Today's Work

One of my artist friends posted something on Facebook yesterday that reminded me that a day in the studio is like a little dance we have with ourselves. She posted that she spent a good deal of time in the studio walking in circles then making a cup of tea. Sound familiar to anyone??

Mastering the disinclination to work. Then, getting down deep into the work.

It's the time of year that it's cold in the studio. I knew this was coming and prepared myself, both mentally and physically for it. I get cold very easily and have Raynaud's Syndrome, which is a condition when your core temperature drops and the blood moves from your extremities to warm your core. I have to stay warm. This takes more mental energy and causes me to have a bit of hesitation to go into the studio. I have to put a separate heater on in our space. It costs more, so I have this little tug, not to turn it on. Just another thing that adds to the disinclination to work!!

But today I did master the disinclination. I was feeling a little bit under the weather, very cold and not super excited about what I had on the easel. I'm working on several bodies of work for upcoming shows, some of it I'm really into and wish I could stick with a bit longer without switching gears. But... today I decided I'd better get a few things rolling in another direction.


Here's a bit of what I did. This is one of a planned series of 6 to 8 larger pastels, approx. 24 x 30. They are all figures in various interior settings. They are all pretty complex scenes and involve a lot of drawing and planning ahead. I think they will be great when they are done... I just have my mind on some other work, so when I had some good success today, I was happy that I  didn't get frustrated and anxious to do other things.

In prgoress

Detail

Closer to finish

Next one up! Watercolor under-painting

The cafe scene is not done. I still have quite a bit of work on it yet. Among other things, the sandwich board needs to be grayer and a lighter. Some areas need more drawing/detail while others need to be simplified, but overall I think it's coming together pretty well and it's interesting working with such complexity, something I haven't done in a while. I think the kitchen will be cool to work on too.

Avoiding A Method

When I'm teaching, I can only tell students how I go about things and try to convey my thought process while I'm painting. This can be tricky and definitely difficult to do while demonstrating, but with practice, I've gotten better at it.

One of the things that I hear from students is, "I want to try your method" and I'm always taken a bit aback by this, since I really never have thought about the "way I paint" as being a method. In fact, if anything, I'm avoiding working routinely in a particular way and continually trying to mix it up. Otherwise, painting would become boring to me and I think that would definitely be reflected in the work. So instead of a method, I think of it as an exploration; "how can I make this work?", "what if?" What if the paper was red, what if I used charcoal under the pastel, what if I got it wet? I don't really worry about my work having a "style" as I'm pretty certain that everyone has a  unique hand and my work will just naturally look like my work.

I also have students ask about why I used a lot of mixed media with pastels, what's the advantage? First and foremost, it keeps a piece from being too precious. I'm not exactly sure what it is about mixing media, but somehow I'm a lot more free and willing to experiment when I'm not going with a traditional or purest approach. Mixing media gives my work more spontaneity than straight pastel, or paint. It lends that "happy" accident component. When I use mixed media, I'm much more apt to have a "it's just a piece of paper" type of attitude towards the work.

Variation done with pastel and an oil wash

When I start, I always start with what is easiest to my eye. In some cases that could be the sky, in some cases it might be a foreground shape. I don't "always" do it a certain way. I don't want to be formulaic in the process or the result.  This might be to my detriment in that it makes for a continually moving, shifting of my work. Very often clients and or students will say, "Well, you've changed your palette". And I'm thinking to myself, well YES!! Isn't that what we do??

One way to start/ a grisalle underpaintings done with nupastel on Colorfix paper

Another way to start done with airbrush acrylics on Wallis paper

I totally understand that students want to figure out how to do things and its so much easier to wrap our heads around a set of steps to get to the end result. But the real answer is that there aren't any set steps but rather foundation skills to employ. If you know value, then you can start with your middle values and work out from there or you can start with your darkest darks and lightest lights. If you have a thumbnail sketch, your drawing and composition will be sound. If you know the elements of color, you can orchestrate color to convey mood and passion in your work. This is the stuff we focus on in my workshops along with that playful, curious attitude that leads to poetry in painting.  I'm always super open and excited to share by trying to tell just exactly how I go about doing any piece, but I love helping students realize that they already have their own unique voice, it's just a matter of bringing it out, making it louder, so we can hear it.

I'm currently in the process of exploring several new directions and have never found such deep satisfaction in my work or in the act of painting. After so many years it's deeply rooted in me to paint and for the first time, I feel like I'm mining my unconscious and letting intuition take over the work... I'm so invigorated by painting, I can barely sleep at night, the images are so strong. Surprises to share soon!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Thanks so much for following my blog!!

I'm am so, so, incredibly ,over-the-top, grateful to be an artist!!! I've made a list of what painting means to me with thanks to Thomas Buechner. He has a list in his lovely book How I Paint - Secrets of a Sunday Painter. It's a wonderful book, so check it out.

Here's my latest list of what painting means to me:

• Continually challenging my intellect, my body and my spirit
• Finding beauty in the ordinary
• Finding a peaceful place for my mind
• Having a sacred space - my studio
• Having a whole bunch of artists, living and dead standing with me at my easel
• Waking up with something in mind to do
• Going to sleep with something in mind to do tomorrow
• Getting to travel and see how beautiful our country is
• Sharing with, teaching, learning from other artists
• Sharing my studio with my husband, Mike
• Giving me a very good reason not to clean house
• Loving the art supply store and feeling more at home there than at Nordstrom, (Thank you, God)
• Loving the art section of Powell's books
• Just Loving

recent life drawing

summer in the studio

Coco Beach, FL

Some supplies

Please share your list!!

