Close Ups

Well, it looks as if I posted here a few times during the first two weeks in Vermont which is a couple more posts than I specifically recall writing. Something about the water there made me even more forgetful than usual. Heh. And after the two week mark, I went into overdrive in the studio so totally bailed on writing here, although I did continue to update daily on Facebook. So if you keep up on my FB public page you might remember that I totally kicked butt throughout the whole month and did a LOT of painting! It was exhilarating and exhausting and wonderful and I am still trying to gather myself up from all of it.

I am planning to write several posts about my time in Vermont over the next week or so and will certainly include more photos. I am also in the process of photographing the work that I did there, which is proving to be very difficult, mostly because I used a lot of darker colors and they sure pick up a glare, no matter what I do. So it will be at least a few days before I am ready to post the final images of the paintings I did there.

But I have managed to get a few close ups ready and so I am posting them today. And you'll just have to stay tuned to see the full paintings of these lovely ladies........

People You Know

THIS House Dress Has a Pocket, 2009, Oil on Birch Panel, 12x24

Wow, didn't mean to not post for so long! Nothing much going on here either, every day seems the same lately; getting the kids off to school, doing a few chores, shoveling, of course, studio time and then what feels like an excessive amount of driving each day. Doug has been traveling a lot, so I have been doing double duty I guess.

I have been working steadily in the studio however, and have nearly finished three new paintings with three new underpaintings on deck. I was hoping to be able to put up some images of them last week but after unsuccessfully photographing them, several times, I have realized that I will have to change my system. THAT means I may have to pull out the stupid lights and get a whole set up in order to photograph them properly. Blech. I hate having to do this because a. I am super lazy and do not want to have to do all this extra work and b. I am at the very outer edges of my brain capacity when taking photographs, using a digital camera and photoshopping, so between that and having to do all the extra work, I am usually just pissed off. Sorry to be so blunt, but it's true.

Anyway, I did manage to get one half decent shot that I was able to photoshop enough to look pretty accurate, so I am putting that up today, along with a close up shot of the face. I am pretty pleased with this painting.

I have decided to consider this work as a series and am going to call them "People You Know". I have been referring to these pieces as portraits or figurative work but neither of those seemed accurate, so I felt a series title would be more appropriate. This series will only include the work from photographs of people that I DON'T know, but whose stories I want to tell. The paintings in this series are about the photographs.

Where The Computer Goes

Horizon Lines (Nine), 2008, Oil on Panel, 3x5

There have been a few more changes in my new studio. Most of which revolve around trying to fit more junk into it.

One thing though, set off a whole chain of events. I had done a test shot of photographing a painting in my studio for documentation, but I neglected to actually open it up in photoshop to see what I had. I just assumed it would be ok, because it looked fine in the viewfinder. So I planned to photograph all of my work in the same spot in the new studio. Then I realized that if I did that, it would be a lot more convenient to have my computer in the studio so I wouldn't have to run up and down the stairs a million times to check the title of a painting, see if the color looks right etc. I was on the fence about whether I should have the computer in the studio and this tipped me towards moving it in. So I spent a day or two moving the contents of my whole desk up stairs. Naturally the nifty computer hutch that I have been using for almost 10 years doesn't fit in my sloped ceiling space so I had to downsize the contents to fit into a smaller desk that was just used for junk before. After I got that done and the computer all set up, I photographed all 37 paintings in my studio next to the north windows. Um, two days before I had to hang the show. Then loaded them onto my computer and found that they were way too saturated. They looked like I had taken the shots outside in full sunlight, which does NOT work with my paintings. Even photoshop can't fix what sunlight does to my work. Doug fooled around with the set up a bit and finally said that I would need to set up some white panels on either side of the painting, blah, blah, blah. I had no white panels on hand, no room, and no time for that. I spent that afternoon carrying all of the paintings downstairs, photographing them in the old spot where the light is perfect and carrying everything upstairs again. Luckily these pieces were small and it was just a few arm loads!

Not sure where I will end up taking the photos, and since I am taking a bit of time off from painting, I don't have to worry about it quite yet. Either option seems like a lot of work, but the upshot is now that my computer/office is upstairs (no going back for this girl) and I will have to begin the fight again to not let the computer rule my work day. Oh and I also lost my last empty corner to the desk.

