by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Studio, Work in Progress |
Autumn is here. Blew in a day early, when summer was just on the way out. Came in with rain and wind, lightning and thunder. She who wears flip flops all summer now wears thick socks. Hoodies. Tonight I heard the coyotes yapping somewhere out in the forest beyond the back fence. It was early. Not early as in 2 AM. Early as in 7 PM … and it was almost dark.
So long daylight, see ya next summer….
But even more than the turning leaves, more than the mice moving back into the pantry, more than the extra blanket on the bed … the biggest sign of autumn for me is Open Studios.
To be more specific, the frenzy before Open Studios.
O. M. G. Breathe…
She who has more than enough paintings always feels she needs to make more more MORE. Like da Muse is on steroids. Somehow she is not called upon to clean the studio, not until the day before last minute.
But in the end it will all come together. Paintings will be finished (or not). Prints will be printed (or not). Matted (or not). The door trim I’ve been meaning to paint since last year will be painted (or not).
Did I ever tell you this is my FAVORITE time of year?
And now for a work-in-progress peek behind the process. I almost want you to close your eyes and don’t look at this first photo because it’s so b.a.d. but that would defeat the purpose of the rest of the post. So go ahead and look at it and know we all make mistakes.
This was a sucky painting. Oh, indeed it was. That’s because my head entered the picture. Said, hey do a river scene for the Open Studios. Ka-ching. Ka-ching. A nice abstract river thing that someone will B.U.Y. Because everyone loves our river.
So I did this thing of turbulent water and boulders. Cold wax and oils and it looked like shit not what I envisioned.
So the next day I went back and eviscerated the sucker. The top layer of oil and wax was still tacky, easy enough to remove. There was no moving the earlier layers but I liked the way they stained the plaster. This is on a plastered cradled board, BTW.
I scraped it down to the nubbins. All except an arbitrary triangle of gray that said Oh no! Not meeeeeeee!
When a painting talks, you MUST listen.
This bears repeating.
When a painting talks, you MUST listen.
And then, since I had NO IDEA where this was going, I began scribbling. Pardon moi, making marks.
Because marks are my creative breathing space. This is the point where the music and the physical movement of the mark making take over. I’m singing loudly, most likely off-key. I’m dancing around and frantically scratching into the painting with pencils, skewers, a scrub brush…whatever’s handy and GET DOWN with da muse.
Sunrise Over the Mountain
Susan Lobb Porter
This is where it stands now. Is it finished? Bets me, probably not. Am I happy? Oh my sweetums, I am indeed.
Blatant Plug #1: If you’re anywhere in northern California the first two weekends of October take a nice scenic drive to the gold country. Because really, what else are you doing when you could come and see me. There’ll be chocolate. And art. Lots of art, my own and that of 73 other artists all tucked away in our mountain studios. It’s free and if you didn’t already click on the link above you can download the map here.
I can only guarantee the chocolate at my studio.
Blatant Plug #2: This January I’ll be launching my first e-class. Holy crap, YES!!! I’m doing it! YAY!!! I’ll tell you more in future posts.
As always, I’d LOVE to hear from you in the comments below.
XOXO
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Work in Progress |
Before I begin the regular scheduled post I must rant about football.
Warning: Right now I have my cranky pants on. No, no, I’m not referring to the size 8 black skinny jeans in the closet that are still tormenting me. I’m talking about my badass attitude cranky pants. The ones that caused me say some snarky things on FaceBook right after the game. You know…THE GAME. The one the Niner’s lost. The one they should’ve won if the refs made the right call in the last two minutes. And why should I care. Really, WHY??? I don’t even follow football. But back in the day when the Niners RULED THE WORLD, when Montana was the KING of QBs and we lived in the Bay Area where everybody knew somebody who knew somebody on the team…back in those days they were MY TEAM.
And I luuuuuved them.
They were mine again for the last two minutes of this game. The two minutes where they could’ve won it. The two minutes that in football time stretched into breath holding, dinner shoveling hell… And. They. Lost.
And that’s all I’m gonna say about it. And I AM sorry if I got carried away on FB.
Now, let’s talk about ART!!! Oh yes, let’s do.
Last week I told you about the Cold Wax class I’m taking with Judy Wise. (This is not to be mistaken with the Brazilian Wax class I’m taking with Mr. Carlos.) I didn’t show photos last week because they were way early stages. This week I’m ready to do some show and tell. (Heads up: There will be NO show and tell from Mr. Carlos and the BWax class ev-ah! Okay, just so you know. So don’t ask.)
As in everything I do, it’s … complicated. Complicated in this case meaning layers and layers of paint and wax. Texture. Putting it on, scraping it off.
I began an acrylic on this old canvas awhile ago. Didn’t like it so I collaged some tissue paper on it for added interest.
Then I added cold wax and oils. After the colored layers I went in with a neutral palette. Is it finished? I dunno. When it sets up a bit I might scratch into it or add more paint or a light glaze. I’d like to pull a wee bit o’turquoise up from the depths.
Here’s a few more pieces in various stages.
I call this one ‘E’. It. Is. Done…. if I can keep my hands off it. I hope I do because right now I think it’s yummy.
This one I’m calling ‘O’. Not quite there yet. But almost.
And this one is Oh! Oh! Oh! (I just made that up). Mmmmm… probably not done.
And last for today…as I uploaded this I decided it looks like a city street. So that’s what I’m calling it for now. But who knows what I’ll call it next week, or what it will look like then.
This is just the beginning. I have another four or five small ones in the works and eight larger panels waiting for me to start.
Things are coming together for the new! improved! