Currently in the studio

Today is nice rainy day and a good day to work on my three current paintings in progress. I have a 36x36 commission, a 24x24 experiment and a gilded 36x36 piece to work on back and forth. Totally different color palettes. Just the way I like to work. While one dries there is always another one to work on since I tend to work in multiple layers. Trying to push a painting before it's dry is a big mistake. Why this has taken me so long to learn I'll never understand.

Here's blog I subscribe to by Tony Moffitt. His latest one titled "Position, position, position" is very thought provoking. Are galleries disappearing quickly? Some in our local area have changed or closed but I don't think they will ever go away. Or at least I sure hope not! So his cautionary post about positioning yourself in a world without galleries is timely and thought provoking if nothing else.

Travels and sketching

I just returned from trip to Black Butte Ranch near Sisters Oregon. Several artists stayed at the home of one of our fellow artists.

The weather was perfect. The surrounding mountains were beautiful. What a perfect place to sketch. I don't have pictures of the sketches but I will post some photos.

The community where we stayed is very well kept and has two golf courses. The house we stayed in was on a golf course and we had fun watching the golfers play and look around for lost balls. There are many miles of bike paths and most of us did a fair amount of walking.

We also took a walk along the Metolius river and spent time checking out the stores is Sisters.

In case I ever forget what a wonderfully varied place Oregon is I just need to head east over the mountains or west to the coast. What a great place to live. But don't tell anyone. Oh, the secrets out already?

More Macarons!

Here is the latest post by Paris Breakfasts with more beautiful shots of macarons in Paris shops. I've read that shop keepers do not want people to photograph their offerings. How this blogger does it I'll never understand.

We need a taste from all the shops, right?

And here is a blog by Fanny who is a food product designer who secretly wants to be a pasty chef and her experience about working at Herme making macarons.

Putting emotion in your art

I recently read a very good article by Keith Bond in Clint Watson's Fineartviews newsletter. His main point is if we want to paint with true emotion we have to write about out painting. There are several suggestions in the article but the one that struck me as the most helpful and important was journaling about what we do. Putting it into words makes it so much more real and explainable to ourselves as well as others.

New brushes

Recently I bought four new brushes from ASW. I never buy brushes on line because I need to touch them in person. However, the prices were so good I couldn't help myself. The sale was only for a few days. I have been looking for a new 2" wash brush for a while and thought the top brush the Creative Mark wash brush would be a good one. Turn out it's my least favorite one. The two middle ones, a size 20 Pro Stroke and the 2" Qualita Colada Wash by Creative Mark are much better than I thought they would be. But my favorite is the smaller 1" Ebony Splendor 392 Wash by Creative Mark. I would buy this brush again and will look at the various sizes they carry.

So my brush buying was a success for three out of four brushes all made by Creative Mark.

Abstract art at the Saatchi gallery

Here is a short video of people looking at abstract art at the Saatchi gallery in London.

Some are students who are sketching and taking photos. Others just look tired or bemused. It appears they might be asking themselves which gallery, museum or country they're today.

French macarons

I want to introduce a blog called Paris Breakfasts written by a watercolor artist who travels to Paris several times a year. She blogs often about Paris with copious amounts of photos. I don't know how she finds time to sleep while she's in Paris! One of her obsessions is the macaron cookie. The top and bottom is created from meringue and the centers are a type of frosting. This is the bare bones description because they come in so many colors and flavors. Cruise through her past blogs and you'll learn so much about the macarons as well as other wonderful pastry and chocolate shops.

Movie review: Food, Inc.

Here is a review of the movie Food, Inc. which I think should be seen by everyone who eats food. It's showing at some locations in the Portland Oregon area currently.

How to sustain your creativity

Here is an article from Empty Easel's weekly newsletter. It talks about a new approach to sustaining our creativity especially when we are being too hard on ourselves. When we're saying things about "I just need to do it!" Or "what's wrong with me that I'm not more organized and working in the studio?" Do we need more structure, more goals, firmer intentions or just more time?

According to the author of "Standing at Water's Edge: Moving Past Fears, Blocks, and Pitfalls to Discover the Power of Creative Immersion", Dr. Anne Paris, it's more about healthy interpersonal relationships. We're at our best when interconnected to others. So again, this just solidifies my feeling that groups of people and especially groups of artists are very important to all of us in more ways than we realize.