Woot! Had some quality PLAY time in the studio today. A landscape was calling my name.
Or maybe it was calling me names, I dunno. I had my R&B list playing and this is what happened.
work in progress Susan Lobb Porter
Not a bad painting I guess. But not terribly exciting either. Ho-hum. Yawn. BTW, I think the photo is a bit heavy with the yellow. Can’t say for sure because once I got this far I decided the R&B was too…safe for the mood I was in. Which was (drum roll) a badass paintin’ mood.
AKA, a GREAT mood. Seriously, there is NOTHING better that a badass painting mood. Nothing. And if you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time (and I sincerely hope you have) you’ll know that a great painting mood (GPM) calls for high octane rock. Da Boss. Loud.
And adventure. All GPMs call for risk taking. So while Da Boss was blasting working class angst and the speakers were positively vibrating with passion, I took the tube of white and squeezed it directly in the middle of the sky. And then I took my hands, one of which is pictured above, and smooshed that paint all over with my fingers.
Note to self: Next time wear gloves. Or barrier cream.
There was No. Going. Back. And I didn’t want to, I was having waaaaaay too much fun.
Valley View, acrylic on canvas. 24 x 24 inches. 2014 Susan Lobb Porter
This is where it stands now. It’s a completely different painting, one that I personally find to be more interesting. Is it done? Maybe. Everything in the studio is fair game. Nothing is ever considered done–or safe–until it belongs to someone else. So there’s a chance you’ll see this one again…with more improvements.
So what do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
If life was a canvas you could just slap some gesso over the poopy parts and start over again.
But don’t go squirting your husband or kids with gesso. Puh-leeze. No matter how much they misbehave. Arty Life, AKA Moi, was speaking metaphorically. Although I did gesso FirstBorn once, quite by accident. Something involving an open jar, a sudden movement and a toddler with a face full of the stuff.
Fortunately the advice nurse at Kaiser was married to a painter and understood.
But I digress. Back to painting. I often gesso over what someone else might think is a perfectly good painting. But if I feel like it sucks then it’s buh-bye. I don’t care how much time I’ve put in to it. In fact the more time I put into a painting usually means the more I’ve over thought the process. Which means the more it sucks.
Because…..Over thinking is the death of creativity. You can quote me on that. In fact, please do. Just go ahead and quote me everywhere. I’d like to be famous some day. And I promise, I’ll remember you when I am.
But don’t quote the part about the kid and the gesso, okay? He’s bigger than me now and I’d like to think he’s forgotten all about that little incident.
Back to my love of gesso and painting. It plays into why I wasn’t here last week. I was BUSY. Had a show to hang. A show that turned out to be a little more than I’d signed up for. I thought all that was needed were the two pieces I juried in with.
These two. If you’re a regular reader of Arty Life you’ve seen them before. Here. And umm…somewhere else. Top: In the Beginning. Mixed Media, 16×20 inches. Bottom: Over the River. Mixed Media 40×40 inches.
Well, guess what…turns out I had a WHOLE wall to fill. But I didn’t find that out until Christmas night when I went through my SPAM folder. Who goes through SPAM on Christmas? Really, who???
It was Christmas, y’know. And I was just checking to see if GMail thought some dude who claimed to be giving things away FREE to EVERYONE was a Spammer. Because Santa sure didn’t show his ass around here. OK, so Mr. Spouse and I agreed we didn’t need or want anything but I didn’t cut that deal with Santa. Did not did not did not!!! So there I was Christmas night, desperately seeking holiday spirit in my SPAM folder, wading through IMPORTANT!!! letters from the FBI, heartfelt financial missives from my long lost third-cousin-twice-removed-Mister George, and many many MANY helpful pharmacies promising me lots o’hair and a stiffy.
But not a hairy stiffy. Go figure.
There was also One. Very. Important. Letter.
From ten days earlier. Uh-oh…
It was… About. The. Show. And how many pieces did I plan on hanging. Because I had, like, a whole wall to fill.
Oops.
Now a visitor to my studio would see a whole lot o’ paintings. More than enough to fill a hall let alone a wall. But I got it in my arty little head that this was a challenge. Go for it Susan, create a whole new body of work in two weeks.
So I did. Sorta. I always have a number of canvases under construction. A number of them primed with layer after layer, just waiting for the Muse of Completion to arrive. Or a manic phase, whichever comes first.
I’m still not sure if it was muse or mania but I spent nearly every hour of the next two weeks rockin’ out in Studio Grande. And this is the result:
Dreaming of Bears. 40×40 inches. I’ve had a couple of bear dreams recently. They’re all over the place around here. It gets dark early and I move around the property wondering if Smokey is behind the next tree. And if he’s going to jump out and eat me or if he’ll run away when I scream like a girl. I did tree a bear once by yelling but the 105 pound dog in furious pursuit got all the credit.
