A New Path and Planning Ahead...This is Big

I took a walk this morning.  I could have taken some more photos or a sketchbook or any number of things with me but a good old-fashioned walk was perfect.  Gotta love my Iphone aps.  I clocked myself for just over two miles at 3.2 mph.  So it was an amble more than a walk...I did take a detour or two and made plans to come back to the woods with boots, jeans, deet and sunscreen to explore.  (I'm big on preparation.  I'm not taking a snakebite kit but I will have my phone:)  I'm also bringing a pocket kit of paints.  There are TONS of subjects.  It rained for the second evening in a row so there are more wildflowers than usual blooming right now and the hills will get jungly soon.  

I'm also having a great time getting ready for my new classes.  Intro to Yupo starts tomorrow.  I don't expect a big response right away but I'm on the calendar now.  My design class on setting up a creative space is going to be wonderful.  I did a little bit of research at Barnes and Noble and plan on delving into my design library for ideas.  I'd like to get photos of some friends' studios as well.  It may take a while to get everything I envision together for this first class but it's going to be great.  

Like a spring garden I feel nurtured and ready for growth.  Expect great things!  

It's already evolved or an exploration in shape and color

I've been getting settled in my new home for a while now and am finally at the point where there's more I'd like to do but none of it is necessary.  I just need to live there.

So,  back to the paint.  I'm painting in watercolor on Yupo here.  Yupo is a plastic paper I specialize in.  More on that at the end of the blog if you're interested.  

Red Coral, WC on Yupo, 36x36

Photoshop version of red coral

The piece you see here is just a second layer.  This is the largest painting I've tackled in a while.  It's 36" x 36"  which will be fun if it doesn't exhaust me.  I've forgotten how much harder it is to work all over on a piece this large.  I may have mentioned this before but I like to work organically as I paint.  I pour and manipulate the paper as the image I envision emerges on the paper or canvas.  This piece is no different.  

I've played with a photo of the painting  a little on Photoshop and love what one of the filters does to it.  It exaggerates and intensifies the hue and values.  It isn't possible to make the painting look like this because the paint lifts and moves every time I touch it.  So this beautiful photo is only the idea of a painting.  It may never exist except as my  idea and a digital image.  It will be part of my inspiration as I continue.

Here's another piece I'm working on in oil.  I started this one about a month ago en plein air and have been working on it in the studio off and on since.  It has hours and hours of work painted in and I'm still not satisfied.  To me the textures throughout the painting are too uniform.  The door doesn't have a handle yet either.  Maybe once I get that handle on it will resolve itself.  Hmmm

One of the things I find fascinating about how I work is that for some reason I seem to depict the same shapes/ textures and forms as I move through painting images.  I explore different imagery in different mediums and still seem to be depicting the same abstract ideas. Reduce the blog here and look at the thumbnails of the paintings and you'll see what I'm talking about.  Any input on that one?  Another hmmm

A Green Door in Old Town, oil on canvas 9x12

Now, on those classes.  I'm teaching at Studio Channel Islands Art Center in Old Town Camarillo.  I have a beautiful, spacious studio designed for painting and study!  Here's the schedule:

Tuesday 9-12 AM Basic/ Intermediate Watercolor  $100/ 4 classes

    I cover basic materials, painting techniques, color theory and design.  You'll start painting on your first day.

Thursday 7-10 Introduction to Yupo  $100/ 4 classes

  I cover the same things I do in watercolor but focus on the unique qualities of Yupo.

May 31, June 7, June 14 from 7-9 Design Seminar on Setting up a Creative Space  $120 Three week seminar

   Put aside three weeks of time and follow the suggestions we cover in the seminar and you'll have your own space set up in no time.  We'll brainstorm, journal, create idea boards and finally come up with a step by step plan to make your dream a reality.

I have one last note.  Look at my February 12 post.  California Springtime or Roses in Winter recently won honorable mention in the May Exhibit at the Studio Channel Islands Art Center Gallery.

Perfectionism is the enemy of action

I keep waiting to have "exactly" the right thing to say here. I have a number of brilliant but unexplored ideas rambling around in my head but they just haven't made it to the page.  They have to be perfect you know.  That just isn't happening and I really want to keep my blog relevant and up to date. So I'll blog on!

I have a million things to do and feel like I am doing few, if any, of them well right now.  Well, I am doing a pretty good job of criticizing myself so, in the interest of recognizing what I HAVE done (trying not to  judge quality:)  here's a list of my accomplishments today.  Some may seem trivial but I promise that the most mundane were actually the hardest to do.  If I eat, sleep and drink plenty of water everything else falls into place.

Here are my accomplishments for the day:

Waking up.  (8 AM, slept in for 15 minutes)
I went to yoga and practiced for 1 1/2 hours.
I ate breakfast.  This would have made my schedule tight anyway between getting a shower before my 11 AM oil painting class and filling my empty gas tank but I had to

Rear view of my Prius with an armoire inside it.

retrieve my runaway dogs from a neighbor's house making breakfast a miracle.  I ended up getting to class at noon.
Continued work on an oil painting of a home across the street from my studio.
Ate lunch thanks to a friend's sandwich run to the local deli.
Painted and went through some design books.
Managed to move an armoire to my apartment in my Prius (impressive eh?)  It had just enough clearance to fit with my seat pulled all the way to the front.
Went to my figure painting class and then got to visit with friends for a while.  (I ate during class, pizza delivery.  We artists know how to live.)

