After the Great Storm 2012

Living in New Jersey my entire life, the shore has been loved and cherished as the most beautiful special place on earth. Cape May, Stone Harbor, Margate, Atlantic City, Seaside, Lavallette north to Asbury Park and the place I love the most Long Beach Island have all experienced natures wrath. The coast is the place where nature is complete. Sky, earth and sea, serenity and great power at the same time. The negative power of nature has always been considered but no one could possibly envision the devastation that has taken place to these towns over the last few days.

Everyone I know has some connection to the coastal areas affected. Homeowners, boat owners and business owners all are experiencing unimaginable loss. There are people still in those areas that decided to ride out the storm never imagining the dangerous conditions they would encounter. Walls of ocean so powerful they overtook dunes, crashed though anything in their path with ease and connected with the bay on the other side of land. Fires burning through the sand in some areas, adding a second assault to already damaged homes, destroying what remained. In other areas there is a strong smell of gas adding additional anxiety for people who still have not been allowed to return. No matter what section of the coast, it has all been turned into what looks like a bombed out war zone.

Many people, who live year round in these areas, took only enough for a few days away from their home. They have the suffered the greatest unimaginable loss.
My mood is one of great sadness for every one's loss and gratitude that we were forewarned and optimism that it won't be as bad as it looks when we actually are able to return. I keep thinking of the devastation in NYC on 9/11 and how their recovery progressed. It gives me hope.
I am grateful that people are spared, property can be replaced.

The painting shown here was done on 9th St in Barnegat Light on Saturday afternoon as the surf was starting to churn and the wind was kicking up announcing the beginning of the worst storm experienced in all time.

The Making of a Painting- How Long Did It Take?

March, La Jolla, CA

People often ask how long did it take you to make that painting?

The answer is not an easy one. There is so much that comes before and after the actual process of applying paint to the support.

First comes the education which as it turns out is a lifelong process. This is one of the things that most attracts me to painting. I have always been strong-willed, determined to succeed, and painting presents a formidable challenge. Learning to paint is like the internet you can never reach the end. The more you know, the more you realize you do not know.
Workshops, videos, books all offer valuable information but the only way to really learn is to paint and paint a lot. Only then does the real understanding begin.
Each painting is begun as a challenge to myself to apply the paint in a new and improved way. It may be a particular palette of colors that I am trying out, with new mixtures of paint, and how they appear when applied next to each other. Sometimes it is different or more challenging subject matter. It could just be to paint the light as it appears at a given moment.

What else goes into a painting?

Ordering supplies-paints, supports, frames
Photographing the finished work.
Cataloging into my database.
Varnishing and framing the piece.
Delivering to the selected gallery.
More paperwork - log location of work into database

Art and Survival in the New Economy

When the economy was booming everyone seemed to want large paintings to decorate and fill the large walls of their newly built or purchased homes. Then came the bust. There are still those people out there. They just seem to think a little bit longer before making a big purchase but they do still buy.

How would I continue to maintain income from sales of my art?

My thought process was to create a mixture that included an increased percentage of smaller, lower and moderately priced work, along with larger paintings.

With this in mind, I started doing monotypes using gelatin as the printing plate. Painting directly on the gelatin, using both additive and subtractive methods, tonal areas and areas of visible brushstrokes can be acheived. The printmaking process is thoroughly enjoyable, both playful as well as painterly. My choice to use only black was deliberate. I wanted to keep these prints distinctly separate from my paintings in oil.

The resulting prints have been well received both with sales and awards.

There are always people willing to spend on work they love, including me. I, too, have continued to purchase pieces of art each year that speak to me.

My strategy seems to have worked and I am thankful.

It's Not All Painting

Art Things- A Peek at the Week of the Artist Life

Painted a new 18 x 24 beach scene with three figures. Finished a work in progress 24 x 30. Competed a 24 x 24 of children at the jetty "Digging for Sandcrabs" that was begun several months ago. (image to R.)

Painted an 8 x 16 marina scene and 12 x 16 of sailboats.

Took photos of all work recently completed, uploaded to my computer, edited and filed. Made a history sheet with a thumbnail image on each so I can quickly identify the work. These are used to keep a record of each show or gallery that receives the painting and when it is due back or is sold. I then logged each work into a database record that includes title, medium, size, year and price. This is then saved in three places. There is also space in the database to input the location of each painting that leaves the studio. It is then an easy task to make labels for the back of each piece and to print out a retail price list of just the ones I am delivering to a galllery.

Took six paintings outdoors to varnish and, after picking the pesky little gnats out of the wet varnish, set them out to dry on my enclosed porch. After they are dry I will frame each one and then make appointments with two of my galleries to bring in some new work. Maybe next week.

Worked as volunteer to assist jurors and hang the upcoming show at the Philadelphia Sketch Club for almost 7 hrs .

Attended an art reception followed by dinner with art friends.

Picked up works from a closing show.Updated website with events and two new paintings. Updated my art event calendar and updated speadsheet with income and expenses for the month.

Began mentally planning and reviewed opportunities for upcoming shows.
It pays to be organized!

Teen Arts Talent at Burlington County College

I was asked to do oil painting demonstrations (images shown to right)at the Teen Arts program held at BCC, Pemberton Campus with middle and high schools participating from Bordentown to Burlington City. Initially I thought the students would be bored watching rather than participating but I was surprised not only by their interest but by their talent.

During a brief break between demos, I said to the group "now that you have seen my work show me your work". There was a long corridor where a display of their work was setup. What an impressive display! All media was represented. I saw sculpture from discarded tin cans. Charcoal drawing of hands which the more experienced would find difficult, collage, fabric art. Self portraits in various media, one that impressed was made from clay had one side of face intact and the other with the parts under the skin exposed. The hallway show was juried for selection of pieces to be displayed at Smithville Mansion Gallery in Eastampton next month.

Never Thought I Would Go Back to Acrylics

I never thought I would go back to acrylics since I did not like them in the past. The outcome is the image to the right. (acrylic on matboard, 7.75 x 6 inches)

I was asked to teach a class using the medium so I dug them out of my "maybe I will use them someday" art supplies.

I made my own stay wet type palette using a plastic paper plate with a wet piece of felt placed on it and topped with a piece of baking parchment, both cut to the size of the plate. To my surprise the acrylics stayed like they were just squeezed out of the tube for several days. The best is that I actually enjoyed using them.

Just checking in

Hope to post here more often in the future.
The New Year is always the time of year I try to re-evaluate. Much time is spent thinking about my artistic goals trying always to raise the bar higher than the year before. It is also the time I review both my art and the things that were accomplished. One of the greatest challenges presented by a life in art...there is always better to achieve.