Nope, not done yet.

I got to that point where I should stop and I did.  I'd guess that I'll need another day for this part, and I appraised the ladder situation for the part around the corner, and if I can get a ladder, I might even finish that part in the same day.  I'm busy now until Monday and then only have a half day to work on the mural, so it might go into Tuesday.  Oh yes, and then I have to add birds, so Tuesday looks like a good goal to wrap up the job.

Wall Mural should be done today.

This is the third day of working on this wall mural commission.  I will put up photos later today or tomorrow.  I downloaded Picasa yesterday and I think it will be a lifesaver for me.  The only photo software that I had that was still working was Photoshop and believe it or not it does have some limitations.

The third pump painting is also underway and, hopefully, I'll work on it on Saturday.  I had additional electric plugs installed in my studio and had to move everything away from one long wall, so now I have to put it all away and will take the time to sort through and reorganize and clean, so Saturday will be productive and therapeutic.

Another pump painting--in the series

I finished another painting yesterday in the pump series.  This series is inspired by a native of West Newbury who has fond memories of the town common where her grandmother used to live.  It has an old-fashioned water pump, probably was used for horses, and a memorial to veterans. I'm having trouble posting photos.  I'm only using Photoshop and the photos that I originally took in a vertical format post sideways.  I downloaded Picasa today and maybe that will help.

Today I started a mural and got the drawing done and some color tests.  Tonight I'll try to prepare some paint.  If that doesn't work out, I may go to Home Depot tomorrow morning and get some samples.  I did take some photos before and now during, so I'll post them when I get a chance to load them up on Picasa.

I may even finish the project tomorrow as long as the paint colors work out.

MoCA was great!

I'm just home from a sunny drive through great autumn scenery to North Adams and Williamstown.  We had an unexpected detour because Route 2 wasn't.  The hurricane washed a lot of it away and we never heard about it. www.massmoca.org was much better than I thought it would be.  Williams College Museum of Art and The Clark were also wonderful to see even though there were some exhibits that were closed.  My friend, Lynn Murray, and I ate at Spiceroot, an Indian restaurant in Williamstown, very delicious, highly recommended and it was.  We stopped in both directions to eat at the Wagon Wheel in Gill, MA.  Another great eatery.  So was this an art trip or an eating trip?  So I'm home after approx. 400 miles of traveling the by-ways.  We both took lots of photos.

Museum weekend

I'm excited to be leaving for a great weekend of driving through gorgeous autumn scenery and checking out museums I have been waiting to see for a long time.  Also the electrician has finally shown up and added lots of "juice" to my studio, of course, I spent a big chunk of time moving stuff so he could access the walls and now I'll have to "clean" and rearrange everything.  It's a good thing.

West Quoddy Lighthouse, Lubec, Maine

West Quoddy Lighthouse, Lubec, Maine

This 8x10" painting was previously done on site, updated last week and sold to Ron and Jan Deveau.  This spot in Lubec is where the sun first hits the United States in the morning.  The area around Lubec is very picturesque and I have lots of reference photos from which I plan to paint. 

I was all set today to work on my second painting of the West Newbury Common when the electrician came.  I've been waiting for him for a long time.  He decided that he wanted to start with the work in my studio, adding wall plugs and running wires all over the house.  So I think I'll try to get some work done on organizing my photos so I can find them and also doing some backups--necessary stuff that I never want to do.

West Newbury Green

Commission for Priscilla Flynn

This is the painting of the West Newbury Common Pump that I just completed last night.  I am working on another version looking in the opposite direction towards the monument with the pump in the foreground.

Two for Two at Newburyport Art Association

My Right Foot - Mixed Media 24x36" on canvas w/floating frame

Good news, the Newburport Art Association Fall Members Juried Show II accepted my two entries:

Mary	Pyche	Right Foot Forward	Mixed Media
Mary	Pyche	Life Has Its Moments	Photography

The jpg of the mixed media painting doesn't look clear enough, sorry.  

Degas Nudes at MFA

I spent the day today at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston mainly to see the Degas show but spent time in other parts of the museum and took lots of photos of "people at the museum" for future paintings.  My art friend Dale Prentiss Green and long time friend Ed Lemay were with me.  I also brought my finished painting of the lighthouse "West Quoddy" to it's new owner tonight.  I wasn't able to paint today and I'm disappointed about that, but I did work late last night on the two paintings of West Newbury's common with the old fashioned pump.

How about true confessions?

I'm doing this blog to force myself to confess daily what ART I've done that day.  I'm working daily these days and can't promise myself a daily painting, well, I could, but probably won't.  I don't really want to put myself in that tight a routine yet, and it might happen as a result of my work ethic, but I'm cleaning up old promises to myself and others.  I'm painting every day, sometimes all day, and like the walking regiment I started over a year ago, I'm letting myself do it without "pushing" myself too hard.  I'm somewhat compulsive or competitive and when I push too much, too fast, it gets overwhelming and I stop.  I found with walking that I do what I can, I enjoy it, then I keep doing it. 

There is a lot of art related work that I have on my plate, and I'm going to chip away at it, like teach art (which requires lots of preparation that I need to do), fix my web site (which requires tons of time on the computer), bookkeeping my art (which requires setting up systems to record everything, like deadlines, sold work, photographing work, organizing materials, flyers, etc.) get ready for shows (which requires all the the previous plus producing work that is cohesive--I have 2 shows in the works).

Today I'm delivering 2 pieces of art to Newburyport Art Association for entry into the juried show, Part II, which is not for oil painting so I'll put in a mixed media piece and a photography piece.  The photography piece was rejected at Newburyport a year ago, but it received an "Honorable Mention" at the Rockport Contributors Show shortly afterwards.  Was I surprised?  I was just hoping it would get in!

I've been working on a painting that I sold last week that needed a little more work, and yesterday I completed it, framed, wired, etc. and took a photo.  It's the West Quoddy Lighthouse in Lubec, Maine.  Yesterday I also worked on a painting of the public common and pump in West Newbury, Mass.  This one is for Priscilla Flynn.  I did drawings and gouache studies and she picked one and her friend, Ted, picked another, so I'll do both of them and see which one they take.