coming together… a little more than half way through now.
Thoughts
Be an Artist
Stuff
Here is Dan on the Surface of the Sun (8 x 8 inches, Oil, pencil and ink on gessoboard.) and a couple shots of Rubber Soul.
It’s all ready to move into the first week of August. I’m just waiting for my new easel to arrive while trying to sell my current one. I’ve got it on Craigslist for $550, and have had a couple emails, but no one has come to look at it yet, but I just lowered the price yesterday, so we shall see what this week brings. I am working on a 9 foot piece, so I do hope the new easel comes soon if I wind up selling my current easel any time soon!
Well, I’m off to sew a medium sized painting I started a long time ago. It’s been sitting in my office for a long time. I’m going a little bit crazy now working in 3 spaces.
On another note, I’ll be writing a little bit for the Huffington Post for their new Arts section!
Happy Father’s Day.
Rubber Soul
Renovation is almost complete on the new home studio, and the place I am now calling, “Rubber Soul.” I’ve run into a few major problems, but I’m solving them by throwing money at them. Not something I’m in the position to do, but I didn’t have a choice.
One of the biggest problems I ran into: my easel. My pretty much brand new David Sorg easel will not even fit under the garage doors at its lowest setting, let alone under the very low ceiling I am going to be working under – and there is nothing I can do about it. I’m forced to sell it and get something else. I’m waiting for the new one to arrive, and while it cost me a lot more than I would have liked, I’m actually very excited about it because not only is it a lot shorter, but it also adjusts completely flat. That’s a nice perk, I must say, especially since I just started a 9 foot wide piece and had to work on it on the floor and nearly busted my knees on the cement floor sticking the pattern paper to it. Even if I had to do it again in Rubber Soul, there is a rubber floor and I won’t ever hurt my knees like that again. Standing is going to be a bit better too. I put the rubber floor in because there are so many uneven cracks in the cement floor in the garage, this kind of evened things out. A problem solved if you will.
I am moving 350 square feet into 230 that has stuff already in it. A problem I can’t solve by throwing money at it. It’s a problem I have to solve by getting rid of stuff and simplifying. This is something I want to do, I just don’t know how to do it before August. And how do do this, pack, and move without really interrupting my work flow? You tell me. I’m trying to work from both places right now and take a little bit home with me as I go back and forth so as to not make the move so bad. Where I am going to store all the blank canvases and panels is my biggest problem.
Anyway, anyone want to buy a slightly used Sorg?
That’s about it for now.
Summer Lovin’ (happened so fast)
I guess I should announce this sooner than later. I’m going to give up my studio come August. To a few, this isn’t a shock, but maybe it sounds very sad. Maybe it sounds like a giant demotion. before I got my studio, all I did was complain about not having one and how much I missed Angels Gate. Missing Angels Gate will never go away because there is just no other place on Earth like it. I am not giving up my current studio because it’s not like Angels Gate. I never expected it to be. I’m not giving it up because I hate it. I like it very much. I don’t even know if I’m about to disclose my reasons here or not, but I’m leaving it to artist Stephanie Mercado.
So where am I going to be working from now on? At home. Work has started on my garage to make it a little more bearable, plus there is a room in the house for small stuff. It’s quiet here, private and I will boast a little about my pretty little garden: it’s pretty. My favorite thing about working at home: privacy. I know there’s a whole “thing” attached to the professional side to being an artist where you bring in visitors and do studio visits. I’m probably shooting myself in the foot a bit by taking this out of the equation, but I’ve learned a little bit about myself, or rather, finally accepted something about myself. I don’t like having visitors in my work space so much. Occasionally, depending on the person, depending on the objective, yes, it’s okay. Open Studios, etc.: not my cup of tea.
Not to sound like some kind of snobby prima donna, but art making has become a sacred ritual for me, and so is the space I make it in. Letting people in is like letting someone prance all over my underwear or look in my bathroom cabinets. I can do my best to make sure my gallery has more work on hand and try to get more people to my exhibits if they want to see the work in person. That’s about all I can do.
This blog is a nice way to show little peeps of things I’m working on, I don’t mind that so much. It’s kinda fun and I like to stay behind the scenes. You don’t get to see how fat I’m getting or hear my cartoony voice. Here’s a painting I’ve worked on last week. I’m waiting for it to dry so I can do the embroidery. It’s called Danarama and it’s 30 x 30 inches, oil on linen.
