PROCESS — Inside the Mind of an Artist

INSIDE THE MIND OF AN ARTIST

While the creative process can be difficult to explain, finding insight into how it works can be useful. To repeat a success, it helps to understand how you got there. So I’m writing about how these 30 pieces of art were conceived and created. I will do my best to update this blog post throughout the month of June, adding daily conversations to tell you about the making of these paintings. I invite you to follow along, just check back to get the whole story. I’ll also make a scrapbook and poster of my process that you can see at the show. I can’t offer pre-show sales but you can buy prints on panel. Please ask!

ART SHOW —

I’ve been invited to participate in a group show requiring making 30 paintings along with notes about my process in creating them. What a fun challenge! I figured this would be a great exercise for me — cause me to stretch. Just to be clear, my intension is not to make a painting a day. I don’t really work like that. But to create a cohesive body of work is a worthwhile goal.

WHERE: Columbia Art Gallery at Columbia Center for the Arts
in Hood River

WHEN: Aug 1 – Sept 2, 2018

Day 1

THE CONCEPT: What makes a good show? Consistency and Variety

Originally I’d planned to simply paint 30 birds. But would that be boring for me? Then I realized I could marble over them to make them more unique. I wanted consistency but not sameness so the question was how best to achieve that. I love painting portraits and ultimately couldn’t resist including a couple of them. Plus I’ve been making and teaching collage, which has been selling really well.

So much to consider! I knew I would have an 8×8 foot wall for all 30 paintings, so a traditional frame was out of the question, plus wood panels are wonderfully contemporary. So I made a grid on the computer like this, to imagine how they might fit, including a variety of sizes.

Honing the concept, I decided to use marbling with each painting in the show and mount them all on the wood panels, then allow more variety in subject and technique. Some I would paint then marble, some I would paint over a marbled pattern and others I would make with collage using marbled paper. Here is an example… a chickadee that I’d painted, then added collage marbling, then dipped into the marbling tray to add still more patterning. I’ll explain the whole process in more detail in days to come, showing step-by-step examples.

Day 2

ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER: This happens to me over and over. I’ll start out with a concept and then it evolves.

I was preparing to teach a bird painting class when I got the call for this show and decided to piggy back. I’d been making a variety of smaller bird paintings and thought that many would lend themselves to marbling over. Of course, not every painting does, and I ended up using several of them, including this egret, for the Lake Area Artist show and sale last April.

But I ended up with several paintings that seemed to led themselves to marbled patterning. Here’s a favorite… just a bit of wispy marbled paint adds a complexity to the piece. But marbling a painting always holds a risk. You have to imagine how the marbled pattern will look superimposed over the painting. To make it more challenging, the pattern is a mirror image! But sometimes it just works. I’ll show you before and after versions.

“Flight Of The Pelican”

16×8 / $300

Day 3

SIZE MATTERS: Small paintings can have big impact

Small is sweet! There’s no way 30 large paintings could fit on an 8×8 foot wall. Plus there’s the reality of getting them finished — while smaller paintings aren’t always faster to make, there’s less area to paint so theoretically less time is needed. And the lower prices can be good for sales. I love working in a square format, using 8x8s, 10x10s and 12x12s. Including a few strong horizontals and verticals add some pizzaz.

This painting is inspired by the gracefully sweeping and diving swallows that flew endlessly around our balcony in Greece. This one was painted after I returned, over the top of a marbled pattern.

“Graceful Swallow”

8×8 / SOLD

Day 4

ONE A DAY? Creativity can almost never be rushed

It is a melding of experience and exploration. Sometimes it is explosive — a riot of form and color that is perfect the way it is born, but more often it is a geologic building of layers that enhances what happens next. Each addition is influenced by what precedes it — what is already there informs what covers it.

The idea of painting one piece each day for 30 consecutive days was out of the question for me. I spend much of my time teaching, planning to teach, planning travel workshops and painting large pieces that take many days. I also occasionally have a life outside of painting! Fortunately the focus of this show is more on the artist process. That suits me. Before the month is out you’ll have a better idea how a show like this works.

This eagle was an exercise in working looser while retaining detail. I’ve used this technique with hair in painting portraits and more specificity in the face, but not with bird feathers and faces. I liked it before marbling, but even better after. As an unpredictable element, marbling adds a bit of mystery. Notice it is missing my signature stamp which I will add later.

