Deadlines and Commitments...

November begins; five months to my solo show.

I mixed up some Gamblin Traditional Gesso last night; I’m going to prepare at least one panel tonight. (You have to wait 12 – 24 hours after preparing the gesso—and it has to be heated in a double boiler—before it can be applied to a rigid support.)
I’ve been working on a new, two-figure drawing for the past month or so, and I can’t wait to get started on the painting part (but patience is a virtue). I’m hoping that this painting will be good enough to serve as the “centerpiece” for the show.

Time will tell.

I’m feeling really good right now. I spent six hours Saturday afternoon airbrushing flat colour onto four sheets of expensive, handmade paper, for a lady who does restoration work for several museums around the world. The colour I was applying needed to perfectly match the colour of the backing paper on a Chinese screen she had restored. She was pleased with my work (and a little extra money will come in very handy at the moment!)

You really can’t over state how good it feels to successfully complete a demanding task!
* * * *

I made a list of the pieces I want to create for the show in April, and I made a separate (and, honestly, rather reasonable) list of the work I need to complete this month. I’m going to pay particular attention to making sure I spend three to four nights each week, working in the studio. I wasn’t able to do that in October (for a variety of reasons), and I want to feel like I’ve “kept up” with my “list” in November.

* * * *

I have made a good start on the commissioned tarantula (see photo). It needs to be done (along with several other projects) by the end of this month, and I think it will be.

So, the month is off to a good start, and my main “task” is simply not to lose any momentum.

I haven't been in the studio (to actually work) in several days.

We spent this part weekend at a very enjoyable and informative seminar, but it kept us away from the house Friday night, pretty much all day Saturday (we arrived home around midnight) and again 'til the late afternoon yesterday. Last night, we got together with friends for dinner and a (DVD) movie.

It's fun, and I don't begrudge our friends a bit, but I'm feeling very "out of balance".

And the week isn't looking good, as far as having much time to spend in the studio.

Tonight, I did finish the basic assembly of a large panel, which will become my next "major" painting. I've been working on the drawing for several weeks, and I'm nearly ready to transfer it to the prepared panel, and really start "finishing" the drawing--but I probably won't have time to prepare the panel, this week.

I have completed the armature for the commissioned spider sculpture (see photo) and I have started work on two other paintings.

But I have a great deal of work to do before November ends, in order to really feel "caught up".

I hope I make it!

Another show!

Well, liora and I went to the gallery last night to remove my paintings, and there's a "sequel" of sorts ("Love Life 2") scheduled for February. The owner of the gallery wants the artists who showed there in September, to show again in February.

So, I guess it'll be a "preview" of the new stuff, before the solo show. I'm not going to show nearly as much work in February (even though I'd better have tons of stuff ready by then), but I do plan to give folks a "taste" of what I've been up to.

And, I'm going to have flyers there promoting the solo show. (I mean, I know lots of people, but the owner of this gallery knows everyone, so if I can get a few of the folks who show up in February to come to my show in April, too, well, more is better.)

But, it doesn't look like I'll be getting much sleep 'til April!

Endings & Beginnings...

I'm bringing the paintings home from the show tonight, and I have mixed feelings. The show was really well-attended, lots of people saw my stuff, and it feels really good to "officially" be part of "the art scene" in Kansas City (again).

Still, I'd hoped that more paintings would sell. I did sell one piece directly as a result of this show (and someone else is very interested in one other piece.)

And, a friend commissioned a small sculpture of a spider last week, which will be fun to do. He wants something a bit more "naturalistic" than the spider sculptures I've made in the past, and the ones I'm going to make for the show in the Spring.

I have six months (October, November, December, January, February, & March) to get new pieces ready--and I have a ton of art I want to make. Six months seems like enough time (barely) to create a decent body of work, but I work rather slowly--and I want this to be a really fun, really cool, show!

In the next six months, I'm planning to make three "major" allegorical paintings (each of which will be fairly large), three other paintings (slightly smaller), and about a dozen (or so) much smaller paintings of various sizes, and three to six (relatively small) sculptures.

One painting and one sculpture are ready, and three more paintings are under way.

But there's still a long way to go...

Aftermath...

I visited the gallery again last Sunday. I had hoped to make some real progress on a new painting, but the windy day combined with a sputtering airbrush, and I wasn't happy with the results. At one point, I even borrowed a can of Montana Gold spraypaint, but although I loved the coverage, it didn't adhere to the panel the way I wanted. The paint stayed on the surface (almost like a layer of pastel dust), and was easily wiped away, leaving nasty, thin streaks where intense, velvety colour had been.

After only a couple hours (having intended to stay for three or four), I started packing up my gear, feeling upset that I hadn't accomplished anything, and starting to feel that the afternoon had been a waste. I said good-bye to everyone, and the owner of the gallery stepped outside to invited me to come back and paint again next month.

He also told me that he was interested in buying one of my paintings, and he was bringing some out-of-town friends of his through the gallery this coming weekend, to see the show.

So, it looks like two of the paintings in the show are "spoken for".

And, the trip to the gallery was not a waste, after all.

The Show!

This past Friday was First Friday, the day Kansas City galleries have the opening receptions for their new exhibits. This was my first time exhibiting at a commercial gallery (a gallery dedicated solely to exhibiting and selling art), and my first time exhibiting during the First Friday festivities.

My girlfriend, Liora, and I (pictured--Liora made me the silk shirt I'm wearing, the day before the show) set up my paintings Thursday night. Hanging the nine paintings took longer than I expected, because the spot set aside for my work, was different than I originally thought. The new spot was a better location, but I couldn't use nails there. I had to suspend the paintings from fishing line attached to a bar that ran along the top edge of one wall.

I didn't know what to expect the night of the show. Liora and I arrived at the gallery around 5PM. I had one last painting to hang, and I helped a couple other artists hang their stuff. We had a chance to walk around, see each others' work, and visit a bit.

The show ran from 6:00 'til about 9PM, and after about 6:45, 'til about 8:30, the place was packed. We had a DJ spinning some discs, and a rapper joined in later in the evening. The beats were a bit too loud to allow casual conversation inside the space--but the weather was perfect, so stepping outside to chat with someone wasn't a problem.

Lots of friends and family stopped by; many had not seen any of my recent work. (Eight of the nine paintings were completed within the past year.) The reactions were all very positive. Everyone really liked the spiders, but really would like to see the next ones made larger. I'm hoping to be asked to show again at this gallery, soon. (But not too soon; I need to get some new work going!)

I didn't sell anything opening night, but three people approached me, sincerely interested in my work. The work will be hanging for the next few weeks, so anything could happen.

Another finished painting!

I've been working on this for a couple months, or several years, depending on how you look at such things.

I painted a "background" on this panel back in 2005, but never did anything else to it. About a year ago, realizing that the original background was "weak" (and quite dusty), I re-painted the background.

A couple months ago, I repainted it again, making it more "dramatic", then began working on actually painting something (other than background) on the panel.

(Given that oil paints become more transparent over time, in about fifty years or so, this thing ought to look really spectacular, with it's dozens of layers of green and blue paint!)

So, this is Arachnoverte, oils on panel, 9x27 inches.

It's going in the show tonight, at 1809 McGee Street, about three hours from now!