Approaching Holidays

Every year around this time I promise myself that I won't be so frazzled NEXT year. So far, every year has been the same. Never enough time to cook, buy, wrap, send, visit, hug and kiss. It's getting easier though, since I no longer stress over Christmas cards! Thank goodness for the internet which makes it possible to shop in my pajamas any time of the day or night. Also can contact friends when I think of them instead of waiting for a reasonable hour for a phone call, or days later for a card to arrive. Yes, the internet is wonderful.

2009 has been the busiest year ever for my art business. I have painted more variety this year, and added some new skills. In addition to lots of abstract paintings I've painted quite a few landscapes, and just in the past few weeks, lots of cows. Lots of resin, carvings, castings, and encaustic. I took a workshop and learned image transfer to fresco, but haven't perfected that yet.

I lost a good client this year, by virtue of becoming business partners with her long time employee. We formed a new company in 2009, an art consulting firm, Art-Centric LLC. We were fortunate enough to land a big contract early in the year, artwork for the public spaces of the JW Marriott Hill Country resort and spa in San Antonio, TX. The project is now drawing to a close. It's been a great time, and big challenge for our first year of business. We've been blessed.

It's been a good year for love, too, since I started dating after a long hiatus! We've taken a few trips together, and bless his heart, he's a pilot and flies me around anywhere I want to go on his passes. I hope to take advantage of that a little more in 2010.

I moved my studio out of my house and into a 3,000 sq ft commercial space a year ago, and it was a long transition as I learned to paint in the new space. Now I love it, and have even gotten used to driving to work instead of rolling out of bed into the studio. It's good to have that separation of work and home.

It's been a good year overall, and mostly I have my partner Margie to thank for that. She's a gem, and we complement each other well. I'm blessed, WE are blessed, and I can happily close out this year and welcome the new one.

May each of you source the things that make you happy ~

Saturday Resin Casting

Now that I'm all set up in my new place, I'm challenging my production layout by resin casting today. I'm afraid I have put this project off to the very last minute and now I'm working on Saturday. I had a new mold made this week, and today I'm making a casting of clear resin with rocks. It's part of the 17 pc 3d installation for a Houston hotel.

I've also got a couple of print jobs running, in response to two new purchase orders this week.

Business has not slowed down for me, and that's a good thing since I'm paying rent for the first time in my 11 year career.

The luxury hotel business remains strong, with projects that have been in place for a long time. Presumably they can't cancel new construction that's incomplete. There has been some scaling back of original art, but that doesn't really affect me, either, since I'm capable of producing giclees of my own work.

I went to a popular art show last night, and business was brisk. Indeed I spent a little money of my own on hand blown glass tumblers. I love to surround myself with handmade items, and these sparkly glasses were just the ticket.

Slacker

I've been such a slacker lately! Among other things, some medical problems are interfering with my ability to create.

But in the good news department, a big project that I've worked on for half a year has been approved by the owners. It's the 900 room JW Marriott down by San Antonio, TX. I have five pieces in every guest room: 3 prints of original paintings, one processed photo on metal, and the big carving that I worked so hard on! The carving will be cast in resin. It's good to have the security of knowing that project is on track, and on my schedule.

Haven't heard about the two other very large hotel projects that I have pending. On those I was competing against other photographers. Should be a decision soon about who gets the job, whether or not they decide on the exact images. Mine were highly manipulated, and "artsy" instead of straight photos. I don't know if that will work for or against me.

I would like to hear something soon, though, so I can plan the rest of my year, with some time off for surgery. I'd rather say "time off at the beach" but I don't see that happening.

Big installation next week. 3o pieces for Verity Radiation, a suite at Texas Clinic. Will have two more pieces to finish up for that job. After that there's a photo installation for a long ramp wall that I am designing.

Will have a preview Happy Hour for some designers at my studio next week. They want to see the completed components of a 22 pc installation for a local hotel. I better get busy!

Saturday night is a charity function. I normally wouldn't go to something like that, but I've been trying to get out more.

I haven't kept up with this blog lately, either, but now that I see how helpful it is in motivating me to get in the studio, I promise to be better!

Delivered and Moving On

I couldn't have been happier to deliver the 6 1/2 foot long double-sided resin box on Tuesday. I started it before I went out of town so the resin would have a chance to completely cure, and that's what saved me on that project. But the last step was pouring resin on the top, and I'm afraid I got a little cocky since everything had gone so well, and poured too much resin on the top, and it started running down the sides. I cursed loudly while grabbing a roll of paper towels and a bottle of alcohol. I caught it before it did any damage (thank goodness), but I was terrified at that point, thinking how close I came to ruining the whole thing. I was much more careful after that, and once the resin was spread, I closed the room up in plastic, and left it to cure. I applied car wax on it before delivery, and it looked really great.

