For lack of a better title...Monday

Here is my drawing from last week's class, the drawing I have been most pleased with since beginning the class back in January. Time and practice does allow one to get better, and while there are things that could have been done better, I am still pleased with it, though unsure if I will "do" anything with it.

Today was a normal Monday, with all the normal Monday-beginning-of-the-work-week sorts of things. I do hope the scratchiness in my throat isn't a cold coming on, but since the weather is changing, towards the warmer, sunnier sort, it would only make sense. Everyone has some particular curse, and mine seems to be getting sick during the seasonal change from Spring to Summer. Lots of sleep, herbal tea, and vitamins? I don't know, though some of that will likely come into play. More important for me is getting to my classes this week, as with only two more drawing classes, and two more painting classes until late June, I look forward to whatever I can get from them. Actually, in painting this week we start a two class figure painting. All I can really say is that I am ever so glad to have taken all these weeks of drawing, sometimes getting better, and sometimes wondering what on earth I was thinking--with luck, that practice will carry me a little during the painting process.

Speaking of painting, I need to go clean my brushes.

It is Sunday...

and I don't feel like the horse in the picture, but Dave wanted something stunning, and this is what I came up with--hopefully it will work for him. Over at his blog, there is a comment on another blog about religion. And at Dave's behest, I am throwing out my two cents which I mentioned to him in a phone call yesterday, so I have probably forgotten the best of it. Of the religion and hollow phrases, I suggested that it is much more common in Protestant faiths than in the Orthodox. My reasoning was that the Orthodox, much more so than the Catholic, is still steeped in ritual, and the fact these phrases are used in conjunction with age-old ritual perpetually renews them. Since most Protestant faiths tossed out ritual when they stopped taking orders from Rome, they lost the mystery of faith which is still found in Catholic and Orthodox services. The primary purpose of many Protestant services seems to be a harangue, rather than a communing with God (or the spirit). The current world has a different set of pains, or perhaps the same pains with different names, than existed 500 years ago, but a connection with the spiritual is still necessary for faith to thrive. My current opinion of many Evangelical sects is they thrive by telling people how awful those unlike them (or those they don't understand) are, and I find it irritating, and I find that it colors my whole opinion of religion.

I guess that is it for now, since I am sure some laundry will be ready for folding sometime soon.

Not rainy, yet. (a second attempt)

I just lost a really good posting. Nothing like hitting preview, wanting to change something, hitting "recover post" and losing just about everything. Every relationship is fraught with peril, but I think our relationship with electronic media is perhaps more perilous than many others.

This is the picture of my 2nd oil class painting, when my color mixing was proving a disaster, and the instructor eventually told me no to worry about it.

What was really nice in the previous post, which I probably can't recreate here, were some thoughts about the artist's place in society and the relevance of art in today's world. Art today is much more a commodity, and I am sure somewhere someone is trying to create an "art futures" market, which will allow people to bet which artists will appreciate and which will depreciate. I would think the only problem would be with living artists, as they still have the power to surprise and perhaps soil their reputations. This is no where near where the other thoughts were, as they were more internal musings about past reactions, like my aversion to "publish or perish" which was one reason I didn't ever go for an advanced degree. The idea that someone has to like my work enough to publish it in order for me to keep a job, just seemed a bit wrong, though, in truth, I am now realizing it isn't much difference than working any job, if they boss doesn't like what you do, then you won't have much of a future at your job. Perhaps because all my job losses were of the shut the facility or company down, where it was everyone out, it never really occurred to me. I also touched on the whether I felt I could express myself effectively with art. This is where I think all my fears lie, in the fact that at some point, someone is going to judge me, and I think just about everyone dislikes being judged, as critics are not always very nice (just think of Dorothy Parker, if you need something a little beyond today's talent show judges). I think maybe it is just the haze of history, but artists (poets & painters) seemed to influence the world's thoughts from about from the late 19th century through WWII, though aside from major public art (read architecture) and art co-opted by advertising (or is it vice versa with Pop Art), there doesn't seem much in the way of an -ism for the 21st century--not that -isms are required. An artist today can draw from any historic style, but has everything been played out? War obviously hasn't been played out, but aside from bumper stickers, little pro/con seems to be making its way into art. Have television and cinema usurped the early twentieth century place of art, where it supported or railed against what was going on in the world? Have we become so civilized that art no longer has a place to be provocative? When I see new stuff, while I might like it, it doesn't really provoke, rather it looks designed to match the sofa.

