Another Question of Ethics

A local art consulting firm called me recently as asked if they could buy from me. I responded in the positive, without any thought of a current project that might be out for bid. My bad!

My "A" client (the one I am loyal to) asked if I had been approached to paint a commission for that other company. I hadn't, so I could honestly answer no. Then I find out that Client A had put a big project together (including two paintings of mine) which was approved by the design firm, but sent out to bid. My client lost the job at that point, now the other company who won the bid wants to commission me for the paintings.

I can't do it! I am loyal to Client A. If I do the paintings for the other company it would be suicide for my relationship with them. If I don't do them, the other company will knock me off, since everyone picked them for the project. Since the hotel is in Dallas, I can go directly to the jobsite and see what art they use.

This is not unusual, it's just business. I hate to turn down the commissions, but it sure wouldn't be worth it to me in the long run.

I'm stretching canvases this afternoon, and I have to admit, I am not good at it. Oh well, anything's possible with practice, right?

Inspiration of the Day: the weather! I have opened up all the windows and turned off the air conditioner, since it's cooled down to 90! Reminds me of California....

Report from the Client

The owner of the hotel did not like the abstracted beach scene painting. That happens sometimes. What they DO like is the bottom right hand corner, the people! They will use only that section, print it 36" sq, and that's the room art for the hotel in San Diego. Funny how things work out.

We've had rain! Yesterday was cloudy and rainy for the entire day, which just made me grin. Took a long time for paint to dry, but I'm happy for the weather change.

I'm working at a regular pace, still have commissions in the studio, and also have orders for photograpy to print.

Bath House Reception

Last night was the artist's reception for the 25th Anniversary exhibition at Bath House Cultural Center here in Dallas. There was a great crowd, and I was flattered that more than one person complimented me on my painting "Broken Promises". That's a piece I am still proud of ten years after painting it.

Just concluded is another show I was in, "Signals from/about Central-Europe II", group show from last year's Artist Residency in Hungary. Exhibition dates: July 28 - August 15, 2006 in Budapest, Hungary. My paintings are still on display at Keki Gallery in Budapest, although they are sold. The exhibition was covered by the media and there will be an article in two art magazines in Hungary.

I'm having a slow weekend. I'm spending a lot of time at the computer working on photography from California. The better I get at that the more older photos I delete as substandard. The critical eye, you know.

Heavy Breathing

Not the same as deep breathing - but nonetheless I've had to remind myself to breathe this week. So after griping to my good friend, she convinced me to take off and go to the movie this afternoon. Hope that doesn't cause me to miss my Monday deadline on the three grid paintings I've got working in the studio.

I've had a big project presented to me -- which is very exciting. My client and I will work as a team to put together an art package for this large resort. I will be able to include both paintings and photography, and maybe some 3D sculpture I've been creating (in my head only). This is the way I like to work. I will know the budget going in, the design, the palette, and the location. That way I can more clearly design artwork to exactly fit the project. Will be fun and I'm looking forward to it.

Also planning a trip to south Texas to visit my dear old Dad. My sister is going, too, and after her health issues this past six months I want to make sure I see her whenever I can.

This is a picture of me and my friend David who I visited in San Rafael, CA. He is a glass artist specializing in etching and does a lot of high profile work, the last being a project for the Smithsonian. I knew him back in the early 80s when I was also a glass artist. We met at a glass convention and became close friends. I hadn't seen him in 23 years!

Taking Criticism

Three new Grid paintings in progress

I used to be good at taking criticism about my paintings. I know it's not a personal attack. I know it intellectually, that is, but when I actually hear it, guess what? I take it personally. I'm particularly sensitive to the tone of voice in which it's delivered. The second it becomes parental, that's when I get defensive and tune out. I can't be the only one who does this, but it's not good for my career. I'm working on it.

In the meantime, the incident that caused this discussion in the first place still makes me mad. Now that I have another project on my worktable for this client, it just sits there while I do other things. I look at it and say childish mean things to myself about it. Boy oh boy.