There were five large paintings for that project, too, but they were photo paintings that I can do with my eyes closed now that I've done so many. Now it's delivered and invoiced I feel much better!

So it's on to the three other commissions I have in the studio. One is a 7' x 4' grid painting for a construction company. I've got the background painted, but haven't finished the design work. There's a second grid painting for a suite at Texas Clinic, it's a little smaller, 36 x 60. And the colors are completely different, as is the subject matter.

The third is a commission I finished yesterday, a 30" x 30" in the Glorieta series, for a law office downtown Dallas.

Also have been working on a lot of concepts for two large hotel projects. Developing new images is really hard. I have to create something from nothing in order to differentiate myself from other artists. I want to stand apart, but in a good way. There's a fine line. But I always love a challenge.

Taking My Time

Invariably I am swamped with projects before I leave for a trip. This time is no exception. I'll be gone for three weeks, and there are several deadlines during that time, which means I'm working like a madwoman! I have projects in every room of my house, not just the studio. I am printing on metal in my second office for the large registration installation, printing original photography for public spaces for another hotel in my main office, the front studio is full of platforms in various stages of completion, my slant wall holds an abstract painting commission, the table in the living room is covered with sketches for another carving, the kitchen holds glass bowls of colored water where I'm adjusting color recipes for the cast resin pieces, my back studio table holds the printed metal photography which is being coated with layers of clear varnish. So when I got another purchase order yesterday afternoon, I almost went over the edge! But how could I say no to this? It's the hotel in Arlington that I did etched glass for back in the 80s.

This is the original glasswork that I did in the 80s. At the time the wavy pattern matched the fabric on the chairs.

Door to the lounge, I sandblasted the logo back in the day! Soon to be replaced.

This is the colorboard for the new space.

This is the drawing of the photographs and installation of artwork for the new space. The photos are mine, black and white, which will be printed on 44" x 44" plexi and mounted with standoffs. Cool installation.

It's just so very odd that my work would be featured so prominently in the same hotel I worked on twenty years ago! I have original photography in every guest room, and according to the PO I just received, twenty large scale photographs for public spaces. Amazing.

The good news I received after that PO was a phone call that one project's deadline has been pushed back two months. Yay! I can finish it up after I get home, and can go visit my Dad in South Texas without worrying.

Today I'm in yard, it's time to plant flowers!

Leap Day!

Even an extra day in the month wasn't enough for me to catch up.

I spent a big part of the day on Friday with my friend and fellow artist Beata Szechy who runs the Hungarian Multicultural Center, with artist residency programs in Hungary. She lives in Dallas, but I actually met her when I attended a residency. She's a very accomplished artist in her own right, with a lifelong exhibition schedule worldwide. The residencies are a way for her to give back to other artists, and provide them a space for working away from their "real" lives, plus international exposure. When I attended in 2005 I sold both my paintings at our first show. Beata was kind enough to retrieve the paintings from the owners to enter them in a large show last year in Budapest. Of course an Eastern European residency isn't for everyone. It's not America in any sense of the world, and most artists are open-minded explorers who appreciate that. I know I did.

Last night I attended the opening reception for Trayc Claybrook, who is showing her whimsical-on-the-surface encaustic paintings. The colors are light and playful, the meaning much darker. I love them all! If you are in Dallas, you must go see her work at Times Ten Cellars (it's a wine bar!) 6324 Prospect Ave, Dallas, TX 75214 through March.

I'm designing the 20 piece installation for behind registration at the renovated Westin here in Dallas. It's really fun, but tedious. I never was good at spatial relations, and it seems I've been needing that skill more and more lately. How do you learn that?? I've noticed that most of my "cool" ideas are a little too "out there" for the lobby of a high end hotel.

And I've almost got the purchase order for the shells. "Almost" because I don't have it in my hand, but my client said go ahead. That's the project in California, and I'm sculpting a shell shape which will have a mold made from it, and 15 castings in colored resin. They are 8" in diameter, so not too big. That's going to be fun!

I planted poppies in my flower beds this week, and there are pink, orange and yellow blooms already. They won't last long, but I'm enjoying watching their bobbing heads in the breeze out my office window.

Inspiration of the day: spring blooms

Destiny?

Stained Glass Kitchen Window, circa 1986

Do we each have a path we are destined to take? I am accumulating more and more evidence of this.

Today I received an email reminder to register for the Southwest Professional Photographer's Association convention being held in Arlington, TX next month. I noticed that the host hotel is the Arlington Sheraton for which I have done all the room art, including suites. And it's all photography!

