05/05/2008 15:57:09

Thank you for the encouragement...I am home and posted two of four images!  more later...

05/05/2008 05:47:59

Hi, just posted a new blog with my 'weekend update' and had some small art sales last week. I decided to go back to my therapist of 10 yrs although I probably have seen her more than a dozen or 2 times in 10 years and when I called her a couple weeks ago I said I thought I had graduated from all this and she said to me think of coming here as continuing education! I think of her more as a personal trainer for my mind but regardless, I see her this morning and I did my homework so I am really looking forward to the appointment. I will be doing some plein air painting this summer, tied to art events. Have you posted your new work?

05/03/2008 13:53:53

how are you? I just wanted to check in and let you know my black hole is gone... hope yours is too.

05/02/2008 08:36:01

I am working on 5 large canvases, but can't post till I get back next week.  It is a great thing, perhaps you might apply and give yourself a week!  More later

04/26/2008 21:11:47

Nice to see a post.  Thought you were offended by my bad ear joke.

"Climbing out" sounds sysiphean.  Hope it is meaningful.  I have been struggling to get my business duties in a good spot, ads out for classes and AHHHHH, ready for my stay at the VT Studio Center next week: pure painting, good food and artistic company.

 Going out to paint sounds pretty good.  Post something, even a sketch...I will try to report from the VSC, else after I get home.

I see you and Robin have been commiserating...I always find a little darkness keeps the art from becoming saccharine, you might revel in the black hole, but then you'd loose the treasure you went in for.  In the movie, "City of Lost Children" one character has become a diver, living his whole life undersea.  He has forgotten himself and spends his time collecting relics from the sea floor.  Then one day...

Guess you'll have to rent it.

Anyway, we artists are always initiating, and that requires a presence of mind to keep that all going, inspiration maybe, or other aspects of the soul/body to be in order. 

I admire artists who keep working and just record their state, Munch did it when his vision was impaired, and I read about an artist who recorded her mental demise over a year.

cheers 

04/26/2008 14:36:54

Hi Jane,

oh wow, when did I get to be a top friend to you! Isn't it nice when you feel connected about surviving as an artist?!

I have no news about my solo show other than its hanging until mid May and everything looks great, no sales inquiries to date. I have taken some time off from scuttlebutt and the internet because when my toshiba laptop adaptor broke I was forced to use my new macbook laptop which is not working well on this particular website and I dont know why. (I am slowly learning all about the wonders of macs but after 10 yrs on a pc its hard to change over and next week my new adaptor should arrive). I also got into the art/life/"why am I an artist" funk and decided to not paint for a few weeks until yesterday, when I met a friend/student at my studio and I did a horrible self portrait but at least I picked up my brushes and played.. I am going to work on it at home this afternoon and try and add some watercolor techniques to liven it up but it wont bother me if I ruin it. So to answer your inquiry, I guess I am still in that black hole but working my way into some other place but am not sure what it is yet.

Robin

 

 

04/15/2008 23:13:51

Jane:  Thanks for visiting my page and for your kind comments on my paintings.   No, I was not in Viet Nam and yes, I am exactly the right age to have been there, got out of High School in '64.  But I was no good at taking orders and I never knew what we were fighting for in Viet Nam. That is a bad combination for military service.   (I know it is cynical, but at least Iraq has oil, Viet Nam has nothing now and had even less then.)  So I stayed in school and found other legal ways to avoid the draft.  Some of my friends are vets and spent time over there.  All of them still suffer for it, however.  Denis johnson is such a good writer that I wanted to read his book.  For some reason, his writhing reminds me of Hemmingway, the words seem carefully crafted, not just thrown together.  He can capture what most of us can only feel.  There was a Hopper exhibit here at the National Gallery of Art and Hopper was quoted as saying, "If I could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint."  Unfortunately, I think most of us cannot capture what we feel in either words or paint and maybe that is why we cling to anyone who can. 

  Anyway, keep up the good work.  Richard  

04/15/2008 07:58:51

Your watercolors are professional level...you just live where art sales and juried shows aren't favorable for artists.