My New Studio

My studio space in Phoenix was a former dining room. It was about 130 square feet. Small, but adequate for my use, considering my studio time was pretty much limited to summer, when I was on break from teaching. When we moved to Ajo, my space was upgraded to about 170 square feet, in what was supposed to be the master bedroom. I was happy to be in a more spacious studio. However, I've discovered over the past year that the more time you have to work, the more space you could use.

I recently had the opportunity to rent a 350 square foot studio on the second floor on the Plaza. The blue awnings on the top floor, right side of the building are where the studio is located. You can see from the second photo that the windows are large. The third picture is of me with Barney (our vacuum cleaner), preparing to do some cleaning before moving in.

Tomorrow, I hope to start moving my stuff. I have a lot. Much of it heavy or awkward. It's a very long and steep staircase. This is going to be very good exercise. I can't wait to get settled and get back to work!

Reed Calligraphy II in progress

Have you ever had an exercise schedule that you have been committed to, and then had a longish, unavoidable interruption to your routine? I think it's pretty common that when this happens, it's difficult to get started again. Even though you know it's good for you and that you feel 100% better when you exercise consistently, there are a million reasons why not to start again.

This is how it works when doing art, too (at least for me). For one thing, you forget what the heck you were up to, if you have an unfinished piece to start in on again. This problem is a piece of cake compared to having to start fresh on a new project after a long hiatus. That can be just plain terrifying. Whenever I can, if I know I won't be able to work for awhile, I try to have at least one painting in the works to jump back into.

What you see above is a painting I started last April. In fact, you can see a photo of me with it in my studio, on a blog entry way back on April 18. Since then, there have been all kinds of perfectly legitimate reasons not to work on it. I worked on another piece off and on, which was completed in June and is currently on display at the Curley School. Since then, I haven't worked in my studio at all. Period. Now I've run out of excuses.

But I can't remember quite where I was going with this piece. So today is the day that I'm going to prepare my palette and jump back into work again. Feels a bit like jumping off a 10 story building. Stay posted to see what happens.

2nd Juried Art Exhibition for Sponsorship at Pagosa Mountain Hospital

If you've been following my blog, you might remember seeing this painting before. I'm showing it again because it was accepted in the 2nd Juried Art Exhibition for Sponsorship at Pagosa Mountain Hospital, in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The juror was Ann Daley, Associate Curator at the Denver Art Museum. The show opens on September 18 and will continue for two months.

What is a bit unusual about the way the show is being run is the sponsorship part. Over and over again, artists are asked to donate their work for various good causes. What people don't seem to realize is that artwork takes time to make, it takes training, it takes costly materials to produce, it is only tax deductible for the cost of materials, and it may be the only source of income for the artist. In this exhibit people are being asked to purchase a painting and then donate it back to the hospital to become a part of its' art collection. Pagosa Mountain Hospital builds a collection that many people can enjoy and the artist is paid for the work.

It seems like a win/win situation to me! Oh, by the way, the sponsor of the work gets a tax write off for the purchase price of the painting.