Thoughts on Art

le$$son learned

2011-05-16T22:14:00.000-07:00

I sold a painting to a lady in the Netherlands on etsy. My shipping profile wasn't as accurate as I'd thought, and I'd charged only $2 for "Everywhere else" shipping. I looked up the cost for sending via FedEx ($56) UPS ($55) and USPS ($27). Oh, $hit. I was already in the hole because I no longer had the painting she'd purchased (didn't update etsy after a First Thursday. My bad, but it happens) but she'd favorited another painting that I still had for a higher price. I offered to either paint her a fresh piece in the same colors as the one she'd bought, with the addition of custom graffiti; or I'd send her the more expensive piece for no additional charge. She chose the other piece. No prob- it was my goof. But oh, deah Lahdy when I saw the shipping charges, and knew I'd already taken a 28% discount on the piece, my head started to ache. I thought that I'd have a profit margin of $15 on this stupid thing. I have NO IDEA how it penciled out, but the cost to send this (thankfully small, unframed & light) piece thousands of miles through the post office was less than $5. Hunh? Well, I wasn't going to argue! That made my day! When I got home I emailed the buyer and gave her the ETA, with relief.

At the end of it all, I learned a valuable le$$on in generic shipping profile charges, came out unscathed, and still have the pride of mailing my lil' bit o'art to Holland :-)

math homework

2011-04-12T17:31:00.000-07:00

I think I may just take my computer, calculator & notepad to my local ciderhouse. Cost analysis of producing magnets (most of which will be given away) might be less like math homework if I had a tasty beverage.

what?

2011-03-08T13:09:00.000-08:00

Alas, my theory that gessoing cotton before stretching it would make it stronger & easier to stretch has been disproved. It makes a stiff fabric that can't get anything near taut, and leaves you with a lumpy, loose surface. This will not do. I did have a nice chunk of thick, lightly stretchy fabric- sort of a brocade, but not as fancy. This stretched beautifully over the frame & sounds like a drum. THIS I can work with.

So I just spent the last hour or so messing with one failure & one success, and my hands are sore from the staple gun. My ears are also ringing from the repeated blasts- sometimes I had to hit it 4 times before a staple came out. Next time: ear plugs. You what, now?

burn, baby, burn!

2011-03-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

I have an idea for a project... it's just not ready to be... born. It's a combination of a phoenix/sculpture/assemblage/with a light/lamp thing, and a desire I've been having to burn things. We have a chiminea in our yard, and I like the smell of woodsmoke. The best is throwing in dried trimmings from our bay laurel- it's like outdoor incense.

The idea is to take a birdcage- I haven't decided on metal or bamboo- and burn something in it. This will either char the metal or burn through the bamboo. I'll scatter some red/orange/yellow feathers on the bottom of the cage, and voila! The implied phoenix has burned itself out and is on to reinvent itself. This is a direct representation of quitting the grey cubicle job and going to being a full time artist. I want to convey a sense of freedom, and having the door open would do that nicely. But the point is that the bird burned out- it didn't fly out. If I use a bamboo cage, the fire will burn through the top, and leave a hole. That's what I'll do. :-)

At first I was thinking of using a regular sized cage, then I was faced with "where do I put it?" I figure I'll do a smaller one- I should be able to find many a size of birdcage, as they're so often used for decor. eBay, here I come!

takin' care o'business

2011-02-09T12:25:00.000-08:00

It's a good week- I got the acceptance letter from CAP, I'm delivering 2 pieces to Lunar Boy tomorrow, and I just submitted my app for this years PDX Open Studios. Next on the list- consolidate my mileage for taxes, and add paintings to my etsy site. I need some income!

what does THIS button do?

2011-02-01T14:28:00.000-08:00

I'm having SO MUCH FUN discovering what happens when I try something new. This whole past week has been full of technique treasures. Not to mention VERY productive.

a different kind of basket case

2011-01-18T23:47:00.000-08:00

I'm making a basket- my crafty neighbor Ava showed me how. Cotton clothesline and strips of a checkerboard body pillow cover salvaged from The Bins. This is the first serious use of the glorious new sewing machine I got for my birthday (thanks, Mom!) I even refilled the bobbin and solved a thread tension problem- yeay, me!

progress

2011-01-14T23:30:00.000-08:00

Yeay! Just finished the background of the piece for this year's CAP piece (due on the 22nd) . That sounds a little more accomplished and decisive than the full truth: I painted the foreground for the 3rd or 4th time, and I finally like it =D I got a sky I liked yesterday. This bad boy is 93 square inches- looooong & narrow.I think I'll ask $265 for it- there will be A LOT of detail.

i'm a happy basket case

2011-01-09T19:05:00.000-08:00

<-- Oscar helped me with this entry. For some it's spring cleaning, but I've been obsessed with organizing for days. The garage & basement worthy Ikea shelves I got last year were a good start, but now I have little piles of things that fall over. Some of that was helped by the bookends my mom gave me for Xmas. I saw that Michael's was having a 40% of all basket sale, so I grabbed Mom & went. I had a list of 5-6 containers I needed for miscellaneous things, bits, collections, and projects. I got the 4 most important- everything fits perfectly, and was on sale- whoopee! I scored an extra one- long, shallow & narrow- a beautiful green, 70% off because it was "Christmas." I'll have that thing overloaded in no time. Now that I have twice as much horizontal space as I did last week, I can get my butt in gear & paint something for the CAP Art (For Life) Evening & Auction. I'm pretty pleased- I got a letter not long ago basically saying "gee, we really hope you can donate again this year." Freakin' rad. I'm so happy to have my work accepted by them for 2 years, and that both pieces sold for more than the value I place on them- now they're back for more because my works sells! How do ya like them apples!?

what do you do with a painting...

2011-01-01T21:57:00.000-08:00

that hasn't sold after being shown a bunch of times in a year & hasn't sold? OK, not just 1- a series totaling 21? There are 2 that I quite like & will keep for myself, and 5 that I just don't like & will paint over. Secondarily- do I rename them, or use the same numbers with the new faces?

All are series- monochromatic red, blue, brown & green. I never really liked the red, so those will get erased. The rest are generally paintings I'm happy with- they've just had no hits. Here's a possible cause: they're most expensive than usual for their size because they have about 10 layers forming their collage background & therefore have many more hours of labor.

Should I reduce the prices to what's now standard for me for that size? Retire them? Experiment with the surfaces? Paint over & rename? Paint over & keep the name?

glass

2010-11-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

I redid the Bushwhacker Glass lino today. The first one had some lines and connections that weren't right. Here's the second go 'round. I've flipped it horizontally so you can see how it'll print. The letters are carved in backwards.

Cider Tree

2010-11-22T12:34:00.000-08:00

I just put the finishing touches on this linocut. Now for the initial print, then I'll clean up the edges after seeing what prints that shouldn't.

to do list

2010-11-15T12:09:00.000-08:00

I got the cards back from the printer- they look great! I have them at Bushwhacker Cider on 12th & Powell. More to come- there will be 4 apple designs on cards.

BUT before I do that, I hung a boatload of cityscapes at the new Warehouse Cafe just a block from my place (with really good coffee!). Now that those are up, I can finish the 10 more paintings for the Big 100 show in December.

Then I'll paint the cityscape that my mom-in-law wants to use for Xmas cards this year, THEN I can get back to linocutting!

Where am I?

2010-11-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

Salutations, and happy autumn! Here's where you can find me:

First Thursday, November 4th (my birthday!)

I have a piece in a show in Minneapolis, MN at Altered Esthetics. OCD is a show about how artists deal with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, anxiety and depression. I've never shown this piece- it's far outside my usual style. you can see photos of the piece here: http://www.apriloconnor.com/blog/anxiety/ This is link for the gallery: http://www.alteredesthetics.com/events/72 This show is open until November 27th.

I also have three pieces in an online show curated by Still Point Gallery in Brunswick, Maine. You may purchase any piece from this exhibition online- see an art show in your jammies! I'm on page 6. http://www.stillpointartgallery.com/index.php?action=currentexhibitions This will be open until December 7th.

