When is it Done?

No matter how many paintings I do I always have trouble with this question. Is a painting done when you are finished? Is it done when it is signed?

For me I don't always know when a piece is completed. It may be done when I am finished adding the last stroke of color, ready for my signature and a frame. Other times it has to set for awhile and "percolate" slowly showing me what needs to be changed. This is when I place the piece where I can observe it at various times of day and varying light. Sometimes I have taken a piece out of the frame and tweaked something that needs changed.

This is my latest piece, started a few weeks ago and just now completed due to life's other challenges.

Is it done?

I think so, but then it's not framed yet.

Painting in the Great Outdoors

Today was the first day of this seasons Vistas and Vineyards painting “en plein aire” at local sites in the mid-valley. I have been so excited about this day!

I awoke this morning with a sinus headache. Oh, the joys of spring. This was nothing to sneeze at so I took some medication and packed my gear. I decided I would not set high expectations for my first day out. I just wanted to go, nothing more. Camera, chair, pencils, art sticks, paper, lunch, all loaded in the car and off I went.

I arrived at the park where our first paint out was scheduled and started looking around for a suitable site to work. I grabbed my camera and set out on foot up and down trails to find my inspiration. Alas, nothing was very inspiring, everything just looked green! Don't get me wrong I love living in Oregon and the Willamette Valley because it so green and lush but this spring has been very wet and damp especially after a long rainy winter. Everywhere I looked all I could see was green, green, and more green.

I got back into the car and drove to the opposite end of the park where I could find more natural scenes and less manicured grass. I finally found a grove of trees in a small ravine with yellow and purple wild flowers growing among the long grass. I parked my car and set up my chair and reached for my small sketch pad to work out my composition. Oops, no small sketch pad. It was not in my bag where I usually keep it. I must have used it over the winter and did not get it put back into my bag, darn. Luckily I found a small piece of scratch paper to use.

It was cold out and the sun was not going to break through the cloud cover, in fact it was beginning to look more and more like rain. Not to let this dampen my spirits I decided I could set in the back seat of my car and work instead of out in the rain and cold. I set my supplies on the seat next to me and began working. Hours went by. What time is it anyway? I looked at my cell phone for the time, I cannot see the hands on a watch anymore, much to my surprise it was nearly noon. At noon we usually meet as a group and critique our work and eat our lunch. I took a look at my work. It looks like crap! I decide to skip the group critique and see if I can salvage anything in my painting. My feet are cold.

Thirty minutes later I am getting nowhere with my painting, my feet are numb, my head is beginning to pound and I am getting hungry. I give up!

I did not get a "keeper" today but I did what I set out to do, I went.

I can't wait till next week!

Art Shows... emotional roller coaster.

My painting of the "Rhubarb" has been accepted into the International Colored Pencil Show.

I entered the international show many, many years ago and did not get accepted. I told myself it was because I was not yet good enough. Many years later I decided to give it another try. Alas, once again I was not accepted. I told myself it was the judge. I entered last years show thinking I would surely get in this time. No, drat foiled again! I told myself it didn't matter, the judge must be an imbecile! I don't need to waste my effort, money, or time.

A friend told me I needed to change my attitude. I needed to start looking at the entry as I have told my students for years "It is one persons opinion on one day". She said I may or may not get in this year or next but I need to keep trying and improving. I decided to enter again this year.

I have mixed feelings about being accepted. I know I should be thrilled but I am not. Maybe it just hasn't sunk in yet, or maybe it is all those years of telling myself "It is no big deal". Then again maybe the pressure is on now to make signature status, I don't know.

I entered the same painting last year and was not accepted. I guess it is true "It is one persons opinion on one day". It must be really hard to be a judge.

Workshop Success

I just spent the weekend in a two day workshop with one of my favorite colored pencil artists.

I signed up for the workshop several months in advance and marked my calendar so I would not forget. As the time for the workshop approached I took a look at my supply list and started gathering them together.

Last week as the weekend drew near I started to doubt my wisdom in signing up for a workshop that would take my time for an entire weekend. My husband and I are in the middle of a bathroom remodel, my schedule has left me little time this spring for yard work, the weeds are taking over my flower garden and I'm sure I could think of a thousand more reasons not to go. I was already committed and planed carpooling with a friend, as well as pre-paying, so early Saturday morning I was off.


Once we were on the road our hour drive was filled with catching up on things we were doing as well as views of some beautiful scenes of the valley in the morning light. We talked of stopping to take photos but did not. We were anxious to get to the workshop and find good spots to set up, close to the front so we would not miss a thing. Our plan payed off and we were able to get seats in the front row right up close so we could see and hear all that the instructor was saying. We worked from 9 till 4 with a short break for lunch. My friend and I packed a lunch so we were able to eat and talk and get right back to work. By Saturday night when I arrived home I was exhausted and ready for a good nights rest.