I snooped around the hotel website to see if any of the photos included my work (nope) and came across a photo of the outside of the hotel. That's when I had the "whoa" moment.

I recognized the hotel as one that I did artwork for back when I was a glass artist in the 80s. I provided etched glass door panels, and booth dividers in one of the restaurants.

So is it my destiny to create artwork for hotels??

When all this happened a couple hours ago I located my old portfolio of glasswork (shabby thing). I have very few photos of installations, sadly. And I couldn't locate any of that hotel, although I'm fairly certain some of the slides were of etched mirror that was installed behind the bar. I did find the photo I posted above, of a kitchen window. The flowers are cyclamen, and I loved that window. Still do, really.


And here's a photo of one of the paintings that I had to redo:

Winding River, 50"w x 41"h, acrylic on canvas

Land of Opportunity

Texas Roundup, 48" x 48" acrylic on canvas

I'm constantly amazed that I make a living with a paintbrush. And more and more, a camera. What a great world.

I woke to rain this morning. Lovely sound. Lately I associate it with our family farm in PA that I recently visited. It was the only place I was allowed to play in the rain as a child.

Another big project has come my way. It's a really really big hotel/resort. Not the one I've been working on all weekend, another one, this time out of state. It's a big opportunity, but I'm afraid it's price-driven and I may not fit in the budget. It's all giclees, from guestrooms to suites to corridors and elevator lobbies. Today my job is to go through the bid packet and pull out images of my own that are similar in style and color to the existing design concepts and then price it out. There are more than 30 pages, so that's my day right there. I can't NOT bid it, but it does take time away from the painting I've got going in the studio, the one above.

This is a big painting, and it's for Texas Clinic. I layered tissue paper over the surface with gesso before painting, just to give it some texture. Kind of a leather texture, really. I didn't want it flat. I went to the Western wear store and took photos for this, so all the boots are authentic. It's really fun!

Doing a Walk-Through

It's been awhile since I worked as an art consultant and was responsible for art placement. I'm doing it now with Texas Clinic, and thank goodness I remembered that things in the construction industry change and nobody tells you. So that's why I wasn't too surprised yesterday when I did a walk-through of the building.

There are doors in places where art is supposed to hang. There are glass walls that aren't on the blueprints. There are new walls where they weren't before. All in all, several things changed and I have to adapt my placement for it. One thing I did was eliminate one large original in the first floor lobby and make the custom designed grid painting bigger. I ordered the canvas today, 120w" x 60"h x 4". woo hoo!

I'll be printing this weekend so I can start taking things to the framer. My goal is to finish this job ahead of schedule. I really want to take a trip in October -- to photograph fall color and waterfalls. Hopefully Nancy's ankle will have healed up enough by then for her to hobble around and hold on to her tripod for support. I know she'd kill me if I went without her!

I finished a painting for my solo show today. It's another Glorieta painting, photo coming soon.

Also have some printing to do for a big presentation next week for a giant hotel project in Central Texas. Doing some cool stuff, printing on metal, and maybe doing some cast resin. This is a project where we are competing against another company so it's whoever has the coolest design gets the job. Oh boy!

Solving Technical Problems

Dahlia I, guestroom art for San Diego hotel, 22 x 22

It wasn't my fault. Trashing so many ruined images inspired me to research every possible solution to my printer problem. I dug through the Epson website. I read blogs. I gave up.

I changed paper, and everything is running smoothly once again. Forty more prints and I'm done with printing guestroom art for a Mission Valley, San Diego hotel. Whew. I'll be returning the two rolls of paper that would not feed through my printer to my supplier next week. They have promised a refund.

Thank goodness I've also been painting during this ordeal, otherwise I would have gone crazy. Painting is so soothing to me, and when my hands were busy my mind was investigating different possible solutions.

The sun came out yesterday for the first time in a long while. Today may be my first day in the pool this year. Amazing weather patterns.

Keeping Timelines

I am in the middle of so many projects I keep forgetting what I'm supposed to be doing. That can't be productive!

The photo above shows, on my wall, bottom layer, three canvas panels which are a triptych I haven't finished. Hanging in front of that (with the white border) is one of 10 photographs that I have printed for the Ft. Worth hotel job. The other nine are hanging in the bathroom. To the right of that is the 30" sq painting that's one of the new ones for Mercury Grill. In the foreground is a giclee of a previous painting that goes with another set of photographs not yet printed for the Intercontinental hotel here in Dallas. What's already put away are the photo paintings. Finished them around noon today.

Then I took a break (but left the printer running) and went to the dentist. On my way home I dropped off a copy of the pricing proposal at the job site for Texas Clinic. whew!

The best part of the day so far has been faxing invoices. Now if it will just quit raining!