I have a piece in the 10x10 show at Art Media. There are 150 artists, all work is 10x10" and under $100. 10% of sales go to p:ear- an arts program for homeless youth. The reception for this show is Friday, November 12th from 6-8pm at the downtown Art Media- 902 SW Yamhill. The show is currently open and will be until December 23rd.

My work will be hung soon at Warehouse Cafe- the newest addition to the Brooklyn neighborhood. Come in to 3434 SE Milwaukie for a tasty latte and some art!

Cards of my linocuts will be available soon- I'm currently shopping for printers.

Hope to see you at First Thursday- the weather should be great!

~April

http://www.apriloconnor.com/index.html
http://www.etsy.com/shop/purplespideroconnor

oops!

2010-10-27T23:24:00.000-07:00

I've started a painting to replace one that I sold twice. I failed to deactivate the listing on etsy for Cityscape 21, which I sold at October's First Thursday, then Monday got a purchase for. I responded to the buyer with the good news/bad news that I'll do a brand spankin' new one for her/him with whatever changes they'd like, and a better frame. I haven't heard back, so I started a similiar one- basically creating a series with disparate numbers. I bought a BUNCH of nice frames today at Michael's- inexpensive + on sale + 25% off coupon- including a nice wood frame (as opposed to the press-board frame with plastic "glass" and a cardboard back & stand from Ikea) for this piece. I'll send the buyer a photo tomorrow when it's dry enough to scan, and have offered a full refund if they're not happy with it.

I knew this would happen at some point!

makin' progress

2010-10-19T15:33:00.001-07:00

I'm almost finished with the 10x10 piece due tomorrow at Art Media. I'm kinda please how it's turned out. I worked from the frame inwards in a style inspired by one of the artists I visited on the Open Studios tour. Completely out of my norm. That's the fun of shows/exhibits/contests like this- One can break out and try something new & different without being seen as inconsistent. I'm waiting for some glue to dry, and I'll take it downtown tomorrow.

I have 3 of the 15 (not 30!!) pieces for the Big 100 show in December. I only have 5 boards, and more should be in tomorrow. They should have been in Fri/Mon. Oh well- it's only half the work I thought it would be! And I've been concentrating on the 10x10 piece anyway.

Now that glue and paint are drying, perhaps on to some lino cutting of apples & chickens...

a day off

2010-10-10T20:49:00.000-07:00

I went to 7 of my 34 studios in Portland Open Studios yesterday, and had in mind to go at it again today, but I blew it. I stayed up WAY too late (and could have done without that last drink or two) and woke up at noon. I wasn't ready to leave the house until 3, and by then I had house stuff to do. So, I decided to just not do art today. I think about it all the time, and have done something art career related every day since July, so it was a novel idea to not try to recut some frustrating mats (for the 3rd time), start on the 30 pieces for December's Big 100 show, starting the piece for Art Media that's due in 10 days, do the painting I owe to Athena, print my apple themed linocuts, find a printer for the cards, etc, etc. I'm going to bed at a reasonable time tonight, will get up at a reasonable time tomorrow, then I'll stress about that list.

in stitches (sew funny!)

2010-09-26T10:06:00.001-07:00

I got a very early birthday present from my mom- a sewing machine! A new one, too- better than the reconditioned one I got for $40 13 years ago. It never worked well, and was heavy as hell. This one is light and has bells & whistles. I'm working on making a pattern for a stuffed bicycle. Yes, you read that right. A plush bike.

This will add possibilities to rock my art world. As an experiment, I sewed a photo of one of my paintings to some construction paper and made an insta-card. Mom liked it & kept it =) For Christmas I want to make something spectacular for her. She's mastered the plush chicken already- I have to come up with something new.

We had a great day yesterday, shopping for a machine, then getting some goodies at Fabric Depot. She wanted pinking shears for her birthday (next week), so I got her those and some fun "fat quarters" (1/4 yard pieces of fabric for quilting/small projects) she picked out. That's the way to do birthday gift exchanges! She gave me some pointers on the machine, as it's been years since I've used one. I made a catnip toy that Oscar immediately approved of, and a triangle shaped chicken with Mardi Gras colored tail feathers. I even quilted the wing! Jim & I were already planning to meet at Bushwhacker's for a tasting of Blue Mountain's ciders, so Mom & I walked up there & got to try it, too. Freakin' delicious. And Russ was there- Jim's boss at Sanborns. He loves that place, and has a half pint every day after work! So Mom got to meet him (a great guy- we love him) and what's he say? "We think pretty highly of your daughter & son-in-law." (Russ is a rock star.) We sat in the sun and drank yummy cider with Jim. He said later that when I went to the restroom Mom said that she'd really enjoyed the day. That makes me happy=)

I htink i'm cross eyed

2010-09-19T22:04:00.001-07:00

...from the detail in the apples. *ow*

apple tree

2010-09-19T15:39:00.001-07:00

the sketch
the transfer to block
outline carved

cutting edge

2010-09-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

We went to the cider place in our 'hood yesterday, and I showed them the apple sketches I've drawn in the past week. Erin and Jeff both really liked them, and one of just a tree was similar to the mural on the wall of the place, painted by their friend. I suggested giving them a framed original print, and that I could sell repro cards or postcards there. They were hip to the idea, and Jeff even said that he might like to use the tree on a brochure they're putting together. How cool is that?!?! AND I had another flash of inspiration for the apple series- a bike with apples for wheels. Erin LOVED that idea :-) Yeay linocuts!

Makes me consider finishing the chicken series, and asking the good folks at urban Farm Store and Naomi's to sell cards. Hmmm...

dream

2010-09-17T10:21:00.000-07:00

I had a dream that my whole family was leaving someplace like Bend where I had paintings showing somewhere, and my father-in-law mentions that when he went in that morning, 9 pieces had sold.

mind reeling

2010-09-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

The trip to Seattle for gallery recon was great- I saw everything from top-notch fine art to cafes & shops where my work would fit in nicely. Now I need to follow through and send my info to them. But first- submitting to a show. Deadline's tomorrow. Need more caffeine to make the brain work, though.

biz cards

2010-08-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

I'm designing April's business cards v 3.0 This is what I have at the moment.

100, THE CENTURY, THE C-NOTE

2010-08-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

I just scanned in paintings 97-100. :-)

LA MERDE

2010-08-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

I got a last minute show at the bar at Montage. The original August artist flaked on July 31, and that's when I called, knowing that she may need a fill-in fairly soon. I had no idea how soon! Thankfully I have stock, so I hung 14 pieces on Sunday. Now I have to cushion what's left for First Thursday. I recently framed 3 pieces- 2 of which I painted in Sun River), so that helps. I shoulda put one or two of the new ones up at La Merde... oh, well- it was a hurry-up type thing. I even forgot to water the garden that morning- oops.

<--SCATT>>>>ER-----B#R@AI NED^-->

2010-07-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

I see piles of unfinished (or finished & not put away) projects. I've done some good work on finding insurance- I've gone from 100+ options to 3. But our insurance ends in 2 days. I need to balance my check book & pay a bill. I have a painting to frame. I have laundry to do. A painting to deliver. A check to collect. A new contact to call, and new space to check out. A form to get notarized & send in. I haven't put away stuff I brought home from work. I feel fatigued- and realize that it's because I haven't exercised regularly for 2 weeks. Add that to the to-do list. I have a bunch of plants that need re-potting. I need to clean up, organize, recycle, shred, clean, put away, and follow up. I need to eat better and drink less to take care of myself. All the things that weighed on me when I was a cube denizen are spinning around my head in a whirlwind of tattered to-do lists. I have time, priorities, distractions, inspirations, bad habits, things to do, things not to do. I have no idea how to knit these all together into something good. Lost in my own head.

2010-07-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

You know you're an artist when: in reorganizing your nails, screws, nuts, bolts, special closure devices, and hooks (because this is what you do on any normal weeknight... after 4 drinks, normal....), you find a dried piece of grass caught in the seal between compartments in your nut/bolt container, and smile. {|-)

SHIPPING AND HANDLING

2010-07-28T15:22:00.000-07:00

At first I was at a loss when I thought how I'd send Faith's painting- matted and frameless- light, but vulnerable. I made a wooden frame so that it can't get bent, protected the corners with foam, wrapped it in paper, sandwiched it between 2 more foam layers, then shrink wrapped it, then covered it with brown kraft paper.