Sunday morning we were off again, this time we did stop and take a few photos. We arrived early, made the coffee for the group and our instructor and once again went to work. The day was just as intense as the one before and we all worked very hard. By mid day I could tell my ugly duckling of a piece was going to turn into something beautiful. I was just as exhausted by the end of the day but very glad I went. Workshops are HARD work!


I thought I would list a few things to do to help make your workshop experience a good one.

1 - Research the artists that will be instructing the workshop. Check the artists work on their web site. Think about how the artists work and your work relate. If the workshop is about portraits and you like to do landscapes, the workshop may not be the best "fit" for you.

2 - Gather the pieces and materials that you plan to bring. Check your supply list and make sure you have all the supplies listed as well as any other supplies you might like to use that are not listed. Don't plan to bring your entire studio but a good selection of materials and extra supplies can always be left in the car and are close at hand just in case.

3 - Clear your schedule. Your focus for the duration of the artist's workshop should be solely on the workshop and the pieces that you are creating during this time. Plan to stay in a Hotel close by or if you are close enough to drive, plan to have dinner ready when you get home or pick something up on the way. Keep your evening free for relaxing and get a good night rest for each day.


4 - Attend all sessions. Plan ahead and plan to arrive early to set up. It is a good idea to pack a lunch or know where you can get a quick lunch nearby. You want to make sure you are on time so you don't miss an important lesson.

5 - Make time to speak one-on-one with the instructor. Don't feel like a nuisance if you take up the artist's time. You paid the money to attend and should get as much feedback about your work as possible. On the other hand don't take up ALL of the instructors time, be courteous to the other attendees, they paid for the workshop as well and deserve equal time for feedback.

6 - Keep your attitude positive! If you have a positive attitude about your work no matter what level of experience you are and about yourself it will come through in your work. My goal is not to have a completed piece of work by the end of a workshop, but to learn as much as I can about new techniques and practice new skills. If I only finish a small section and get a feel for how new techniques work, I consider the workshop worth my time and money. Sometimes I feel I only really "get" one thing from a workshop but that one thing leads to one more thing, and one more, and I keep improving and building my skills. Besides, no one wants to hear me whining about how my back hurts from sitting too long or how my bunions are inflamed and swelling!

A workshop is a great place to meet new artists and new friends. If you do some planning you can assure your workshop experience will be a good one.

I want to thank Pat Averill for all her hard work putting together a wonderful workshop (believe me, I know how much work goes into a workshop). I also want to thank Nancy Rogge for helping me make coffee and keeping me laughing :))

Bonus! I got a beautiful painting to keep as a reminder as well as loads of new techniques to try on my own colored pencil paintings.

Corvallis Art Guild

Practice, practice, practice!
I practice all day long. I would go over and over my speech so I knew it by memory, which by the way, ain't as good as it used to be. All my work payed off.

I was in Corvallis last night at the Art Guild meeting and did a presentation about colored pencils. There were around forty or so artists present and my presentation went off without much of a hitch. I only wish my slides would have projected better. Technology is such a fickle thing. It is very difficult to get an image on a computer monitor to look like the original and even more troublesome to get it to project accurately.

I had a great time talking about my passion, art, and my love of colored pencils. The Corvallis Art Guild is a fabulous bunch of artists and I am proud to be one of them. Thank You CAG.

Comments:

I really thought you did a great job last night - very informative... I was in the back of the room - everyone was entranced with the capabilities of cp and what one could do with it. I think you surprised a number of people. There seemed to be a good crowd up front after the presentation. I would have to rate it as one of the better presentations this year as the amount of information provided and the way it was presented. Cool job... !
Terry Tallis

btw- I have added Terry's blog to my Art Links. Terry has written a fabulous book for photographers. Check it out on his blog!

Hi Kris. That was a really good talk last night. I had no idea how varied your styles and subject matter are! Great work. I especially was intrigued by your plein air "starts". When I looked at the one you brought, I realized you didn't even need to be near a landscape to see one in it. Congratulations for being able to make the move from fine detail to broad ideas. I can't do that...yet?

I think you should give a mini-workshop to the CPSA on your plein air techniques. I think a lot of people (me, anyway) would be interested.
Thanks!
Kelly

Hi Kris,
That was a wonderful presentation. You covered a lot of material, which was organized in an easy-to-follow way. Making the samples available to touch and see at the end was a great. It's one thing to see/hear how you do it; to actually touch it makes a greater impression. Thanks
joyfully,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady

FYI I have added "The Mandala Lady" to my links as well. Check out Maureen's beautiful Mandalas.