Thank God We Have Gun Control in this Country!

Otherwise I'd be in jail. Last Thursday I spent 58 minutes on the phone with Bell Sympatico. Friday I spent 52 minutes on the phone with them, speaking to another four different people. I had to hang up while I was on hold because school was starting. Yesterday morning my husband, upon leaving in the morning for work, wished me a happy day on hold with Sympatico. All told, I spent more than 3 1/2 hours on hold with them yesterday. Today from 9 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. FINALLY our internet service is restored. I tell you, it's a good thing that we have gun control in this country!

The Evolution of a Painting

Three stages of my current work over the past two days. Picture 1 - the dry brush drawing. Picture 2 - laying in the background and starting the shadows. Picture 3 - the local color, end of day 2 on this painting.

Caution: Wet Paint

Now we know why some artists starve. To illustrate my point:

On the left, my dry brush drawing. On the right, beginning to model form in the chest area - you may notice that I was both short on time and talent!

See Any Progress?

Yesterday's exercise gave us about 2 hours to create a dry brush gestural construct of the nude model.

Today, our goal was a two-tone gestural construct, more fully developed than day one. Do you see any progress?

God Spoke to Me Last Week and I Listened

Today was my first day of school. School, glorious school. I love it so much, it's a tremendous disappointment when the day ends. It seems as if the day is only an hour long.

And what a wonderful feeling: everyone I know seemed genuinely happy to see me again. Like they noticed my absence.

My heart sings when I am painting. I believe it is what I am meant to do.

Last week, while tiling my mother's kitchen, I told my brother-in-law that I had spent the first years of my career (27 years, to be exact) using my brain. I have decided that I will spend the next years of my career using my hands. We both agreed that thinking is highly over-rated. (Thing is, I suspect that thinking pays better.)

If you read my Top 11 list, you will see that most are related to my hands, few are cerebral pursuits.

I had an inspiring conversation with one of the masters, Juan Carlos Martinez, today. He said there are three ways to make a living as an artist: (i) be rich; (ii) marry rich; (iii) be lucky, and if you're lucky, numbers (i) and (ii) fall into place, too. I wonder where that leaves me.

On the other hand, master Fernando Freitas gave this important advice: "Talent is not a "gift from God," it is earned through practice." I wonder if Tiger Woods agrees.

What an honor it has been: twice I've told people that I'm going to school this week and both times people have asked inf I'm teaching! What a compliment, thank you!

(I'll post today's painting tomorrow -- forgot the camera and my cell phone was dead!)

God Spoke to Me Today

My brother-in-law, Max, is remodelling my parents' kitchen. I am helping. We work very well together as a team -- we're both perfectionists.

He's been working 16 hour days since Sunday, doing an incredible job, rebuilding the kitchen counters and back splash wall and rewiring for new lighting. He and I have been working, 16 hour days, for the past two days laying 2x2 porcelain tiles on the counters and 4x4 decorative ceramic tiles on the backsplash. It's tedious and strenuous work.

The most amazing thing happened this evening while we were tiling. Max was working with 2x2 tiles on the counter. I was laying in the backsplash with the 4x4s. I had just pulled a large stack of tiles from a new box and was working from the pile. Suddenly something caught my eye: between two brand new from-the-box 4x4 tiles was a Chinese fortune cookie message. It said:

"Take some time for yourself."

Was God talking to me through Chinese fortune cookie messages sent in a box of ceramic tiles made in Japan?

11 Careers I Would Love

Let's see if you notice a theme here.....

11. Motivational speaker -- I am especially good at selling passion.
10. Art teacher -- especially for very young children, before anyone has told them that sky must be blue -- sometimes it needs to be orange, or red, or pink or purple.....
9. Art gallery owner -- but I admit there would be little modern art.
8. Organizational planner -- functional and well-designed storage excites me!
7. Welder -- so I could make metal sculptures.
6. Sculptor -- in clay and then bronze.
5. Ceramic tile designer -- especially if I could live in Italy or Greece or France.
4. Bed & breakfast owner -- I'd love to bake fresh muffins every morning and paint every afternoon.
3. Vineyard owner -- I love to talk to plants and they respond. Every afternoon I'd paint.
2. Gravestone engraver -- the old fashioned way.
1. Fine artist.