A busy 1st week

As a designer, if the phone started ringing during the 1st week in January, it always meant we were in for a good year.....now days its email. Well that's how this year started!! Not only for me but others too!

Last night more than few of us went to 1st Friday art openings, meeting up at Glave-Kocen. It was Elbow room only at the gallery and local restaurants. This, along with more emails and invitations than normal - I think people are revving up for a good year...perhaps tired of the "cliff rhetoric" and juvenile house and Senate....clearly people are deciding to move on and enjoy life. Like this group below:=)

James Bassfield, Jenni Kirby, Chuck Larivey and Sherwin Ghaphery

In between all this activity I've been working on #764 a 30x30 horse and beach painting - actually the 1st one for the year - a painting with a lot of interruptions but working on smaller sections; getting each to a more finished state....if you will, completing a thought - not unlike my approach with my painting by the square. It helps keep the painting fresh, as if it were one complete movement. I didn't take stage photos - except a few late yesterday - primarily to see if it held up - I thought it might also be interesting to peek at a black and white too.

764-3 (3rd day)

 764-3 Black & white

 

 764-3 Detail

My photos tell me I'm on the right track....However I won't get a chance to work on it again until Sunday. Saturday will be busy judging a students show at the James Center for ForArts Sake Gallery and Studio founded in 1974 by Anne Chaddock. A very cool place for artists to show and learn art now run by Diana Robinson and Elizabeth Eubanks of Richmond.

Later... 

Back to a normal life

Today is the first normal day of the new year, perhaps my favorite because people are energized and ready to get back in the game; get rid of what didn't work and start fresh....one of the things I got rid of was Facebook - never was comfortable with social media where we are tracked 24/7 and the players complicit.....perhaps in the real world I don't want to know about other than world news.

Today I'm thinking of my next painting, perhaps the winner I'll need for OPA coming up later this month. My focus this year will be more on painting than marketing.....I'll leave that to others. I'm also going back to painting my favorite subjects in strict rotation. Aside from my Crossroads gallery walls, I have a few solo shows to paint for.....many things to paint for.

Today I'll also back up important files, file away 2012 and make new 2013 folders. My paintings left from 2009 and 2010 will be retired for the preservation of my work in a Trust.

MY FAVORITE 2012 PAINTINGS

#631 Trafalgar Square - Children's Day Trip 40x44 oil on linen (1-26-12) Donated to Richmond's ChildSavers

#641 Matador 44x48 oil on linen (3-7-12) Private collection

#645 Thunder Surfing 44x40 oil on linen - Alla prima (4-1-12) Richard Stravitz Fine Art Gallery

 #648 Koi & Lily Pads 44x40 oil on linen (4-11-12) Private collection

 

 #654 James at Sunset 40x72 oil on linen (4-29-12) Private collection

 

#657 Surfer Dude 30x30 oil on linen (5-4-12)

#669 Koi & Lily Pads 30x30 oil on linen (6-13-12) - painting by the square - OPA 2012 Eastern 

 #681 James Sunset from Belle Isle 24x24 oil on linen (7-1-12) Crossroads Art Center

 #683 Prelude 60x192 oil on linen (7-4-12 to 8-26-12)  WOAS-Vegas

 

 #688 Golden Koi 8x10 oil on linen (7-11-12) Crossroads Art Center

#691 The James 40x44 oil on linen (7-17-12) LeGrand Fine Art

#713 Sunrise 8x10 oil on linen (8-12-12) Private collection

 #733 Alan Hite 14x11 oil on linen (10-1-12) Private collection 

 #734 Alan Hite 10x8 oil on linen (10-1-12)

 #735 Free as the Wind 56x46 oil on linen (10-4-12 to 10-24-12) Crossroads Art Center

 #743 Yellow Koi and Lily Pads 36x36 oil on linen (10-21-12) Weiler House of Fine Art - Fort Worth TX.

