June

Already, it is June!! Here are a few paintings, some not posted before and some that I have now finished. The still life is now one of my favorites. It is so simple, just a few objects on a plain grey background. The background had to painted a number of times until I got it just the right color and value. I wanted it to stay neutral but still have some pizzaz to it so I used violet and gradually greyed it down with yellow. The objects really stand out against it. The next still life I do, I plan to have in front of a window with a landscape outside... I've seen it done by other artists and it always makes an impression on me.

I'm still here

It's been a long time coming, but at last, I am able to make an entry. It's funny because I think about updating my entries often, unfortunately, a person has to discipline oneself inorder to do it on a regular basis. I don't promise myself to be more faithful to writing or apologize either, to myself, for not making entries because that would turn it into something I don't want it to be. So here it is, my latest entry. I have been painting almost every day, weekends not withstanding. Weekends are family time.

My summer schedule is taking shape and I will end up doing 7 - 10 outdoor festivals in addition to the galleries I show in, so it will be a busy summer. Here are a few of the paintings I've been working on, none are done yet, but will be completed in the next couple of weeks.

Doing summer shows is a nice break for me, even though it's a lot of work, it is interesting to talk to people who come out to

see the work.

It's been awhile since my last entry, almost a month, so it is time to catch up on what has been happening these past few weeks. I have been working on a number of paintings and one in particular is of interest because it is the result of not being able to resolve another one I had been working on. If you remember, the still life with the blue check tablecloth was a painting I was quite obsessed with, I wanted to get the cloth right. The checks involved a lot of perspective and value changes inorder to get it to read correctly. Well after painting it, repainting it, and painting it again, making changes in color or folds in material, I came across a quote from a poet, at a meeting I was attending that stated, simply, during the process of writing a poem, the poet has to be just smart enough to know what the poem wants inorder to reach it's completion. This line of thinkings can also apply to painting, so after much stressing about that god forsaken cloth, it struck me that I wasn't listening to what the painting was telling me. The above painting is what resulted from the blue checkered still life that I suffered over for weeks, it went down on the canvas in a matter of hours, and even though there are a few details to work out, the painting seems to have almost painted itself.

A New Year

Well, my visit to California is drawing to a close and I will be flying back home tomorrow. A long tedious day is anticipated, but the trip is worth the inconveniences of travelling by air. I am very happy to be getting back to my studio and family on the East Coast but will miss my family on this side of the country. I haven't done any art work while here, and that is the way I planned it. Just wanted time to spend with my family and do some sightseeing. Now that I'm coming back, though I am very excited to be thinking about getting back to work. I think I've got some good reference material so some west coast art might be showing up on my blog.

December

For lack of a better title, I'm calling this entry December. Many happenings this month, the Bangor Art Society's Holiday Auction on the 5th, a meeting for the Bangor Downtown Arts Collaborative and then on the 16th I am flying to Santa Barbara to spend the Holidays with my daughter and her family. My husband and I will then be driving to Arizona and New Mexico to do a little sightseeing. We will be gone until the middle of January and I am looking forward to the time away.

I have been spending so much time at my studio these past few years, don't get me wrong, I love being here, but I need some time away for awhile. I need to get centered and get my feet firmly planted back on the ground. This trip will be a nice change.

The painting here is the painting I put in the auction for the art society. I painted it a number of years ago and changed things in it a couple of times. At one point I actually brought the whole scene in closer to have a stronger focal point. I've changed the color of the sky a number of times as well as the color of the house. I'm glad someone bought it. I'm sure it will now have a good home.

Downtown Bangor Art Walk tomorrow night

All the artists in my building are busy getting ready for the art walk. We clean our studios, hang new work, trip over debris in the hall. We have a lot of fun getting ready, but it is also a lot of work. I know, now that we have the art walk four times a year, my studio will get cleaned at least that many times. I still find myself resorting to a childhood trick, though, whenever I was made to clean my room, the closet door would get opened, and any bit of clutter would get stashed away. What is unfortunate for me now is just when I have found the everything that I stashed away, it's time to start all over again.

This is a painting I worked quite awhile ago. Originally it looked like the one on the bottom, but after studying it for an extended period of time, I decided that I wanted the foliage to be warmer. I like the second version better.

Halloween Fast Approaching

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays-- the mystery, the festivity, the costumes and sometimes the weather. This year we, here, at 9 Central Street are having a Halloween Party for friends and friends of friends. Since I was the one who wanted it, I am doing most of the planning and decorating and having so much fun in the process. The pumpkins I bought at Walmart - $4.00 per, and they are big - are being transformed into spooky looking entities and with the new l.e.d. candles, fire hazards are not and issue anymore . The building we are in is quite old and eerie without doing anything to it, so with a little tweeking here and there we should be able to create an environment that would give even the die-hard halloween fan the heebie-jeebies.