SHOWTIME!

oh dear, i do love this business!

Does it always have to be this way?

Do I have to be in the studio at the eleventh hour, making a mess, ruining perfectly good tubes of paint and cheap Chinese brushes? I always want to begin again, but end up just adding on. Maybe we just have one good tale to tell in our lives. I am still waiting for the moment the last piece comes together. Like a miracle, you make a mark that you didn't know was in you and it's just right. Let's hope there's one more mark...

Sean Scully says "It seems to me that there are highs and lows, and that there have been periods that are, I would say, less creative, where you're simply holding a position, and there are other periods where you feel you have breathed enough air to be able to exhale again, to be expansive again."

I'm filling my lungs....

Lindsay Lohan escapes rehab - Again!

OK, so the Ke$ha thing didn't work too well, maybe this title will work.

But really, I just want to post a picture of the painting I'm donating to the Cascade Aids Project Art For Life auction. It's out to jury, and I sure hope it makes it into the show, because it's always a fun time, and such a good cause.

All of us OPST artists should be donating this year, and hopefully we all get in, so we can be grouped together and get a wall sign!

Say a little prayer for our demos, so to speak.

Ke$ha

Just thought I'd see if I can draw in some random readers with the title. If you're a Ke$ha fan, welcome! I hope you enjoy what you find here.

Anyway, I'm bummed that I feel like I know what I'm doing with only one of the five paintings I'm working on now, and I have like a week and a half to whip things into shape.

Also, I wouldn't describe any of these paintings as more than 'begun' ...

Calm B4

Oh dear, I haven't really worked on any art in about a week, and a scant two weeks remains before the show. I used to consider the month prior to a show to be a forbidden zone as far as working on pieces was concerned. Publicity was reserved for the last month.

Now, if I can finish a piece before the reception, I'm lucky.

Why am I sitting here blogging while 'watching a movie' at midnight on a Sunday?

new year's resolve

Just meandered in from the studio to check in with you all. Not sure where I am headed yet, but feeling like I am all over this show, I mean it's not for 3 weeks (I think, right?).

I made one new year's resolution. To take a picture a day. I know, it should have been a drawing, or to work every day in my studio, but I decided I just had to start looking. That, and go outside, because I refuse to shoot with a flash, so in this dark month I have to go out to find some (any) light.

So here are a few observations from the first week of the year. I guess I should go paint, but everything is wet...so maybe I'll just lay back on the couch with my novel.

blasting the core

In an effort to lose my gut, and increase my energy, I' hittin' the Nordic Track again, which is in the basement with my studio. I took a break from painting today to bust it out on the Track and listen to inspirational music.

Once I build up enough stamina that I'm not all woozy after 15 minutes, I'll see what it's like to actually get BACK to painting after the Track!

I hope to eventually paint while on the 'runner's high.'

Anyway, still working towards the February show at Gallery 114 so I should have many chances to hit the Track for the next three weeks.

Here's a picture of the next step in painting: the joint compound has dried, and I begin to make gestural marks all over the place with a pencil. Nobody better copy this technique.

the new sketch pad

it will never replace the joy of pencil against paper, but this iphone app sure is fun. i have used it to create at least one study for a painting, and to work through some compositional issues. and then there are days like this where i just wanted to recreate the yellow of the street light on a gray morning. it's great for expressing light.

a new year

"ALL ARTISTS ARE VOYEURS,

NOT PEOPLE OF ACTION."

robert motherwell

Gallery 114

Got a month to go before the Organ Players and Storytellers show at Gallery 114 for February. Furiously working on stuff (tonight furiously watching the Seahawks, though) and thought I'd share some process. Here's a panel getting its first dollops of joint compound.