this and that

It bothers me when there are no pictures on my blog, and the last two posts don't have pictures! So here's a bit of this and that of what I've been up to lately. (you can click on the images to enlarge them)

In early June I went to Ocean Shores, WA for the first time, with my husband and our friends Glenn and Sheila. We had a really lovely time in spite of the constant fog and mist that descended as soon as we arrived. And I took lots of misty photos which you can see here on Flickr.


I've been gardening. This photo is from a couple of weeks ago, and everything is so much bigger now. It's so satisfying to get dinner from the backyard! And with the berries, breakfast too. :)

Starting a new altarpiece for church - actually got to start this one from scratch and make a new canvas! More on that at Redeemer's Arts and Music blog. I'll be updating the progress on that as we go.

And, of course, I've been painting. I haven't managed to photograph everything yet, but here's one I completed a few weeks ago. It's kinda different for me, isn't it. I saw this composition in a vase on a table next to a window, and I had to paint it. So I guess it's an abstract still life.

Great blog and artist opportunity

Check out this amazing opportunity for artists over on Tony Moffitt's blog:

Independence Showcase

I've just recently discovered his blog myself and I am so impressed by it and by Tony's generosity.

Art & Meaning: Treffinger Daily

Katherine Treffinger has started a wonderful project on her blog about Art & Meaning, and she asked me to be part of it! She describes it as follows:

Art and meaning is a project in which I am including in my postings the answer to a question from various artists. I will introduce one artist at a time along with an image of their art.
The question is: "What meaning does doing art have for you? In other words why do you show up in your studio, or wherever, and pick up your tools day after day?"

Check out my answer here!

And as long as your there, check out Katherine's wonderful artwork and the other artists' responses. :)

Light in the Storm

Light in the Storm, acrylic/collage on canvas, 18" x 18", ©2009

I completed this piece last week but had no idea what to call it. Then one of my contacts on Flickr said "I love this little light in the storm… Strange feeling of security inside huge forces." And right then I knew what this was a painting of, and what the title is. I love it when people can make me see more deeply into my own work!

detail of Light in the Storm

cracking up

Cracked(?), acrylic on canvas, 8" x 8", ©2009

Having trouble getting my brain to settle. Feeling a bad case of the "why bothers" coming on. Not so much in the realm of creating art. I don't have much of a choice about that – it's as much what I am as what I do. But in the efforts required to share (and, yes, hopefully sell) my work, well… Though I'm not the best at motivating myself to do the marketing stuff at the best of times, that's just because I don't really enjoy it much. I'm usually pretty good about ignoring the naysayers (I'd say most artists have to be) and the pessimistic talk about external forces (the bad economy for instance), but for some reason there has been a breach in my defenses recently and it's all starting to get me down.

How do you (yes, you) keep at it even when it doesn't seem to be worth it?

The Unknown Region

The Unknown Region, acrylic/collage on canvas, 30" x 40", ©2009

Darest thou now O soul,
Walk out with me toward the unknown region,
Where neither ground is for the feet nor any path to
follow?
–Walt Whitman, "Darest Thou Now, O Soul"

Details of Unknown Region

Every time I looked at my blog this week I was surprised to see that my last blog post was still my last blog post. Working with my morning pages and The Artist's Way I've been thinking and writing about so many things it seems impossible that they haven't appeared here. But all those words are on (*gasp*) paper. Crazy, I know.

I completed this painting last Thursday, and the title finally came to me when I happened upon the quote above. That's exactly what I'm trying to do, let go of the need to control the outcome and just "walk out". As part of that effort, this week I've been staying away from canvases and playing with some small color studies on paper, and with being more visual in my journal. It's hard because there's a part of me that is trying to convince me that I'm wasting time if I'm not actually putting paint to canvas, but that's the part that got me all blocked up in the first place.

Catching up with myself

untitled, acrylic on canvas, 24" x 18", ©2009

Don't even know where to start here. It's been so long since I've really done a blog post, so I was going to write about what's been happening over the past month or so, but there was so much that it feels a bit overwhelming, so maybe it's just best to start with now. Quick overview to get caught up on the past month or so: Easter and all the preparations that went into it, including a new altarpiece and a new art exhibit; recovering from all that; my garden; probably more that I can't think of just now. I'm slowly adding photos to my flickr account for all these.

