3 days in New Orleans

I know, I know, it's been 4 months since I've updated this thing. I'm sure everyone out there is just sitting around holding their breath for the next installment, ha!

What have I been doing? Well, not much actually, 2 openings, lots of submissions and getting my new gallery "the little gallery" ready for shows. Unfortunately not much painting (so I guess it's a good thing it's a little gallery).

Back in March I took a trip to New Orleans for "a significant" birthday celebration with a friend of mine. Let me just say that I had never been there before and all of the friends of mine who knew I was going failed to give me any kind of true impression of what I would find. To be specific they didn't tell me it was a cross between Las Vegas and Virginia City, no clocks and no laws.

We survived though and I did manage to do a painting from the experience. I'm posting it here. I was enamored with this street musician with his steel guitar. It seemed like he had just walked out of the 1930's, with his haircut and the way he dressed. I'm so glad that between all the laughter of those 3 days I managed to get pictures of him.

Next trip, Seattle in the summer, a little island living - so inevitably more beach paintings on the way.

Back home again.

There are several places in Missoula that mean alot to me, architecturally and sentimentally. The building above is both. My first job here was in this building at an ad agency and when I left that job and went out on my own I had 3 different offices in the building, the third being the best, sharing with an illustrator.

I always said I would work downtown, but then I had my daughter and after trying to bring her to work I realized I better either give up the office or get evicted. So I built a studio at home that has served me well over the last 8 years especially for my mural work.

But these days with paintings ranging up to 4'x5' I've run out of space to store them. Amazingly though, this little office that has the beautiful large windows with tons of natural light sharing with the illustrator became open again and I took it, (not really knowing what to use it for). I've just finished painting the space and in the process of hanging my art and it occurred to me to use it for First Friday's as sort of a mini gallery. So during the day I paint in there because there is more space and less interruptions (mainly the computer) and a place to show, I'm trying to come up with a name for it, any ideas? Gallery Piccolo?

finished

After two months of concentrating on other work, my family and the holidays I have begun painting again. In fact, last weekend I realized I needed to finish 2 paintings by Monday so I would have enough work to submit to a gallery here or I would have to wait another year, and really it's the only local gallery that seems right for my work. Luckily my husband was able to be a full time dad and I spent the weekend in the studio, no interruptions. I did send them out but after looking at the photos I realized they are far from finished. Here they are until I can get to them again (the top one is the drawing of Venice that I had so much trouble with).

Order Schmorder

I've been struggling the past few weeks with a drawing of a photo in Venice so I finally broke down and decided to grid it to see why it's giving me so much trouble.

In the past I would have drawn it as I see it and whatever happens happens but since the training I had in Florence I learned to value perfection in the drawing stage. Which is precisely my problem with this particular piece.

One of the things that I love about Italy is that things are not orderly or done in the precision as they are here and that creates sort of a unintentional beauty, and so what I've realized is that one of the windows (just one out of 10 or so mind you) of the buildings I'm drawing is just slightly crooked, as well as some really funky shadows that also don't seem to make sense. It's interesting to me that my brain keeps wanting to see these things how I think they should be instead of how they are.

So if I'm correct that this is what is so beautiful, then this is going to be some beautiful piece, 'course I'll be bald by the end of it from tearing my hair out.

What I'm not tearing my hair out about however, is that we have such an eloquent, intelligent and confident president, who has the power to inspire people, I certainly am.