I'd just figured out yesterday morning that a good light but rigid frame would be wood, and yesterday I ran across a small trailer being filled with debris from the remodeling of an old house. They'd stripped out many moldings (which I took for frames), and the lath from the lath & plaster walls was prefect for the project. Yeay! I love it when things line up like that!

A NEW BEGINNING

2010-07-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

I am officially now self-employed. I'm feeling out a schedule for myself. I meant to get up at a reasonable time this morning- even set an alarm- but 2 hours of toss n' turn from 1-3 didn't help. Jim eventually woke me up- I'm glad he did. I felt funny sleeping in, but I was "working" until 10pm or later. I have a hard time calling it work when I enjoy it:-)

I bought a folding cart today that will help me immensely at First Thursday, and stocked up on frames. You can't beat buy 1, get one free! I scored- got a light folding cart, 10 frames and a pad of nice paper for $125. Whoopee!

Also on the to-do list today: finish Lawrence's commission and the 2 pieces I did in Sun River, and keep organizing.

I stopped into True Brew this morning- it's under new management, so the boycott is over. My neighborhood cafe is looking better & has good aesthetic possibilities, including local art on the walls. That's me! I emailed an inquiry and my website to the owner.

irrational fear?

2010-01-13T21:31:00.000-08:00

I realized recently that I've been hesitant to change my cityscape style because I'm afraid that people who've liked my previous work would look at it and say "eh. It's ok, but I like what you were doing before." It seemed a rational hesitation at the time. But now I realize that I love it when my favorite artists throw a curve ball at me. I love their style- not just the individual aspects of their work. Any new bits in their work re-enchant me- they give me something new to consider in a previously familiar landscape. I have to accept the idea that those who like my work will most likely have the same reaction for the same reason to any changes or improvements to my work. I've had so many new ideas lately- different color schemes, textures, backgrounds, building placements, etc. I just tried the new collage inspired backgrounds on a whim for the Big 100, and even the ones I wasn't particularly satisfied with sold. Now I'm doing that style in 20+ paintings for the Lunar Boy show in March, and I was recently hit with another new idea that came out of left field and stuck. I'm not even done with this series, and I have ideas for the next! I think I shall have faith and let my work evolve.

it's that dress

2010-01-09T22:30:00.000-08:00

This is a new leaf in my growing art career. I've moved up a level. To wit:

~all 12 of my cityscapes sold at Big 100- 1 woman bought 3. Jim was proud to announce that he couldn't find any of my cityscapes 2 hours after event has started. l THAT was AWESOME.
~i got an e-mail recently from a bloke in the UK who'd like a tattoo of my work
~When Jennifer came over this week for seeds for the farm, she left with 2 paintings.
~I got an e-mail from Chuck inviting me to share a show with him at a gallery in Astoria. HE chose ME, sent my link to the curator, she loved it, and now we're doing a show together.
~Part of the reason he asked me is that "I know you have a following. I know you have collectors- I mean, I own some of your stuff."
~The desired price range is $95 -$200
~With the blowout from the Big100, I made $543 from art last year. I may have spent less than that this year- I might actually have in-the-black art income.

OK, then. I'm allowing myself to grow into the next size of clothing- like when you're a kid and you have something you're dying to wear, but it's still just too big because Grandpa always bought 2 sizes too big- you get frustrated and vow to eat your veggies from now on because you have growing to do; and you give up and stop thinking about it for a while- then the day comes when you try it on again, and IT FITS! You've finally grown into it! It's now your favorite article of clothing, and you're thinking about it if you're not wearing it. The above list of occurrences within the last 30 days is that dress.

SO- now that people are seeing me and saying "Hey! Artist Lady! Congrats on all your shows and stuff!" (or something vaguely like it), now that I'll have pieces (a NEW series that I just started this week.) SO- now I have a golden opportunity to expand my viewing audience/potential buyers with the platform of a Second Saturday gallery (who has recently shown the likes of Jesse Reno) with Chuck E. Bloom (whose work I collect). SO- I need to step up my commitment in turn. Accept this gift.

I need to be working First Thursdays now instead of walking them. Not that I consider it work per se; more of a solid commitment.

I need to commit to sending out monthly bulletins to my mailing list.

I need to commit to updating this blog- weekly. It could be about what I'm doing, how I'm feeling, or upcoming shows. It could be more often.

I just read in an art mag this evening- take yourself seriously. When someone asks what you do, tell them you're an artist first, then mention the steady paycheck. Or not.

Those are the big ones I'm going to focus on. I also have a longer to-do list of more specific things.

something new

2009-12-02T18:33:00.000-08:00

Ta- da! They're very rudimentary, but here's the first try at a 3-D version of my cityscapes. These will be for sale for $30 each at the Big100 art show at Olympic Mills (107 SE Washington in Portland) ON Friday December 11th. It's a one night only show- come an' gitem!

AS PROMISED...

2009-11-09T18:35:00.001-08:00

20 SURFACES PREPPED

2009-11-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to be in Big100, a one-night cash & carry show next month where everything is $30. It's a benefit for KBOO community radio (where my buddy DJ Tronic hosts a show) and The Oregon Food Bank. The 8x8 surfaces are provided, and we have about 3 weeks to produce up to 20 pieces. I intend to do 20, and use the opportunity as a living sketch book. I'm going to do cityscapes, but in a much looser style, and experiment with different types of backgrounds. I have 6 spraypainted for a beginning- 2 each of 3 colors; 2 with 3 layers of spray adhesive and newspaper, then coated with glaze; 2 that are 3 layers with alternating glazing and newspaper, 2 gessoed with a diagonal stroke, 3 gessoed with some paint mixed in, and the rest gessoed with a regular horizontal stroke. I'm going to add some fun things like receipts and drycleaning tickets to some of the plain glazed ones, maybe try some more watercolor-ish backgrounds, and I think I'll just paint buildings straight onto the newspaper covered ones. My thoughts are only about one step ahead of my hands, as opposed to my normal way of doing cityscapes, where I know what to do in what order to get what I want. I'll post pictures when things begin to shape up :-)

some of the stuff in my head

2009-09-25T08:57:00.000-07:00

...is a collage I did last May, but it's been naked and frame-less all this time. I went to The Rebuilding Center (just like the bumper stickers say- I love that place) and found some molding that's perfect for a frame. It was that 80's/90's country dusty blue and provided the perfect color base to blend with the pastels in the piece. I added, blended and wiped away colors until the pieces matched, then went about deciding which side of the frame looked best on each side of the canvas. Even though I painted the molding with the collage in front of me to gauge colors, I matched all 4 sides with the entire piece. I was pleasantly surprised- the finished product looked as though I'd painted the whole thing together. There's just some touch up work needed at the corners.

en pointe

2009-09-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

I've been making progress on the ballet collage. I know I'm getting close to finished when there are fewer and fewer areas that I want to change or fix. I'm thinking that I'll either do a simple wood panel frame, or make a velvet curtain like that on a stage. Most of the images I used art from OBT print materials, so there's some copyright details to take care of. What I want to do is offer the piece to them in exchange for tickets, and if that doesn't go over, I'll ask for their permission to sell it. I'd LOVE for them to have the piece, if they like it. I think ballet is amazing and have much respect for what dancers do, sacrifice, and endure to become the masters of this art. I think I've put that wonder into the piece, and if a rep of OBT feels the same way, I'd be really pleased. If OBT doesn't want it, I'll offer it to Allison Roper, Yuka Iino or Christopher Stowell- the two principles and the artist director. Yes, I know these names off the top of my head:-)

new backgrounds

2009-07-21T22:11:00.001-07:00

These arebrand spankin' new- not even titled/numbered yet. I'm experimenting with backgrounds. This is on gessoboard/hardboard with a cream colored base (instead of white gesso) and the background color painted on, let to dry, then sprayed with water & let drip. I want it to look like the sky is falling.

old stuff, new eyes, new stuff

2009-07-19T16:31:00.000-07:00

So I made it into the Art & Labor show- my second juried show acceptance- yeay!
Here's the blurb: http://portlandcityart.org/2009/06/26/art-labor-the-labor-of-art/ There aren't any pics of my stuff, but OH MY GAWD the artists I'm sharing walls with a freakin' incredible. Keeping fingers crossed that something sells... the opening was a lot smaller than I'd expected. BUT KC Cowan was there!! She's half of the Oregon Art Beat crew- EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! I spoke with her (she's approachable and very nice), she said she liked my work (EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!) and I gave her my card. If nothing else, KC Cowan has seen my work, likes it, and has met me. Have I mentioned EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!?

