Settling

The weather is always unsettled this time of year, with Spring approaching. With the stirrings of new growth in the world around me, I am also infused with a new creative spirit. I have a few new paintings being "born". I've done some sketches, but they don't really come together. They never do until I put paint on canvas.

I've been processing a lot of photos. Photography is still trendy in the commercial design field, and with a database of over 20,000 images, I work on them all the time. When a client calls for particular images I need to be ready.

I'm trying to design a new logo. I'm not really good at graphic design, and once I firm up an idea I'll turn it over to one of my friends who do that professionally. I did my own logo when I first started Art Girls, and it wasn't very good! My friend Gary did the next one, and did a great job. Maybe I should call and turn it over to him now.

I've got three new projects for this year. They are all medical office buildings for the same group that built Texas Clinic last year. It's a great group of people, and we have a good team. They just give me the plans and I do a proposal based on their budget. I'm not really accustomed to doing the complete job with all the framing and everything, but they were really happy with Texas Clinic so this should turn out well, too.

Breaking Waves

Northern California beach

I've been on vacation too long -- and haven't accomplished a thing. Oh, you mean I'm supposed to be on "vacation", not hauling my 10 lb camera from here to there and designing artwork on my laptop?

When I left Dallas I had just delivered a 22 pc installation for a hotel registration desk. Apparently it was well-received by the designer, since I have already designed a similar one, and have a meeting set up for a third. I have new ideas now that I'm traveling and refilling my creative reserves.

Sometimes I get lazy, though. Nothing stimulates me more than a looming deadline. In looking at my calendar I see that I have less than a week left here in northern California. With that in mind I went kayaking on Monday, then shooting down in Monterey. Tuesday I went shopping and processed my photos. Wednesday I drove north to some rocky beaches close to Bodega Bay and did the thing that I love the most -- photographed rocks and water with slow shutter speeds. I was alone on the beach, with wind whipping my hair, waves crashing on black rocks and kelp littering the gravelly shore. The sun was low in the sky, plating the water with gold. I took a deep breath and thanked the universe for letting me have that moment.

Dahlia taken with Lensbaby 2.0

Today I returned to the dahlia garden at Golden Gate park with my Nikon, my macro lens and my Lensbaby, just for fun. And on my way home I made a stop at SFMOMA to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit.

It was spectacular. I've been to a lot of museums, lots of galleries, seen more art than most people. This exhibit moved me like no other. I wanted to spend more time in front of every painting, examining each stroke, and empathizing with the emotions shown on the canvases. ...sigh...

Living on the Edge

REMINDER: Texas WAX reception tonight at CAMP, 2631 Commerce, Suite B, Dallas, TX, 6:00 - 8:00 TONIGHT

When I started this art career some ten years ago I knew that I was taking a big chance, and my income would be undependable, to say the least. That has proven true. What I wouldn't have guessed back then is how valuable good relationships are, and how important it is to align yourself with like-minded people. That truly is the secret to my success.

Technology has changed everything in ten years, including the commercial art business. Where once I would have to paint originals to submit as design concepts, now I spend time on my Cintiq monitor, painting on the screen creating digital images for approval. Now, I don't actually paint anything until I have a purchase order. A trend that has influenced this way of working is the popularity of photography in public spaces. More and more I am asked for photography instead of paintings. And sometimes I do mixed media pieces which incorporate both.

Yesterday I got a request for providing photo files to be digitally printed on wallpaper! That's a new one for me, and requires another new pricing strategy.

As detached as I have gotten from hands-on artwork, I was jolted back yesterday when I attended a lecture of ten artists working in encaustic, including Joanne Mattera, at ArtSpace, running during the CAA conference in downtown Dallas. The sincere thought processes that are the catalyst for creating meaningful artwork were shared by these artists who came to describe their personal visions -- the meaning behind the work. These were all artists using the encaustic medium, but were loath to describe themselves as encaustic artists, preferring not be be labeled. For most, the medium provides them the technical properties they needed in order to tell their story. It was a long afternoon of slideshows in a darkened room, but it fed my creative soul, and reawakened the passion for my work.

Once again I was reminded of the importance (on so many levels) of keeping company with like-minded people.

Inspiration of the Day: relationships

Reading Things Wrong

I made a mistake. Joanne Mattera will not be at the meeting of the Texas WAX group today. She has promised, however, to stop by our exhibition next Friday night at CAMP, 2631 Commerce St. Suite B, Dallas, TX 75226, from 6-8. Come see the show of Texas WAX artists!

