Behind the scenes work all day today.

I never got to pick up a brush.  Well, that's not entirely true--I made a small shelf out of nice step molding I have for making floating frames, painted it with blackboard paint to match my kitchen wall, and installed it to hold the little gem paintings (6x6") until they get adopted.

Kitchen Shelf

Canvas conservation
Because of concerns regarding this large canvas painting I'm working on, I did some research on preserving canvas on paintings.  There are various processes whereby paintings are relined.  I am thinking that having some sort of backing would be a good idea, but any kind of wood panels warp, there is aluminum and it is light, so that might be a good choice.  I'm becoming more concerned now with the type of canvas, preferably linen, and what type of gesso and how many coats are used.  It is surprising that cotton and linen canvases have been used for so long and some of them have held up rather well.

Another challenge
Because it takes so long sometimes to decide on what to paint, then locate a suitable photo on my computer (and all the thumb drives I have), and then get the supplies together and do the painting, or gather items for a still life, arrange them for the design and composition, etc. I find that accepting one of the Daily Paintworks Challenges is sometimes the quicker way to start your day.  So I picked a rose painting, got the board out, laid down a coat of sealer on the plywood, and now I have to wait for it to dry.  I picked the wrong one evidently because it's still wet.

Progress on the garden acrylic painting
I dug out the reference photos and set them up on my easel and tried to make some decisions regarding what plants to plant in this garden and how the beds will be designed and how to keep the wet-dirt-on-the-path look I am striving for.

Progress on the door
I spent a lot of time checking my drawing on the actual door (the open door) to decide how to get the proportions right and treat the glass inset correctly.  It got so late, I'll try for tomorrow.  Another name idea came to mind, "The Million Dollar View".

My method for blogging
In the morning after I correct the one-in-progress, I start the new one for today by giving it a title of what day it is, like Thursday, and in the body of the blog I quickly write a to-do-list and hit 'save'.   I may add or subtract things as the day goes on.  Then the following morning, during my morning email reading, etc., I edit it, give it a proper title, and post it.  This works very well for me to keep me on track, as a reminder of what I should do, and helps me realize what I have done.

2 Auction Pics in one day! WOW

After a fulfilling day yesterday, I'm back at working on the door. I am a bit thrilled that I have finally finished painting the moulding around the door!  The next phase of the painting will be on the open door itself.  It's a white door with a big pane of glass in the middle of it.  You see glimpses of the garden greenery through that glass section and the white door will have variations of colors of white. I have a couple of hindges to paint as well.  Then the next phase will be to study how the shadows below the door would fall.  Without actually having a scene to observe, this will be difficult.  How is the naming going?  Not good.  I'm thinking about 'Inside Out".

The lights shining on it are casting a glare FYI, but you can see some of the progress.

My mind is also on a large acrylic painting I'm working on and would like to finish to submit to the Rockport Contributors Show the end of this month.

This is the under painting for the acrylic painting, 30x40"

I added another painting to the DPW site, and although I won these honors (below) I can't even find them on the auction site myself!  There are always a large number of entries every day so before the auction is over there are probably more than a thousand to pick from.  It is amazing that I occasionally get a sale from there.

More Door - how much more?

Door Painting

Moving the door painting around (4 foot by 7 foot) in order to paint on it sideways or upside down is a challenge.  I built the stretcher frame and stretched the canvas and started painting this years ago.  I don't have a lot of room to operate.  I'm thinking, boy I hope I don't put a hole in it now, after all this work and all this time working on it.  I learned from Joel Babb how to make this frame, and I'm very happy with the construction of it since it is very sturdy and does have good hand grips.  It could easily fall onto other tables, etc. that I have nearby. Why would I want to move it like that?  In this section of the painting, there are lots of straight lines, so it's sometimes easier to reach and see the lines better when I move it around.

What's keeping me mind busy while I'm doing these lines?

I've been happily listening to a couple of radio shows with great interviews.  Todays' was Art Chats With Linda Fisler.

Lori's painting.

One was of Lori Putnam talking about how she became an artist, her mentor, her new studio, other things--she is so down to earth.  I took a workshop with her last year in the finger lakes region of NY.  I used the primary palette and the key thing I learned from her is how to find the middle value on the view you have of the scene and how to match it up on your painting.  I like a primary palette especially for outdoors and have always been unable to figure out the middle value relationships between the scene and the painting.  I like her painting style and enjoyed the interview.

Another interview was with Joseph McGurl who has been referred to as one of the acknowledged leaders in the current American landscape school.  He's from the Cape, and I live in Massachusetts too.  He has a thorough education in art and does not use photographs.

Here he is painting at Tuckerman's Ravine.  You know, near the top of Mt. Washington???
Even taking the auto road is a big deal to get there.  Otherwise it's a full day's hike--uphill!

Both these artists's wedsites are www.(their name).com.

Carpet Cleaning, a woman's work, etc......

Got a little delayed because I had to shampoo a rug this morning and I wanted so much to get started very early.

Sold and shipped

Red Geranium has a new owner.

I packaged up the painting I sold and got it out to the post office.

Supper

Thank goodness for pressure cookers.  I also made a nice stew.  Now I'm gonna go eat it!

Visit to NAA and more 'Door'

NAA show

I went with a friend, Elaine, to see the current show at Newburyport Art Association today.  The show is very nice and my painting, We Run, has a very nice spot on the center of the big blank wall in the Hills Gallery.  I took my camera with me to take some photos, and, da, didn't take any pictures, realized it when I got home. 

 They sometimes have the show on-line but this time it's only the winners.  

Painting more 'Door'

I guess I really need a name for this painting!  I worked on the frame again today and it is very slow going, talk about painting a straight line!  I realized that I should work on another painting at the same time to allow this one to get tacky in between efforts.  This will be a good thing, so I don't get too uninspired with the 'work' that is required.  This is still a challenge, don't get me wrong, but this part is more like work.  

When I was doing stained glass work, it was hard to keep the old shoulder to the grind stone because it was physically difficult and strenuous work and somewhat mechanical after the design part was over.  

Postings

I did update my blog and the Portrait Project Facebook page.

DPW icon

I was wondering why DPW doesn't have an icon to use on one's sites, and today I noticed that an artist had made his own, so, of course, I have to do that too.  Now that I think about it, it won't be too hard.

I should probably check with DPW first to be sure they don't already have one.  Then, there will be another learning curve figuring out how to get Weebly to accept the code, probably not too tricky.

Learn from others' blogs

The above DPW icon is an example of some of the things one can learn from other artists' blogs.  Also listening to the on-line talk radio shows is another wonderful source of good intel.

Reading

There is never enough time to read all the art stuff I want to read.  It is great though to have the magazines, etc. on hand for those half hours when you need to fill the time with something.  Heaven forbid I just did nothing--nope--don't know how to do that.  I know, you are starting to think that if I didn't spend so much time playing on my computer with this blog, I'd have more time for other things!  ha ha :)  I do enjoy it at the end of a tiring day to be able to sit here and talk to myself and my friends.

More on social medias

I found some good articles on how to use Instagram for business, and, yes, it's on my reading list, actually it's on my newest blog that I made for myself that is like a on-line file cabinet.