Weekend round-up

Big weekend. After a six-hour drawing class that kicked my ass— I lecture a lot during the second class, plus explaining sighting skills is an arduous task at times— I trucked out to Kristi Engle to see Suzanne Adelman's painterly photographs.

I also pruned my lemon tree this week. OMG, that seriously wiped me out. I thought my hands were goners and I'd wake up the next day with 100-year old hands. It didn't help when I expressed my fatigue to an artist friend who said, "We have a gardener do the pruning." That's nice. I felt like a poor farm hand, only I have no farm- just a painting studio with one lemon tree on the property. And sorry, but yes, every time I pick lemons I think, "When life gives you lemons..." But nope, I haven't made lemonade yet, though I think I will this evening. 

I started 3 paintings on Friday and feel really great about them. Maybe a mini break-through or just going to another level. I traded website studio visits with Emily Noelle Lambert a few weeks ago and really liked her work. Her work is more figurative than mine, but it got me thinking and that's a good thing every now and then. 

I'm leaving the muddy palette behind and getting back to some brights. I tried to bring in the palette knife again, but it feels so contrived when I rely on that. This thought is immediately followed by, how silly, the whole painting is contrived. I think it has to do with the fact that my paintings go through so many build-ups, tear-downs and transformations, that laying down a thick slab of paint is just too much of a commitment in the beginning.

Some upcoming shows and auctions, which I'll post more about closer to the dates. The next one sprung up rather quickly and is sometime in April. Each artist was invited to have their own apartment and could invite another artist(s) to show with them. I thought it would be fun to invite people I had not shown with and to see if any out-of- town artists I knew either in the real world or blogging world, wanted to show and sell some work. Mixed results for trying my all-inclusive curatorial stance, but all's well that ends well. I'll be showing with a woman I have shown with a couple of times before and another woman I've never met, but her husband shows at a friend of mine's gallery and I like her work too, so it should make for a good show. I'm also terribly excited waiting for my new cheap digital camera to arrive. I have the Nikon D40 for documenting work, (tripod, use the damn tripod) and this will be my little pocket camera, so I don't have to rely on my iphone for everything else. I'm being really patient. It's a Nikon that was on sale for $100 and they're having to ship it from one store to another for me to pick up.

Next Sunday I fly to Nashville to visit my mom for a few days and then back to making the donuts. 

And, as I announced earlier, I've added an abstract painting class to my schedule. If you're in the Los Angeles area and want more information, email me. The schedule is still being worked out but I'll be introducing it with a 6-hour workshop one weekend in March.