 #749 Yellow & Black Koi 72x66 Oil on linen (11-13-12) Crossroads Art Center

#754 Morning Grazing 30x30 oil on linen (11-19-12) 

 #761 Competitive Spirits 8x15 oil on linen

Later....

Goodbye 2012

I'm glad to see it go.....it was a roller coaster year full of highs and lows....distractions from my main purpose, painting, building a body of work; a collection of paintings to be placed in a trust for the benefit of my children. Instead, my focus was split - I've been busy building value and marketing...also important. But, today is a new year, a fresh start, full of possibilities....perhaps just in time!

LAST PAINTING 2012

 #763 Carnival 44x40 oil on linen (12-31-12)

Black and white conversion

#763 was my last 2012 painting, yesterday, I didn't want to carry 2012 over so it's Alla Prima. But, I know after studying it in different light, the left-side fronds need work....my black & white also tells me so. This is a lot of painting for the 8 or 9 hours it took.....perhaps worth a few more to make it a better painting.

REWORKED 2013

#763 Venetian Ornaments 44x40 oil on linen (1-1-13)

Black and white conversion

Problem solved - the main focus is on the figures - I think a more appropriate title is "Venetian Ornaments"


Happy New Year!

One painting at a time - my grumpy "X"

As a young fledgling artist I don't remember frustration and art in the same thought - I was pretty much happy with my results. Besides, I'm not sure as a kid I had a reference of good or bad. Today I do.....so when  I mess up something that was right....you know a bit of diddling on a good passage or someone asks you to repeat a good comment and you can't with the same clarity - I get annoyed....that's what I call frustration....not because I couldn't but because I didn't!

Venetian Gods was one of those moments where good sense goes out the window. Normally when that urge comes on it's time to stop - take a break or end the session. LOL....Well I did end the session with a big nasty "X" across 4-days work....my frustration was gone and it felt good too:=) Imagine, a temper tantrum at my age...you gotta love it:=)

Then remorse took over; good thing too because I had the good sense to remove the big "X" and scrape the messed up passages off - in this case the gondolier, my star.  

Oddly it remained on my easel untouched for almost a week - normally it would have disappeared, but I wasn't in a painting mode. I had other things to do so it didn't have my attention, or did it?  

Yes, I think it did. I also think my week long break saved it...It was unfinished business and needed to be resolved before starting a new one. Removing the damage was the first clue I wasn't done with it. If I hadn't removed the "X" it would have been finished with no regrets and nothing to stop me from starting a new painting, which I had no desire to do....even after a week.

I think working on large multiple projects most of my adult life taught me to finish each stage before moving on or changing directions. In other words, complete the thought. In my mind, a painting is not a long term project and deserves my attention until its resolved one way or the other. It keeps the mind free from a lot of unresolved clutter.....like my grumpy "X"

 End of day 4 - before grumpy "X" was removed and Gondolier scraped smooth

DAY 5 #759

  #759 Venetian Melody (renamed) 30x30 oil on linen (12-8-12)

DETAILS

 Detail of Gondolier - this whole section was off and over cooked

 Detail of final Gondolier and oar - I got carried away and decorated his oar - one of my favorite details....I'll do it again too

Much the reason for the grumpy "X"

Final Venetian God 

I'm good with my results and decided to do another Venetian God, only this one will be 48x44 - Yesterday, I stretched the canvas for an early start today.......well see 

Later....

Learning curves - distance and art

Getting any painting done over the last week was tough with the WOAS show charging in fast. I'm in good shape tho...my shipping and framing is done and will be in Vegas next week....it was quite a learning curve for me but not the pros at JFM who got it done!

My everlasting appreciation to Pat, the JFM staff and Barry the art dealer, a total stranger on his way to Atlanta who agreed to meet me at I-81 & I-64 to deliver my paintings to JFM the following day.

Today with that behind me, I'm a happy camper; so maybe a few paintings will emerge, like another try at my failed Venetian Gods..LOL

Even with a failed painting, I actually had a good last week. I also spent time on the packing and shipping thing because it's become problematic, especially as my paintings get larger and galleries get further away. FedEx has worked exceptionally well as long as I can do the packing. I can handle singles up to a size myself, but it's not practical for large paintings or quantities of art. 

