Sketching, drawing class

Saturday (6-27-09) I met some friends at the marina near where the Jazz Festival in Portland is held each year to do some sketching. I've never explored the area and have to say it is beautiful. A small lush garden with lily ponds and a paved trail that goes all the way to the Sellwood bridge. Not to mention views of the Marquam and Hawthorne bridges.

We had lunch at a grill right on the water. Once when a large boat or ship went by the server came by and told everyone to pick up their purses in case the water came all the way to where we were sitting on the dock. They have a very nice seating area inside too. Very good food!

I'm starting a drawing class on July 6th and I'm sure I'll improve with some help. In the meantime, I'm posting one of my drawings. This is part of what this blog is about----taking chances and sticking my neck out!

Women's Art Show at the Pompidou Center

I posted in an earlier post about the women's show at the Pompidou Center. 

Here is a review of the show. Sounds most interesting and runs through May 2010.

I believe male artist's couldn't have made their art without a woman in the house doing all the work around maintaining a structure for him and the family. Women were too busy to think about making art! Well, it's one explanation about why there are fewer women artists represented in the art museums.

Economical art show

I want to point you to a very good artist's newsletter which sends an email every Sunday morning with the week's topics. It's called Empty Easel and it's a very good source of information written clearly by the author and several guest writers. This Sunday I especially enjoyed reading about "How to Plan and Prepare a Solo Art Show on a Shoestring Budget" by Robb Scott. Some really good ideas here so go read his other topics too. 

I know there is a world of information out there in the arts field and I try to limit how much time I spend on the internet and how many sites I bookmark or subscribe to on a regular basis. But Empty Easel is one of the good ones I read weekly.

Last week end

This last week end was full of events for the Rose Festival in Portland Oregon. Did I go to the Rose Parade? Or the Waterfront Park fun center? Or do anything related to the Rose Festival? No. I went to the Japanese Garden where they had a show called "Parallel Worlds" which runs through June 28th. They also had a show of unusual Ikebana floral arrangements. Not the small, stylish and refined Ikebana I've seen before but huge arrangements with tree like branches. Very unusual and wish I had taken pictures. The day was cool and misty but not really raining. The Rose Gardens were beautiful even with the hard rain storm we had on Thursday. I also visited Powell's book store so it was a full day and I had a wonderful time.

As far as art related activities, I've spent several hours cleaning my studio. I've even scraped up most of the paint from the floor. Now it's time to get this room dirty and messy again!

Artist stereotypes

It seems like about the time I'm thinking of an art focused topic Robert Genn writes about it in his newsletter! Today's letter is about stereotypes. We all use stereotypes sometimes to make sense of our lives and our place in the over all picture. I've seen several topics on the web relating to the low number of women artists shown in various museums and galleries especially in the past. And it's true so this isn't a stereotypical statement about women artists.

What about the starving artist? The unreliable or flaky artist? Do you have to be a little crazy to be an artist? I can only speak for the artists I know and I can say they are dedicated, hard working and fully functioning members of society. And mostly well balanced! 

Scroll down and read Allan O'Marra's post about how he thinks Robert is making it sound too easy and doing a snow job on other artists. I don't think Robert's newsletters have ever made being a successful artist sound simple or easy. But that's why I always read the responses to his newsletters---there's always another idea out there to think about.

Be sure to read the post by Janice Slattery about her group of artists sharing encouragement. Here is the gallery where the group shows: La Habra Art Gallery.

Earlier I posted about when to know if a painting is finished and some tips to figure it out. One of the important things I didn't add was the support, encouragement and help of my critique group. So thank you to Collin, Marge, Nikki, Leslie and Ann. You are so appreciated!