by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Life |
It was a dark and stormy day, this day before the day before Christmas. Or the day after the day after the solstice, however you want to look at it. The wind was HOWLING, like it was coming to getcha, the rain was sheeting sideways and then the power went out. A cold, blustery, sucky kind of day.
But with four skylights, three walls of windows and the foresight to warm the place up early, Studio Grande didn’t need no stinkin’ power.
So I painted.
And scribbled.
And ended up with layers and layers of background on three canvases. Three canvases ready and waiting. But you only see two here. Trust me, there are three.
Sometime during the afternoon the power came back on. Sometime during the evening I reminded Mr. Spouse about leftover chili in the fridge he could nuke when he got hungry. Sometime around 8:30 I wandered back home, had an apple and cheese, some tea and Christmas cookies and stretched out alongside Mr. Spouse on the sofa.
We watched the reflection of the Christmas tree lights on the blank screen of the TV. Chatted about this and that. Precious Man Dog (AKA Bean) traveled along the top of the sofa cushions, climbed across Mr. Spouse and squeezed in between us. Sophie came from the other direction, crawled over me and began chewing on her brother. They wrestled atop us before spilling down to the floor.
All things considered, it was a very nice day.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Process |
Or…This is How I Do It
Holy creative FREEEEAK-OUT, Batman! A BLANK canvas!!! Oh noooooooooooooo!
I am blinded by the whiteness. Blinded. I need to scuff it up like a new pair of sneakers. But first…
MUSIC! I need MUSIC!!! Loud and rockin’. Something to take my mind off the ARTIC artistic purity before me. Because it’s too precious. Paralyzingly so.
Must. Be…heh heh heh (rub hands together here) … defiled.
With paint! Caran d’ache! Mindless SCRIBBLES!!! Rockin’ to da Boss, dancing the colors. Making marks.
Eventually I’ve got layers. And a bare wall because I get a little…rambunctious while painting. But I think I wrote about that before.
And more layers. This is where it sits for a few weeks because it’s NOT talking to me. Not telling me where it wants to go.
Until the day it says Tone. Me. Down. So I do, with more layers and collage. And then it starts talking. I see a tree in the upper left.
So I work it. Go with the tree theme.
And then I see a bear, lower left.
This is where it’s at now. Not quite finished but almost there. Definitely influenced by where I live. The river is just a few miles down the road, the forest wraps itself around our house. And bears? Chit, I’ve written about ’em.
By the way, this puppy is 40 x 40 inches, gallery wrapped canvas.
Now all I have to do is come up with a name. Any suggestions?
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Process |
Remember this? My first attempt at a concrete orb. The one that b.r.o.k.e.
Well, that was THEN.
This is NOW. A bowl of succulent goodness.
A learning curve, so I tried again.
THEN: Second attempt. Clean hands. Clean clothes. Great manicure, NOT.
More THEN.
Ahhhh, but NOW: My very own double orb planter. The first of what will be many. Someday…. Many thanks to Deborah Bridges for sharing her knowledge.
Remember these layers? Well that was then, maybe a week or two ago.
This is NOW. Is it finished? I dunno. But it’s different. Calmer.
And THEN, there’s Studio Grande. Two weeks ago.
NOW, like today. Holy crap, pinch me! Am I dreaming? Guess I’ll find out for sure tomorrow when I wake up.
But I’m pretty sure it’s real. Heart emoticons here. Lots of ’em.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art |
I’m stretched out on the sofa after a long day in the studio. Sophie is licking my feet. And I like it. Maybe too much.
Umm…is that TMI?
Sophie is a dog, by the way. Does that make it better? Or worse…
Open Studios Tour is the next two weekends. I’ve been so busy doing other stuff, getting ready stuff, that art, painting, has been on the back burner. But today was ART. ALL. DAY.
Oh my, it was heaven. Pure heaven. I believe Jesus said that very thing. In fact, I KNOW he did. Give a girl a painting, she hangs it on the wall. Teach a girl to paint and she feeds her creative soul, if not her body, for EV-AH. He said that, really. Or he would’ve if he wasn’t so busy doing miracles and pissing off the Pharisees.
But back to MY day, here now in the 21st century. In a word or three it was LALALALALA!!! Wonderful!!! Happy happy time in Studio Grande. First, there was MUSIC. Hours and hours of uninterrupted rockin’ out with the iTunes library. Springsteen! Umm…and other guys!!! And Springsteen!!! LOUD.
The new! improved! Studio Grande has GREAT acoustics. Oh my, yes! Concrete and high ceilings, doesn’t get any better than that.
I started out with this. 40×40 inches of pure possibilities.
And ended up with this. 40×40 inches of work in progress. Layers. More possibilities.
But what else did I do? Oh, thank you for asking. Because I work on multiple canvasses at the same time. A combination of making good use of paint drying time and a short attention span.
This canvas has been hanging out for years. Literally, years. I made a trip upstairs this afternoon, the land where I rarely venture because it was and still is inhabited by offspring. Went upstairs and discovered this hiding out behind a dresser in the hall. Pretty good size, I think 36×40 inches.
I had to dust it off before painting. Imagine that. And notice the empty wall to the left? Not in the top photo now, is it? That’s because I get a little … enthusiastic while mark making. Paint flies EVERYWHERE. I decided it was prudent to remove paintings from the direct line o’fire.
This one needed more paint and dribbles. Here’s where I left it. Don’t know where it’s going but I SEE PEOPLE.
My daughter says me and no one else. She says seeing things like that is creepy.
She’s moving out soon.
And remember the journal page I flashed everywhere? Well, I decided to do it bigger on canvas. Played with it today. Still not done but almost.
So that’s why I’m sitting here letting the dog lick my feet. Those poor tootsies were dancing around on concrete all day. They worked hard and they’re tired. Good tired. Now I’m going to make some popcorn and call it dinner. I think that’s perfectly acceptable, don’t you?
Remember, if you’re remotely local, i.e., the western hemisphere, north of the equator, I hope to see you during Open Studios.
Love to hear from you in the comments below. If you’re a blogger and check the Comment Luv box, the magic CL Fairy will run and fetch the link to your latest post. How cool is that?
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Ponies
Ponies yesterday…
Ponies today.
This one was photographed in natural light and is closer to the right color than the one from yesterday. Maybe it’s somewhere in between the two. There will be some glazes but other than that I think this one is done.
Now…studio news. Mr. Spouse spent a good deal of the weekend walking around the roof. Hammering and sawing. Getting ready for Mr. Bob who will install the skylights this week. I helped by keeping out of his way. At his request. We make a good team, Mr. Spouse and I. A good team.
Next weekend it’s the roof.
Here’s an interior shot. Stuff going on, wires. Gas pipe. Nothing dramatic as far as photos go…but necessary boringness.