Of course, the most prominent thing on my mind has been my recent frustrations in the studio. I've managed to paint a few good pieces, but my creative flow feels all gummed up and it's like trying to swim in molasses when I work. In frustration, I found myself turning for inspiration to my bookshelf. After flipping through a few books, I finally opened The Artist's Way. This is the book that started it all for me, and I've read it several times since I first read it about 13-14 years ago, but I hadn't picked it up in years. Thought maybe since I am a working artist now that I'd learned all there was to learn from it or something.

After just skimming through it for a few minutes I had several "Ah-ha!" moments and I realized that there was still a lot to learn from this book. The words that really stuck with me were on page 153:

Over an extended period of time, being and artist requires enthusiasm more than discipline. Enthusiasm is not an emotional state. It is a spiritual commitment, a loving surrender to our creative process, a loving recognition of all the creativity around us. Enthusiasm is grounded in play, not work. Far from being a brain-numbed soldier, our artist is actually our inner playmate. As with all playmates, it is joy, not duty, that makes for a lasting bond.

I've gotten so caught up in making sure I have a good finished product, I think I've forgotten how to have fun! I've forgotten how much I love the process of painting, the joy of color and texture. The fun of making a mess! And what's worse is that I realized that I've also lost enthusiasm for a lot of other things in life too - let myself get mired down in boredom. And then I read this on page 18:

Boredom is just "What's the use?" in disguise. And "What's the use?" is fear, and fear means you are secretly in despair.

Wow.

So, I'm doing the Artist's Way again. I'm doing my morning pages and artist dates. I'm only on Week 1, but I can already feel the gears turning more smoothly. And I'm already much more excited when I paint. This painting was the first one to feel the effects of letting go and having fun again. I had been working at it for weeks and getting nowhere, but when I consciously decided to just enjoy making colors and textures, it came almost effortlessly.

I'm very interested to see where this turn through the Artist's Way will lead me, how will it be different now that I've been a working artist for a while now. I'll let you know! And hey, if anyone wants to join me, that would be great!

golden

untitled (goldnpurple), acrylic on canvas, 5" x 7", ©2009
(available for purchase here)

"The situation of the soul in contemplation is something like the situation of Adam and Eve in Paradise. Everything is yours, but on the one infinitely important condition: that all is given."

–Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

Spring Walk

The sun is finally shining and it's actually over 70 degrees (Fahrenheit) outside! After a morning spent in the studio, I could not resist taking a walk along the river. I was very glad that I'd brought my camera when I spied this heron patiently stalking something good to eat.

It's amazing how uplifting such a day as this can be after such a gray and soggy stretch. And energizing. I love the rain, but I must admit to feeling a bit waterlogged lately. I feel a renewed excitement toward my painting, a breaking out of late winter inertia.

Lent and the internet, and an update

We're currently in the season of Lent in the church year, and this year I decided to use the internet less as my Lenten discipline. I was going to give up refined sugar, but then our priest mentioned how part of the purpose of Lent is to simplify our lives in order to make more room for God as we prepare for Easter, and it struck me that I've let the internet take over a bit too much lately. So I decided to simplify by limiting it.

It wouldn't have been very practical for me to give it up completely for the entirety of Lent (40+ days), so I decided to become more aware of how and why I use it by only allowing myself to sign on 2 or maybe 3 times a day (instead of checking it compulsively every hour or so), and then only with a clear idea of what I wanted to accomplish while I was there. I've still got a little over a week left of Lent, but so far it seems to have been a very good idea to do this and I'm pretty sure I'll still be doing it long after Lent is over.

In other news…

untitled (tentatively "New York Memories"), acrylic on canvas, 30" x 40", ©2009

I've managed to complete a few more paintings, including this large one. It felt good to paint big again. I don't have a title for it yet, but this one feels like some of my impressions of New York City are expressing themselves.

Three of my paintings (here, here, and here) were accepted into SOPA Fine Art's Under 8 Event in Kelowna, BC Canada. The show opens on April 2nd and will be my first international show! I wish I could be there for the opening, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.