I'm painting new ones now (I've ben showing the same damned ones for 2 years). I'm excited to have something new- the backgrounds are very different. I'd show you what I'm doing but our scanner isn't on speaking terms with our computer. I'll have to take photos. I've also had the thought to put more skyscrapers in there- real ones. Or at least inspired by real ones. I've traced some new & funky buildings from all over the world, and want to put my favorites in the background- a little Detroit, a little Tokyo, a little Paris.I'll have the whole world in my paintings. Then I'll do the smaller buildings where people live in the front, as always. This just makes the city bigger, and the gap between the haves & have nots more profound.

yeay!

2009-07-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

I received confirmation that the curator received my submission- I'd left it on her porch so as not to disturb her or barge in unannounced. Hee hee! Here's her email:

I found your packet this afternoon.
Thanks for bringing it by. (stealth-submission ... :-)
Your work is a delight.

A delight!! This is good! The curator has told me twice that she likes my work, and that she thinks it fits! Woohoo!

I have the drive

2009-07-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

100 miles of it, to be specific. Between being away on a family getaway for a week and the 4th of July being on a Saturday (and the day after we returned), the deadline for applying for a juried show became a bit of a chore. One snag led to another, and here is Sunday and I haven't sent my application. And it was due Friday. So, I made the trip to Salem to hand deliver my submission. BTW- I heart MapQuest.

Why the century drive? (And yes, I did consider biking)
1. The show is about the current hard economic times, is scheduled to run around Labor Day, and is called Art & Labor, and the Labor of Art. Pretty catchy, huh? I sent an example of my work with my request for application info, and the curator's response was yes, I agree that your work is a good fit for the theme, and I look forward to seeing more.
2. She gave me a grace period of "As long as I have it by Monday" deadline extension.

So who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth? It's a juried show, and I have a lack of those on my resume, and I received encouraging feedback from the curator. The drive was necessary. A consolation prize is that the mileage is tax deductible.

erk

2009-06-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

My brain is trying to go too many directions at once, and it froze. Like the blue screen of death familiar to so many Windows users. So I stare a lot. And spend too much time goofing off on the computer. Then I'm frustrated when the weekend ends & have little to show my time off. I think I'm due for another art to-do list. But those can give me brain freeze, too. All those things!I want to do so many of them at once.

got ahead of myself

2009-05-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

When the lady from the Rental Sales Gallery called a couple of weeks ago called, she said "you've been accepted." Those words rang in my ears- it sounded so final. When I took the paintings in, the agent said something about "making the first cut" and "good luck-" that's when I remembered that there are TWO review stages. I hadn't been accepted- I'd made the first cut. My heart sank. I received a message this afternoon that I didn't make the second cut- so, no, I wasn't accepted. Boo.

BUT- I was told that in the first round there was a "significant reduction" in applicants, that they enjoyed my work and think it's "fun," and although they don't think this is the right "venue for my style," they have some suggestions for me of where else to apply. How cool is that? I'll call back on Tuesday for details.

Yeah, I'm disappointed, but it's still a victory to have made the first round, they enjoyed my paintings, and I get referral info. And I can submit in another medium next year- I have linocuts and landscapes.

On etsy this week, someone included one of my landscapes in their treasury- a set of 12 personal picks shared with many people.

so much good stuff

2009-05-18T20:39:00.001-07:00

I got word last week that the 5 paintings I submitted to the Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery were accepted! I can't get my head around that. A gallery (wow) connected to a museum (a museum!) liked my work enough to say- sure, we'll represent you. WTF? I turn in my paintings tomorrow, and I can't wait to find out how many applied (I saw a STACK when I turned mine in) and how many were accepted. And when the website is going to be updated- with my name and images! Oooh- I need to update my resume:-) There's an event in June for the new artists (there's only one application period a year- lucky I looked into it when I did)- a reception. I hope it's not the weekend we're in Sacramento, or the 2 weekends we'll be in Sun River :-( Fingers Crossed!

The other exciting thing is that I recently had inspiration for a different kind of cityscape. I stumbled upon a game where you build towers & place them in your little city, and I liked the backdrop of the high-in-the-sky towers. I figured that I could add some true skyscrapers in the background of my ghetto hoods. I bought two books on major skyscrapers of gthe world, and checked out another two- one of them is all about the architecture of Portland. I've marked my favorite buildings and will scan/sketch/trace them, and add the Big Pink, The Bank of China, New York lofts, Mexico City insurance buildings, etc. There will be the world- and Portland- in the next series of cities. I haven't figured out how to combine the fore and aft- there will need to be some experiments to find the best execution. Research & sketching is fun :-)

I also got some pictures from the Strongsville Community Theater- I think they did a great job in blowing up a 6x6 inch painting to a 8x8 foot set. They're sending me a DVD of the show, and some of the programs where they gave me a page. I'll scan that when it comes :-)

Now I have to get together some pieces to put up in the bike shop- 4 of the 5 I submitted to the RSG were on the walls at the Recyclery! I want to fill the holes I've left.

now i'm committed

2009-05-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to work more on my garden collage, and tonight I had a good two hours of doing just that. I'd decided that I was satisfied with the whole as a base with texture & interesting little bits that will peek through in the finished product, and the next thing was to hone in on areas that I didn't like, and fix them. All the happy accidents from the base texture layer will be refined. In so doing, I found myself reaching for a piece I'd set aside for the top layer- if I like something enough, it gets put in the top pile. And if I'm grabbing something from the "save for the end" stash, it means I've turned the corner towards finishing. I put in two of those pieces. I'm committed, now.

pam rsg

2009-04-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I'm going to submit my application to the Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery. They accept apps only once a year from new folks, and I happened to find it a month before the deadline. The worst that can happen is that they say no. And I still get my work and name under more people's noses. Chuck's recently been accepted there, and one of the questions on the app is whose collections are you in. Well, he & I exchanged paintings a couple of years ago, sooooo, I'm in the collection of another artist in the gallery- ha!

I *accidently* started another collage this weekend. I was just going to put down some layers of texture so that when I decided what it would be, I could jump in with some good stuff. For texture, I added some leaves, which lead to dandelions, then some moss, and pretty soon I realized that this will be about our garden- not even an idea that was on the list. I dug up years and years worth of seeds in various bags, so I've bordered it with seeds packs- peas from 1995 and radishes from last year. Jim's really pleased that these old seeds are getting such a dignified retirement:-) Now I'd added invoices from Seeds of Change orders, ads from the Sunday paper on plants, grills, and hoses; and bits cut out of books- sketches of plants, and descripitons of species. It's all I want is to work on it:-)

cap auction

2009-04-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased as punch that my piece was accepted, for one- and even happier that it SOLD!! I would have been content with a single bid but there was a battle between 2 bidders for a total of 7 and the final price was $190! 3 people wanted to by my painting, and one liked enough to pay almost $200 for this little piece of my brain. I'm just tickled!!! They like me!

AAAND... I sold one of my bikey linocuts on etsy!

I didn't get into Froelick's Oregon at 150 show, but I'm glad I had the chance to submit my work to them.

critics

2009-04-09T23:17:00.000-07:00

We just watched an interesting and amusing show on Showtime that was all about critics, the actors they criticize, comedians, their hecklers, and how they deal with them. As for movie critics, I've never paid attention to them because if they like or hate a movie it doesn't mean that I will agree with them because we're different people with different tastes. And so what if one guy's opinion is in the paper or online? Doesn't make a damn but of difference if I'll like something or not.