I'm up to my creative eyeballs in work. This is the cerebral part, not hands-on, but brain-on. Have two new local projects looking for art. One is a project I've already got the PO for, and it's all design work, for a 3d installation piece with almost 30 components. That's the kind of project I stress over, because I am doing all the design, in multiple mediums, and have to arrange each piece to coordinate with every other element. Things like this always make me crazy, but it's so satisfying when it's all done and on the wall.

And resin is haunting me again, in the project I just mentioned, and also another one. There are fifteen pieces of cast resin, and they want a cleat embedded in the back for hanging. Yikes, have to do a sample to see if the two plastics are compatible.

Who would have ever thought that being an "artist" could be so demanding. Jeez! (I love it!)

When Play Works

Feeling guilty about playing with photos instead of doing the work for the purchase orders I have in house, I neglected to realize how important "play" is to an artist. If we continue to do same things in the same way each time, we end up with the same old thing. That does not encourage growth as a creative person.

So I threw the guilt away and am now embracing play.

It didn't hurt that the manipulated photo above received an enthusiastic response from one of my clients. AND the ten page request for quote yesterday included a number of images resulting from "play". That's positive reinforcement, for sure!

Inspiration of the Day: Play!

Fun With Frames

To most painters the word "frame" refers to mounting and wood moulding that holds a work of art. It means that to me, too, but as a digital photographer I'm also referring to artistic borders applied to a photograph. Something to set it apart as "art" as opposed to "snapshot".

It's a beautiful day, one that encourages time outdoors. The weather says "Spring" but the calendar says "don't be fooled". My flower beds are in dire need of attention, but this 70 degree day will surely be followed by more days in the thirties. It's not safe to plant yet.

I've got lots of creative work to do this weekend. I will be putting a new proposal together for my client at Texas Clinic. Also have a lot of design work for a new hotel project that includes lots of 3d pieces. Good challenge.

Then I might just spend some time on a lounge chair in the sun...

Inspiration of the Day: 72 degrees

Back from the Hill Country

I would feel better about the weekend workshop if I hadn't sat in a hard chair for two lo-o-ong days then spent four hours in the car driving home. It's normally a three hour drive, but construction on the interstate (badly planned), added the extra hour, and about did me in. Yes, I was yelling in the car during that point. My patience was sorely tested, and uh...didn't pass the test. I was low on gas and needed a bathroom, but refused to stop until I was in my own driveway.

Today I feel better, although I won't be sitting in this chair too many more minutes.

The workshop was hosted by Radiant Vista. I knew nothing about them prior to this, and was pleasantly surprised. The weekend was a perfect mix of technical information (camera and software) and creative inspiration. Several times in each day I felt like jumping up and running for the door to get outside and shoot. Yes, it was that inspiring. Since there was so much information crammed into those hours, they thoughtfully provided a very thick manual including step by step instructions on every topic. I think a hands on shooting workshop with these guys would rock.

So I'm back in the studio today, with a painting project. I'm doing mockups for a series of paintings. It's taking some time because I am trying to create a certain look that has so far escaped me. But with my new level of confidence ("say yes to yourself") bolstered by the weekend, I'm sure it'll come to me soon.

Too Many Ideas

Now that Karen is headed home, I'm up on the mesa with too many new ideas, and everything is packed. I'm making sketches of compositions that might come alive when I get home. It's always better to have ideas than to have none, so I'm grateful for this latest surge of creativity. I think it was spawned by the combination of looking at gallery work and conversations with my artist friends. What a treat the past few days have been!

Clarity

When we travel we are sometimes looking for a geographic cure. That rarely works, because wherever we go, there we are. We can't leave behind the part of ourselves we are trying to outrun. And that's just one of the profound truisms that have come to me here in the mountains of northern New Mexico!

The sky is so blue, the air so clear that I can almost see the individual snowflakes swirling on the distant peaks. And here in the house, I have paintings spread out all over. It's a new series, something I haven't done before. So new that I expected to spend some time thinking and planning. That's not true, though, I am inspired! I am painting personal symbols, telling a story on each painting. I move from paper to paper, from color to color - random mark-making with wild abandon. There's no right or wrong.

Easy to say now, that I am in a creative frenzy. I hope I stop in time!