new drawing: buffalo vertebra

buffalo vertebra | graphite on paper | 11x14

finished this drawing over the weekend. still trying to decide if i also want to paint it. decisions. decisions.

i spent some time setting up some small skull still lifes. trying to decide where i want to start.

my deer skull painting hit a bump because that damn vine I chose grows so freakishly fast that within a few hours everything has changed.

considering the detail i like to work in, this has proven many challenges in refining each leaf.  so i'm trying to problem solve it by photographing new leaves in place of the old this week and will just have to suck it up and work from photos to finish off the vine.

signs of life • 6x12inch oil on panel

signs of life | 6x12 oil on panel mounted to birch wood cradle | sold

Yeah.

That felt good.

Slow progress in the studio, but it's a steady slow progress.

I can't express enough how GOOD it feels to be painting and productive.

If only I could paint faster!

just in case | 7x5 inch oil on panel

just in case | 7x5 inch oil on panel | $100 sold

this one practically painted itself. just one of those little moments when you feel so strongly that you need to paint something and don't even think about it.

i've had plenty of moments lately in which i could have used this, but i just keep holding off, just in case.

walnut • 6x6 inch oil on gessobord

walnut • 6x6 inch oil on gessobord • available here

Finally getting around to posting this completed painting.

When I started this painting I was excited, half way through I wanted to poke my eyes out with my paintbrushes, but in the end I was happy with the outcome and glad I stuck with it.

It was hard as hell to photograph, this is a bit harsh, the actual painting is softer.

If you are wondering what I'm working on, I post in-progress works and other tidbits on my facebook page.

I've recently cleaned a ton of posts out of this blog and will be posting only finished works and an occasional work in progress photo, otherwise I'll keep all the other stuff and sneak peeks of finished works over on my facebook page.

buffalo vertebra drawing start

We spent all last week at the beach relaxing. It was wonderfully hot, but still relaxing.

First day back today was the usual return from vacation catch up chaos of graphics work, emails and the dreaded laundry. Ugh.

No way I was finding time to squeeze out paint, to finish up my milkweed pod painting, so I took 20 minutes of me time to clear my head and get a start on this drawing. It's just for study so I'm not sure how far I'll take it.

Just felt good to be standing at the easel and not in the sun.

Getting efficient with time in the studio...

my new drawing station

I'm pretty fortunate that my very accommodating husband converted our rec room into a much larger studio for me a few years ago. It's allowed me to set up multiple work spaces so that I can work on several things at once and leave them in place for extended periods.

Another reason for that decision was to create a space for our daughter to play, watch TV or also be creative in her own little 'studio space' so that I could spend some time painting while also occupying her.  It was also nice to have all of her art supplies (and mess) contained to my studio rather than all over the house.

Easier than it sounds.  But now that she is getting older and more independent, it is going much better. She enjoys painting while I paint, but it's hard to focus with interruptions every 45 seconds.  So it's more just time well spent together.

As I slowly make progress on some new smaller works, and plan and prepare for new larger works, I find that there are days that painting just isn't possible. Mostly because, by the time I get fresh paint squeezed out and refocus on where I left off, it's time to stop.

lots of drawing tools at the ready

In an effort to still be creative, I spent time yesterday setting up a drawing station in my studio. Not to produce anything worthy of framing but mostly to exercise my drawing muscles on the days when I have a small window of opportunity to work, but not enough to set up for painting.

It will also allow me time to study some of the skulls and bones I have and plan on using in larger paintings.

I think so many female artists can agree that balancing motherhood and studio time is difficult.  It helps if you have a strong support base that can assist with babysitting, something I do not.

Instead, I focus more on efficiency.

Gone are the days when I could lazily contemplate a painting on my easel while sipping coffee and relaxing.

Now, once I flip on the lights, it's all business. Sure, I still have that cup of coffee precariously perched next to my palette, but more frequently, it gets cold or I just chug it down so I can keep my hand occupied with a paint brush, rather than a mug.

Focusing on small goals, like just completing a painting, are short term milestones I'll tick off one at a time. Sure, I've got big long term goals, but instead of stressing on them, I'm keeping my eyes focused on what I'm currently working on. Slowly and methodically I'll get there. I'm more concerned with quality not quantity.

It's strange how after having a child, I feel like I am starting completely over. In a way I am, it's been a number of years since I've been focused and productive, but I don't feel I've lost or missed out on anything. I think I can confidently say that I've matured and grown more as an artist by being away.

Not painting allowed me to read, study and think.

Having a child gave me new inspiration.

angel drawing, finished

Today I went back to the cemetery, in the ridiculous mid-90's heat and humidity, to finish off as much of this as I could.

Tomorrow is the jelly bean's last day of camp and I have other plans while she is there so I did what I could in the short time I had left.

I decided to try and finish off as much of the statue as I could and not focus too much on the facial features, I couldn't really see them anyway.  The sun was glaring and the shadows on the face so dark it was really just a giant mass of dark. Most of the statue is covered in lichen, especially the face so it made it all the more difficult.

It was just an exercise in drawing anyway, so I'm happy that in a total of two and half hours of drawing, in the worst heat and humidity, I got this far. Had I more time and the weather not been so miserable I could have spent much more time refining this drawing.

So I guess I'll just be happy with it the way it is.