If you have the time and are so inclined see if you can find the bears in the painting. Hint: there are three. I only painted one deliberately but the others acted like real bears and popped up unexpectedly. That’s bears for you.
Taking Flight. 24×24 inches. Like most of my mixed media pieces, you really need to see this in person to appreciate the depth and layers.
Feelin’ the Love. Mixed Media. 24×36 inches. This has got to be one of my all time favorites. Absolutely.
Eddy. As in, y’know, water swirling around. 40×40 inches. These were some layers, many many layers, who told me they were quite happy as is, thank you very much. And so I paid attention. I am not only the canvas whisperer, I am the canvas listener.
After the Rain #2. Mixed media 40×40 inches. This is similar in feel to an oil and cold wax I sold during the studio tour, even though this is acrylic and collage and twice the size. Another absolute favorite of mine.
But where is After the Rain #1? Well, this is where the gesso comes in. After the Rain #1 began life the usual way, via layers. And when I realized I needed to make more paintings for the show it began to take on the feel of Over the River (way up above). It was a river scene with critters and people and quite frankly, it was crap.
Contrived.
Over thought.
When the muse says this is NOT something you’re happy with, you listen. Pay attention. You being me in this case. So I slapped the gesso on before I could change my mind. And then I dove right in with the paint. Right into the wet gesso. And I rocked it. Oh man, I ROCKED it! Didn’t come up for air until it was done. And then I stood back and said holy crap, I am in luvvvvvvvv… with the painting, with the muse, with LIFE!
And that is what painting should be. Absolute sheer mindless creation.
I was on such an arty high I grabbed another so-so meh piece and did the same thing, using the same paints. That’s the one you see up above, After the Rain #2. What you don’t see in the photograph, because it’s not a great photograph, is the wonderlicious crunchy texture, the bumps and bruises from collage and scraping back collage and taking all sorts of mark making devices to it.
You also don’t see After the Rain#1 because I FORGOT TO PHOTOGRAPH IT!!!
The only photo I have is the one down below, taken as we were setting up the show. Not a great pic but enough to give you an idea. After the Rain #1 is on top. It’s 30×40 inches.
OK, enough about me. Now it’s your turn to go out and paint. And remember, gesso is your friend.
And so am I. Always and forever, my best best BEST beloveds. So you’ll quote me, right? And hit all the social share buttons to help me grab the big brass ring of cyber famousness. Because that’s what friends do.
And while you’re doing that, I’m going to email my long lost third-cousin-twice-removed Mister George. From the Nigerian side of the family. See if I can get him to buy a painting our Uncle Pablo Picasso painted last week.
Oh my sweetums, today I’m going to show you step-by-step how I create a page…no, no, a spread… in my arty life journal.
First, despite the fact that this is a prosperity journal, I’m using a cheap Composition notebook. Made even cheaper with back to school sales. I love these little books, especially now that I don’t have to have them, don’t have to fill them with spelling and penmanship and math.
Look at that. Brings back memories, eh? Can’t you just smell the pencils and eraser dust?
Okay, before we do anything, got to slap on some gesso. Because the paper has no substance, none at all. In fact, it looks like the page on the left has an owie. Think I closed the journal before it was dry. Whatever. Adds to the texture, don’t you think? Because it’s all about texture here. I love the way the pages feel at this stage. A little more substantial. A little crinkly. Just begging for paint.
In keeping with the cheap theme of the notebook, I used (what else) cheap craft acrylics. But only because they have little binder and a softer, chalkier finish. Better to write on. And besides, I happen to have quite a few on hand for working with plaster. Notice how carefully I apply the paint. Umm…not!
Then I covered the pages with text, in this case a prompt from Michele Morton Bergh’s Prosperity Blooms e-course. Yes, I see the irony…bragging about cheap notebooks, cheap paint while creating the prosperity intention. I used a variety of pens and pencils as I wrote the prompt forty times. Just to keep things interesting, you know.
The text begged for an illustration so I added figures representing my parents and myself.
And then a bunch of arty bling because it’s fun. And it’s ALL about the bling today.
And now, in the words of the great alien philosopher, Mr. Spock…
Oh. My. So many adventures in Arty Life land the last couple of days. Brace yourself because this post is going to be skipping from one thing to the next, each topic guaranteed to make you more dizzy than the next.