Jim made the connection between these critics and ones that I may face as an artist. This is no new concept to me. So far, I haven't received any criticism, but that's only because my work has not been widely shown. I expect criticism around every corner- I know it's coming sometime. I know that not everyone will like my work- and that's ok. To be honest, I kinda look forward to the first ding I get- it will make me feel more... real. Right now, I've received nothing but positive feedback (in small, personal ways)- and that's appreciated more than anyone can know- but when someone takes the time to have a negative opinion of my work and make an effort to express it- that means that to that person, my work is big enough to merit a proclamation of their opinion. If you see something you don't like- say, online- and you just think it's lame, you'll move on to the next thing and not say anything- why bother? If you find something you have a negative reaction to and make a point of writing or blogging about it, then the critic must think that not only there's an audience for their voice, but also an audience who can understand and appreciate the subject. Why rant on something that irritates you if no one is going to see/hear your opinion, and if someone does, may not know what you're talking about, and if they do, may not care? Art criticism comes with the knowing that someone thinks their opinion will be heard and that it matters because the subject matters. And- not everyone will agree. Which means that someone could read or hear something negative about my work and think: Well, that's harsh. They're completely on the wrong track. Which means that they like my work. Which in itself is praise- even if it's silent.

I'm sure I'll disagree with this once I've been panned, but for now, it seems reasonable. As it stands, I'm much more humble about my work than people know. I'm grateful for each kind word anyone gives me about the work I produce. I make things because I love it and if people like it- that's wonderful!! I'm humbled by the enthusiastic responses I've received from the etsy site, and folks who have seen my work first, then meet me. It really makes me happy. It's a great reinforcement, and is untellingly satisfying.

Someday, the time will come that I'll submit my work to a gallery, show, auction, etc, and I'll receive a resounding "NO." What's the worst than can happen when I apply to Froelick Gallery's Oregon at 150 show, or to be an artist represented by the Portland Art Museu, in their rental gallery? No- we think your work is crap. Which is the same as a simple No. Which does no harm to me for having tried. I'll just get to laugh when someone in a similar positions says Yes! We love it!

printing today

2009-03-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

After I got home from work this afternoon I printed 3 limited edition series. One of the lino blocks needed some extra touch up carving, so I feel like it's great progressto fix that one AND get some successful, frameable prints of it. And scanned! Tommorrow- framing, Thurs/Fri- hanging in The Recyclery! Oh, and I stayed up WAY too late last night adding the first 3 to my etsy account.

framed!

2009-03-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

I'm framing my linocuts to go up in the bike shop:-)

On a more exciting note, I got a call on Friday from a board member of a community theater group in Strongsville, Ohio. They're doing a play and want to use one of my cityscapes for a backdrop! Whoa! The guy was really nice (a community theater person in Ohio- how bad could he be?) and said that he'd Googled "cityscape" and found some ok stuff, then found my work and had the "wow" moment. well, schucks! He made my day! I wholeheartedly gave him permission to use my work and tweak it as neccessary for turning something 6x6 inches into 8x16 feet, and they'll give me a whole page in the program about me with contact info & all that! Holy advertising, Batman! I asked if he'd send me some pix of the set, and he agreed to that & offered to send me a DVD of the production! What a great start to me Friday!! He was as happy for my go-ahead as I was with the recognition! Wowie wow!!

And I sold a painting from etsy to an international buyer...

And I have a piece in the CAP Art Evening and Auction...

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Oh, and I applied to Froelick's Oregon at 150 landscape show. I submitted my Front Ave inspired cityscapes as well as some of the red toned landscapes I did a couple of Septembers ago inspired by the drive through Banks. I wrote a damn good artist's statement, if I say so myself, so I'm hoping that my 100% Oregon paintings make it:-) At the very least, it's a great opportunity to submit my work (and two kinds!) to a gallery I have much respect for.

bermuda!!

2009-03-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

I'm stoked as all hell!! I just checked my e-mail & there's an inquiry from my etsy site (purplespideroconnor.etsy.com) asking if I could ship a piece (this one) to Bermuda or an alternate address in the UK! Holy frikkin' WOW!!

BERMUDA!!

the recyclery

2009-03-03T21:33:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty stoked- I put up about a dozen cityscapes in The Recyclery, and I have to say it looks good! Ian- the proprietor- said that it makes his shop look better. Nice! I put the cityscapes where people can get right up to them & look at detail, and I'll put the bike-themed linocuts I've done in the past couple of weeks in the higher places. I printed everything tonight, and was pleasantly surprised that I had less clean up work to do than I'd thought. I did the clean up and have only one that needs more background taken out- it's too dark.

I'm having lunch with Jen Lees tomorrow to talk shop:-) She gave me some good info on getting things printed at Kinkos, and what papers to use, and what size envelopes (I'll print cards of the linos). I've been coming homefrom work & diving right into the linos for the past couple of weeks. I finally feel as though I'm taking enough time with it to make the second job for real. That's part of why I work part time. I have 2 part time jobs... ans one of them doesn't seem like work at all:-)

new venue

2009-02-24T16:28:00.000-08:00

Yippee skippy! I have new place to hang my work- by a fluke. I went into a cool store/gallery called Grass Hut across the street from Grendel's Coffeehouse, where my work is now. I'd picked up some show cards there, and asked the owner how one gets to be on the walls there. A week later I came back to refill my business cards at Grendel's, and realzing I'd lost a card for a show I wanted to see, went back to Grass hut. The owner recognized me & said he'd thought of me. A bike shop downdown was looking for an artist to adorn the walls. Wow! I thought the two knew each other friends, but upon introducing myself to Ian at The Recyclery, it turns out that Justin had recently bought a bike from him. Ian was pleased to have someone pop up out of nowhere & volunteer/grab the chance.

Yesterday he'd shown me all the space there was to hang, and today I brought in a cd of photos of cityscapes, landscapes, linocuts & maps of antiquity as samples. He liked them all & told me bring stuff in any time, and he'd help me hang. Woohoo! They'll sell the stuff for me, and all they take is 10%- damn! He alo said that I'm welcome to the scrap metal/parts in the back- all he asks for is a piece of work that comes from it. WOW. What a deal!

I sketched some possibilities for linocuts that I could make prints of, and potentially make cards. I stopped by Art Media & picked up a few pieces I needed, and I'm planning on taking the afternoon to carve some fun new stuff.

linocut

2009-02-18T17:31:00.000-08:00

I've learned a lot from the first 2 of 3 classes with Thomas Rude. The first one I did was ok- it was the doodly sort of thing I used to draw 14 years ago. It looks better in pen, I can tell ya that. The second one I decided to cut around the drawing- leaving the design to print in black. I'm really pleased with the way it came out. My first attempt at a cityscape wasn't bad. I need to do some cleanup and tweak my method. Ultimately I'd like to paint a watercolor sky, print a carved city on that, paint the buildings with acrylic, then do the linework. 'Cause the process as it is isn't long enough. yeah.

collectors and galleries!!

2009-02-11T18:44:00.001-08:00

I'm so damned excited!!! I just got a confirmation email from the Cascade AIDS Project that my painting was accepted for the Art Evening and Auction! Freakin' YEAY!!! doesn't even cover it! I'm kind of reeling, realizing how many people will see my work. And not just people- like the thousands of New Season's shoppers- COLLECTORS, GALLERIES, WRITERS, OTHER ARTISTS! Collectors and galleries! And because I've donated, I get a ticket to the event! (Probably one for Jim, too.) I'll be there as a donating artist with the likes of Gretchen Gammell, R. Keaney Rathbun, Thomas Rude, and a host of other artists I've admired in galleries for years! I'll be one of them!

Here's this year's blurb: http://www.cascadeaids.org/page.php?id=138
and here are some photos from the 2005 Art for Life event that I volunteered for:
http://www.dimarcoimages.com/artforlife/

keep moving forward

2009-02-05T22:23:00.000-08:00

It's been a remarkable art week! Today I stopped in at Tender Loving Empire to say hi & look at what's new, and lo & behold! Someone had bought a cityscape as a Christmas gift, and she handed me a check! Woohoo! Bonus!!

