I see watercolors in the studio, so I know I've made work, but...

It's almost April. Things are blooming. I'm really happy my mother planted what looks like thousands of bulbs over the last 40 years because I do not have a green thumb. At night, after the neighborhood is asleep, I go to my secret stash of dead potted plants that were suppose to be planted, or died shortly after planting, and I cart the dried remains to the street for the green pick-up.

I've been at my residency program studio for 2 months. One month of which was spent prepping semi-large canvases. I'm still doing that. (See previous post on gesso.) I should have ordered the Nova Color gesso outright and paid the shipping expense, but I was trying to go local and I wanted the gesso yesterday.

I started one painting during the gesso fiasco, but have been working on stabilizing the other canvases before digging in. I've done about 12 watercolors which sounds like and looks like I had a productive month in February, but I'm chomping at the bit to immerse myself on the larger paintings, though I have no clue what they will be. Plus, I'm working on the other 50-80% of being an artist which is the hustle and flow factor.  I'm in a couple of exhibitions right now and am also taking steps to apply for some public art opportunities. I'm expected to have a show sometime during the residency, so am hashing out proposals for that as well. Sometimes, like now, I go through a phase where I look back at my work and think wtf?  I had perfectly good reasons for devoting all my studio hours for the last two years to painting super small paintings, but as I'm updating my portfolio, I'm reticent to include anything under 36 inches less the wow factor diminishes upon discovery that I've given the dimensions in inches not feet. The pool and flower paintings can function as a single wall installation though I need better documentation of them in that context. I could imagine the abstracts as a grid, but I'd have to play with the space. Maybe this summer in Indy...

I cannot emphasize the importance of QUALITY installation documentation. Either hire a serious professional whose work you're familiar with, or get a good camera with a tripod and some lighting eqip and DIY, but either way, allot the necessary time to this task. I was stretched pretty thin last year and admit I dropped the ball or expected it to happen without my supervision, but in the end, all you have is the documentation.

I'll be reading a book on public art today, crafting a cover letter and selecting works. Today's a run day, but it's cold, grumble. I'm going to lay down a wash on the new gesso and see how that works. Then I'll either cry, scream, or PTL and start painting. At this point, I think the time and cost factor has revealed itself to be worth the extra money to have my stretchers arrive at my door already prepped for me.