Getting My Hands Dirty

In preparation for attacking this big white canvas I had to clear the studio of all the digital printing I've been doing for days. Once again I lost track of how many of each I printed, and came up short by 22. Those are printing right now. The rest are in a safe place.

It's a good thing because my first step in painting one of the grid series is throwing paint. Yes, literally. My preferred background color has always been quinacridone gold, and I'm using the very last little bit of it on this painting. The color is not being made anymore, and my stash is depleted. Nothing else (including Nickel Azo) I've found has come close to the color and staining abilities. Ah well.

An important lesson I learned earlier this year is to cover myself with liquid gloves. Really does a good job in protecting my skin from the paint that inevitably makes it way to anything uncovered. Yes, I should cover my hair, but I don't. I do lay newspaper down on the floor though, and that helps a lot with drips....because after the paint throwing comes the spray bottle!

Then I use water soluble crayons to write on the canvas. Sometimes prayers, sometimes things about the painting itself, sometimes numbers, just whatever comes into my head. I always say my mantra at this point, and often it goes on the canvas, too.

I'm happy to be painting. I've spent too many hours at this computer doing mockups for hotel rooms, and all this digital printing that's still going on. At least I'm down to one printer now, which frees up the other one to print photography for Texas Clinic. I hate to jinx it by saying this out loud, but I think I'm on schedule to meet all foreseeable deadlines!

Rest for the Weary

With such a stressful week behind me, I'm taking down time this morning, doing a few household chores while I drink coffee and settled back in bed with my mystery novel.

Yesterday I remembered my mantra, and chanted it repeatedly. Which either called the energy of the universe to my assistance or kept my mind occupied so that I could work. Either way, it paid off.

I was so worried about completing Mercury Grill (I missed my deadline earlier in the week), but they came together so well, better than the originals I think. I was happy with them. And my client was thrilled - and that's what counts.

And since I was on a roll, and still had some time before I had to deliver the lot, I finished the leaf paintings which you see above. The background is just blends of color, with a metallic wash. The leaves are very stylized, and you can see how I accomplished this. I stencilled. Just put some tape down, drew the leaves, then cut the stencils. The stems are tiny, so I taped two razor blades together with a spacers, and cut them at once. I don't think I could have gotten a good line otherwise. That's one of those transferable skills that I learned from cutting stencils when I etched glass in the mid 80s.

I painted in the leaves and stems, carefully removed all the tape, and voila! I waited another hour, then packed my week's work up in the SUV and headed off to the gallery, where I was warmly greeted, and presented with a big check! Now that's incentive.

I thought I was done, then remember the other two purchase orders I received this week involved printing. So I guess I'll be firing up the printer instead of the BBQ grill this morning. I have 400 hundred photos to print! Big ones, 22 x 22, for two different hotels, one in Alabama, the other in California.

Think I'll have another cup of coffee first.

Underwhelmed

Dolly, today's studio helper. She's naturally nosy and came to see what I was doing with the power sander.

Now that I'm back in the studio with too many projects I realized that in my funk I had forgotten one of the most important things about my paintings. My mantra! The chant that I perform before adding paint to canvas. Sometimes I write it on the canvas itself. I can't believe I forgot!

"God in me is my ability to prosper and to do good. And so it is."

I change it from time to time, but the message stays the same. When I thought of it this morning it was good to hear myself laugh. Then with confidence I added the stroke of paint that would make or break the painting. I have sent off an image of it for approval, so we'll see.

I've worked on four mockups today, for a nine foot square painting. I'm not really happy (underwhelmed) with any of them, but again, I've sent off images to my client.

I did one more important thing today -- go get fake fingernails. I had acrylic nails for many years. Last March when I was ready to go to France for the month long residency, I had them removed. Ever since then I have had thin brittle nails that continually split into the nailbed. They hurt and looked terrible. So I went back to see Henry today, and now have nice strong nails. Nothing fancy, just normal.

This afternoon I am sorting through my camera equipment in preparation for the weekend in Washington. There's a fine line between taking too much and not taking what you need. I never can figure it out, but I'm getting better. I bought two new 4gb cards so memory won't be an issue this trip.