“Golden Eagle”

12×12 / $300

Day 5

PUTTING IT ON A PANEL — Locally made by American Easel

Wood panels are a wonderfully contemporary substrate for a painting. It certainly isn’t the traditional form of displaying a watercolor but by using acrylic mediums I essentially turn a watercolor painting into an acrylic painting, thereby giving it the same archival properties. Yes it adds a few steps… mounting the work plus sealing it and coating it then finishing the wood. But the result is worth it in my opinion. STEPS TO MOUNTING ON A PANEL

AMERICAN EASEL makes the panels I use in Salem Oregon. Not only do I like buying local, Tammy and Kyle are wonderful to work with and they make a superior product. They also stand behind each product they sell.

Here’s a small painting, a Hosta, I’m mounting on a panel before marbling. Notice I’ve painted the sides first. That way I won’t have to be careful not to get any on the painting.

It’s easy to marble a small panel because the surface is perfectly flat! Here it is again, after marbling.

“Hosta Marbled”

6×6 / $75

Day 6

A CENTERPIECE PORTRAIT — Using Collage to Make a Statement

Paintings Evolve…

I’d been working on a collage portrait of Verna, and chose her for the largest painting in the show. Collage happens in layers, and everything is always infinitely editable. That’s one thing I love about collage. The other is that if you have a good value pattern and stick with it, you’ll have a good collage painting — that simple. But collage is not all that fast to produce because I spend so much time making papers and deciding which to use! Here’s an early version. Notice how on the final I’ve changed the line where hat meets head, increasing the angle, by simply adding more paper.

This painting began with poured paint, as a demo for the portrait workshop I taught at Menucha. At the time I had no idea what it would become. Then I was inspired by a photo shoot session we had with Verna, a workshop participant and I sketched her image onto the pour. Then I negative painted the background a mid value and the purple dark values to bring out the figure. I love the jaunty attitude and the way the page is broken into shapes.

Then I began cutting paper shapes and taping them in place. Some of the paper is made with citrasolv (see my BLOG POST) and others are marbled. For the hat, I painted the yellow (quin gold watercolor) onto marbled deli paper that previously had almost no yellow.

When you see this hanging, you’ll notice I’ve used an oversized panel with a few inches of crackle texture framing the painting. This is a device I came up with last winter as a background for a collage painting for the Lake Area Artists show and I decided to use it again to enhance this one. While it is a bit tricky to work with, Golden Crackle Paste adds a unique element to the piece.

“She’s Golden”

15×22 / $1,200

Day 7

STEPS TO MARBLING — It’s easier than it looks!

The painting before marbling

After marbling once

It takes quite a lot of time to set this up — mixing paint, spraying the watercolor with a varnish so the paint won’t lift and treating with a mordant (alum water) to make it stick, then letting it dry again. Then rinsing and drying after the dip.

After a marbling session my studio is wiped out and it takes hours to put everything away again! But once set up, the process is pretty quick and very exciting. It often transforms a painting that might be just average into something extraordinary!

For these 30 paintings I spent several days setting up and two days dedicated to just marbling. If needed, I’ll slip in a few more pieces while teaching in July.

To marble, I first treat the paper with an alum solution. In this case because I’ve painted it I also spray with an acrylic varnish to set the watercolor paint. When dry I apply the alum and let it dry again.

Then I create an intricate pattern of thinned acrylic that floats on a tray of water thickened with carrageenan powder (a seaweed). First I spritz on paint, then cut the paint into threads of color, then comb and rake into patterns. I’d discovered years earlier that if I create an opening in the pattern or make a fairly transparent pattern that it combines well with a painting.

After the pattern is prepared, I lay the painting over it so the paint is transferred onto the painting.

After the second marbling I really love how the pattern integrates. And the cool thing is, once I’ve marbled I can paint over it again with watercolor, whereas normally you can’t paint watercolor over acrylic very well because the liquid beads up. Here I’ve refined the painting, intensifying the color.

“Fishing Heron”

8×8 / $150

Day 8

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW: Two Tanagers

Instead of starting from scratch, I decided to use some of my paintings from years back and reinvent them through marbling.

My table is filled with paintings that I’ve since marbled. Many will make the show, some will not. These were painted throughout the years — with some I’ve just painted. Many are still unfinished.

Sometimes the pattern integrates with the painting beautifully! It almost becomes intuitive as I print off pattern after pattern. Notice I extended the branch with pencil and paint — easy to see what was needed to balance the painting after the marbling was added.