I'd forgotten (even now I don't remember signing up for it) that I'm in The Launchpad Gallery's Love show, until I asked yesterday & got the confirmation email today. Ha! I have some linocuts that are love & hearts, so I think I'll use those as stamps for the background of a collage/painting. Cool! I wanted to make my Friday an ART day, but I'm so good at being distracted by stupid meaningless stuff & wasting the day. But now I have something to make, and in limited time- guaranteed art day- yeehah! And I have to admit that it seems I've come far from showing my work in public for the first time in July of 2007 to selling work in a store, hanging my first solo show, and forgetting that I'm in a group show by February of 2009.

Sunday I hung 20 pieces at Grendel's Coffeehouse. I think it looks pretty sharp- it's amazing what some nice frames can do. First solo show- yeay! I hope I sell some:-) I've priced the little ones at $35- a good price for a framed original piece of art with mondo detail. I hope that it speaks louder than the screaming cacophony of the economy. It can be disappointing to start a career in a big fat recession, but I figure that sales can only go up from here. Any by the time things are turning around, people will have been seeing my stuff for several years, and may have liked it and wanted one for that time. Where did this optimism come from? I suppose it's determination- this is really what I want to do.

I'm psyched to be taking a linocut/printing class from Thomas. I inquired with him some time last year if he'd give me some pointers, and he responded to my Grendel's show announcement with a last minute invite to a small 3-Saturday class he's giving- starting this weekend! YEAY! Thomas is the master of linocuts- his work is precise and has incredible detail. http://www.thomasrude.com/ I'm interested in linocutting b/c it's doodling in 3-D, and I can make multiple prints and have fun with colors. AND use it as a giant stamp in other, larger pieces.

FREAKIN' YEAY!!!!

I submitted a piece to the Cascade AIDS Project Art for Life auction, and haven't heard back yet if it's been accepted. Ooooo- I'm keeping my fingers crossed! That would be a HUGE stage to put my name on. I mean- wow. I hope, I hope, I hope!

i did stuff!

2009-01-25T21:18:00.000-08:00

I've had a productive weekend- went to Grendel's & talked to Eric, updated my etsy page, I scored some nice frames on sale, I inventoried, matted and framed everything for next month's show at Grendel's. It's amazing what a white matte and a black frame can do. It looks sharp!! I made the tags for each piece, but I still need to print a fresh (non wrinkled) About the Artist sheet. I need to send out an email to my list, too. I even ordered more business cards, and drew the composite for Taylor's tattoo! (preliminary composite- the end product will be neater, better blended, and have more detail- that's up to the tattoo artist. This pic is only for the idea.)

mapping the past

2009-01-17T11:07:00.000-08:00

Here's an in-progress map of antiquity I'm working on. It needs ink.

the latest project

2009-01-02T00:17:00.000-08:00

It's not snow this time, but we're under all sorts of storm, wind and flood warnings. It's been raining for 24 hours straight, Johnson Creek is 5 feet above flood stage, the Wilson River is 1 1/2 times flood stage, and all three highway mountain passes across the Cascades in Washington are closed for landslide & avalanche danger. And it's supposed to rain more. And harder. And more. Normally this wouldn't bother me (other than I wanted to take a New Year's bike ride today on my roadie that I'd no longer afraid to ride-the new pedals-, or even my commuter, after I spent hours putting on a new tire, only to pump it up and have the damn valve pull out & have to change the ensuing flat). BUT our roof leaks. And it's leaking badly. One or two drips in the kitchen? Try 7- including into the cabinets. I had to clean it all out first thing this morning BEFORE I'd had the latte I so wanted (but the bag of grounds got wet with the yukky contaminated drippy water and had to be tossed). So there are puddles/towels/bowls on 3 shelves in the cabinets, 3 on the counter, and one on the floor. OH- and there's a leak in the living room, now, too!!

This frustration has lead to inspiration for yet another house-bashing art piece. This one is aquacentric. So far the form it's taking in my head is of a one room house with a giant picture window to look in, where I'll have a sketchy representation of our kitchen, simple cabinets and walls and floor, with pots, pans, bowls, towels, rags, etc all over, filled with faux water. I'll have to find some online. I think I'll have a figure inside with it's head covered by an umbrella. The roof will be a ramshackle mishmash of scrap wood, tarp and shingle with big gaping holes. Above this I'll suspend a "cloud" of batting (pillow filler), and string blue teardrop (raindrop) beads through the cloud, on fishing line.

nice- Radio Paradise is playing Bob Dylan's Shelter from the Storm

my own little world

2008-12-26T11:32:00.001-08:00

Last night after Jim went to bed & I paged through a cool calendar I got for him- antique maps from c. 1565, give or take. I lost myself in the oddly shaped coastlines, out of date country and territory lines, strange sea monsters that populate the oceans, old English, German, French and Italian place names, funny little bumps for great mountain ranges, and churches to denote towns. The scale is so far off in some of these, I thought it would be fun to draw my own. There's no wrong way, and the funkier & more untrained things look, the more authentic. I got out my colored pencils and drew a map of a large island nation with rivers, lakes, coastal islands, mountains, farmland, castles, churches, and fancy swoopy letters for place names. It was fun to create my own world. I think it came out pretty well, too.

feelin' the love in February

2008-12-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

Yee-haw! While at the Holiday Ale Fest on Thursday, we ran into a friend of Jim's (not surprising) who owns a coffee house. I'd left my card for him but I hadn't heard from him- didn't think much of it. BUT at the Ale Fest he told us that he gave all his artists' submission info to the guy who was curating for him, and he up & disappeared. He left a wake of uncontacted artists and blank walls. I said- shoot! I could hang a show for you in January. He has a Jan show, but needed February. Done! I went in today and had a damn tasty latte and showed him some cityscapes large and small. He knew before that he liked my work, but this confirmed that it would be a good fit at Grendel's (9th and Burnside- eastside). Woohoo! He's pleased that he has stuff he likes for another month, and I'm glad I've got some wallspace in my future! It's a cool little place- all the funky charm and coziness you'd expect of an old building in an up & coming neighborhood with down-to-earth & highly intelligent clientelle. And hot shit comestibles.

shiny, happy... art

2008-11-28T21:34:00.000-08:00

I just got home from Guardino Gallery- the only "real" art gallery on Alberta. It's been there for more than 10 years- since before all the gentrification really took hold. They show some hot shit artists. Not necessarily ones whose name I know, but damn good. In my opinion, fine art. Expertly crafted, composed, executed, etc. Anyway, this month is the "Little Things" show. Tonight was the opening soiree, and damn, there was some cool shit! Oh, I could have bought one of everything, minus a few. There are 48 artists! Only 2 stand out as ones I didn't really like. But the other 45- whoa. Kinda makes me feel good to be in such good company! On the way home my mind was a carousel of bits and pieces of what I saw and how I want to put those elements together in my own way. I've been wanting to try resin. I love to deep, clear shiny-ness. Normally I'm an understated matte kinda girl, but there's something.... flashy about resin. Flashy in an understated artistic sort of way. I love how you can bury things in it- make a very 3-D collage that's a solid piece. I love what it does to what's in it. It creates a little world, no matter how abstract. Throw in a familiar object or two, and maybe a photo, and you have a distant memory. A remembered dream. That's it! resin helps manifest memories and dreams in a three dimensional way that can still be a solid, non-fragile piece. It won't shatter like glass, or diffuse like a dream upon waking.