First…and only because it happened minutes ago and I’m still as jumpy as a tweaker from the adrenalin rush…my brush with wildlife. There was a bear rat in the hay shed. Big sucker. But I was BRAVE. Oh, indeed I was, even with flip flops on my feet. No girly screaming like I did with the mouse. No. This time I was brave enough to stomp and shout with a very big voice like a very scary person. And bang a couple metal trash lids together like a one woman marching band. And Mr. Rat was so impressed he fell off one shelf and jumped down from another. The last I saw was his bare naked tail as it disappeared behind the hay.
Begone with you Templeton!
Now that I’ve impressed you with my wildlife management skills…you ARE impressed, aren’t you…now we can move on to Precious Man Dog (AKA Bean, AKA Benny) If you read Friday’s post, you’ll recall PMD was sorely in need of a haircut. Being a poodle mix the hair just grows. And grows. I let it grow over the winter to keep him warm. Dreadlocks happen and matts and clumps of thick, dense felt take over. Then in the spring I take to him with scissors and we start the cycle all over again.
So this was PMD last week.
This is him today, half the size he used to be. But so darn cute I can’t stand it.
Sophie is in the middle of her spring trim. I have to wait until she’s dead asleep before I can get certain spots. Like her chest. Right now she’s sporting a whole lot of chest hair. Throw a couple gold chains around her neck and she’d be a ringer for Burt Reynolds.
Okay, now it’s time to move on from critters, both wild and domestic, and get to art. Got a couple works in progress to show.
This is acrylic, 2’x2′. Don’t have a clue where it’s going but will know when it gets there. Layers and scribbles. Layers and scribbles.
This one is also acrylic, 36″x48″. Still very much a work in progress. Oh crap…as I’m writing this I’m wondering if I put the lid back on the jar of Titan Buff…well, let’s hope I did because it’s dark and I’m not heading back down to Studio Grande.
Speaking of Studio Grande, Mr. Spouse got some sheet rock up in the new! improved! Studio-Grande-to-be.
He was hoping to have it all rocked this weekend but it was slow going. Hard work indeed. But this is how Mr. Spouse relaxes from his desk job, he builds stuff. And I’m not complaining. By the way, this photo was taken after 6PM. Still good natural light, at least at this time of year. Even more when the tarps come off the skylights.
A gentle reminder that Wednesday is Random Acts of Art. I hope some of you will join me in sharing where you hide your treasures. You can send me photos before Tuesday (like, today) and I’ll post them on the blog. Or you can post the link to your own blog anytime between Wednesday and Saturday.
I’m posting art every day on my FaceBook page. Pop on over and check it out. And while you’re there, do me a GREAT BIG HUMONGOUS favor and click the ‘like’ button (for the page) if you haven’t done so already. And if you’ve already liked my page, pat yourself on the back because you are my BFF and I love you…truly love you… almost as much as I love chocolate!
Worked all day doing technical computer stuff. Which means I sat on my butt. And stuffed my face with salty things. I got up from time to time like they say you’re supposed to. You know, stretch. Run a mile. Walk ten feet to the kitchen counter and snag more Cheezits.
Well, one outta three isn’t bad. Depending on which one.
So when five o’clock came around I was more than ready to head down to the studio and shake some things up. Like my jiggley parts. I put on my newest CD from Putumayo, African Beat. And then I followed that with some Anderson Family Bluegrass. Because my taste in music is as eclectic as my taste in junk food. If it’s in front of me I’ll either listen to it, eat it…or paint it.
This time I got two outta three. And they were good for me.
Here’s the Anderson kids. They’re local, even though this was recorded in Nashville. I’m into plugging the local talent.
Speaking of local talent, I’ll show you what I did tonight. Oh, it’s very much a work in progress but if you’ve been wondering every time I show you another canvas loaded with layers WHAT is she going to DO with that thing…and I wouldn’t blame you for questioning that because, quite frankly, so was I…well, tonight I just grabbed one of the 2X2 background canvases and had at it.
This is what it was when I began.
I turned it every which way. Squinted. Danced around with a paintbrush in my hand and discovered…ponies! Somewhere on the canvas was a mark that told me horses live here. Even as I drew them I continued rotating the canvas. So they’re every which way. Upside down. Backwards.
But it was confusing with all the energy bouncing off that canvas. Ponies everywhere. Dots. Squiggles. Lines. I needed to block in some areas of c.a.l.m.
I began blocking out some background areas. This is where I started getting a feel for the composition and the style of the horses.
This is where I left it tonight. I changed out some of the original horses and will no doubt change out one or two more before it’s done. This is still early days, maybe 50% finished. Maybe 40. Really, I. Don’t. Know. And I won’t know until I get there.
So that’s how I spent my Wednesday. Not much studio time but enough to go to bed feeling like I accomplished something. And I always sleep better when that happens.