One other thing mentioned in my lost post was how easy it was to be distracted in this electronically connected age. If I want to continue working toward creating art, I need to focus on it, and not on everything else. Unlike Dave, I am not in the position to leave my job and head back to graduate school, nor do I have a portfolio which would grant me acceptance right now, so I need to work on the more grounded things, like technique, and at the same time exploring new media to work in, as without the exploration, I will always get distracted by something I haven't tried.

All that said and done, I really hope to keep focused on creating, whether in pencil, paint, or with words. There is a tradition of artists also being writers. I like to write, as it helps me clear my head and toss thoughts out, but I find myself less than open with this electronic journal, and I am likely to keep it that way. Some thoughts exist for one to ponder, and work well for conversation or journals, but there is too little two-way communication in this medium for those thoughts. Too many times have I been misinterpreted in e-mail for me to anxious to be misinterpreted in a blog.

With creation, the other thing I am going to try to focus on is getting away, as the news here is strikingly insular, and without a perspective than transcends one nation, there is little one can say to man.

Kitchen as Studio (but not for food)

After not going to my oil painting class for two consecutive weeks, I decided it was awfully stupid of me to try and learn new skills and not have anyplace to practice, so it was time to improvise a place to paint. Mind you, I have off-white carpet in the rest of the house, which limits the options of where I can put this particular skill set to use. (Note to self: become a writer and you can use the table or any place stable enough to write.) Since I knew that last week the class was going to work on copying a master, I chose a painting I liked, by Koloman Moser if you want to know, and went to work. Actually, first I had to clean up the kitchen enough to use it for a painting space. It worked OK, though I couldn't really step back from the painting, or I would have needed to climb into the sink or open and clean out the refrigerator. The above is about the 2 hr mark or so. You can see the book I am working out propped open on the stove, and I don't see the image posted in the likely places online, so that is the best you are going to get, since I am tired.

One thing that I found serendipitously while at the art supply store this morning buying the paper palette, is what my brushes are resting on. In the section for Chinese calligraphy there were these ceramic brush holders, and I figured if they are good enough for calligraphy, then they are certainly good enough of painting, as I hadn't figured out what to do with all the brushes as I switched colors, but didn't want to clean the brush in case I went back to that color. It was quite handy and prevented a potential disaster.

While I prevented one potential disaster, I have another on my hands, which is where do I put an oil painting to dry. I untaped it from the board so I could touch up the corners, but oil paint doesn't dry overnight, so I have to find a place for this thing in the meantime. Currently it is taking up counter space, but tonight's dinner was a chicken burrito from the new Mexican food stand around the corner, so it isn't likely to pose a problem until I need the kitchen for something other than coffee.

Here is the finished (at least for now) product:

Nothing really...

Before my break stretched weeks, again, I thought I would update here, though I don't have much to say. Work is devolving into so much hierarchical absurdity, that I feel it necessary to try and determine my place there anew every week, or even worse, with every new change in procedure. I guess that is the way things are, though I have to say, this is really the first time I have ever had to really wonder why I was there. (I should actually clarify that, to say the first time in a permanent position, as I have had the feeling while working a temp job whose only end was my leaving it.)

Drawing class this week was not full figure, and, while the cause wasn't nearly as bizarre as the situation last week (the model forgot to put the class in the calendar, and was in the middle of another gig), we did get to spend some time trying to draw hands--or as Darcy put it, draw fingers that don't look like hot dogs (he is actually paraphrasing a comment by the instructor). I guess that is the reason for the lovely picture of my discontinued area rug from Ikea. I doubt the pattern is being discontinued, but I think they probably just no longer buying from Persia.