“Pair Of Tanagers”

8×8 / SOLD

Day 9

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS: Painting The Panel Edges

Even keeping track of 30 paintings is a bit of a chore. After all this, only two of the paintings are actually ready to hang, the others are in various stages. In the process I am learning more efficient ways to work. For example, paint the panel edges BEFORE the painting is attached and I don’t have to protect the surface. Put the wires on first and I have a handle to hang onto while I paint the edges. Yesterday I painted edges on these 18 panels and put picture wires on 5 of them.

While these birds don’t usually live in Oregon, they occasionally migrate this far north. I actually saw one driving to the coast with my family one day. It was originally 8×10, but I felt it left too much background. Sometimes a painting benefits from cropping – you may have to lose a little to gain overall. Of course, now I need to prepare another 8×8 panel!

“Caracara”

8×8 / $150

Day 10

MAKING A WINDOW IN A MARBLED PATTERN: How much to show — how much to hide?

While I was marbling over paintings, I took the opportunity to marble a few patterns over blank watercolor paper. This leaves a “hole” to put a painting into.

Overpainting the fledgling owl, some of the marbling is covered up but the pattern still visible has the effect of a feather pattern.

“Says Whoooo”

8×8 / $150

Day 11

STEPS TO PAINTING: This time a multimedia piece

1. The Sketch: My paintings always start with a sketch. The sketch for a watercolor painting is sometimes direct onto watercolor paper but often I work out the drawing on other paper and transfer it. This time I’m working on tracing paper which allows me to refine with another layer on top.

2. The Value study: I often make a value study before I begin painting to block in shapes of whites, grays and darks. It becomes my roadmap, if you will. The more I know where I’m going, the less fear and uncertainty there is.

I often reinterpret the value shapes so they make visual sense, improving the composition. Here’s my revised sketch based on the value shapes.

3. Painting: Making a multimedia painting involves many steps. It looks simple but is often deceptively time consuming. Much of the paper I use is specifically hand made for the painting. Some might be marbled, other papers made with citrasolv or a monoprint process, carefully chosen for color, value and texture. Then I make several patterns that I use to cut the pieces, layering them one over another. Taping them into place I can make any needed adjustments before adhering them together. This swan I’ll be using as a teaching tool at my Marbling & Collage workshop this month. It is still unattached in layers of paper. But I plan to demonstrate how I finish it, so I can add it to the show.

Notice the marbled background… it is actually painted to tone down the patterning. You can see it HERE. Prints on panel of this painting are available now and prints of others can be made on request.

“Swooning”

12×12 / $300

Day 12

DARE TO SUCK: It will set you free!

It is easy to be invested in a positive outcome when when we paint. But trying too hard or being really careful puts a crush on creativity. We learn through our mistakes, which often become happy accidents. So if we don’t give ourselves the opportunity to make them, we’re missing out. One strategy is to create multiple versions — variations of the same painting — and try different things each time. I guarantee you will learn that way, and have more fun, too!

I painted this bird over sheet music, then marbled it!

This version was just barely started — only the background was painted — when I marbled it. I can still go in and finish the painting now.

Here’s the one I plan to use for the show. I love what the marbled pattern did to this piece but I still plan to work on the painting a bit.

“Pileated Pleasures”

12×12 / $300

Day 13

MANY SMALL STEPS: Working in batches helps

For the last few days I’ve been at an art retreat at Sharon King’s cabin on Lake Odell — good timing as it gave me dedicated time to crunch ahead with my 30 paintings. When I arrived here I only had two paintings finished and now I have 10 more, with another 8 ready to mount when I get home. Here I’m spraying a group of them with varnish before mounting. Much of the time is in setup, so time is saved working in batches.

I also like to spray the back side black. It’s not totally necessary but gives a more finished look.

I’ve also begun work on a collage of a white egret — a piece where the inspiration came from the background pattern. I’ll be sharing this at the workshop I teach at OSA next week.

This one is all ready to go, except for the finish which I will add to all of them at the end.