The plus side of it is that I won't spend so much time on my computer when I am downstairs. I can just do regular things down there, like clean, cook, read, hang out with the kids and maybe just sit in our future living room and do nothing. I look forward to all of that.

Next time: My new table and more studio pics!

Photo Tour

Ok, I tried to set this up like a tour. I would have done it on video but that is well beyond my capabilities. Maybe my 13 year old son can help me with that another time. Heh.

So here is the door to my new studio:

It was green and is now primed. Sort of. I still have to finish painting the door and the stairwell. I am waiting until the rest of the stuff is up there (still waiting for my work table and still have to carry many boxes up to put into the storage spaces).

Steps (duh):
And this is what you see when you come up the stairs. I can't say that my heart doesn't jump just a little bit when I see all this.
My art books fit perfectly in the bookshelf. The flat file drawers are still empty but only because I haven't yet had time to carry up all of my drawing pads. I covered the tabletop with a painting drop cloth, the white kind with plastic under some sort of absorbent surface-which is perfect for putting out all of my messy paint tubes. The tabletop easels are handy for stacking the work I am currently doing (small paintings for an upcoming show called Horizon Lines-cute, huh?).
Behind the flat file are four bookcases used to store supplies that I need fairly often. Also my stereo (VERY important equipment) is on one shelf as well as my paint brushes. This space is very low to access and I am getting pretty good at walking in and backing out while bent over.
On the same wall on the other side of the door to the storage space is a steel dental cabinet that we bought when we lived in Utah. It weighs about 9000 pounds and on Monday night while I was out for about an hour picking up the kids, Doug and our older son carried it up. I suspect that they specifically waited until I was out so they wouldn't have to hear me tell them how to fit it up the stairs (come to think of it they carried the flat files up while I was out too. Hmmm). Anyway, this cabinet is great for storage - I keep drawing supplies in the drawers and still life objects and other junk in the middle.

This is my second easel, the one that handles the overflow. And behind it is my spin bike. I debated about putting that in my studio, because I really didn't want the space to get cluttered. But I also want to use it. It has been in our bedroom for the last few months and was becoming a pretty convenient clothes hanger. So I put it in front of the windows and if I want more room in that area I can move it back into the knee wall space.
It turns out that behind my number one easel is the perfect spot to photograph my work. I am relieved about this because I was NOT looking forward to lugging all my finished paintings two flights down to photograph them, then dragging them back up to finish the cradles, and store and/or pack them. A little crowded back there but again I can move things off to the edge of the room if I need to.
And on the north wall I decided to hang up the paintings that I have done over the years, the ones I have kept. Well, actually they are the ones that I like that have never sold. I am sure you understand the distinction.
I painted Bette in college 23 years ago and she is always in whatever space I work in. And the thing to the right is a photograph of my Girl Scout troop in 1974 decoupaged to a block of wood. I think that 70's decoupage may have been underrated and I view this piece as good luck too.
At first I had planned to set up my computer and desk in this spot. But then one of my girls commented that if my computer was upstairs they would never see me again. I thought she might be right so I am going to keep my office downstairs, at least for now. I am good with that decision because I can now use this as a dedicated spot for drawing. Yayy!
Turns out that the ledge is going to be very handy for storing the large paintings that I DON'T want to keep, have NOT sold and that don't FIT anywhere else.
And Katherine, behind the stair rail is the reading chair AND ottoman that was also tucked into a corner in my old studio. This was a real challenge to get upstairs. My son and I did it (Doug was out of town and I just couldn't wait for him to get back to do it) and the only way to get it into the stairwell was to remove the door. Turns out I can actually do that if I want to, but don't tell Doug or I'll have to always do it myself. Heh.

The south wall, overlooking our front yard. This was the only place where we could put up my drying/display ledges. I will have to get creative as to where I will set out wet paintings-in my old studio I had six of these rails up. I don't plan to hang anything else on this wall though, I like its graphic quality and again, am trying not to get too cluttered. Yet.
And this is a shot of the corner (directly across from the chair) where all of my wood panels are stored. I happen to have a lot of them right now, and it does look a bit like an art supply store. But I like having enough on hand, it gives me some good motivation wondering what will ever I paint on all of them.
This is a good long shot of the whole space.

