A Very Cold Winter Day

It's the middle of January and all is cold and bright, too cold to paint out-of-doors. The reference photos don't fit my mood, so it's time to clean the studio. First, sort the paint brushes for those that have turned into chisels. I tried a new method for brush cleaning. I read somewhere that after you wipe the brushes clean, you should dip them into linseed oil and they stay soft. So, I did it and they turned to stone. Oops... Time to rescue those good old friends. That took an hour.

I have been trying to work eight hours per day. Have seven to go. There are paintings lined around the the studio drying. Time now to get them filed in their racks. Racks are full pushing the need to get the new rack in place and in use. That took an hour. Six hours to go to get my eight hours in.

Lunch break and a good cup of tea and back to work in the studio. Cool jazz calms the environment along with a clean studio, it is TIME TO PAINT. The once uninspiring reference photo snapped into real excitment. I went with a photo that was used succesfully years ago. The challenge is to keep the memory fresh. With a whole bunch of hours, clean brushes and the studio reorganized it was time to let the paint fly. Two hours later, I had a new version of an old favorite, plus a clean, better organized work place. This was a great way to use a very cold winter day. Only four more hours to go.

SETTING GOALS

The new year for me means it's time to think about goals in the coming months. Over the years this has been easy, make more art-sell more art. Sounds a little crass without much direction and joy. So, we'll try to be more specific.

A few years ago, I chanced to meet a person who claimed to be a promoter for artists. After giving me her success story she asked the question that concerns many people in the arts: How much money do I want to make a year? The question smacked me upside the head. Make money in the arts? This experience has been floating around out there for years. When I set goals for the new year, making money is one component that must be considered. It would be nice to have clients waiting for my next creation and who knows maybe they are waiting. It is an encouraging thought.

So making a little income is one of my goals along with the real reason I paint. This holiday season was made a little more meaningful. I had a chance to connect with happy owners of some of my work. "I have that orange one on the wall where the morning sun shines on it and lights up the room." How can you put a price on that joyous comment?

Measuring Success

A few days ago I had a discussion about how we measure success. The first obstacle we had to clear up was each person's definition of success. This got quite heated with a lot of personal feelings getting a little bruised. After we all settled on one similar definition we began to see a pattern developing. I had an oil painting professor who once said we never get out of our own backyard. Over the years this little comment has been tested over and over again. Influences that model our young lives play an important roll in our interpretation of major bench marks in our adult view of what success means to us. So how do we measure success? Any way that keeps our backyard and our constant pursuit for truth in our adult life in perspective.

This pursuit for success is lurking in the back of our minds as we start that new project, the next painting. I try to overcome this uneasiness is by having fun, being true to myself and not taking myself too seriously. We have to immerse ourselves in our art to please that passion that keeps us going.

Blog 1

This is my first posting in the new world of blogging. Please give me a little time to get this stuff going.

This will not be a journal as in a daily record of the events that go in the artists life. That struggle is not too interesting for others to read about. Painting is a solitary experience artists engage in each time we face our creative challenges. In this environment I let a few outside thoughts seep into the creative time. Once in a while, some interesting insights emerge. These epiphanies are the stuff of these future entries.