farewell

Farewell, acrylic on canvas, 30" x 40", copyright 2009 (title sort of explained below)
Well, it has been a while since I've posted all right. Have been getting outside to paint maybe once a week, working a lot in the studio. Would like to find homes for the accumulation. Fantasy is to find a corporate wormhole that will just vacuum up all my production straight into a venue where it will be loved -- no muss, no fuss, no gallery openings, no schmoozing; no hyperventilating, no angst -- no talk, basically. Aren't I terrible? It is exhausting thinking of all the things that must be done to create a dynamic opportunity for my work to go belong to someone else. I don't like talking people into buying work. Hate it, in fact. Never have done it. Yet there used to be clients in my life, back when I was a "real" painter! Some of them I knew, some of them I was never told their names by the gallerists or reps.
I have heard writer Kazuo Ishiguro quoted as saying people who choose solitary professions do so because they have something from which to heal. Whether the quote is accurate, this certainly applies to a lot of artists I know. We would rather work with our physical media than struggle with the vagaries and potential betrayals of human interaction -- at least a lot of the time! Objects can be our friends -- at least for a while.
Is there any reliable way for someone who hates to socialize to sell their art? If anyone has advice beyond "work your tail off" please share!
***
Recently learned that an iconic piece I thought I had in storage was sold at auction a year ago by a place here in Seattle called Pacific Galleries. They won't tell me who consigned it to them or anything else. Very odd. Back when it was new -- one of the times I had to drop the career and care for family, in 1998 -- I could very well have lost track of this piece. For a while it was on loan to Summit Travel and Cruises. Did someone there hang onto it and finally turn it over to the auction house, or did something else happen? I don't know. I have spent the last terrible decade not painting and believing I never would again, but have never heard from anyone regarding this piece; found this sale by accident on the internet.

Ton Plaisir II (Yellow Trees), pastel on paper, 29.75'' x 43.5'', copyright 1998

Ironically, this piece is one I reproduced for business cards I still carry.

avenging the leopard

Here is a piece that began as an experiment in layers of acrylic paint and mediums, collaging in separately created acrylic skins and painted paper. It developed organically -- a means I enjoy and will have to keep learning from; right now I think it worked well! 36" x 36" acrylic/collage on canvas.
(The leopard in question was my painted silk kimono-style fiber sculpture, stolen from Seattle Center in the early nineties. It walked off its display as I sat 20 feet away, attending to something I guess... I have mourned long enough.)

life en plein air

It has been one rousing week! I have painted happily with several terrific people, half of whom were previously strangers, out of doors this week; can't quite believe my good luck. Everyone I met was delightful, good painting in good company!
First, on Monday a few of us met at Log Boom Park on a brilliant sunny day. We snuck past the "caution" tape and worked out on the washed-out path and bridge, and met several nice folks strolling by on the safe side of the tape. 24" x 36" oil on canvas.

Then on Thursday a few others and I met at Shilshole Marina, overlooking the boats and breakwater -- another bright sunshiny day. This was knifepainted held in my arms -- without an easel! We met a lot of friendly humans and dogs! 12 x 16 oil on canvas.

Today, I met two more folks for the first time and we painted at a private pond in Juanita! It was perfect weather, just cool and grey and maybe one drop of rain.... we met some neighbors who may choose to join us next time! another 12 x 16 oil on canvas.

across green lake

This is one of my latest favorites. Having finally acquired a small studio space, one goal is to create some large works based on my tiny plein air oil sketches. Here is my first such effort, a 24 x 36 acrylic based on a little oil sketch I did last spring at Green Lake. The challenge is to retain the freshness of the original. Layering paint into wet mediums seems to give me the feeling I'm after!

Here is the original sketch:

boats or trains?

Made a glorious discovery today. Tried to meet up with Plein Air Washington at Fishermen's Terminal, but found no one to meet up with! So I felt free to follow my merry way, and found that if you park by Net Building 9, not only can you park for 3 days (!!!) but there is a little bike trail nearby that goes under the bridge and voila! you are looking at the rail yard I've craved to paint for quite a while!

Showing you my beloved Beauport easel. This was flat ground but it is stable whether or not! Light enough to carry but as a weakling I put everything on wheels. This means, of course, I tend to bring the kitchen sink along, but oh well, it comes in handy!

welcome to the neighborhood!

Friend Frances and I conspired and found studio space in Wallingford, and moved in this week. She has since decided to resume looking further south, thereby avoiding a long, toxic commute, but I hope we will continue to collaborate materially and in spirit despite this distance -- as we have so far!
For me, this is the part of town that has everything -- industry, waterscape, neighborhood! I will try to make the most of it.
This is my first painting done in the new space. Acrylic on canvas, 8 x 8, from a photo taken at fishermen's terminal.

Also spent a little time at Gas Works Park ruminating. Here is yesterday's 4x6 lunchtime sketch of a tiny part of the view across Lake Union, in white ink and gouache:

the resurgence of jazz

we are going out on a limb here. tulips traditionally, of course, must be watched over if not redistributed by an animal companion; but we are just getting back into the swing of things. here are a few new little sketches in mixed media, somewhat reminiscent of a style that used to be mine.

farther along on the burke-gilman

so here is my best attempt at a photo of the new wet 12 x 16 oil on panel of the same scene sketched a few days ago. This has been an illuminating experience in many ways. First, I don't get tired of painting the same thing, plus it's a different puzzle to solve in different media; second, this process causes me to look at and see the scene again and then again; third, working in black and white helps me work out values. These are no-brainers to visual artists, but I relearn a lot of these every day as I clump towards enlightenment.

I am sure many of my friends on flickr will go on liking one of the sketches better than this painting; but this is a step closer to my own goal -- if only because I addictively struggle to bend this beloved medium to my will.

burke-gilman trail

looking at old photographs from the next-to-last studio days down on Lake Union (1998?) and found myself sketching one of them. Did a series of 3-1/2 sketches (on my flickr site) on black paper, using white ink, gouache, black ink. Here is the colorful one:

oh Canada

Visited Vancouver, B.C. , one of my favorite cities, this week to see the Dutch Masters show at Vancouver Art Gallery. Been a few years since I've seen a Vermeer up close! Just a few Rembrandts, one Vermeer (The Love Letter) -- and a lot of other great paintings and history. Being of Dutch heritage I am finally, at this advanced age, taking an interest in a culture I have always considered stultifying. It was illuminating to learn (again and in more depth) that the elaborate Protestant religiosity I grew up with has a history several centuries old; was not the product of my ancestors' lack of imagination, but of spritual and economic necessity and innovation; had served countless generations of peasant survival. While I have known the Dutch explored and colonized widely, I don't think I fully realized just how vast their geographical presence was, preceding British expansion.

While there I was able to get in some sketches from the beach at English Bay. Here are a couple -- one in gouache/ink and one in oil.

Did some sketching in the Gallery too. Will get some of those up after I add some color. They only allow pencils inside!