For my newest project, I'm back on the grid. It's a nice comfortable place, doing something I know, something I like. These three pieces, pictured above, are 36" sqs on canvas.

Drawing on the Past

"Broken Promises"
mixed media on canvas 24"w x 30"h

Bath House Cultural Center is a local icon for interesting art events. Located near the botanical gardens, the center holds musical productions, plays and visual art shows. This marks it's 25th anniversary, and local artists were invited to choose a year and submit a piece of artwork representing that year. I chose 1991, and entered the painting above.

I doubt that it needs much explanation. It was one of my earliest paintings, done in 1997 about the death of my son in Desert Storm, January 1991. The text is a quote from President George Bush I, and reads "we will not risk the lives of American soldiers. Days later came the first casualties of the war, 12 Marines, including my young son.

The collage includes a pile of bullets, which I scanned and then printed with promises that we all make to each other, like "I would never hurt you", "I won't leave you", "I'll always take care of you", etc. There are almost 100 bullets with different "promises".

Then there's the photograph of the actual funeral, with the American flag a prominent feature.

I still like this painting, ten years after it was painted.

Frustrated Completion

Abstract Painting 48w x 42h, click to enlarge

Whenever I have a short deadline I push myself hard to meet it. Sometimes I cause myself trouble by not waiting for a layer of paint to dry before working on the next area -- well, I often to do that. I really try to wait, and have been known to use both a hairdryer, and since it's summer, a fan. But then the top layer dries to the touch and fools me into thinking I can paint the next layer. That's only one of the things I did to sabotage myself on this project.

The painting went through several rounds of approvals. I started with the "people" since I didn't know what the client was really looking for. They were approved on the third try, and then I finished the rest of it.

I didn't know how I would create the blueprint of the boat (right side middle) but worked it out by using a light blue transfer paper on an ultramarine ground. It worked perfectly. Until I sprayed it with a matte acrylic sealer, which made all the lines disappear. I redrew it with a light blue Prismacolor (at the very last minute).

My client came over to the studio on Saturday to check progress, and was pleased with the overall painting, but wanted to tweak a few things, which I did. I finished the painting at 10:30 Sat. night. By Sunday morning I didn't even want to look at it, but still tweaked a little more (searching for perfection) before driving it over to my client's house where she jumped in her car to drive to another town, meeting the guy who will turn it into a giclee and get it to a hotel in California by Wednesday. Amazing.

The red line border indicates where the front of the image ends and the outside of that border will be wrapped around the edges of the stretcher bars - since it's being printed on canvas.

Helen's Flowers

I spent a lot of time in Helen's yard when I stayed in Berkeley. It was a lush cacophany of colors and sounds. The flower above was only about 3/8" diameter, a tiny little thing. I'd never seen them before.

Alone in a Crowd

Did I mention that I am doing a commissioned painting that includes people?? Yesterday as we worked through the design process my client kept saying "they're not people, they are just shapes and colors". That actually helped! And since these "people" are on a beach and abstracted, it wasn't too hard. I submitted three versions, and the last one was approved, so I'm off to the other elements of the painting. I wanted to do the hardest part first.

Yes, I will photograph it and post the image when I'm done.

Meeting the Challenge

Small Waterfall in Golden Gate Park

Every time I start a new project I hope for a challenge. My personality dictates that I don't follow old paths for long. Thus, I paint in series in order to get to know it, but once that's done, I lose interest. So when I get orders for those older pieces, it's really just work to me to produce them. Not that that's bad!

But the commission I am presently working on is mixed media. It has geometric painted elements, some areas of gradated color, some photography, and some realistic painted elements. This morning I am painting people on a beach. It helps that I just returned from a beach area, so I still have the "feel" of it. But I've never painted people before, so we'll have to see how it all turns out.

I love a challenge!

First Things First

Dahlia, shot through a tube of silver Mylar

Now that I'm home and back in the groove, instead of going in the studio to work on the commissioned paintings, I cannot resist my photos from California! They call to me and I answer. I look at them, lovingly at first, then critically.

