Twenty-Five, the Big Number

Today, February 25, is my 25th wedding anniversary. I am very lucky to be married to the most wonderful, smart, creative, talented and supportive person I could ever have wished for.

One of the really inspiring things about Jim is the way in which he has always followed his dreams. The profession of photography has taken many twists and turns, being changed by technology as the camera has moved from film to digital, and the computer has taken on more and more critical importance. Keeping up isn't enough. A really smart person has to be ahead of the curve. Jim has always done that. He got savvy about computers way back when, is an expert at transforming both film and digital images into works of art, and knows more about how to use the internet than I can imagine.

Years ago, he had the vision of a project about US Route 89, which runs from Canada to Mexico through some of the most fascinating country in the western United States. A huge project, with more potential that either of us ever imagined, is one that I'm also involved in. See what we're up to at www.us89society.org

A Brand New Website

I'm pleased to announce that with the patience of a saint, my husband helped me to create a new website. This one is specifically for the Nooks and Crannies series of paintings I've been working on recently. The web site includes a gallery of the paintings, as well as a revised artist statement, resume and bio. Thanks also to Alyson Stanfield, whose book I'd Rather Be in the Studio, as well as her newsletter helped me to face the onerous task of rewriting my Artist Statement!

Here's one of the new ones. It's called Down the Drain. I challenge you to go to the Phoenix Art Museum and search the stalls in the ladies restrooms to find the exact location of this drain.

Yes, I admit that doing a painting of a drain in a bathroom is a bit unusual, but I was struck by the glow and sheen of the stalls in contrast to the slate floor. And the drain, the drain! I think it has a beautiful pattern.

The Spector of Health Insurance Raises Its Ugly Head

Here we are, me with my paint brushes, Jim with his camera and Mat with his school books. Above us is an ugly monster called health insurance, which is threatening to bleed us dry.

Long ago, I went back to school to become an art teacher for two reasons. One was a steady income. The other was health insurance. As it turns out, I loved teaching art. The pay check and insurance were a bonus.

When I decided to become a self employed artist a year and a half ago, we signed up for COBRA, which extended our health insurance for 18 months. Seemed like forever at the time. COBRA is a very expensive interim health insurance policy. For us, it was costing close to $900 per month. A lot of money.

The 18 months flew by. Some time ago, we started investigating individual policies, since we are self-employed. Guess what. We got a big fat DENIED from every policy we applied for. The good news is that the state has what's called a portability law, which means some insurance company is forced to cover you even if they don't want to, once you've been denied.

So we applied for a portability policy, figuring that it would, of course, cost more than what we are currently paying. Guess what the estimate for the three of us was? No, your guess was too low. In order to continue with insurance which would cover what our current insurance covers, our monthly payment would be $2800!!! Now does that sound like a great option?

We are mulling over the situation, and have several different companies doing research for us. Too bad the government can't get it together. Of course, we are only one of countless people facing the same problem.

Yes, going back to teaching would be an option. Not one I'm entertaining at the moment. Not that there are any jobs out there.

Try, Try Again

Years ago, last time I was working as a full-time artist, I applied to exhibit at @Central Gallery, at the Burton Barr Central Library in downtown Phoenix, several times. Applying to various shows is part of an artists' work. It actually costs money to apply to almost all exhibits. The fees are usually about $15 to $25 per entry of anywhere from 1 - more images, depending. So not only do you risk rejection, but you have to pay for it! It's important to get into shows because it's exposure for your work, it might generate sales, it's good for a resume, it builds credibility.

In the case of the @Central Gallery submissions, way back in the mid 1990's my work wasn't chosen. It's always hard to be rejected. But as an artist, you have to be able to move on, keep making your work and keep trying. Since then for 12 years or so, I was occupied by going back to school to get my teacher certification, and then spent 10 years teaching art full time. During that time, I continued to make my work when possible, and created a fairly steady, albeit slow, output of work.

Since the move to Ajo, and my commitment to working full time as an artist, as expected, my body of paintings has been growing. So I took a stab at the @Central Gallery again. It's a wonderful space, I always love the shows there, and the gallery gets lots of traffic . My hope was that maybe this time I'd get a piece into an exhibit.

Yesterday I got a call from the Gallery Coordinator, Prudence Crosswhite, asking me if I'd like to do a solo show! What an honor. How exciting! What a lot of work I get to do to prepare for this show. I'd better head up to my studio right now and see what I can accomplish.

By the way, the painting posted above is from the Nooks and Crannies series, part of my upcoming show. When I get the schedule, I'll post it. All I know right now is that the exhibit will be happening sometime between July and November.

In the Public Eye

Granted, the population of the town of Ajo is small. A total of around 2,000 in the summer and 4,000 in the winter. The public eye may be microscopic, but this makes it a great testing ground for me. In the last week I put myself in front of the public several times.

While I've done a great deal of public speaking in my life, I must admit, I've never formally talked about my own work. I was invited to do a talk at the local library and found it was a great exercise in pulling some of my thoughts about my work together. After the talk, listeners were invited to my studio. Then, last Saturday, as a part of a community meeting about the future of the Plaza (where my space is located), there was a tour which included my studio. This was another opportunity to talk to people about my work. The photos you see here are of the event. They were taken by photographer, friend and neighbor, Jewel Clearwater. Many thanks to Jewel!

Also, yesterday, I invited the students in the Las Artes GED class up to my studio. Their interest was refreshing, and their questions were completely different than those of my previous visitors.

All of these experiences made me realize that I need to work on the way in which I talk about my work. More on this later.

Giving back

This is another painting in my new series "Nooks and Crannies". This odd corner in the Phoenix Art Museum struck my eye. What attracted me was the radiant blue opening with the exit sign glowing and the empty chair, along with the reflections in the floor. To me, it is a mysterious and lonely spot.

This week I'm helping a friend with a workshop and also giving a talk entitled "Magic, Drudgery and Technology" at the local library. In addition, I'm meeting with the teacher of Las Artes GED class to talk about resuming my weekly volunteer art classes with her group. That's why I called this blog Giving Back. Generally, I find that in doing something for friends or community, I get back more than I give. For example, this morning I spent some time with a group of quilters talking about space and different ways to give an illustion of space to a flat surface. It was great fun and so gratifying to share what I know with them. Yeah me!

Making so much art

I've been busy! I went to a wonderful and inspiring workshop early in December at Brio, an interesting art space in Scottsdale, Arizona. The workshop was put on by my friend, Nancy Reyner. She's the author of The Acrylic Revolution, and a truly inspired teacher. The artists in the class were all quite accomplished, so it was interesting to learn from them, too. Got to stay with my very best friend, which added to the fun of my 3 day workshop. This was the first actual workshop (not class, I've had plenty of those) I've ever attended. I can't even begin to describe how much I learned. Yes it was fun, but also really hard work.

Got back to Ajo and went to work in my studio! I decided to try a new tactic and started 8 new paintings at one time. I'm working on a new series, called Nooks and Crannies. My goal was to complete this group by December 30. I got all but one of them done. Working on a number of pieces at a time seems to be a more efficient way to go. I think it's because when I get stuck on one, I can move onto to an array of other paintings. Somehow, the solution comes to me by the time I get back to the problem child.