So to put my day into perspective, even I, perfectionist that I am, have to admit that I managed to do a lot today.  I had a full night's sleep, time with friends, good food and work that I love.  I also live in a community where my neighbors care enough to call me about my lost dogs.  I'm frustrated with trying to do everything all at once and with not painting the way I'd like but when I look at my list I realize I've done everything I expected to and more.

Tomorrow I'll take care of some errands, move some more of my household items and paint.  And paint, and paint.  I'll also be grateful that my seat of the pants approach to life seems to work and enjoy some more of the journey.

New beginning, the blank slate of my new home

New Digs 

This is what you see when you walk into my new place.  The green hillside you see straight out the french doors is actually a beautiful mountain which dominates the view.  This window and the ones in the bedroom face north and I have three more windows on the east side of the apartment.  When you're on the patio you can see farmland in the distance and I can even watch the sunset this time of year.   The rug and the chair you see here are my only furnishings at the moment.  I'm in transition and it will take me a while to get my other things here.

The blank wall is a wonderful negative space I plan to reserve for a rotating display of my artwork.  Whatever I'm not exhibiting or can't bear to part with will go here.  I also have a nice collection of my friends' work and this could be a good space for that.  In the meantime it's a lovely, empty wall of possibilities.  Maybe I should keep it empty.  

Another view

I'm very grateful that they'll let me repaint these walls.  This just doesn't work for me.  I have swatches all over the floor and will get some larger samples to see what might work.  It's hard to tell; these walls are so reflective they are very distracting and affect everything around them.  I'm looking at mid-tone neutrals in grey and brown tones that will continue the look of the floor and make the room look more spacious.  

The place is gorgeous with nine foot ceilings, wood floors and a full size kitchen and bath.  There's even a washer and dryer. The storage is a little cramped but I plan to move in several armoires to use as closets.  One each will go in the bedroom, bath and living room.  There are niches much like the one here in all of those rooms so they will work well.  I think.  They look good on the schematic anyway.  This has been a fun little project figuring out how to set up my new space.  Playing with floor plans and furniture possibilities trying to use only what I have reminds me that I'm really good with design.  Not a bad skill to have.  

BTW, this looks very spacious but is only about 840 square feet.  I'm very impressed with the planning of the community here.  The rest of the of it is just as well laid out.

I also have to brag about my friend and fellow artist Carol Henry.   http://www.carolhenry.com/  She was just visited in her studios by a researcher from the Getty Research Institute who plans to preserve her work.  Cudos!  And she's right across from my studio.  I am one lucky woman.

Welcome to Australia!

One more exciting new statistic.  I have to welcome my sixth continent.  Australia is the last really populated one.  Is anyone from Antarctica out there?




Map courtesy of the Lonely Planet web site.  http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/pacific/australia/map_of_australia.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/pacific/australia/&h=350&w=466&sz=64&tbnid=1A4pcrYIZaEv1M:&tbnh=96&tbnw=128&prev=/search%3Fq%3Daustralia%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=australia&usg=__-VOlWuAEAV_N2LhHELi07sFB_6w=&sa=X&ei=CF6dTdCPGsGjtgfi-Y3OBA&ved=0CEwQ9QEwAw

New beginnings

  Well, I have a scary/ exciting new adventure coming up.  I've just found a new apartment. I'll be on a Cal State Campus (not in student housing but with all of the University's amenities. It will be wonderful to have an easy place to live in a great location.  This is a photo of some of the mountains surrounding the little Town Center  where I'll be.  I'll actually see a view similar to this one and be right over the campus bookstore.  


I'll be close to the beach and great hiking there or in the mountains. The Town Center is a stone's throw from the library; there are all kinds of great classes I can take; there's a pool and fitness center, not to mention the painting opportunities.  I need to go to bed now but wanted to post.  I had quite a big day getting this all organized and there's lots more to do.  I'll be sure to post pics as I get them.  

Elizabeth Taylor

"I never back away... I relish life."

I read the People Magazine article on Elizabeth Taylor today while I got my hair done.  I copied the last page from the article above because of the fantastic quote.  I stole it with my iphone strategically placed on my lap above the magazine while my hair and eyebrows regained their youthful color.

I admire her gusto and passion for life.  I smiled when I read she was brought in to her funeral 15 minutes after the scheduled start so she could be late ... to her own funeral.

Breaking out of having a sense of limitation in my own life I look to women and men who live large.  They face life head on and keep moving forward. Knowing who you are and being true to that makes for a life worth living.

It takes courage to be true to who you are but when you do your life is magnificent. I'm impressed.  Cheers to the last of the great Hollywood stars!


http://coverawards.com/2011/03/30/people-magazines-farewell-to-elizabeth-taylor/