Opening Reception in Hudson

Clustered at the Turn, 2008, Oil on Panel, 20x40

OK folks. Here's the official info for the opening gallery reception at Carrie Haddad Gallery. It's this Saturday, May 31, 6-8pm, and the address is 622 Warren Street, Hudson NY. Just two short hours by train from NYC.

And just a note about the images on the gallery's website. I neglected to load my jpegs of the work onto a disc and give it to the gallery when I dropped off the work. I was busy trying to get all the paintings finished and wrapped and I just didn't get to it before I had to leave. Not only that, I photographed the large painting, 40x60, the centerpiece of the show, AND DID NOT LOOK AT THE IMAGE BEFORE I DELIVERED THE PAINTING. Bad, bad girl. The next day I sat down at the computer to photoshop the image, and email it and the rest of the images to the gallery for their website. Of course, the photo was very bad, irretrievable even in photoshop. Large pieces are difficult to photograph anyway, but if I would have looked at the image I could have tried to photograph it again. So I decided to send the other images that were ready but when I checked the website to see if they had posted any of the earlier jpegs I had sent previously, I noticed that all of the paintings for the show were posted. The gallery had photographed and posted them within a day. Agh! At least someone is efficient! The images look OK, but they aren't quite right, there's too much contrast and the colors look harsher than they really are in real life. Probably not so noticeable to anyone but me, but they just don't look quite right. However, the gallery obviously took some time to do this and I will not be asking them to reload a bunch of images all over again, especially not now, right before the opening.

So let this be a lesson to you all and maybe I will get it this time too. Make it a priority to ALWAYS include the jpegs along with the work when delivering work to a gallery.

But jpeg issues aside, I am very proud of the work I did for this show. The big piece that I mentioned freaking kicks ass, if I do say so myself (actually I wasn't sure how it would look outside my studio, the lighting I had on it was BAD and frankly, I wasn't too sure what the heck it would look like under better lighting) and Doug stopped by the gallery yesterday on his way to the city and he said it looks great. Not surprising since Carrie and Melissa always do an excellent job hanging the shows. This is my third show at Carrie's gallery and is the first time my work has been displayed in the front room so that is way cool.

But before I get too obnoxious with how great I am, I must remind myself that this is the last big exhibition that I have scheduled until next summer. I suppose things will come up, but one never really knows, huh?

Well...

Contrasts, 2008, Oil on Panel, 11x14

........it turns out that my "career" went on without me last month. Doug told me I was still receiving checks while I was was gone, including a record breaking (for me) payment from the January show, but I really had no idea how many pieces had been sold in my various galleries until I sat down and went through my records today. This is usually a pretty slow time of the year, but sales were considerably more than last year. Good thing too, since I now have a new car to pay for.

And THANK GOD I had the sense to do a number of paintings before I left and even though I am still feeling a bit raw about getting back to work, I have spent all day preparing jpegs of those and updating galleries with the new images, new prices and my newly updated exhibition resume. I guess office work is a good way to ease back into the studio. I am tentatively planning to do some underpaintings tomorrow, because I am feeling that now is the time. I am liable to get some sort of blockage if I wait too long!

I have also finally gotten all of the figurative work that I did in Vermont photographed. I plan to get those ready and spend some time gathering my thoughts on all of that and will get a post up in the next few days. And after that I still have a few more posts planned about my time there, which will include more images of parties and the other resident's studio work, studios and with links to their websites.

Man, I sure can go on and on about a topic, can't I? You have no idea, unless you know me in person. Heh.

Photographing My Work

Crowded Garden 1. 2007, Oil on Panel, 9"x18"

Well, back to more current issues today. I have been meaning to answer Giselle's question from last week concerning photographing my paintings.

Because of the layers, the saturated colors and the translucency of my paintings, they can be very difficult to photograph. Professional photography really isn't an option for me for three good reasons:

1. cost
2. convenience
3. there are no photographers anywhere near us

Number 3 is obviously the clincher.

