Charlie the Spaniel

Charlie, mixed media on paper, 10 x 8".

Isn't he cuuuute? I love my job.


I'll have animal portrait gift certificates at Art Crawl, by the way. Great for That Person Who Has Everything.

And on that note, I am off to La Patisserie to finish the big canvas. And get one of Deb's amazing little lemon tarts, if she has any left today. Lemon tarts were one of the joys I discovered while studying in Paris, and Deb makes the exact same kind I got there. I have a terrible weakness for them.

Dangerously Close to Done

This is a 48 x 60" canvas in progress at La Patisserie bakery, corner of Snelling and Randolph. If you haven't visited, I recommend it; great made-on-site baked wonders and the friendliest people anywhere.

The top image is where I left off today, and below is how it looked when I started. I won't be back there until Friday morning and should be finished by Friday around 5.

  

Bloomington Theatre & Art Center News

Saturday, this is where I was, at Bloomington Heritage Days with BTAC, doing a drawing demo:

 

The dog's name is Charlie and he belongs to Gail Weber of Twin Cities TOSCA. I'll post photos when the portrait is fully finished.

MY DRAWING WORKSHOP is on Saturday, Oct. 6th, and you can sign up here. One-day workshops are great if your schedule doesn't allow for a regular class. We'll be doing the same dark/light on tan paper method you see in my animal portraits. A very old technique and easier than you'd imagine.

 

I was at the event to publicize the BTAC's art classes. There are a lot of them, and we have excellent instructors!  Go check out the catalog

Motley as a Pup, and the Trouble with Free Art

Motley at Rest, 11 x 11" mixed media on cotton rag paper

So, yeah. It's been a busy, busy few weeks! And now I'm gearing up for Fall Art Crawl at JA Geiger Studio, (note that, as of my writing this, the site hasn't been updated; Fall Crawl is October 12 - 14 and the hours and address are all the same as for Spring).

Meanwhile, there's a discussion I'm following about a well-known musician, Amanda Palmer, who has landed in the middle of a controversy for asking professional musicians to come play in her band, on her tour, for free. Except, she's going to pay the ones in NYC because the show there has to be top-notch.  Some musicians (and visual artists like myself) are deeply bothered by this.

Here's Amanda's blog post defending herself, and another person's take on the situation.

When and why to work for free is a constant question in the lives of professional artists. My experience is that if everything's about the money, about survival, it kills me; and so I do give out of my art to support causes I believe in. I have donated art to:

Enchanted Makeovers
Northern Lights Greyhound Adoption
Arts for ACT
The Bridge for Youth
Home for Life

and there are more, but you get the gist.

But Amanda Palmer is not a charity, and work donated by artists is not "free" for the artists. It is time, materials, and study. It is an opportunity cost.

I've lost track of how many people I have shocked by telling them I had to work for my gift. An innate aptitude for art was only the beginning, and the rest has been decades of study and practice, a constant quest to gain new skills. This shocks people who assume that if you have talent, it all comes easily.

Amanda Palmer, an artist herself, knows how hard it is for artists. She of all people ought to be finding ways to make it better, instead of perpetuating the same old toxic ideas we already have. I totally understand the reasons people will play for her for free, but it breaks my heart that she'd ask them to.

Motley the Yorkie, in his PJs

Motley in his PJs, 11 x 11" mixed media on paper

Yorkies are such little charmers. This one belongs to the owners of the Dream Home for the Fall Parade of Homes here in the Twin Cities. His portrait -- two of them; this is the first -- will be on display there.

Watch it Happen

This is at La Patisserie in St. Paul. A 4 x 5' canvas showing the building as it was in the early 40s. I started it today and this is how far I got; will continue tomorrow afternoon. 

Landscape with Freight Cars

5 x 7" sketch from yesterday, oil on panel. Playing with somewhat more vibrant colors. Available, $50. This will fit right into a standard 5 x 7" photo frame; no custom framing required.

For the "blocking in" stage I used a thin wash of transparent iron oxide and quinacridone gold, intending to cover all of it. Then toward the end, someone remarked that they loved the orange color at the lower right, and I decided I did, too. So I left it, and I am glad I did.

Today I am out the door to La Patisserie, my favorite bakery in the Twin Cities. I'm working on a four-by-five-foot canvas for them, based on a photo of the building taken in the 1940s. I'll post work-in-progress photos tonight.

Mounds Boulevard Bridge

Mounds Boulevard Bridge, 6 x 12" oil on canvas

Today was overcast, not unpleasant though. A softly lit day and a grey curve of road that reflected the sky.

I wanted a soft, loose treatment so I painted this almost entirely with a palette knife.

Off to the Horse Show

With the new promo piece I just put together:

... and my camera, and my field kit for drawing and painting on the spot. I'll be at the Reining Futurity at the State Fairgrounds later today and much of tomorrow.

File under: Living less safely.

Cattails Number Two

Cattails No. 2, 6 x 12" oil on canvas.

On that note, I am going into the studio, but the first thing on the agenda is: put a big sheet of newsprint paper on the wall and write down all my pending projects so I can pick one and do that one, instead of flailing around going AUGH SO MANY THINGS TO DO I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START.

I do not suffer from a lack of creative ideas. I have so many that I drown in them unless I throw myself a lifeline.