Marketing & Social Media for Painters

I'm trying to get with it in regards to social media marketing and videos. As far as I can tell, the new paradigm in marketing is "Youtube" it, not "Google" it, so with that in mind we're having several videos produced that highlight various aspects of our work and my workshops. The process was difficult to organize at first, as I'm doing such a variety of subjects recently and exploring new directions. So, we decided to do an overall intro video, one that focuses on the workshops and one that highlights the work and my process in more depth.

After we figured this out with a bit of a hiccup; we didn't know what we wanted until we saw what we didn't want, we scripted out  more precisely what I wanted to say and set the studio up to really highlight the work and the process. Lisa Baggetta came and helped with camera angle, viewpoint for the interview portion and deciding on what to wear.

Lisa suggested that I talk directly to the camera.. This was a little hard to do even though I'm pretty comfortable public speaking at my workshops, but I think a great call. It was hard to say what I wanted to say, do it with emotion and the authentic feelings I have, and try to look my best doing it!! I had a lot of help from Mike, Jamie, Brett and Lisa to lead me through. I have a new found respect for actors and newscasters.

When we got all the dialog done, I was comfortable and the rest was a snap. Jamie and Brett filmed me painting and working on a pastel. They also got audio on painting, making strokes with the pastels on sanded paper, the easel getting cranked and brushes dropping into the holders.

The final video will incorporate some video clips we took at my recent workshop and stills of artwork. 
I think the final results will be great and be a super way to show the work and connect with people. Thanks to Reel Innovative for the great experience!

Drawing Studies

Yesterday I hired a model to come to the studio to pose for me. This is a wonderful opportunity to get exactly what you want with no compromising on lighting, poses, length of pose. I got what I wanted! It was well worth the investment. We did some unclothed and clothed poses. I like these clothed poses because of the strong shapes. We did these after lunch and I was warmed up and letting it go a bit more than I was in the morning.

All the sketches were done just on bond paper with black and white pastel. I used a little water and a bristol brush to get the washes. I tried not to worry about the proportions too, too much and work on massing the shapes. I was primarily concerned with the gesture. I'm thinking that some of these will get re-worked in the studio.

January 20-22 2012, West Linn, Oregon.
Trees, Skies & Water, Baggetta Studio
Contact: Wendy DeHart at wjdehart@comcast.net
or call 503/550-2499. Full/wait list

May 21-25, 2012, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Bucks County Workshops
Contact: Jackie, 877/855-2276
www.buckscountyartworkshops.com

June 11&12; 2nd session June 13-15, Traverse City, Michigan
Contact: Debra Zamperla at idzamperla@gmail.com

September 17-20, 2012, Fish Creek, Wisconsin. Peninsula School of Art 
Contact: Karen at 920/868-3455
www.peninsulaartschool.com

September 24-26, 2nd session September 28-30, Cape Cod, MA
Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod
Contact: Joan at joan@joandromey.com or 781-844-5157

October 11-14, 2012, Telluride, Colorado.
Pastel en Plein and Studio.
Contact: Wendy DeHart at wjdehart@comcast.net
or call 503/550-2499.

October 19-21 2012, Bend, Oregon.
Loosen Up Pastels, Cascade Fine Art Workshops
Contact: Sue Manely at info@cascadefineartworkshops.com

How to Start

Wendy and I just wrapped up our November workshop; How to Start/ How to Finish. Although it was a quick two day workshop, I felt as though much was accomplished. Our group was an energetic, skilled bunch of painters that were eager to try out new ideas. Such a joy! We even had two men!! A first for Wendy and I. Both were good sports, putting up with us ladies.

Hard at work!

Putting up with Marla's dj skills!

Blah, blah, blah!!

More, blah, blah, blah!!

Back at work!

I'm looking forward to having some of these kids back for the January workshop! We'll just get going right where we left off...

I'm pursuing the figurative work more deeply... I hired a great model to pose for me in the studio today and spent the whole day drawing. Great to be able to work one on one with a model and get exactly what you're looking for. It was well worth the time and investment... I'll post a few of the drawings tomorrow.

Upcoming workshops:

January 20-22 2012, West Linn, Oregon.
Trees, Skies & Water, Baggetta Studio
Contact: Wendy DeHart at wjdehart@comcast.net
or call 503/550-2499. Full/wait list

May 21-25, 2012, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Bucks County Workshops
Contact: Jackie, 877/855-2276
www.buckscountyartworkshops.com

June 11&12; 2nd session June 13-15, Traverse City, Michigan
Contact: Debra Zamperla at idzamperla@gmail.com

September 17-20, 2012, Fish Creek, Wisconsin. Peninsula School of Art 
Contact: Karen at 920/868-3455
www.peninsulaartschool.com

September 24-26, 2nd session September 28-30, Cape Cod, MA
Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod
Contact: Joan at joan@joandromey.com or 781-844-5157

October 7-13, 2012, Telluride, Colorado.
Pastel en Plein and Studio.
Contact: Wendy DeHart at wjdehart@comcast.net
or call 503/550-2499.

October 19-21 2012, Bend, Oregon.
Loosen Up Pastels

Additional workshops to be announced!

Wine Counrty Demo Slideshow

Here's a quick slideshow of one of the demos I did while teaching a workshop in Dundee, Oregon last month. We had mixed weather, so we were inside and outside. We were able to get this demo in outdoors. It's on wallis sanded paper with a watercolor under-painting. A sweet little house and pathway with a hint of vineyard! What I loved about this demo was that I did what the teacher said; a thumbnail sketch in the same proportion as the final version!!


Thanks so much to Jude Galbraith for sharing her photos!