“Crimson And Lace”

10×13 / $300

Day 14

THE SIGNATURE: An elegant solution to identify my work

I used to carefully (and slowly) paint my name on every painting. Now I use a signature stamp, or chop. Someone in the group I’m retreating with suggested making one a couple of years ago, and at the time I didn’t even know what a chop was! But I’d designed a logo using my initials years ago when The Oregonian didn’t allow signing our art with a name, and decided to carve it in a stamp. I liked the look so well that I’ve taken to using it on all my paintings. It has an Asian flair and actually adds a design element to my paintings. For collage I started stamping them onto thin deli paper so I could cut and paste them. Then I lost my stamp — threw it out with my paint water! But I still had a bunch of the collage version so I started using them instead and found it gave me more control. Then I sent a drawing of the stamp to a company in Gresham who made a replacement — Stamp-Connection.com

Using thick watercolor to paint them keeps my stamp from gumming up — it washes off easily.

Of course then it has to be sprayed with varnish. I make a sheet at a time.

Since the stamp is part of the design of the painting, color matters. So does value and placement, especially on a small painting because the chop is always the same size. On this small painting, keeping the signature light value reduces the significance.

“Rolling In Clover”

5×5 / $60

Day 15

ART HAPPENS —

I set up to teach a marbling workshop today, so no time to write. That’s just the way it is! But here’s a painting to enjoy…

This waterlily really came alive with the marbled pattern, suggestive of water.

“Zen Lily”

10×13 / $300

Day 16

CRACKLE PASTE BACKGROUND: Just like icing on a cake!

I recently learned my Ling Cod collage titled “Slack Tide” made it into the International Society of Experimental Artists show in Newport this September/October. I’d used a background of crackle paste which created an interesting effect.

I liked it so well I’m also using it for a few paintings in this show, one is the “Red Irish Lord” collage background — another fish — that I’m working on now, recreating it as a 10×10. It will fill in the center of this panel.

And I plan to use it along the side of this woodpecker painting.

“Tap Dancing”

8×10 / $200

Day 17

STEPS TO PAINTING: I just do what works

1. The Sketch: My paintings always start with a sketch. The sketch is sometimes placed directly onto watercolor paper but other times I work out the drawing on other paper and transfer it. Notice I’ve drawn in shapes of the planes of the face.

3. Painting: Blocking in color, I usually work from light to dark, but flushing in some of the darkest dark midway in the process helps me calculate how to set the other values. Working fast and sure, the painting is fresh. Layering to adjust color and value can add sophistication but there’s always a cost — some of the freshness is lost. So it is a calculation of what to keep and what to give up!

The finished painting. Notice how I’ve lightened and subdued some of the marbled pattern with titanium white watercolor. I’ve mounted this on a crackled panel.

“Marina Tattooed”

12×12 / $300

While I was marbling over paintings, I took the opportunity to marble a few patterns over blank watercolor paper. This leaves a “hole” to put a painting into.

I’d painted a Hoopoe over marbled paper and was really happy with the result. This one I left with Giulia at the villa in Italy last May, so it isn’t in the show. But this painting worked out so well I was itching to try it with other birds. Meanwhile I’d started this painting of Marina as a demo.

I’d marbled a pattern on blank watercolor paper then transferred my drawing. Here I’ve started by painting in the background between the marbled pattern. It darkens the white paper while the pattern still shows through.

Here I’ve built up the first couple of layers of flesh tone.

Day 18

INSPIRATION: How Do Ideas Happen?

Sometimes they come to me in a dream, or day dream in the early hours when my mind is in its most creative state. It’s fun to piggyback off something another artist is doing or some image I see that grabs me. Other times inspiration comes from a personal experience or feeling. It can morph from work I’ve already done, one idea leading to another — moving the trajectory into another orbit!

I’d painted this towhee, and thought it would be fun to add marbling, so I cut out a background from a thin paper and attached it.

But it seemed a bit too static, and the color didn’t dance around like I like it to. So I marbled it again! This is the result:

“Morning Song”

10×10 / $250

Day 19

INVENTORY SHEET: Busy Work Helps To Organize

SOMETIMES we just feel like painting! But to make a show happen, there’s quite a lot of planning, organizing and communication that needs to take place. One of those things is inventory. Your venue needs to know what paintings will be arriving, along with titles and prices. Today is the day… which means I’ll need to make decisions about what paintings will be in the show even though they are not all finished! Sure, I can can probably make tweaks later if necessary, but it could create more work for the gallery. So I’ll lay out what I have on the floor to see how it looks and then decide. That also means I’ll be committing to finish the paintings that are slated for the show.

I found this cyclamen in the archives and marbled it — it came out perfectly! Now I just need to mount it on a panel.

