Living a Life of Richness Can be Painful

December sunset on the northern Oregon coast

It has been a sad week for me and my dear ones. Within the space of a week friends and family of mine have had news of two tragic deaths of loved ones. I was not close to the two who have passed on but I hurt so for my friends and family who now must stumble through the pain and tragedy of it all. Losing loved ones is never easy but this time of the year it just plain sucks. That said, we are greatly enriched  by having these beautiful people in our lives even when their untimely passing causes such pain. I think of how I was when I was young and death touched me relatively lightly. I wouldn't trade places with my younger self. Life has such richness and experiencing loss and pain is part of that growth.
I have been taking the opportunity and realization that comes with these heart-wrenching events and the end of one year and beginning of another to get my life and art practice reorganized around the now clear goals that I have come to understand. Wrapping up a year and starting a new one is always a good time but this year feels different. Do you feel the graveness in the world? Do you feel the richness? There is a startling urgency in the air to realign our priorities with the reality of our home planet. Great change is in the air. Change can be scary and perilous but it can also be a gateway to wonderous transformation and opportunity.
I will be taking a brief absence from posting while I get things in order and gear up for the coming year. Next post is my 100th post for this blog. Only fitting for it to be the beginning of a new year, new life, and new and continuing journey.
I will wrap up with a wonderful quote I read on Lori McNee's Fine Art Tips blog :

“All life’s problems can be solved by more paint or painting more.” -Donna Zagotta.

It certainly helps! I would also add making music in addition to painting. 

I wish one and all a heartfelt, nurturing, healing, peaceful holiday season. I will see you all here in a couple of weeks, in 2012!
Peace and joy, -Renee

Figure Sketching Interlude

Well, no daily paintings to show this week. I had a few unexpected interruptions and decided to use the odd bits of time I had left getting a few things set up, rearranged and ready to go. I have also been tweaking a few things around the studio to make it more efficient. One of those weeks. I will be reporting on some of the rearrangements in a future post.
In the meantime, I wanted to share a figure sketch I did last week. This is a 30 minute pose. The sketch is a bit distorted by the camera angle making her head look different from the actual drawing, but the general sense of the drawing is there. The reason why I wanted to share it is that I really resonated with this model. She has an unusual and subtle beauty that I found artistically intriguing. She has many tattoos, some of which are artfully positioned on her face but they add to her overall beauty rather than detract. I would like to paint this young woman's portrait.

30 minute Figure Sketch, charcoal on newsprint

Speaking of portraits, I will be stepping up to portrait studies this year. That is one of the things I was getting in place last week. So much fun to have all this wonderful art and challenging growth to work on!
Monday is an appointment and errand day for me and then back to work in the studio. I have the next daily painting set up and ready to go.
-Renee

And Then There Were Two

"And Then There Were Two", Oil on Gessobord, 6"X6", R.L. Delight

Here is the finished "daily painting". I realized when I finished that I hadn't really planned ahead as to where to sign it. I will have to remember that. I just used my initials as my name would not fit. As I mentioned in the previous post, I am having a lot of fun painting these and so far several ideas for compositions have presented themselves. My next painting will not be of fruits and vegetables but will be a still life.
We had a wonderful model at the life drawing session yesterday. She has a very unconventional beauty and is the first model I have drawn that I felt I would like to paint a portrait of. Please don't misunderstand, all the models both male and female that I have had the privilege of drawing have beauty! One of the joys of life drawing is the realization that the human form is quite beautiful in all of its variety. Yesterday's model just had that special something that clicked with me. I hope I get a chance to paint her one day soon.
Now, I wonder how many daily paintings I will get done this week?
-Renee

Daily Painting-Sort of

I was planning to post this a bit sooner but still had to take the following pictures. Unfortunately, a big storm rolled through and stayed for a few days.  I was unable get good enough lighting to take the pictures nor bring them outside due to the gale force winds and pounding rain not to mention the thunder and lightning. I was finally able to take some pictures yesterday during a short break in the weather.
In the previous post I explained why I decided to try my hand at daily painting. I have given it a try and have decided that... it is totally fun! I am thinking it will be a great way to improve and develop my skills in both painting and drawing. At the moment, it takes me more than a day to paint them. The idea is to spend 1-3 hours painting them. I work that long before moving on to my next scheduled task for the day but so far they haven't been finished in that amount of time. I figure I will get faster as my skills improve. So here is the first painting that I posted the set-up picture of. I haven't named it yet.