I was reminded today that sometimes it's more important to "get the shot". Maybe the exposure isn't perfect, or the focus isn't quite sharp, just get the shot. I will need that reminder again, I'm sure!

Now I'm headed to the studio....

Clean Slate

Full moon over San Francisco

When I arrived home from San Francisco I felt refreshed and ready to get back to work. My studio got cleaned while I was gone, so my tables and slant wall are completely cleared. Or they were this morning anyway.

We all know not to count on a project until a deposit has been received, so I shouldn't have been too surprised to have my big project of the series of 7' x 10' paintings cancel. I did a lot of work on it, bought several belt buckles as reference, and ordered a whole roll of oversize canvas. My next move is an email to my client delineating my hard costs, and the weekend I spent completing a mockup of the painting because their schedule was so tight. Hopefully I can recoup some of my costs. The owner has decided against the paintings completely, and plans to spend the money on artwork elsewhere in the project, so I'm still in, just doing something different, and making less money no doubt. Bummer.

I've already started a new painting and had a meeting concerning five more to finish in the next two weeks. Glad to have the work, and glad to get my fingers dirty again.

Human Nature

I've been alone in San Francisco for over a week now. My camera and I have visted all the tourist areas, plus beaches and lighthouses. We've explored country and city, with no commentary. Until yesterday when I met up with Gale for a one day photo workshop at the conservancy in Golden Gate park. Shooting in manual mode, we set up tripods around the dahlia gardens at 7:00 am. There was just enough light and no direct sun, so we all had perfect shots of perfect flowers (which is really boring). Then Gale brought out the mylar which we wrapped around our lens, got close to the petals, and shot abstract images reflecting in the mylar. Cool! Lunch on a park bench, then we went inside the building where there are water gardens and all sorts of interesting tropicals, plus a butterfly exhibit. After that, three people went home, which left four and we all piled in one car and relocated to a different area of the park. Best part of the whole experience (which was delightful), was that I had people to talk to all day! The sharing process is a low-impact and highly effective way to learn new things.

I had one "must shoot" location left on my list, the "painted ladies" Victorian homes on Alamo Square, so I drove over there and got the requisite shots. As an added bonus there was a funky flea market going on!

By the time I drove over the Bay Bridge for the second time that day, I was worn out. I thought about driving over to the Berkeley marina at sunset to grab a few photos of the boats in the harbor, but it was too cold and I couldn't drag myself back out of the house, so it was an early evening for me.

Meeting Old Friends for the First Time

I am happy to report that I spent the whole day with quilt artist extraordinaire Alan Kelchner. We did a lot of tourist things in San Francisco (thank you Alan), and we both took a lot of photos. Ate the requisite seafood at the wharf, and wound our way slowly back to the trolley, to take the train back to Berkeley. We were both really tired, but gathered up a little extra energy to do a show and tell of quilts at Alan's. I must be one of the few people who have seen his extensive collection. It's amazing. He's in stages of several projects right now, one of which is quilted paper! Alan has enormous creativity - and infuses his whole world with it. That artist's eye showed me things in the city that no tourist would ever visit. Thank you again, Alan!

Today I got my courage up and took the car to San Fran. I wanted to visit places that would be too hard to get to by a series of mass transit modes. Baker Beach was first on the list, and indeed there's a lovely view of the Golden Gate bridge from there. Then I drove to the bridge, parked the car, and walked across. I took two lenses just in case I saw something that grabbed me. I haven't looked at the photos yet, but it was an anxiety-producing experience to be up there. Apparently there is a bike rental place nearby so the tourists were primarily on wheels - and there were a lot of them. On top of that danger, there's a strong wind on the bridge and I had trouble holding the camera still. Usually I use a support to lean on, but in this case, there were four lanes of heavy traffic adding to the general vibrations. Probably got a lot of blurs.

