, blendable -- I love them.

Thought

From a beautiful book I just received:
"'After 9/11, artists were doing dark and depressing works, I just wanted to do a 180'. In doing so Beane made an affirmative statement about life. These photographs reflect the deeply felt human need not merely to survive but to make something worthwhile out of life, even under the bleakest circumstances." A. Janson about photographer Christopher Beane.

It reminded me of when I was at Berkeley during the Vietnam War protests -- and feeling that we must also (in addition to protesting) continue to paint -- to create beauty -- that beauty in the world must prevail.

Sennelier

oh man -- just tried Sennelier oil pastels -- I am stoked!! soft smooth yummy. Will switch to these for main work and just use the Holbeins for fine line detail.

Finished Cyclamen

Many hours later (anywhere from 9 to 14+ hours = sore fingers!) the drawing is finished. I carefully check all shapes making sure that they "work" -- that they read as form -- that they are not flat. Often the hardest part of a drawing is choosing the background color -- in this drawing it works perfectly -- but I am not always so lucky!!

I love the dynamic out there energetic composition of this drawing. It stretches you.

More Shapes

I continue working completing a shape before I move onto another shape. As shapes are finished I often will go back to a shape to fine tune it -- to adjust a value to strengthen that illusion of form.

Blending

Then with a soft cloth wrapped around a finger I blend the colors together to create a smooth transition between each color. I add more layers of color and blend -- creating a transition that begins to create the illusion of three dimensions, of form.