Oil- 6"x6"

Both the first and following paintings use pumpkins and squash from our local CSA (community supported agriculture) They are quite beautiful and I couldn't resist painting them. Here is the next painting I did called "Pumpkin Sage":

"Pumpkin Sage", Oil, 6"x6"

The final one is actually almost finished but I took a picture early in the process so this is in progress. The title will be "And Then There Were Two" in honor of my very first drawing teacher. I couldn't resist these beautiful pomegranates when I saw them at the local grocery store.

The background is a lovely rich color. I still have a tiny bit of readjustment to make and then it will be through. I will finish it tomorrow and post it this weekend. My plan is to start selling these paintings starting in the new year. I want to get a few under my belt first. They add up quickly and I have a few compositions lined up. They won't all be paintings of food I promise!
Speaking of food, I wish all of the folks in the U.S a Happy Thanksgiving today and wish all the rest a beautiful and plentiful day.
-Renee

Home Art School Evaluation

It has been a while. I have been caught up in the perfect storm of studies that are really not interesting enough to post, the performance of a reader's theater play that my husband has been directing, and wonderful visitors. I have hardly had time to catch a breath until now. I spent what precious time I had in the studio, much to my content. I have now been through a full four weeks of my self-created art school schedule and it is time to sit down and evaluate what worked...and what didn't work.
The verdict? Well, parts of it worked. I have realized that there are differences beyond just a lack of a teacher (other than myself of course!). The most obvious is that a school program is tailored for many students. I am in a class of my own. That means I only have to meet my own needs. One would think that would be obvious but I must confess, it didn't really occur to me. I guess because I was just concerned with a getting a structured study going and the school model is what I know.
So, I am changing things around again. I have no problem with that as not only is it an interesting journey, I want to find what actually works for me, not what should work.
I am always studying and researching, like most artists I know. The other week I got a link to a workshop that is being conducted at WIFAS, where I had my last workshop. The workshop is sold out and I had no intention of attending but I was intrigued. I looked up the teaching artist who is Carol Marine. Not only is she a "daily painter" but her workshops are sold out for the next two years! Wow! I was so intrigued with her process that I decided that painting a 6"x6" painting a day would be a great way to get some study in. Since, in theory, the painting takes 45 minutes to 3 hours, there would still be time for other studies such as drawing and working on larger compositions. She sells her paintings on a daily painting auction website here. I like the idea of the possibility of earning while I learn as even at 6"x6", the paintings would stack up over the year.
So, amidst the plays, appointments, and visitors I started my first daily painting. I could only get an hour in here and there so it is not technically a daily painting. I am also finding that I need to work a lot faster and not obsess over detail, which is probably a good thing at this point. Here is a picture of the still life set up I am painting.

The pumpkin and squash come from our local CSA (community supported agriculture) box. I will be doing a couple of paintings based on the contents of the box because they are fun and the veggies are beautiful. The painting is not yet finished but is close. I have already learned a lot. I think working through so many paintings will be a good way to get some skill with the medium, specially since I am still so new to oil paint.
So, the schedule is going to be refined and tweaked. I am working on both long and short-term goals which will also add to the refinement. That is pretty much it for now. I will have at least one painting to post next week, probably more. I will leave you with a picture of the bounty we received in our final season's CSA box of glorious abundance.

Until next post!
-Renee

Crazy Good

It has been a bit longer than I like since my last posting. I am in the in-between awkward stage of my studies and didn't think they had anything of particular interest to show. I continue to work. I have scheduled in time to work on original compositions in my home art-school schedule and I am getting excited about finally starting to get some of the ideas and visions on canvas. It will be slow going at first as I want to take each painting through a formal process of sketches, charcoal drawings, grisaille, then finally the color. That process will continue to build my skills. I will probably switch my posts to documenting this work and not showing so many studies.
In the meantime life has been joyfully busy. In addition to working in the studio I have been enjoying getting outdoors as much as possible (in spite of injuries which is another post in and of itself) getting back to music making, and participating in our local community in general. So here are a couple of pictures. The first one is just one of our tomato harvests. Who says you can't grow tomatoes on the northern Oregon coast?!

