Your work is to discover your world then with all your heart give yourself to it. - Buddha
I think the secret is to stay engaged, to stay plugged in. It isn’t easy — it’s much more comfortable to drift away and pretend a decision was never made. But every action, every minute is a decision. The desire to let go and mentally walk into the woods and never look back can be strong because then we think we could be released from responsibilty and disappointment
Keep creating. Keep caring. Because in tiny ways as well as big ones, a life devoted to creativity makes a difference in this world. It matters. We all matter.
Easy answer :). This subject has everything I’m looking for. I’m fascinated by the wires and pipes winding around holes and knobs. I have no idea what all these elements are but I’m intrigued - ALWAYS intrigued.
The rest of the answer, honestly speaking, is that there is much that DOESN’T work for me. I want my paintings to be uniquely mine - that’s all I have to offer. If there are ten people painting along a river bank, nine of them will paint the water. I’d choose to paint the boat house or the tree branches overhanging the water. Why do we need ten paintings of the water, even if every single one is outstanding?
I also find that my energy fades with many subjects — and when it fades, the work nose dives. I can’t fake interest. Either I’m intrigued and all my senses click in…..or VERY often I think “yep, that’s nice but I can’t stay engaged with it visually for more than 3 minutes.”
So personally, I paint what fascinates me and what gives me opportunity to use color and line the way I want to. Pretty simple.
The studio was a busy place this afternoon. Bud isn’t feeling well so his mom, Minnie, dropped him off to spend the afternoon with me. Dana Dog and Caleb kept an eye on him while I worked. Jelly and Misty stayed home so they wouldn’t stress our Bud while he isn’t feeling well. Later a group of friends came to work on Friends of Retriever rummage sale donations that are stored in the building behind my studio. I reached my goal for the day on my encaustic piece and enjoyed seeing friends and stepping over dogs and cats in the process!
When the brush sticks to my hand, I know I’m in the zone. Painting begins when I forget about process and lose myself in color, transitions, push and pull. That’s when things happen that I can’t explain later. That’s the good stuff.
It’s messy. It’s slightly out of control. It’s completely unpredictable. I love it.
I used oil bars today to build some form in a few areas and this piece began to turn the corner. As someone I respect used to say, it’s beginning to sing. In the same breath, I’m also investing so many hours in this piece that I’m getting apprehensive. I’m enjoying my time with this one and I’ve learned a lot. I’m putting a lot of color down in an almost haphazard way, then tying it together. I still have some major forms to put in - the elements that are in the foreground - long way to go yet. I hope to work for a few hours tomorrow.
Carm has started stealing my chair every time I get up — and getting it back isn’t easy. After years of painting 8 hours a day - and sometimes more - I’m still amazed at my wimpy endurance with encaustic. I worked four hours this afternoon and was ready to scoot out the door for the evening.
I’m still “perching” on the edge of my chair which is a tiring way to work — I’m consciously making a lot of decisions and trying to control technique while keeping the creative decisions flowing. It’s enough to make my brain hurt and for some reason, that makes my back tired too! :)
With each new medium and at each level of ability I find I change my daily schedule to deal with fatigue….and motivation. Lately, I work a few hours in the morning then take my dogs home midday. It’s an excuse to take a break and get some fresh air. I come back for an afternoon session refreshed and ready to work four more hours typically. Figuring out what works at each stage is the trick.
And Caleb will be with me at the studio tomorrow. He’s my new foster buddy - 10 lbs, 2 years old, and absolutely delightful. He had his first whiff of homecooked food in a year tonight and the television scared him to death. This precious boy has been in an animal shelter for a full year. Preach spay/neuter and support the efforts of your rescue groups. Animals need our help.
As I worked today I pondered the question. I see wonderful work by artists that I know is completed in hours if not less. I love the spontaneity of their work and admire the simplicity. But….I want to be engaged with a piece longer than that. I want to read a novel, not a short story! I often think of my paintings as friends - I get to know the piece as I work as if it is a relationship that is deepening. It plays in to the decisions I make when I choose subjects and how I decide to handle them. I know it affects my choice of media. I want to be involved for a while — I want to deal with layers, ins and outs, complexities, push and pull.
I’ve made room to work on larger pieces and still reach what I need in a short reach, long reach, or two steps :). Timing CAN be everything. To my right are three heated palettes for pigmented wax medium with the vent fan above. Directly in front of me is a griddle for clear medium. The electric skillet is for making medium. When I’m making medium I work from the front of this drawing table. The white shelf unit has drawers of tools, cakes of prepared medium, oil paint, R&F encaustic paint, paper towels, razor blades, etc. To the left of my chair is my drawing table for preparing plans and drawings. Behind me are shelves for boards, books, raw materials (beeswax, damar resin, soy wax), frames, pans and utensils for making medium, etc.
This should work for a while….