“Cyclamen”

10×10 / $250

Day 20

REINVENTING A PAINTING: Sometimes it just works

I painted this echinacea flower years ago as a demo, working loose (for me) and using salt in the background. But it didn’t quite hit the mark. Marbling over the top did the trick.

“Summer Coneflower”

13×10 / $300

Day 21

PRINTS ON PANEL: Spread The Love of Art

Not everyone wants to invest in original art. For some, it is just not in the budget. Others may want an affordable gift. Or sometimes the original painting you’ve fallen in love with is no longer available. Prints offer a great alternative, and prints on panel are almost as lovely as the originals and don’t require framing. I also have giclee prints on paper.

While I don’t have a print inventory of all of my paintings, most of them are available on request. Simply let me know which painting you’d like a print of. A couple of weeks should be adequate lead time.

Red Fish, above, is enhanced with gold leaf on an 8×8 inch panel for $50.

Below are three that are available now on 10×10 inch panel for $65.

And an original to brighten your day…

“Swan and Cygnets”

13×10 / $300

Day 22

DESIGN RULES: If a painting features good design it almost always succeeds

ASK THESE QUESTIONS:

Is it is a compelling subject?

Does it have a pleasing value pattern?

Is there warm vs. cool color dominance?

Does it include varied sized and balanced shapes? or lines?

Is there a focal point?

Is each corner a different shape? different values?

Is there anything you can leave out?

Divide the painting into thirds vertically and horizontally. The four points where these lines intersect is called the Golden Mean, considered a good place for a focal point. Here the owl’s eye is the focus — and very near the golden mean. The claws create a secondary focus that keeps the eye moving throughout the painting.

I like strong diagonals in my paintings. This is sometimes referred to as a diagonal thrust — certainly evidenced here. Notice how much movement the marbling adds. It almost becomes intuitive as I work out how much to add and where to place it is guesswork at best.

“Catch Me If You Can”

12×12 / $300

Day 23

KEEPING IT FUN: If it isn’t fun, why do it?

Of course, not everything is equally exciting. When the creative process is at its best, there’s nothing that compares with that kind of exhilaration. Sometimes along the way things bog down, and occasionally there’s downright slogging just to get the work done. Usually pushing through will take me back to the sweet zone. Or simply leaving a piece for later can be the best course of action. That’s what happened with these persimmons… I’d stalled on the painting. Then I marbled them when they were only half done, and the result thrilled me into finishing!

The playfulness of this marbling really appeals to me. And again, I’m working with diagonals.

“Persimmon Pair”

10×10 / $250

Day 24

CULLING: What to include? What to leave out?

What I haven’t told you is that I’ve been actually working on MORE than 30 paintings. Why? Because I want to have the best show possible! And to do that I need to be selective about what goes in. Partly it is a matter of which paintings hang together cohesively, and that’s difficult to determine before they’re painted. And then there’s size. They have to fit together on the wall, which means including more smaller paintings and fewer large ones.

To make the show inventory grid, I actually put ALL the paintings, finished or not, on the floor to see how they look together. These look more finished than they really are — many have not been mounted and most still do not have the acrylic top coat.

Then I swapped some out and moved others around until I liked the configuration. Here’s the proposed line-up… but I may still edit it.

The white paper is for a poster about my process. I also plan to make these blog posts into a book. Fingers crossed that I can get it all done!

I’m really happy with this marbled woodpecker, but it isn’t going to make the show because the shape doesn’t fit in the grid. I’ll substitute it for another…

Here’s another of my Tiny Tots… And I’m planning to add an additional panel this size to balance things out. four of them total. I just like providing some very affordable original art.

“Radish”

5×5 / $60

Day 25

COLLAGE STRATEGIES: Blue Lake, Blue Sea

Collage is painting with paper. If you use a strong value pattern and a few simple shapes of varying sizes — mostly larger — the process works well. So well in fact that most of my collage paintings seem to sell quickly. I finished a collage of a white egret that I call “Blue Lake”. Below is the sketch of this painting along with the dark background marbling that inspired it.

I’ve decided to make a companion piece titled “Blue Sea”, another egret in a flipped position. That is my goal for today — at least I’ll get started — plus another start on a painting “Go Fish” which will replace one that didn’t work out the way I wanted. Plus, I wanted to include another collage anyway. I’ll post pictures when I have them…

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

I’ve made my own inventory of what still needs to be finished, since I’m running out of acrylic spray varnish and made a supply order to Merri Artist in McMinnville first thing this morning. It could be here as early as tomorrow and I’m sure will arrive no later than Friday.