We actually had several harvests. The past two days, however, have been clear and cold and the tomato plants have passed on. I had two plants in a large pot. The nice thing about that was I was able to put it in the warmest sunniest spot in the yard. Considering the climate and the beautiful trees that abound here, I am quite pleased.
By now most of us in the U.S. have heard about the Occupy Wall Street movement. Whatever your opinion and thoughts of the movement it is bringing about conversation and the seeds of change. Our tiny little town has not been left out. We have our own little Occupy movement going on every Saturday afternoon. I was only able to make the first one so far. We marched down (and then back up)  the only main street in town stopping traffic chanting and startling the tourist in town. Here was my sign which reads, "We the People are too big to fail." I feel we should remember that whatever our differences, we the people of this country have the power to change things. We are the majority after all. It will take work and attention though.

At this particular Occupy movement, most of us are over the age of 40! It will take all of us not just the younger folks.
So life is crazy good at the moment.
I want to finish up the post by sharing a contemporary artist whose work I admire. Her name is Anna Youngers and you can view her website here. It is well worth checking out. Here is a sample of her beautiful work:

Anna Youngers: http://www.annayoungers.com

I will also be adding her link to my "Artists Who Inspire" list. I found her work on the "Women Painting Women" blog site which is also on my list.
That is all for this post. I will see how the progress is going for next week. Hopefully I will have a bit more of my own work to share.
-Renee

Elizabeth Jane Gardner Bouguereau and Home Art School-Week 1

Philomena And Procne. Oil 24.49" X 31 1/2 ", Elizabeth Jane Gardner Bouguereau

One of my favorite art blogs is Matthew Innis' Underpaintings.When you have a bit of time I heartily recommend you check his blog out. I can easily spend hours looking at and thinking about all the art and links and information he puts up on his blog. The following information, however, doesn't come from his blog but was a link from his Facebook wall. It was a link to an article on The Forgotten Female Artists of the 19th Century, written in Epoch Times. The first name mentioned caught my eye as her husband William Adolphe Bouguereau's work is quite popular at this time. She is none other than Elizabeth Jane Gardner Bouguereau and an accomplished artist in her own right. Her work is definitely in the same manner as her husbands but has differences that are her own. To be honest, from what I have seen of her work, I prefer her paintings over her husband's. A bit more information on her can be found with the link I attached to her name. Some images of her work can also be viewed either by googling her name and clicking on "Images" or at the Art Renewal Center website here.
Her history, what is accounted for,  is a bit colorful as is many women artists of the past. Perhaps the particular challenges and difficulties that these women have had to face requires a certain strength of mind and willingness to bend conventions.
Elizabeth Jane Gardner Bouguereau had quite a few accomplishments in her own right but definitely stands in the shadow of her famous husband, with pride, I might add. She appeared to have embraced that criticism. With her accomplishments in what would today be considered art marketing, one has to wonder about her influence on her husbands career!
The painting at the beginning of this post is a wonderful sample of her work. I obtained the picture from the Art Renewal Center website linked above.
The first week of the third year of my own humble education went well. I spent a bit more time than I had anticipated getting things set up and in place but I did manage to keep to the schedule I made. It felt good. Still a bit daunting but I am thinking that it will work nicely. I worked on a color study and took a picture of the beginning color stage:

It has moved beyond this point as I took this at the beginning of the week. I also worked on my first self-portrait, in graphite on drawing paper. Yikes! It was a bit startling to me to study-with-the-intent-to-draw my own middle-aged face. I wasn't critical of the way I look, it was just that taking note of the changes that have happened over time was a bit disconcerting at first. I guess I really don't spend a lot of time looking at my face. I now have the beginnings of a recognizable self  image looking back at me from the paper. Perhaps I will get used to it in time as I will be using myself as a model for portrait work to get the basics down before luring others into my studio.
I also enjoyed working on a personal composition. I am in the planning and sketching stage. There are quite a few I would like to do but I am starting with a painting that includes a self portrait for some of the same reasons I have mentioned before. I figured I can always revisit the work when my skills improve and I will have the same model (albeit a bit older!).  The painting will also require another plein air trip just up the road so hopefully the weather and tides will cooperate soon.
Week 2 will be a busy one and hopefully will get a bit more done now that things are set up and in place. Thanks to the folks that have left comments, they are appreciated. Blogger still will not let me respond to them in each post and I have not had any response from Blogger to my inquiries.
On to week 2! -Renee