ARRIVING

                                                                

     AFTER A YEAR AND HALF IN THE NEWLY BUILT STUDIO ON MY PROPERTY AT HOME,  I HAVE REALIZED A SENSE OF BELONGING TO THIS SPACE AND THE FUTURE YEARS OF AUTHORSHIP TO WHAT TRANSPIRES ON CANVAS AND PAPER

     PRESENTLY MY WORK HAS EVOLVED INTO THREE STATIONS OF PRODUCTION.

          -INK GESTURES ON PAPER CREATED FROM REHEARSAL NOTES OF DIFFERENT 

              DANCE COMPANIES I ATTEND.

          -FIGURATIVE PAINTINGS ON CANVAS

          -A CONTINUATION OF ANIMAL PAINTINGS TO SELL ON LINE.

     THE BLOGS THAT FOLLOW WILL BE THE VICTORIES AND DEFEATS OF ERASEL 

ATTEMPTS NOW THAT I AM FINALLY ONE WITH THESE WALLS. THANK YOU FOR CHECKING IN. M

Activating and updating studio happenings

Moving the studio from a downtown warehouse location to a garage for storing and then finally into a newly built structure at home became a tremendous journey. For those thinking about doing this I encourage you to plan carefully and have a temp location to set up in while what was supposed to be 2 months of construction becomes almost a year.

However the end result is fantastic and my work is showing what additional hours can do as well as  having a room of my own:)

All this to say I can update this blog now and get on with some thoughts about art making:)

GOING , GOING, GONE!

It seems the figure I was working on evolved right off the canvas. Many times! It took two days of push and pull to get myself warmed up to letting go of calculations and pestering questions about right and wrong. This morning I walked in painted off the old efforts and simply put down the lines that do not carry a burden of pre conceived ideas. Tomorrow looks promising.

In her book "The Creative Habit", Twyla Tharp says; "There's an emotional lie to over planning; it creates a security blanket that lets you assume you have things under control, that you are further along than you really are, that you're home free when you haven't even walked out the door yet."

FROM THE SKETCH TO THE PAINT

I would be curious what other painters feel as they are about to take on the canvas with brush in hand. For me it's often like standing on a very high diving platform. Stalling by fussing about before taking that deep breath.

Today I dove. This figure will evolve over the next weeks or few days with the hope I do not take away the movement in the gesture and bind her up with paint. Instead, she needs to soar.

WAKING UP THIS BLOG

Since last fall I have been collecting notes for this series of large canvases that focus on similar movements found in dance and sport.

Sketches are still happening since the football, soccer and volleyball practices observed last fall. Lately my subjects have been PSU women's basketball and Oregon Ballet Theatre rehearsals.

This 48"x72" canvas has just been started. The posted gesture popped up in both my PSU sketches as well as those from the dance floor at OBT. My self imposed project is turning out to be fun and full of wonderful challenges. I am at the wonderful mercy of what happens in front of me whether it be at practices and rehearsals or on canvas.

ENTER THE SPORTS WORLD

After sending requests to sketch the Oregon State Uni. football practice I received a quick response and was able to witness two hours of outstanding athleticism.

My heart be still! As in dance, these beautiful body forms give 150% of what they are there to do. I was the only one in the stands for much of the time and sketched non-stop taking away notes I am proud to say are refreshing and seem like potential painting subject matter. No one cared that I was there and that provides an excellent climate for drawing to meet my needs. Drove home loaded with smiles and the sound of the band practice echoing in my head. A reminder Ohio State years.

Don't know where this is all going but

USEFUL SKETCHING NOTES

The update on my project for combining sports movement gestures and dance gestures is still in the stage of making use of the wonderful works at North West Dance Project and trying to get field time with University of Portland women's soccer and Oregon State University football. I have e-mails explaining the the project, my request for field time and some paintings as examples. Perhaps I need to go to the athletic departments with a brief portfolio. Their time and schedule must be quite precious right now.

Meanwhile I am prepping canvases in anticipation of what's ahead.