Catching up

Posted on | March 5, 2007 |

Whew! I bet you thought I had been eaten by my new easel… Well, no. Not at all. I actually have just been focused on art, continuing to clean out my junk that I don’t use, and busy with friends. Here’s the update:

On Friday, Angie and I went to the Thunderbird Art & Wine Festival, where we were inspired to start painting immediately. We met some awesome artists who were willing to talk to fellow artists about their processes. In particular, Cynthia Duff was incredibly inspiring to us both. She said she has been pushing her personal art limits, and let me tell you, it shows. Her work is breathtaking! Though we were not in a position to purchase her original pieces, I did get a print from her and a book, Prairie Meditations, which she collaborated on with a friend, Tricia Moon-Beem, who is a poet.

I also met Ruth M. Rodman from Boston. She does large-scale mixed-media pieces and has been a working artist working in acrylics and mica on canvas for over 20 years. She keeps pushing these two basic mediums and continues to work with them. We got to talking, and I mentioned my connection to Boston (Dave and I both went to school there and met there!). I also mentioned that I’m going to be there in April. She handed me her card and told me to call her to come and visit her studio. I was so excited, I could barely contain myself! I have her card close-by so I can remember to call her. I doubt I will forget! (Angie will remind me if I forget! ) Angie’s new obsession is gourd art. If you have not seen her gourd sculpture, “The Offering”, do go - NOW! We met quite a few gourd artists at the fair, and they were also willing to talk with Angie about the art form.

So then we enjoyed the lovely day in Carefree, AZ and went to lunch at a restaurant there. We sat outside in the courtyard and enjoyed the fabulous 65 degree weather - apologies to those of you in the Northeast and Midwest… We high tailed it back to town after lunch so Angie could meet her kids at school. When I got back, I decided it was time to begin painting that 36 x 36 canvas I had put on the new easel. I blocked it out with pencil and added some gesso and some of the Golden mediums to give it some texture and structure. I let it dry overnight. (Nope. No photos, folks! This one is going to take a while to finish!)

Saturday, I pulled out the paint. I decided to start the first layer of paint. I had such a blast. I didn’t want to wait for it to dry! But I knew if i went and did more, I’d ruin what I was doing. So I went out and enjoyed the stunning day outside. I walked around our neighborhood with my “Got Art?” cap that Tracey bought me for Hanukkah, my iPod playing to Five for Fighting, a sweat shirt, and my phone to take photos! I thought that since I don’t have finished art to share, I’d share these photos with you. Our development is surrounded by a nature preserve. It’s so peaceful around here, yet we’re far from isolated. I love walking around in the mid-morning and enjoying the calm part of the day, after everyone has left for work and some of the other neighbors are out walking, running or biking.

On Sunday, Dave had plans to go to a baseball Spring Training game with his father, so my MIL and I decided to spend the afternoon together. We went to lunch and then we went back to her house so I could give her her first scrapbooking lesson. Mom, you did great! She did 3 pages her first time out! I think we’d have even gotten more done if the photos had already been printed. I’m going to put some together tonight for her to print out at the house so she can continue. Of course, our first subject is Eliana, who takes center stage in all family photos these days! I am going to keep scanning the family photos so we can get all of the photos into albums with some journaling.

Whew. I’m tired just thinking of all of this! LOL But the update continues! Today, I went over to Angie’s place and we sorted through her many bins of fabric. We were able to get through all her fabric and we even eliminated at least two bins! It was awesome to help Angie with that. And, well, I did end up with some new fabric of my own as a result of this little endeavor, but I’ll share that with you tomorrow. I have to get cracking on some more organization in MY studio and to do some art!

Have an awesome night, everyone!

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