5 top posts of 2011

 As the winds howl outside and New Years approaches we start to think about resolutions. While I know I need to make some business resolutions, right now I am just concentrating on how to build a better blog. That made me look at my Google stats, something I rarely do.
Here I have posted the top 5 posts for my blog this year. Just seeing this list makes me think about what fellow readers find interesting to read. It helps inform me about what possible 2012 posts will be. If you have an idea of something you would like me to write about, just send it to me.

1. how dominant value affects color choice
2. choosing colors, preparing a palette
3, mountain maryland plein air
4. the studio and the constable closet
5. color and albers

Happy New Year!

The birth of a studio: the whole story

I have been asked by many friends and bloggers to document the birth of my new studio. So here it goes. Like everyone else I have spent years and years in tiny studios and pieces of rooms. Making it work that's what artists do. As my husband used to tease me, "the whole house is your studio." Yes admittedly you would find paintings in all different stages everywhere in the house. The living room always had at least 2. At one point the bathroom even had one. It's so good to view them often. It makes the solutions easier to see.  My paintings have continued to grow in size to the point they don't fit around our small house, therefore it was the time to make the big step. A studio.
First we priced all kinds of ways to build...add on, pop the roof for an attic studio, portable shed, and then finally this idea. Make another building  with re-used materials. I really loved the idea of having my work space separate from the house. I talked with my husband Paul and my Dad (who lives in the California) and Project Hope was born. It involved buying deconstruction materials from Second Chance.  That helped make it financially possible. We would hire a contractor to build the exterior. And then  Daddio would move in for 6 weeks to orchestrate the entire interior. He was amazing and worked tirelessly.  My family and friends were the labor force (I can never repay everyone enough!)

I made the design based on my desires and what I could buy cheaply at Second Chance.
Full north light ans a loft for storage were the only mandatory things.

before

Paul and Alfredo (he poured the concrete and dug the footings)

cement slab

Getting a permit was the hardest part. After that was done we were on our way.

First we had to get a man to make the footings and pour  the concrete slab.  That done, enter Ricardo, Jesus and Jimmie to build the frame. It was amazing how fast it was built. One week for the concrete. One week for the basic frame. One big surprise happened. When we unwrapped the windows we learned that they were all Pella windows, and far superior to the ones in our home.. wow! They were beautiful.

Now the guys were done. Enter the unpaid work force.

The day the drywall arrived Dad and I learned that they drop it on the corner. Drop they did. Now I am not a big person, so after 4 drywall sheets(4ft x 8ft) I was pooped. My sister arrived and we did two more. Egad! We had 40 more to lift.

Then another deliveryman arrived. A strong delivery man. I convinced him that for $40 and 6 chocolate chip zucchini muffins(fresh from the oven)  he would lift the drywall back to the studio. This man would actually take 2 at a time!
The team (sister, husband, brother-in-law, Dad and me) were there to begin installing the drywall. It was a comedy routine at first. We knew absolutely nothing. Measuring, holding and screwing them up....lots of practice and we got better. The 1st floor walls were easier then it became high. The ceilings are 22 feet. Enter Jesus and Jimmie and a huge scaffolding.

I must admit I had never done any kind of construction so I was in for a big surprise to learn that the major work is inside.The actual inside took about 6 weeks. Still there are things to be done..small things. Main thing is I am working in there. It's bliss. I wake up at 5 and walk across the yard, turn on the light and music and I am transported to an amazing space. I feel blessed. I work with out thinking of anything else.

And the constable closet...15 feet of pure painting storage. Read here.

The biggest thank you to the man behind project hope. Daddio.

And of course to my wonderful husband who is so supportive. Should I mention it was his idea that my studio be the master bedroom. We lived in the small guest bedroom for years. This studio was my idea..but once again he was there to help me make it happen.
The year of 2011 has been quite a trip, so much has happened. I can't wait for 2012!

wolf kahn and a merry Christmas

Ava, age 6, pastel

Ned, age 6, pastel of night time

Nina, age 6," I looked at the photo and then made it up."

Sage, age 6, pastel, "The sky wasn't pink but I wanted it to be."