It costs about $600 to $1,000 to ship and crate a large framed painting (58x54) via most art shippers. If it's a sold painting perhaps OK but this is not the case in Vegas where I'm sending (17) paintings...some very large ones too as in this one below. No doubt a specialty art shipper could do it but could they frame it too?

WOAS is a 3-day show and I could easily be faced with return shipping. How would you like this one coming back...LOL

Framing and shipping is a big deal, costly and time consuming, taking valuable painting time....it's just a different mindset - shifting gears and all....not my job description!

This alone makes being a regional artist most attractive....even for a gallery, it is expensive to operate outside driving distance. Perhaps another reason we're swimming in small paintings...had to get that in:=)

So where is all this leading? An interesting alternative emerged from JFM, the company who supplies the majority of my framing. JFM is a wholesaler out of Atlanta, Ga. They might be unique in the business because they are multifaceted. JFM has an art reproduction printing service for artists, which is how I was exposed to some of their other services. I found they frequently drop ship finished work for artists....makes perfect sense.....even more so after fooling around with it the last few weeks on another project.

I also had a new gallery that wanted (8) paintings - most were shipped FedEx - (1) crate at 48x48x8 . I couldn't lift the box but me and the FedEx guy struggled and got it done. Going forward I needed a better solution - keep it light and manageable. Plus, I still had to ship the last painting, a 54x50 to the gallery. Knowing I would be faced with this more often than not led me to searching and buying larger custom corrugated boxes to fit my larger paintings up to 58x54 framed. The boxes would not arrive in time for Vegas tho...thank god!

All this brought me to JFM who I knew from experience could ship large heavy frames damage free. 
 
I approached them about framing and shipping my paintings to Vegas. They agreed and suggested sending the paintings not stretched but rolled up (less expensive); they would stretch, frame and drop ship to Vegas...or wherever. My kind of answer and just what I needed, a dependable vertical company that could do it all for me. 

So why wouldn't this work for my gallery shipments too?  My paintings and framing would be handled once and shipped direct. Aside from the obvious cost, saving over double shipping and handling, it saves time and allows me to ship worry free to any gallery or distant show. In my case, the latter being most important.....less stress (no failed paintings) more easel time!

Rolling my paintings up for shipping works for me and FedEx drivers will be a lot happier too:=)

Going into the new year I have a viable shipping solution....a serious learning curve!

Later....

Venetian Gods

The other day I started a 30x30 Venetian God painting, #759. It's been almost a year since the last one.....one sold a few weeks ago and a gallery snatched the last remaining one, so it was time to take a fresh look at Venice............ by the way it was called "Venetian Gods" because a Venice painting seems to demand the gondolier. Those iconic figures are idolized by millions worldwide. Perhaps remembered for their company while exploring Venice and if lucky sharing a great sun set too. 

Interestingly enough, galleries seem to gravitate towards gondolier paintings too.  Perhaps the right reason to paint a Venetian God.....perhaps not!

The recipe for #759 is simple (1) gondolier (1) Golden sunset with a pinch of gorgeous water reflections. San Giorgio in the distant horizon  (viewed from the Grand Canal); and the cherry on top would be the Salute or Dogona on the right anchoring the whole composition. 

Note: A good moon can be substituted  

DAY 1 #759

DAY 2 #759

 DAY 3 #759

DAY 4 #759

DAY 4 (2nd session) The "X" Factor?

 Not the kind one hopes for.....every once in a while a painting takes a turn and deserves a big  
"X"

#759 Venetian God "X" 30x30 oil on linen sank (11-30-12) 

LOL..I did remove the "X" but only after remorse set in. Now what?.....Fix it or move on........of course move on:=)  

Maybe a 5th session is warranted here......rather like the idea of a BIG RED "X"

Later...