So I am lucky in that Doug has a background in photography and for the first few years we tried all kinds of set-ups, including taking the shots under lights as well as outside in natural light. None of those worked very well, and the images required a lot of work in photoshop in order to get them to actually look like the painting. Finally, we found one spot in our house that has the perfect balance of reflection and natural light, provided it's a relatively bright day, of course. So I take all of the photographs here, in our tv room:



Quite professional, eh? At first we used Doug's old digital camera, a Nikon Coolpix 990, which I believe was one of the first models ever made. Heh. It had gotten a lot of use and finally you had to squeeze down on the battery area while pressing the shutter in order for the camera to record the image. Then a few years ago, for Christmas I gave Doug a super duper way cool Canon EOS 20D digital camera, and we began to use that for the photos. Doug showed me how to use it and I know just the basics, enough for me to be able to take the shots that I need to document my work. I do have my own digital camera, a Canon PowerShot A610, which I use for taking reference photos and for personal use. I have tried to use it for the paintings but the photos didn't have the quality or clarity that the Canon does. So one of these days I may have to buy my own 20D, and maybe Doug can have his back again!

Once the shots are taken, they are downloaded to my computer and into photoshop. Doug had previously handled all of the photoshop work, but he is always busy with his work and I didn't like having to depend on him for all of that. So I have gradually learned how to download the images, save and label the files and how to use photoshop. Sort of. I can handle the basics, and luckily because the spot where I take the photos is so nicely balanced, the photos don't need too much work. This is what I start with:



Usually all I have to do is crop and skew, lighten the image, and maybe slightly adjust the hue/saturation, brightness/contrast levels. Then I save it as a jpeg twice, one at 72dpi and one at 300dpi. When I name the file, it has the title, the dpi, and an excellent suggestion came from one of my gallery directors, which was that I include the size of the painting on the label as well. I can't tell you how handy it is to have that info so easily available. Then I save each file in a folder according to the year the painting was created.

At first I sent the digital files to a company in California that made slides from them. But I have gradually stopped doing that, as I really have no need for slides anymore. If I do send out images anymore, I email them or load everything onto a CD. And competitions are accepting digital files more and more as well.

Anyway, I have this system down pat now and while it can be a pain in the neck, as all documentation work can be, I can literally have a finished image in less than ten minutes of actually painting the last stroke. And although the painting looks better in real life (and thank god it does, how awful for it to be the other way around!) I think the images are very good representations of my work.

Besides I am happy that my work keeps a few secrets, only to be revealed in person.

A Near Miss

I rarely show my work in progress, for a couple of reasons. First of all, I don't really like to get feedback while I am working on something-with the exception of when I ask for input from Doug. Secondly, it literally never occurs to me to take a picture before the piece is finished.

But I had an interesting thing happen with a recent piece and I did get some photos along the way. Mostly because I had thought it was finished and then after a few days I ended up reworking it.

And I don't do that very often either, making drastic changes can really result in an overworked look for me and a loss of the transparency of the layers.

The underpainting looked fine (above, top). I have to say that generally, I am pleased with the all of the underpaintings that I do. Once in awhile there is a dud, but even then, changing it in a later stage can be successful. So if I decide to let an underpainting dry, it's going to be a full color painting. Maybe not a good one because there are still plenty of chances to mess it up, but it will at least have a shot.

So anyway, I began to add the color here and after the first session, the foreground was fairly light (no picture of that stage, sorry). The next day, I decided that wasn't working so I darkened it and softened the path (second photo). At this point I thought it was finished.

But I couldn't seem to get myself to photograph it. After looking at the piece for a few days, and talking about it with Doug a bit, I decided to get rid of the hill in the back. Very rarely do I make such a change in composition, especially at this point, but this time I figured what the hell. I didn't think it was really working so there wasn't anything to lose, except that maybe I wouldn't have to drag the dang thing out onto the porch to sand it down if I could get it to work. I made the sky an opaque blue and left a bit of the purple around the trees. When I did that I felt much better about it and then I finally documented the painting (third photo, above). Then I saw the image on the computer I realized that I hadn't gone opaque enough and so I had to paint the sky yet again. grrrr. THEN I took the last photo (below).

I have to admit that I don't always stick with a painting this long. If things aren't moving along I often bail and I have a pile of bad paintings to prove it. But when I still feel some energy about a painting, I will keep going and do what I can to pull it back. It's a nice feeling to be able to do that.

This painting will be included in the show at Enderlin Gallery, that opens this Saturday.

End of Days, 2007, Oil on Panel, 36x36