As a Christmas treat  I couldn't resist showing you these. My youngest group of students (age 6 and 7)have begun to study Wolf Kahn. After seeing WK's work in books and on the smartboard the children  (age 6) talked about what they noticed. Their observations included:
1. He made it real but he didn't use the details.
2. Looks like he is having fun.
3. It's just scribbles but it makes sense.
4. The colors are exciting.
5.The pinks and oranges look good together. I didn't know it would do that.

Alexander, age 6, pastel

Their two challenges were very WK. First begin the painting in a place that doesn't have a name. For instance not a tree, a sky...just a space of color. Make color decisions  everywhere. Oh, to be 6 years old, bursting with creativity and less rule bound.

Have  a wonderful Christmas! May the child in you live forever.

incrementally

small oil study on wood

I am probably one of the least likely of people to encourage "incrementally." I am the one that jumps without looking...wonders later. Finally, I am appreciating the virtues of "incrementally." (You can laugh now Richard.) Glazing is sort of like sneaky painting. You want one color...but oh no you don't mix it and put it down....that would be too easy and most of all that would lack the jewel-like beauty. Instead you think backwards and build from there. I want a certain grayed down warm green I start with magenta and work my way up, always careful for the edges.
It actually meets my ADHD type of way of working. In one day I may work on small layers of 5 paintings or just one painting.

small oil study on wood

another exploration

I keep thinking about the de Kooning retrospective and his  explorations. Truly painting is that... .. a constant exploration.  Making my small woodie studies helps me branch out to new color harmonies and not just rely on my plein air piece.  It's gets a full life of its own from the start.  In addition, I love the feel of these small wooden paintings in my hands and I love lining up 20 of them in a row.

line of woodie studies and paintings in process

 Row of possibilities.

One more thing:
I also count on my multitude of sketchbooks that rest in a basket beside my easel. Small sketches and lots of written reminders of color observed that's what you'll find in the basket.

A basket of ideas.

de Kooning and exploring

Willem de Kooning

This weekend I went to NYC to see the de Kooning retrospective. You can read a little bit about de Kooning and the show in these articles: NY Times  and the New Yorker. What I want to talk about is his explorer spirit. Here is a quote of de Kooning's, "I have to change to stay the same." You can see that happen through his 60 plus years of painting. The figure, lines and curves continue to words in his language, even though anything "representational" was looked upon with some disdain. My fascination lies with his "anything goes attitude."  When D. painted he tried any way possible to get the effect he wanted. Some were accidental. For instance, the newspaper print on the canvas happened only because he left newspaper on the wet oil to soak up the oil and liked what happened and kept it. And others were intentional. He tried not only linseed oil and damar varnish as mediums, but also water, casein, mayonnaise and egg (to name a few.) His choices of mediums make transparencies and webbing. Thick goop and peek-a-boo thin stripes.
There is a mug at the museum with his famous quote, "In art one idea is as good as another."  That's because de Kooning’s idea that art is not about concepts like progress or development, but is instead a sensory phenomenon.
Last quote from D. is "Flesh is the reason oil paint was invented."

That's it for now. I leave you with one of my "try anything to try to get the feel I want"small paintings. While the small ones are fun explorations, the big woodies I have been working on are possessing me for better or worse...more later.

sunset and rothko

15x15 oil with pastel added

"The most important tool the artist fashions though constant practice is faith in his ability to produce miracles when they are needed" Mark Rothko 1948
Miracles, yep that is what painting is all about. We look at a blank canvas and make something appear. It's difficult to find information about Rothko's process. He was very secretive about it and let no one in his studio.  I continue to look at Rothko's work I find I am fascinated by his edges. All the action is there. He creates a little game of hide and seek. Using simultaneous contrast in veils like whispers he creates those beautiful miracles. Edges matter most. Miracles...wow, it's a hard business.

PS One an amazing note today, one of the young artists I teach, unsolicited by me, said," Wow, it's amazing! This was just a white paper before I started. Now this beautiful city is here looking real. (6 years old Evan)  Boy, does he get miracles. I will post his pastel painting after I photograph it.

PPS This is a memory painting, the first one produced solely in my new studio (here it is Sam.)