I’m home but my head is still in this painting. I started the day at 10am with a bag of cheetos and a Diet Mountain Dew. Every day should start with a nutritious breakfast. I worked till 3pm when the dogs were getting restless so I took them home and zoomed back to continue. They’ve started wanting to go home mid-day which is fine — I need some fresh air and a few minutes away from the painting by that time anyway. I realized it was dark outside at 6:30 and closed down for the day.
On days like this, I’m reminded of the wisdom of having a detached studio. If I worked at home, I’d still be working…..and it wouldn’t be smart. At a point, I’m not as tuned in and really need to stop. Knowing WHEN that is can be KEY.
drumroll…..the best part is not dreading Monday! As a kid I hated the Lassie Show on Sunday night because it meant I was one bedtime from a Monday morning. When I worked a traditional job, Sunday nights were the worst — a long, structured week was ahead. Not to be negative, but those were tough times.
As a painter, I work hard and feel very committed — but I LOVE what I do. I enjoy getting in my car and driving to the studio. Of course, there are days when I can’t get excited about working but truthfully, there is NEVER somewhere I’d rather be. Actually, that can be weird. If I don’t want to be at the studio then I’m very freaked out….because I don’t know where I want to be. I only have one favorite place.
Today, I only had a few hours at the studio so I used my time to clean up my work area. I needed to push back the disorder, sweep, and rethink what’s at arms length. Done! I’m ready for Monday and I’m looking forward to it.
Part of getting in a productive groove is figuring out a system. And I tend to not figure it out….I stumble over it and finally crash into it. I really think that has been the hardest part of learning to work with wax. The tools and process are so completely different from anything I’ve done before. As I pushed my pans closer together to make room for ONE MORE today, I saw evidence that I was finally getting into a groove. I’ve had to make decisions about what kinds of pans and brushes work best, how to make paint, how to organize colors, so so so many decisions…..but there is a method to my madness now. Finally.
This piece is 18” x 24” and I’m enjoying working a little larger. It’s definitely a slower process — and more physical, believe it or not. My whole day was spent on the dark indigo areas of this piece. I carved out these areas, painted, then scaped back with a blade. I finished with a layer of clear medium.
http://pinterest.com/mindyourbeeswax/
When I first looked at Pinterest I thought it was for addicted shoppers - I didn’t get it. It slowly dawned on me that I could use it to collect what I’m interested in…and now I am….addicted.
It’s helping me become more curious. Surfing the web was awkward because I didn’t have a purpose OR I couldn’t stay on task. If I don’t know where I’m going, I have a hard time enjoying the trip. Pinterest has given me a picture frame for my web wandering.
I actually think it’s useful for me. I”m looking around and I think that’s good.
Jelly, Misty, Dana Rogy, and I loaded our van and headed north yesterday. I decided it was time to get some feedback on my encaustic paintings from the staff of a trusted gallery. I’ve been working in near isolation for over a year and have been feeling the need to get a reading. What a reading means….I’m not sure. No one is going to change my mind about what I’m doing but I need to know if anyone else sees what I see.
Knowing when to listen to someone else’s opinion is very tricky - and intensely personal. For me, I need to feel like the work is close enough to “there” that I’ve done my part but not wait till I am entrenched in a way of working and a message to the point that input will devastate me. Timing….so much timing.
Above all, I have to listen. I don’t have to use what I hear but I need to hear what is said. I think I can learn from every comment and it’s my choice if I let it change my direction. Actually, some comments strengthen my resolve to NOT alter to please - while other comments bring something to my attention that I really want to address. It’s my art and I make all the decisions.
The best part of my meeting today was that I feel encouraged. I’m enthused about working harder and feel less like a recluse. I’m very appreciative for the help I received today. Very.
Painting storage is a BIG DEAL for me because of the the dumb stuff I’ve done in the past. Actually, I’ve done five dumb things — they’re named Carm, George, Noah, Smooch, and Spoon. With cats in the studio, paintings are NEVER left in the horizontal position!
This bakers rack is working great for encaustics and caseins. They’re protected from dust and little feet. And I adore all ten little feet, by the way. They’re all rescues who needed a safe home and regular groceries. Below are George and Carm - best buds when they aren’t in mortal combat.
I’m starting the new piece. A ground of wax medium has been applied to the board in several layers, fusing after each. Here I’m carving the area away for my first layer of pigmented wax. This piece is the largest I’ve done yet and I could fill large areas with wax, making it harder to keep the painting surface level, so I’m segmenting my composition so I can avoid that problem….as much as possible, anyway.
Filling, I want to let one color flow into the next. I want change all the time but I want my colors to be in harmony. I also know that this first layer should be slightly bolder than I ultimately want because it will diminish under layers and layers of wax medium applied later.
After scraping back and working in two additional areas, this is where I left my encaustic today. A long LONG way to go but I got over the fear of STARTING. I did a lot of staring, color mixing, testing, and general avoiding before starting today. Tomorrow I hope to jump in quickly