So… I have 4 paintings totally finished
while 2 I have not even started
those 2 need panel edges painted
4 need backs painted
6 need to be adhered to the panel
9 need edges trimmed
10 need their hanging wires
and 26 need to be sprayed and acrylic top coat applied
all ned my business cards on the back — I’ve ordered new ones that I hope will arrive in time.

Meanwhile, I’m watering nonstop during this heat wave and we’re tearing off a 25 year old cedar deck 🙂 Never a dull moment!

“Blue Sea”

8×24 / SOLD

Day 26

PRICING: Big time decision making

Pricing is the artist’s dilemma. Make the price too low and you’re devaluing your work… make it too high and maybe it won’t sell. Galleries want you to be consistent with your prices which is only fair, and not undercut your work by selling at a discount elsewhere. But how do you determine what a painting is worth? Price by size? By time invested? And then there’s the added cost of materials, including the frame, which the artist covers regardless of the split the show or gallery gets.

My best advice is to set standard prices and stick with them. Raise them if your inventory dwindles (or maybe if it doesn’t). Occasionally I’ll set the price a little higher for paintings I love and there are always a few I have a personal connection and just won’t sell. At least for awhile — some may be released later.

I’ve decided to base my prices on size, figuring by the square inch. This frees me from having to agonize over every painting or not knowing what to say when asked the price of a painting. At least I can look it up! But just like anything else, expect prices on art to go up. This is a good thing — it protects your investment!

CLOSING IN ON IT

2 collage paintings — while not as far along as I’d hoped on the, I have them both started now. One needs edges painted. The other will need to be adhered to the panel.

2 paintings need finishing and one of these needs to be trimmed.

Still 26 to be sprayed and acrylic top coat applied.

Here’s one of my very affordable tiny paintings… there’s always a place for art this small!

“Broccoli Forest”

5×5 / $60

Day 27

WHEN IS IT DONE? That is always the question!

It’s a difficult question to answer! I sometimes will pick up a framed painting and work on it again, because to me a painting is finished when I can’t think of a way to make it better. And when something occurs to me later, I might act on it.

Wanting to move the red around, I added more berries. The branching also served to subdue a couple of marbling blemishes.

Looking back over the images in this post, if you compare them to the show you’ll see many small modifications. It’s the little things that can make all the difference!

From my stock of in-progress works, I found three small paintings of trilliums that I’d started a couple of years ago while working on Village Gallery’s 6×6 fundraiser. The four finished pieces all sold at VGA — here’s the BLOG on making them.

These three also have gold gesso and gold leaf and I decided for this show to mount them to 8×8 inch panels with a gold background to set off or “frame” the subject, then marble them as I did previously. The result was lovely, but the borders seemed a bit bright, so I darkened them with my black watercolor mix and the result was perfect! Here’s the first one…

“Trillium 1”

8×8 / SOLD

Day 28

FINISHING TOUCHES: The last of the details

Yesterday I finished the three collage paintings, varnished and painted panel edges. Today I trimmed them and touched up the white paper edges with black paint. Then I added two coats of TOP COAT. It’s like painting with elmer’s glue because it goes on white, but actually it dries perfectly clear and it is the ultimate protection for my paintings.

My studio is so trashed, with nearly every square inch of table and floor surface covered, that I’m working upstairs where I have room to spread out.

Meanwhile, through the back door, you can see our 25-year old deck being demolished.

So I’m officially done! Just need to add my new cards to the backs and pack them for transporting to the gallery tomorrow. And it’s a good thing, because now I need to make the poster about my process.

“Trillium 2” & “Trillium 3”

8×8 / SOLD

Here’s one of my very affordable tiny paintings… there’s always a place for art this small!

Day 29

HANGING THE SHOW!!!! The reward is in the making

Every artist loves to sell paintings. I’ve seen faces at the shows, ecstatic or even brought to tears after their patron leaves and I know how that feels. Few actually depend on art income for their livelihood and I count myself lucky to be one. A sale might mean I can buy more supplies and keep going. It is also an affirmation that someone loved my painting enough to plunk down the money and take it home. But here’s the truth — the reward is in the making of art! My life is rich. I feel blessed to be part of this artist community, to bring joy to others through my art. Thank you for your support and for reading these notes!

IF you want to learn more about my art making, there’s a wealth if information on my BLOG. I have no secrets!

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Day 30

THE SHOW