Afterwards, I drove south down the beach highway, passing Cliff House. Wide white beach out there, with kites but few people. Checking the clock I saw that it was 3:00pm and thought it prudent to head back to the Bay Bridge to Berkeley. Wasn't soon enough on a Friday afternoon, and I spent more time sitting on the freeway than I wanted to. When I got home I went out back and watered the garden, a lovely calming activity. Then I ate some watermelon. What a good day!

Big Eye Sally

That's such a funny euphonism for insomnia. However, the phrase perfectly fits what I saw last night, the big orange moon rising over the city of San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge. Yes, I got pictures, but can't post them from here. The only thing missing is that they never turned on the lights to the bridge (why oh why??). Ruined what could have been a perfect shot. Sigh.

Did visit more seashore, and a bird sanctuary. I can certainly see the appeal of living in California. It's beautiful!

Dinner at my friend David's house was so wonderful. He's a pack rat and actually showed me an old business card from my art glass business "Kaleidoscope Eyes" back in the 70s! What a guy. His wife is an ultra-gourmet cook using fresh vegetables from her lush garden - what a delight! It was so fun to catch up on 20 years of "current events". David lives in a million dollar house with a mountain view. I thought I could introduce him to some of my clients who like to use etched glass, but David has his own designers and commercial clients out here and works as much as I do -- doesn't need anymore clients. I'm really happy that he's doing so well doing something he loves. Everyone should be so lucky.

My clients called yesterday while I was standing on a mountain over looking crashing waves at the coast -- I shouldn't have answered it because it took me right back to Dallas, mentally, and I prefer to be here now. No matter where that is.

Today is a slow day - I'm cleaning my camera and putting everything in order. Maybe lunch with a friend, play with the dogs, might take my camera up to the Berkeley campus. Lots of interesing people in this town!

Mono-Vision

I am out in California on my own. It's always more fun to explore new places with a friend, but this is working out okay for me. I have driven to the coast and photographed the beach at sunset, made my way through a redwood forest, and taken the train to "the city" (San Franciso) where I visited the Embarcadero and Chinatown. Got a few interesting shots of chess players at Union Square. Still and all, it would be better to have a buddy to share this with. Preferably another photographer, because I have worn out my friends who are not. They have told me.

Today I'm exploring Berkeley a little more, and then meeting a glass artist this afternoon. David and I used to meet up at stained glass conventions back in the 80s and we haven't seen each other since, should be fun!

Changing Places

It seems as though desperate situations develop when I leave town. Knowing I was leaving, I spent hours I didn't have completing a mockup for a large project. I've been gone a couple of days now, and today I get a frantic phone call. All sorts of questions about where I am, do I have a place to paint (no), did I bring my painting supplies (no), can I go buy some (no). For a project that has been in the works for months, and is just now under construction, all of a sudden there's a sense of urgency. Not only do they want a completed mockup right now, the entire design concept is being challenged. I don't know how they expect me to complete a mockup for designs that aren't even approved yet. jeez! I swear this happens everytime I leave Dallas!

In other news, I have traded sweltering summer for the spring-like weather in northern California. I am not familiar with this area, but have fallen in love. If it weren't for the reminder of the earthquake we had yesterday I would want to move here -- but that's not uncommon for me. I'm in Berkeley, and lovin' it!

I am housesitting for an artist friend. Her house and yard are so creative, it's a joy just to sit outside and feast my eyes. I am also jealous that her gardens are so lush with color and fragrance, when my meager flower beds at home have shriveled to dust.

I would post photos from here, but alas! I am (1) on someone else's Mac and I'm a PC person and (2) I can't get on their secured wifi network with my laptop. So sorry folks.

It's after noon now, time for me to pack up my camera and get out and about..

Meeting Expectations

All sales seminars include a session on meeting your customers' expectations. The consensus is that "meeting" expectations is required, "beating" them is better.

With those things in mind I met with the designer of my current project. First mockups rarely succeed. This was no exception. In five minutes with my client I got enough information to allow me to move ahead in the direction she wanted rather than striking out on my own, which is my tendency.