New paintings

Here are four new paintings. The first one (Gilded History) has some gilding near the top but it's very hard to photograph and the only real way to see it is in person.

The bottom painting "Muse I" is the first of three similar paintings. The first background is a very bright yellow and the top or darkest color is the background of the second painting "Muse II"-which looks very orange in the photo. The third painting's background "Muse III" (which looks more red in the photo) is the darkest color on the second painting. Still with me? The third painting ends in dark blue.

All four can be seen at Art on the Boulevard in Vancouver WA.

Gilded History

Muse III

Muse II

Muse I

What to do when stalled?

When the only paintings in the studio turn out to be problems, what is an artist to do? It's time to tidy the room. Not a total overhaul where you can't find anything after cleaning but a good dusting and mopping.

I almost didn't want to mess it up and didn't for a a couple of days but I also had company part of the time. So before I go back to work I took a few pictures.

Remember, this is the cleaner room!

How long does it take to paint a painting?

I've had two 36x36 paintings sitting around the studio facing the wall for many weeks now. So I figure what have I got to lose if I work on them and they are wrecked? I've been taking pictures right along as my ideas developed and I'll decide whether I want to share them on the blog when I'm finished with the paintings. The stages I go through on the way to finishing can be seriously ugly! I either use alcohol to cut through paint to see what is underneath or cover parts with diluted white gesso and then sit and re-evaluate for long periods of time. I also make notes and do drawings of the painting. I've never really wanted to know how long it takes me to paint a painting. People who look at paintings want to know how long it takes an artist to do a painting and I never have a pat answer for this. It takes much too long. Not the actual painting time but developing an idea and then the evaluations along the way take the most time for me. Then the non-artistic part starts with thinking of a title, taking to the photographer, signing, putting on the hanging wire, putting into my inventory and finally taking to the gallery.

Not complaining here just figuring out an answer to how long does it take an artist to paint something from start to finish. I don't know and don't care to know at this point! It just takes the time it takes to do it right and to do it to my satisfaction. I have many paintings that didn't make it out into the world. I gesso over them and start again.

The photo above has nothing to do with painting, I just thought it was wonderful.