The above piece is a mixed media and resin piece by Julia Gardner. Check out her work at http://www.guardinogallery.com/giftshop-artists/138-julia-gardner

happy not-chicken day

2008-11-27T10:29:00.000-08:00

thankful

2008-11-25T21:52:00.000-08:00

Every year The Oregonian publishes "Season of Sharing" wherein people & families who need some help are profiled. The readers can donate $10 to 4d, toward bus passes for family who escaped domestic violence, or $25 to 7b towards furniture for a diabetic single mom of 8. All of these 20 stories are compelling, heartbreaking, and a good slap upside the head to realize that there's even more for us to be thankful for than we'd thought. And it's hard to choose where to give your $10 or $25. I haven't given to this in previous years, but this year I zeroed in on my target. The eldest of 3 kids, dad layed off, mom had bone marrow transplant, little sister has neurofibromatosis, dad's new job won't cover mom or sister, they lost their house and a rental, and now the family of 5 live in her parent's garage. This 11 year old girl want music cds and art supplies. My eyes went BOING! That's what I want to fund. The way the whole thing is set up is that funds are donated for this or that, but I want to get her a gift card for an art supply store, or anything in particular she may want. I emailed the contact people and asked that, but I haven't heard back yet. But considering that readers responded last year by donating $374,146.46- enough to fill all the wishes- I suspect their inbox was overwhelmed on Monday morning. I'll be happy to write a check, but I'd be really excited to buy a gift card to Michael's or Art Media or whatever suits her needs. I'm in love with the idea that I could help this preteen have artistic expression as an outlet for the stress and sadness that must be prevalent in her home. If I don't get a response by Friday, I'll just donate the funds:-)

http://www.oregonlive.com/special/sharing/

yeay!

2008-11-18T17:41:00.000-08:00

I got an increased dose of my anti depressant, as the grey skies and growing darkness make things more emotionally difficult. I'm more easily overwhelmed, work is even more of a drag, it's harder to get my ass on my bike, I've been feeling numb in the evenings sometimes- simply unable to feel anything more than *enh,* not wanting a drink but knowing that it's the only way I can elevate my mood at all, etc. This yukkiness is only going to get worse, so my trusty shrink and I decided to move up to a dose that's worked well for me in previous winters.

After the appointment, I went into a couple of shops on 23rd for the hell of it, and to leave some cards for the Guardino show in cafes, etc. I sorta had an idea of what I was going to make for Xmas presents (election/Obama themed red white & blue ornaments featuring a champagne cork), but I saw something that reminded me of an idea I've had waiting for years. I found a cast resin ornament that depicted a 5-3-1 stack of wine corks to make a Christmas tree shape with a little spring of beads & whatnot encircling it like ornaments or garland. I've kept a boatload of wine corks over the years, I've got fine copper wire for the spring, a colorful variety of beads to use as ornaments, and can easily find/alter/make a star for the top. Voila! I'm all excited now, and want to jump into making a prototype. Perhaps I'll put off finishing my Halloween decor organizing & putting away til tomorrow... :-)

sold!

2008-11-16T16:28:00.000-08:00

Yeay! I sold a piece at the grocery store! I got an email last week from a New Seasons shopper who wanted to buy a paintng! Joy! I was glowing all afternoon- I met her at the stoere yesterday. The store doesn't take any commission- either, so I got all the sale price! I bought a 6-pack to celebrate:-)

I finished framing and scanning the 8 mini cityscapes I paited for the Guardino Gallery's Little Things show, and delivered the first 4 (I'll bring more if they sell out). That felt good:-)

JOY!

2008-11-13T06:51:00.000-08:00

Joy of joys! I got an email last night from a lady who wants to buy one of paintings from New Seasons! We're meeting on Saturday to do the exchange. I'm so pleased- my first sale! Someone wants my work- and can buy it! She likes me- she really likes me!

found photos

2008-11-12T14:48:00.001-08:00

I found the photos I was looking for- even the one of Nana's church! This bottom one is her at my parent's wedding.

snow day! sorta. only, not really. at all.

2008-11-12T11:09:00.000-08:00

It's a windy stormy day with 100% "chance" of rain, and I get to stay home. And I'm healthy! Yesterday was Veterans Day (salutes) so branches were closed, so there's no new work to do today. They offered us the option of taking the day off without an "occurence" 'cause there's nothing to do, and there's not enough online training courses to occupy us for a whole day. I'll buy that for a dollar! I have no PTO left, so it's non paid time, but I don't care. I called in my option at 7 am, went back to bed with my kitties, and got up at 10:30. Ha! Gotta love it.

With my surprise free day I'm going to finish some paintings for next month's show at Guardino Gallery, distribute show cards, and put away some laundry. Oooo- I could go to Home Depot and use some of my $100 birthday gift cards to get some storage help with all my projects...

irish style ofrenda

2008-11-10T17:54:00.000-08:00

I went to November's window show at Guardino Gallery (where I'll have some mini-scapes next month)- Day of The Dead theme. There were some really cool shrines, ofrendas, collages, etc. Some were modern assemblages, some were traditional Mexican style cigar boxes encrusted with glitter, skulls, beads, miscellaneous shiny and gaudy items, photos, marigolds, etc. They were fabulous. I usually don't go for the over-the-top garish glitz that some Mexican art styles can sport, but somehow I got it this time. I decided I'd make an ofrenda for Nana- my great grandmother mi bisabuela Mary Ellen O'Connor, born in County Cork (pronounced *Cark*), Ireland (pronounced *Are-lent*) on St. Paddy's Day, 1895. :-) I figured a good Catholic Irish lass could appreciate a little shrine with Mary (OK- Our Lady of Guadalupe) and some crosses- gold colored- like the one from her white casket. I added a little map of the Emerald Isle, a picture of Snoopy (she loved Snoopy), and as soon as I find a appropriate vile/tiny jar, I'll add some whiskey:-) I also need to venture into the basement and dig up a photo of her. Somewhere I have a photo of the church she used to attend- I took it years ago while my mom & I drove through Loyalton for some random reason when I was in high school. This assemblage will NOT be for sale:-)

it's times like these...

2008-11-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

that I feel really ready to walk away from Dilbertville. On Monday we got the schpiel about the PTO calendar for next year- same info as every year. This year they altered how much time people get, and obviously the mucky-muck manager was stressed out because they have to let more people off. We got this scolding speech of if you want a day- or even part of a day- off, and that day is full, don't even ask. The answer will be no. Questions? Me: if a day is full and something unexpected comes up- say, a funeral- that a person will go do despite not having asked because the answer will be no... do you want us to tell you if we're going to do this thing, or we just call in or don't show up or leave early? I'm willing to be considerate and give them a head's up for something like that. I got the same the answer will be no, and it will count as an occurence (unexcused absence) blah blah heartless blah. My manager understood my question- and yes, that would be nice. But my god! Pull the stick outta dude's arse!

I thought you know, I don't need to deal with this. We're being browbeaten and finger-waggled about taking the time off that we've already been given. WTF? Corporate crap.

And on days like this (grey, cool and rainy) I really don't feel like playing the Dilbert game and working on a spreadsheet. I have paintings I could be completing!

But I haven't made any money from painting yet. It's disappointing. It's the cruddy economy. In a way, I think it's good that I'm starting to show publicly in hard economic times, because business can only get better from here.

Ms Pollock?

2008-10-20T22:43:00.000-07:00

Not quite. But I am pleased that I got to throw some paint around. My fingers are blue, pink, purple, grey, and glue is peeling like a bad sunburn. Aaah, satisfaction!

I've been thinking about art all day. It started with a mention of an SNL skit where John Lovitz plays Picasso, then I made a funny sketch, then I wondered what the true definition of Dadaism is, on and on. I've had a vision of paint- certain colors and technique stuck in my head for a few days that I want to try. That's what I thought I'd do when I got home, but got distracted, then we went to Mom & Dad's, then dinner, then we voted, then it was bedtime. WTF?!? I had to throw some paint around. I took to my in-process ballet collage and added another layer of paint, glue, and fabric for texture. You can't see much of the fabric in the photo- it's white tulle (think tutu) and the light goes right through it. It will be a killer background texture, though. In the photo is just looks like a big mess!! Well, ok- it is. This is only the 3rd of many layers to come, so most of this will be covered in the finished product. I worked on my mess and my fingers are weird colors- looks like I brutally murdered a smurf- I can go to bed ahppy now.

i don't want to play this game anymore. i want to play something else

2008-10-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

We did the 45 miles (short) ride of the Harvest Century yesterday. It was a beautiful ride, though challenging. It's the longest ride I've done since last year's full century. It was tough, but I did ok. My legs are fine, but my back & shoulders need a masseuse in a bad way. We went to bed early- I was asleep before 10 and had the alarm set for 6:30, and still got up after 7. And I could have slept more.

