Something Made of Nothing

I am really intrigued when I find something that is made from things that would ordinarily be ignored or thrown away.  I thought I was so clever when I made a fence for my garden out of sticks from the beach.  And then I found this...

This is an elephant made entirely of beach wood.  It was made by a young woman who graduated from Block Island School and it was her senior project.

Obviously, I am going to have to spend more time on the beach!

Show at Spring Street Gallery

I am going to have a show of my new work at Spring Street Gallery on Block Island, RI starting on Sunday, July 29th, 2012.  I have worked hard at creating a body of new paintings and look forward to the reception on Sunday the 29th from 5- 7 pm

Farmers Market

I joined the Block Island  Farmers'
Market. I had no idea what to expect because I thought I was too lazy to get up early and actually accomplish something.  However, it turns out that I really like it!  I am getting to meet the nicest people and I am selling art!  It really is a Farmers' Market - people are selling fruit and vegetables, greens, bread and pastries - home grown or made things.  And then there is the art.  Lots of artists.  It is really great!

Beans!

We were away from our Block Island house for a couple of weeks.  When we got back my garden looked as if it were on steroids - except for the part where the deer ate about a third of the tomato plants!!  As I wandered around checking on the plants I discovered a bean on the plants I started from seed.  Then I found another and another and then all these.  I think it is more fun to plant a little seed and then come up with something like this.  Miraculous.

I have been the GWS Entry Chair for their National Show for four years. I have learned more than I imagined by doing this job. It is a demanding but interesting responsibility.

Artists want to enter shows for lots of reasons - to get some feedback on their artwork, to build their resumes, and maybe win a prize (often accompanied by money) Some use it to get their work into the public eye. When GWS sends out a call to enter their National Show they are soliciting entries from all over the country. Right up until the deadline, scores of images arrive in my mailbox or inbox and I get to look at all the entries before I catalog them and send them to the competition judge. That judge is always a well regarded artist on the national level.

Just looking at all those images as a group has really educated me. I think I can now spot quickly what makes a good painting and what does not. It isn't about nice colors, although they are great. It isn't about subject matter, either. It's about confidence and style and knowledge of composition. When I see a painting that is - for instance - a picture of flowers in a vase that looks like any other painting of flowers with weak colors that look fussed over I know the judge will not accept it into the show. If I see flowers that look vibrant with good values and maybe a little twist to the way the flowers or vase are rendered and the composition is interesting I know it's a good one.

Can I translate this knowledge into great paintings for myself? Not always. But since I have seen so many paintings that just need some tweaking to be terrific I have tried to make sure I take that one extra step forward to make my paintings better.

I challenged myself to paint a painting in under two hours yesterday, and I came up with this. It's far from finished, but doing it as fast as I could prevented me from getting all picky with every detail. Which is pretty liberating - I just started piling the paint on.

Still having trouble with those greens, but I got a significant amount of work done and can fix things later.

Painting Workshop

Last weekend I took a three day painting workshop with Bill Davidson. I had heard great things about him and was looking forward to learning from him. I like to take a workshop - or two - every year to keep sharp and see what other people are doing with their art.

Bill is a great teacher, very cheerful and positive and I will be using some of his ideas in my paintings. I enjoyed being with other people who are serious about their art and it inspired me to paint more and more.

I painted a bunch of little paintings during the workshop and here is one - copied from one of Bill's (lovely) paintings. Mine isn't that lovely, but I enjoyed big brush strokes and putting down lots of paint without messing around.