That is it. Nothing spectacular. No fun. Just a week at work.

Sunday Morning & Laundry

It is just another weekend, and this Sunday, aside from coffee, laundry was on the list, at least a load of whites, which is currently in the dryer, so I have made progress on it, rather than just let it sort of loom like the boogieman as an object of procrastination.

I can't tell if today will be nice or not, as there is a bit of an overcast pall to the sky, but also a bit of blue.

Yesterday was sort of a mess with my motivation level for anything at an absolute nadir. Eventually, I got around to writing some postcards, since I seem to have way to many laying about for my own good--same goes for postage, and only a month to use it all before they raise the price again. I am sure I should stop using snail mail at some point, but I find the tactile process of writing to be enjoyable, and I also enjoy receiving letters & postcards and reading what it is they have to say. If someone takes the time to drop me a postcard while on vacation, I know they are thinking about me at least, though some of the thought is probably how unlucky I am not to be there. It is odd, I was reading about a product on Amazon, and someone mentioned that they trade postcards with people through the mail. I don't know why I found it all that odd, though I am sure it has something to do with no one really writing, except of course Dave, who regularly sends me postcards (and letters). Anyway, yesterday produced a half dozen or so postcards to various people, and even a short letter, so while motivation was hard to come by most of the day, something was accomplished by the end. Now all I have to do is go to the post office and find out how much it will cost for my postcards to Romania.

Of Tulips & Tree-Stumps

As Dave's blog so pointedly reminded me, it is spring, and that means some sort of flower picture, preferably tulips or daffodils, though the latter are more of a "spring is around the corner" flower. The building next to mine has these precariously planted tulips, which I hope make it through the season, but as their plot of ground is obviously not free from traffic, it is hard to know.

It is really only now clearing up, at 6:40 p.m., and the rest of the day has been overcast with a bit of stuttering rain. In celebration of such a lousy day for being outside, I did some doodling with gouache. I tend to doodle, normally just sort of abstract stuff with a ball point at work, starting with shapes and connecting and filling them in and all sorts of stuff. I don't know if I have any at home, but I will try to bring something home and scan it, so my explanation isn't quite so odd. The result of my doodling with gouache, which I went out and bought today as a cheaper and less messy way to play with color than trying to break out the oils in an apartment with off-white carpet, is here:
It looks to me like a doodle, or perhaps a crazed preacher with special effects for the sermon about fire and brimstone he is reciting. Though I guess if it is going to be that, I should add some little round heads on the left, looking rapturous.

Happy Holy Weekend!

Good Friday parking shortage

Earlier this evening I drove over to the Fred Meyer, and wondered about all the cars parked everywhere. As I drove by the Mars Hill Church, I remembered it was Good Friday, and all those cars were for the church in the former hardware store. Not only were they in almost every parking space on the street, but several other lots were filled with them as well. At least this church's patrons try to be good neighbors, as a sign in front of the closed for the evening Java Jahn's coffee shop said no church parking, and there was one space open, even though there was no one likely to use it.

It's Here!

I am sure this is the post everyone has been waiting for--a picture of my first oil painting. Perhaps it is a bit underwhelming, but it is a first, and the project was to do it using a gray scale, and the fact that everything was white only made this easier. Currently, I am working on a two class painting, meaning something like 8 or so hours of work on it, and I am hoping it will turn out better than this one, and the one that followed it, surely to be posted later.

Today, the weather was stunning and I was at work, which of course is the way things go. After work, I took a nap, and took pictures of my painting outside on my balcony, with plenty of natural light, so I wouldn't get the glare from the flash, as I did the first time I tried taking pictures of this oil painting.

Hate to say it, but that is about it for now. I am enjoying my weekly bouts with creativity and representational art. I can't say that abstract is for me, but I can say sometimes the challenge is fulfilling and others just frustrating--more practice is probably called for.

Needs work

Obviously, I need to keep this up on a more regular basis if I really want comments of any sort. Comments are one of those things that are nice to read because it means someone is reading your work, whether they like or dislike it.