I'd rather be at home playing artist than being unproductive and sleepy in my grey cube. My productivity numbers for today are gonna suck. Like they did last week. I have so much art stuff to do at home...

A couple of my co-workers saw my paintings on Oregon Art Beat Thursday night. It was nice to be recognized by folks who don't know that I have this other career budding:-)

WOOHOO!

2008-10-09T22:38:00.000-07:00

The Oregon Artbeat episode on DYI aired tonight. They were shooting at Crafty Wonderland in April when I was there. I made sure to flag the camera crew over to my table- I'm such a huge fan of the show and one of the biggest goals of my artistic career is to have a feature spot on it. Thankfully they didn't show the interview because I was a flaming dork, but they did show a quick but nice close up pan of my paintings, with by business cards in front- my name easily readable!!! YES!!! It's 2 or 3 seconds, max, so I'm not counting this as my goal. But, damn!!! My paintings and name were front and center full screen!! At another point, there's a lady buying earrings from the artist next to me, and I'm in the background, working on a painting. Ha! http://www.opb.org/programs/artbeat/videos/view/200-Crafting

Yesterday I finished my Cycle collage. I attached two bike tires around it as a frame. I'm satisfied with it. It's the biggest one I've done- 30x40. It was awkward to handle, so I think I'll keep the rest of them smaller. The ballet piece is half the size at 20x30, and seems really small. Big enough to have fun with, though. I think my ideals are 24x36 or 24x30.

Tonight I framed my 1220 collage. I scored some cool old picture molding from The Rebuilding Center (I love that place) when CJ was here. It's biege and turquoise paint is old and chipping- a perfect color and style match for the piece. I mitred the pieces & attatched them in such a way as to give depth to it, rather than a true frame; I nailed it front to back (wall to viewer) rather than outside to inside. This gives the clean feeling of being framed, but it also gives the appearance that I used a 1 1/2 inch cradled gallery style canvas rather than the cheaper 3/8 or 5/8 inch student canvas that it truly is. I have to say I'm really stoked at how sharp it looks :-D

The Launch Pad Gallery show opening party was Friday. It's an open call show, so the pieces range from laughable to Wow- this artist could have a solo show at Laura Russo. This time there was less that I appreciated. The Love show in February had a higher average quality, in my opinion. I was pleased to hear Jim say that he thought my piece was one of the best ones there- I take his objective opinion seriously. A couple of my co-workers came as well, and they liked it as well. I trust them to not BS me and say they loved it if they didn't. I really don't care if it sells or not- I'm just happy to have my first assemblage in a gallery:-) It's all about the eyeballs.

Dionne- web designer extraordinaire- made my site live today. There are still many little things to tweak and fix, but apriloconnor.com is ready to be seen! I'm really pleased- I love what he's done with it :-)

WET

2008-10-04T09:34:00.000-07:00

It's officially fall- the rains are here. And that means it takes three times as long for glue and paint to dry. :-( Thursday evening I decided to start my collage on ballet, and squirted some paint over the canvas with dance steps in mind. None of this will show, but it gives a base of texture. It's now Saturday morning and it's STILL not dry. I even put a hair drier on high to it for an hour yesterday- just to take the wet shine off the surface. bah! We're being dumped on by the tail end of a typhoon (at least it's warm) and the humidity is in the 80-90% range. And no sun. Just a week ago it was in the 90's and dry. I worked outside in the sun, and paint dried like magic. *sigh* I may have to invest in a couple of fans and/or space heaters. Large quantities of paint and glue drying is the reason a collage takes so long to do- I can't touch it for days! If I had a big ol' studio in a garage, I could work on more than one at a time. Right now my cycle piece is standing against the wall waiting for some white spray and few extra widgets to be glued... but the paint on ballet needs to stay level until it dries. In the winter I can put small pieces near the heat vents and blast them dry. That's not an option for a 2x3 foot canvas when it's comfortably 60+ degrees outside.

yeay!

2008-09-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited! This Friday I'm meeting with Brianne at Tender Loving Empire to discuss putting my little paintings in the store! Score!!

I'D RATHER BE...

2008-09-07T20:58:00.000-07:00

Bleah. I don't want to go to work tomorrow. There's so much art stuff to do. And house stuff. I'd love to have a studio outside the house so I could lock myself away and not be distracted by dishes and laundry.

Before being on STD, I thought that I needed the schedule the keep me active, and the people to keep loneliness away. It was a 6 week test that showed me that I can be just fine at home alone. I loved the freedom. I loved being able to stay up late when I got inspired. There are so many projects I want to do- there's a backlog in my head. I have 2 projects in the making, plus 6 collages, another house series piece, 2 requested cityscapes to finish, more to produce for stock and new shows, plus communicating with cafes & galleries...

Work is a waste of time. I've been flagrant in my lack of caring about my job in my short 3 days back. I take long lunches, long breaks, play on the computer- it's quite liberating to not care! But I can't exactly get fired. Or quit. Yet. *sigh* I can handle being home alone, there's plenty to do, I can meet my friends for lunch, not be annoyed by the airheaded yappy people that surround me. It's like when I was thinking about moving out of Mulberry House. I knew there were parts of the experience that I still needed, as well as having the desire for the comforts of living with Jim. I wanted to move in with him, but the time wasn't right. Then there came a day when I realized that the balance had shifted, and I was okay to leave Mulberry House. The STD time gave me the opportunity to see that I'm ready to be away from the grey cubicle world. Now that the point has been reached, I optimistically have the feeling that the time to fly will be soon. Well, soon being less than another 6 years... My guess is within a year. That's a good goal to work on. In the meantime, I can enjoy the banter I have with Tina, and being close to my friends. But if there's an opportunity to move forward, I'll happily take it.

JUST STARTING OUT

2008-09-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

I have a web page being built for me, I've shown my work to a REAL gallery (Guardino), I could have a show very soon at a popular pub (hopworks), I've been ok'd to be in a really cool little indy shop (Tender Loving Empire), and I just met an artist for whom I have much respect for (Trina Hesson). She's been in a slump and needs to come out, and I just need to keep reaching out. I feel like all the little baby steps are adding up to something more tangible:-)

Thoughts on Art

le$$son learned

math homework

what?

burn, baby, burn!

takin' care o'business

It's a good week- I got the acceptance letter from CAP, I'm delivering 2 pieces to Lunar Boy tomorrow, and I just submitted my app for this years PDX Open Studios. Next on the list- consolidate my mileage for taxes, and add paintings to my etsy site. I need some income!

what does THIS button do?

a different kind of basket case

progress

i'm a happy basket case

what do you do with a painting...

glass

I redid the Bushwhacker Glass lino today. The first one had some lines and connections that weren't right. Here's the second go 'round. I've flipped it horizontally so you can see how it'll print. The letters are carved in backwards.

Cider Tree

to do list

Where am I?

oops!

makin' progress

a day off

in stitches (sew funny!)

I htink i'm cross eyed

apple tree

cutting edge

dream

mind reeling

biz cards

100, THE CENTURY, THE C-NOTE

LA MERDE

<--S*C*ATT>>>>ER-----B#R@AI NED^-->

SHIPPING AND HANDLING

A NEW BEGINNING

irrational fear?

it's that dress

something new

AS PROMISED...

20 SURFACES PREPPED

some of the stuff in my head

en pointe

new backgrounds

old stuff, new eyes, new stuff

yeay!

I have the drive

*erk*

got ahead of myself

so much good stuff

now i'm committed

pam rsg

cap auction

critics

printing today

framed!

bermuda!!

the recyclery

new venue

linocut

collectors and galleries!!

keep moving forward

i did stuff!

mapping the past

the latest project

my own little world

feelin' the love in February

shiny, happy... art

happy not-chicken day

thankful

yeay!

sold!

JOY!

found photos

snow day! sorta. only, not really. at all.

irish style ofrenda

it's times like these...

Ms Pollock?

i don't want to play this game anymore. i want to play something else

WOOHOO!

WET

yeay!

I'D RATHER BE...

JUST STARTING OUT

<--SCATT>>>>ER-----B#R@AI NED^-->

erk