Archive for January, 2012
Earlier this week a friend asked me about painting. She wondered if I sit down and do one painting at a time, start to finish. I told her no, not all the time, rarely, etc. I told her that part of my routine is to do several paintings all at once, moving from one to another as I wait for parts to dry. I told her that I have this great set up where my studio is off my kitchen so I can be making dinner and find a few minutes here and there to start and stop painting whenever I choose. Then I went home and realized that was a bunch of bull.
Not entirely. That’s how I used to do it. Before I became bored and fickle about my interest in artmaking. But it was silly to stop. It’s like stopping exercise, or cleaning. Things fall apart when you don’t keep up the routine. I know everyone takes a break here and there but I could tell it was time for the ol’ kick in the pants. So to stay true to my friend I went back to work like I normally do; small, many, cute, colorful, fun, not too serious, not too ridiculous…
Just right. For me. What’s your creative comfort zone like?
Is it just me or is it completely impossible to read the words My Favorite Things and not get Julie Andrews voice playing in your head singing about bright colored ponies and crisp apple strudels?
Sorry about that, you’ll be singing it all day! But that’s the words that came to me as I finished up this painting. It is inspired by one of my favorite paintings I ever made that you can see here.
This is a certainly a Valentines-y kind of illustration. I’m curious what your favorite memory of Valentines Day is. Do you think it’s just for kids? A holiday made up by Hallmark? Or do you get all gooey with your sweetie and/or indulge in boxes of chocolates?
My favorite memory of Valentines is making boxes for school to collect all the little love notes from my classmates. What a strange yet fun custom. What’s yours?
You might think that closing my Etsy shop (er, I mean putting it on “vacation”) has given me oodles of time to hone my cooking skills and while the food is roasting I might churn out piles of paintings. I thought that’s how it would work too! But by golly I have been much less productive in the food and art department since the 2012 shut down. I have, however, been Pinterest-ing my home like a certified CRAZY person; a tension rod here, some double sided tape there, and oila! My house is not just functional but organized in ways I never imagined.
Seriously, I actually have a yogurt container wrapped in scrapbook paper adhered to my bedside wall so I can better reach my phone when the alarm goes off in the morning. Lock me up and throw away the key.
BUT tonight the spark came back to me. You see food and art are so closely related that I can’t hardly separate the two forms of making things. Part of my will to make things comes from reading old cook books. Weird, yeah.
Read the first paragraph of my grandmother’s 7th edition of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and tell me it doesn’t have you swooning for something tasty:
I’ll admit I’m a little kooky about this sort of thing but there’s magic in them words I tell ya. Magic that made me want to be a good plain cook, at best. Now back to reading. Oh wait….11 new pins on Pinterest…I better just peek….
…till we’re together, keep all my love forever.
Just wanted to send you a little love this evening. Side note: January is an excellent time to take a creative vacation. Although it’s been unseasonably warm here in Kansas, winter feelings of desolation are on the horizon. BUT- help is on the way in the form of soft fuzzy robes, beating the computer at Scrabble (best word button = savior), and amazingly affordable amounts of citrus and avocado. What’s not to love?
What’s your favorite way to spend your free time in winter?
This is the latest thing I painted and the first thing that I finished in 2012. It felt really good marking the back with the first day of the new year. This picture came about after a trip to a history museum that focuses on the evolution of the suburban life. I rode there in a minivan with another family and as we drove to the museum we stopped and called out to some horses that were by the road. Normally I wouldn’t think to stop a car and try to talk to some horses. They don’t talk back after all and if they did, what would I say to a horse?
Anyway the whole thing was surreal to me. Visiting an entire exhibit detailing the takeover of American Indian territory and the systematic separation of races. It’s a complicated history. I started to see my personal history differently. I think I see my choices from a broader angle. I don’t’ know if that will reflect in the kind of paintings I make or drawings I start with. But I know it will reflect in the choices I make in my life from this point on.
Oh – I called this painting Pastoral. It was a word that kept running through my head the whole time I was working on it (and this one took a while to come out). I read up on it and realized that in literature it is used to describe a complex idea in much simpler terms. I think I’ll borrow that meaning for my painting.
This morning I stumbled out of bed and fumbled my way through the motions of making my daily coffee. I turned and bumped into my husband who grabbed me and hugged me and said I am going to start every day by hugging you and telling you how much I love you. I said, “ok” and went back to my routine.
A lot of people might be waking up with new plans and hopes and dreams for 2012. I am no different than most people.
One little catch phrase has been buzzing through my head. “Less is More” runs through my mind like a broken record.
I’m thinking a lot about doing a lot less.
While I figure out what I want to do with my time I put my Etsy store on vacation. (That means the shop is closed, for as long as I feel necessary). Because selling beautiful art prints and making beautiful paintings have become two separate things for me …and I want to paint more than I want to sell you things.
When I decide how to balance the two I’ll be back to sweep the shop and be a wonderful entrepreneur again. Right now, I want to be a painter.
Happy 2012!
