The latest finished piece to grace my studio is now in my home page slide show.  I started it nearly two years ago, but as is my way, I took my time to get all its elements the way I wanted them.  Typically, there are three, four, sometimes five unfinished pieces at a time in my studio, and they don't get attention on the same days.  I may have to leave a piece alone for weeks or even months before my light bulb goes on and I'm able to work on it again.  In the case of "Butterfly in the Garden," even though its original vision came from a vivid dream, the bottom right corner was a mystery to me for months before I finally decided what to put there.

At the moment, I have three partially done paintings and one blank canvas with a planned design being worked on.  I just returned to one of my mermaid ("Undersea Adventures") paintings that I've been staring at for months because a tail just wasn't right.  Last night, after a grueling week and a very long Friday complete with broken car air conditioner in 90+ degree weather, I watched a few episodes of Discovery's Shark Week, and my light was on.  Now I'm back in the studio working on it and feeling as if my hands are suddenly untied. It's an incredibly liberating feeling, like coming up out of water to breathe air.

Since the butterfly painting is finished, I can now share some of the time progression it went through.  Thanks for reading.

I recently had a casual chat with a younger artist who had a problem with potential "clients" who said they wanted a painting but never followed through.  She may have actually gone through the trouble of creating something for them, and they were either unwilling to pay or just casually unconcerned about the whole affair.  For a hungry artist, this is a big deal.  We are all trying our hardest to get our work out there and make a living.

I shared with her something I did some time ago that has helped tremendously, and I have forgotten to put it on my website here (but will do so right after this posting).

What I created was a contract form, which gives the buyers a space to describe detailed needs and desires for a commissioned piece.  It helps clients figure out what they really want in design, subject matter, color scheme, size, and price point.  These are important considerations.  Instead of just saying, "Can you make me something really big with a New Orleans theme?" they can be sure what they're asking for is something they'll love to have in their home.

What it also does is let clients know that this is my business and I am serious about the painting requested, that I want to create the best match for their space as well as their budget.  (I price my art by size) The contract ensures that they get the painting they want on time, and in return, they stick to my payment schedule.

I think the form takes a lot of pressure off both parties because there is no obligation on either part until the contract is complete.  It leaves me free to paint other things and them free to spend their money on whatever they consider a priority.  But once everyone involved agrees to the deal, there should be a smooth, seamless transaction that makes everyone happy.   Of course, you can always buy "off the rack," as it were, from my gallery of already-painted paintings.

Although I'm not fond of other artists copying my artwork, I don't mind sharing this form with them.   Cheers!

This week has been pretty momentous for our young country with two big supreme court rulings causing a stir.  I have very good friends and family members for whom they are monumental. 

My week, personally, has been slow.  I developed a neck cramp that brought my productivity to a dead halt.  You never realize how important those muscles that hold up the most important organ in your body are until they stop working or cause you so much pain you just can't function.  I've done the very minimum possible this whole workweek with agony.  Even after two trips to the massage therapist, lots of anti-inflammatories, and heat and ice packs, the spasms continue.

I managed to make progress on only one painting.   So I will share it with you from its inception (which was more than a year ago) to its current incarnation.  This painting, which will become a set and possibly another series, follows the musical theme paintings I've done before.  I usually do them with treble and bass clefs covered in vines and berries and flowers.  This time, I thought I'd add a little more sinister but beautiful nature to the design.  The snake design came first.  I sketched this some time ago.  It was sort of a snake/serpent/dragon concept.

Here is what the first sketch looked like:

I'm a big fan of snakes.  I do prefer the nonlethal kind in person.  However, the innumerable variety of snakes around the world, in fact, just in Louisiana, is mind-boggling.  One of the most dangerous and also one of the most beautiful snakes here is the copperhead.  I decided that would be my first one.  This is what it started out looking like, wrapped around the treble clef.  Obviously, I had a long way to go at this point.

My tiny bit of progress this week is shown below.  I still have a lot of work to do, and I may or may not get done with it today, but here it is.

My sketch books are full of future ideas.  I hope you enjoy seeing these progressions as much as I enjoy sharing them.

AM

Since my last post, I managed to find some time to work in my first medium, watercolors.  It was good to get back to something that, some 30+ years since my first lesson, still felt so natural to me.  I have done a few watercolor paintings here and there over the years, but not seriously as an artist until now.  I enjoyed the fluidity of the paint, the freedom to pull my brush across the paper, the softness of the color--all things I don't feel with acrylic paint.

I felt as though Mr. Looney's spirit was guiding me, reminding me about method.  I could see in my mind his wrinkled, bent fingers selecting, opening, and squeezing the paint tubes into the pallet, telling me what colors would work best for the painting of a duck flying over a foggy bayou early in the morning.  I'm painting other things now, of course, but I will never forget that first session when he led me to believe I showed true talent and promise. 

It took me a long time to believe it, but better late than never.

While I had every intention of doing the Lakeside show this weekend and had my spot reserved, I had to step back and take inventory of my time.  When I did so, I realized I had already far surpassed the limit of things one person is able to do at one time.  I have always had a problem with spreading my time too thin, saying yes a little too often, and it is time for me stop and reevaluate my priorities.  Time is money, as they say, and I'm just about broke. 
 
There are still many talented artists, some more talented and experienced than I, who will be selling at this show, so I still encourage readers to attend and browse. 
 
More to come...