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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Sort of Happy

SNOW DAY, 6" x 8", oils


The tiniest spot of white oil paint on the upholstered seat of my bar stool cut Snow Day short and prompted me to pack the oils up and move them to the studio where they belong. A bit of mineral spirits restored the stool, but there would be no more flirting with disaster.

Standing in the middle of my space with the Jackson Pollock floor, I wondered what I was going to do with my new medium? Every shelf was filled with acrylic gear and stacks of warm up watercolor paintings. There was no room on the long paint table either. A real over-haul was needed, but who wanted to over-haul when the clump of trees outside my window still needed a dab or two? Not me. Not today. Run away, I thought. And I did.

After polishing off the barbecued potato chips we shouldn't have bought on Sunday, I set up next to my sink. It's not a good spot, but it is a spot where a spot of oil paint can't be spotted by a housemate who doesn't give a damn if the paint is flying and landing where it should, but does make a fuss if it's landing where it shouldn't. Now everybody is happy--sort of. The bar was a great little painting spot.

8 comments:

  1. Glad you found the perfect spot. I am loving those winter colors.

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  2. Great photos from one of the best windows in the plane! I've got one of those myself. It's one of my favorites. The only way to fly. Thanks.

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  3. Not easy to find the right place to paint, glad you ddi...the painting is great!

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  4. I still don't think I've found it Jane. I was really happy where I was.Originally, the basement--or the lower level as we call basements with window and doorways--was supposed to be all studio space, but we didn't build it out that way.Instead we built an entertainment area with the bar and a workout area. My studio is what was left over: a fifteen foot by fifteen foot unfinished room that we outfitted with a spectacular sink built into storage cabinetry. It's next to this sink that I finished that little painting. It worked, but it's temporary. I'm going to have to reorganize my painting table if I continue on with oils. I told you more than you will probably read. I'm just thinking my space problem out in writing.

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  5. Well yes LW you definitely need a dedicated space for painting! You are too good at this to not have a place to go to where the paints are there waiting for you.
    I have seen such variety of spaces ...huge....teensey...in-between. The most important thing seems to be to have a place where you can find everything. My space is small, in the basement..but since I'm also an outdoor painter I am really happy to go outside in the backyard. I consider the backyard an extension of my studio (cool, because the door is right there). My studio is not fancy at all and I think many people get way too hung up on having a "superb" studio. I guess I like the fact that mine is pared down and not fancy! Nice painting you did..I'll be watching for the next one.

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  6. My new spot, on the counter top next to the sink in my messy, make shift lighted, 15 x 15 studio space worked well this morning. The lighting was okay, my plastic acrylic box lined with freezer paper worked well as a palette. And I am still using my table top easel with some adjustments for the small canvases. (I'd like to find one of those paint box easels from years ago, which had canvas board slots and palette slots built in to the top). I just have to reorganize the storage shelf unit so I can use a shelf as a drying rack. That should be enough for now. Doing the painting first with medium tones with acrylics worked well with Honey's schnoz. I will probably want to do that again--well actually I am doing it with the portrait of the two children. Before I touch that portrait with oils though, I want a pretty good handle on the stuff. This morning was fruitful. With Reeves oils, linseed oil is definitely the best mixing agent. With Grumbacher--the oils I used decades ago, turpentine worked best--it evaporated and sped up the drying time. Reeves with linseed oil is drying faster than I remember. Again I've written more than you would ever want to read. I guess I'm excited. There's no obnoxious odors and I'm doing fine for a week and a half.

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  7. These winter scenes are lovely. Great, intense, clean color coupled with thick textured paint. And it looks like you're doing some palette knife work or scratching with the end of a brush. It all looks wonderful, very nice work. Love the way your posts are written too, very conversationesque, warm, and friendly. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Thank you Michael,but I don't think that this one was as successful as the first--the clump of trees looks clumpy. We're snowed in again today. When I looked out the window at daybreak, I wanted to paint the gorgeous deep blue violet and black forest scene I saw, but I decided to put it off till tomorrow when I'll have a "blackish" canvas prepared. My idea is to cover it with a solid layer of tinted white then scratch in the tree forms and see if that's more successful. Nobody paints winter the way it really looks. They like to paint Christmas scenes when winter is actually quite cold and uninviting. I enjoyed your post today too.

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