Open Studio A Big Success!

Here's what the paintings looked like at my open studio last weekend

Whew — Close to 200 people showed up at my open studio on October 24 & 25th! It was the grand unveiling of my 350 project and everyone seemed to be impressed (or thought I was crazy.) It was great to see it up on the wall and I am pretty charged up to move it forward. And thanks to all my wonderful supporters, we raised a nice bit of change for the Piscataquog Land Conservancy.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to really focus doing more of the 350 paintings for a few more weeks… I have a commission and need to get some paintings done for the Sharon Arts Gallery Holiday Show. As much I want to finish this project, the chance to make money now can’t be ignored. Plus, paying for 350 panels and paint and stuff adds up, you know.

Besides, my new goal is Earth Day 2010 — plenty of time!!!

Sneak Preview on Track

This is the cover of the postcard promoting my open studio

So I have been working non-stop getting ready for my open studio. Got the postcards done (see above) and in the mail, got some reproduction prints and yeah I even got the t-shirts all ready! And oh yeah, the original art is coming along, slowly but surely.

I think it should be a fun weekend and I put my order in for some lovely weather. Now if I could just get some sleep — I get wicked bad insomnia when I have a big event coming up. And this one, at this moment, feels kind of big. Not earth-shattering big, but probably the biggest thing I’ve done this year.

If you’re around New Hampshire on October 24 & 25, come on by and see it for yourself. I’ll be open from noon to 4 pm each day. Visit my website for more information and directions. Hope to see you there!

An Auspicious Autumn

A painting that I worked on in between my 350 project paintings -- it's metaphorical of course.

So yeah — auspicious. That’s what I’ve decided this will be. I’ve been working on getting ready for my open studio at the end of October and I’m really getting excited about it. It’ll be fun to show people all of my 350 paintings to date (I think I’ll have about 45 by then, plus a few from my co-artists.)

Part of me sighs when I think how far I had hoped to be by now, but in the interest of cutting myself some slack, I don’t think this project will be irrelevant just because it won’t be finished this year. Listening to the news, it kind of seems like it may take a while to get a world-wide consensus on what to do about global climate change anyway. Of course I HOPE they can pull their act together when our great world leaders meet this December in Copenhagen — this is, after all serious stuff!

In the meantime, I’ll keep plugging away towards having a show of all 350 paintings by the spring of 2010…

Off to see the bears…

Recent painting on yupo paper

I’m heading to a black bear workshop this week and hoping to restart the 350 project (in a slightly revised format) when I get back.

I’ve spent the last few months processing all the events of this past spring — soul-altering stuff. But I guess, as they say, that which doesn’t kill makes you stronger!

I have done some painting — just not the 350 stuff. For some reason, I often turn to bears when life gets hard.

By the way, my open studio will be held on October 24 and 25 this year and will feature a sneak preview of the 350 project! Don’t forget to sign up for my e-newsletter so you can get a reminder email.

A Bump in the Road…

350 -- Flying Squirrel

Life has thrown me a rather strong curve-ball recently and so this project will have to take a backseat for a while. I’m still determined to get it done, but it won’t be getting much attention for a while.

So here’s a creature that manages to sail through darkness with grace and apparent ease. Seems like a good metaphorical note to pause on.

Closing in on 34

#21 of 350 -- Porcupine

Greetings from Vermont where I am closing in on #34. It’s been a productive week despite the suddenly gorgeous weather. Spring is coming slowly but surely to the Northeast Kingdom — yesterday I saw my first Mourning Cloak and I heard wood frogs quacking in their vernal pools. Butterflies and mating amphibians — definite signs of the new season.

I like this porcupine — at some point I will have to formally sign and number everything. Let’s just call him #21 — that’s my favorite number.

Five percent and counting…

17 and a half means I'm 5% to 350!

So this photo is from the wall of my studio — I apologize for the crookedness and poor lighting, but I figured it would be fun for everyone to see where I’m at. I included a half-done gray squirrel (lower right) which I have wiped out twice. It was going down the very Disney-esque road — it’s hard not to make squirrels and chipmunks look cute.

I really like the porcupine I did yesterday and think the groundhog is crazy — but in a good way.

I had a studio visit from the visiting resident/artist Cora Cohen today. She’s a rock star in the NYC/abstract world so I was a little nervous as you can imagine. But she was super-nice and gave me some good things to think about. She does think my greens are a little “acidic.”

What do you think?

Bunny Love

I always think of snowshoe hares when I hear the sports guys on the radio talking about “March madness” because this is their mating season (the hares, not the sports guys!)

And believe it or not, hares get pretty crazy. There’s leaping and cross-peeing and all kinds of lagomorph lunacy. I wrote a “Something Wild” spot about them once. It had the best alliteration I have ever used (to date) in describing how the males impress the females with “boisterous bouts of bunny boxing.” They do actually stand up on their hind legs and trade jabs with their front paws.

So I have arrived at the Vermont Studio Center where I am beginning a one month painting residency. I am one of 50 artists who have won fellowships to do nothing but work on their art. It’s totally awesome — the food is great, my studio is big and bright, and everyone I’ve met so far is really wonderful. I love talking about painting over dinner.

(Not that my husband doesn’t indulge me and let me yammer on about my work, but it is different when you have a room full of people who are all painters, sculptors, and writers.)

I’ll try to add some pictures when the sun comes out — hopefully tomorrow. Mud season in Vermont isn’t terribly picturesque but it does make you want to stay inside and paint!

Cuddly Kitten Day?

5 of 350

4 of 350 — Bobcat

I actually heard on the radio that today — it is “Cuddly Kitten Day” and also, “Cute Puppy Day.” But since I’m more of a cat person than a dog person, I thought I’d post two wild cats for you. The Canada lynx, on the left, is from a beautiful animal I met during a wildlife art workshop I took in Montana two years ago and the bobcat is from the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center here in New Hampshire. Not sure these qualify as “cuddly” or “kittens” but that’s OK!

Less than a week until I leave for the Vermont Studio Center! Thanks for all your good wishes of support and encouragement…

On a roll now

Red Fox - 2 of 350

It’s been a good week — the painting is going faster than I expected. Still figuring out the intricacies of blogging. There are many bells and whistles I can add if I ever find the time to. But since this is mostly about my painting, I am uploading a red fox today. I like the way this guy came out. He has panache.

So I did write down my list for the first 100 mammals. The only problem is after I do all the “charismatic mega-fauna” as we called them in grad school, all that’s left are bats, rodents, and whales. As in 250 bats, rodents, and whales. Not sure what to do about that. Part of my goal here is to raise money, and I’m no so sure that a northern water shrew, for example, is going to be such a hot ticket, no matter how well I paint it!

I’m open to suggestions…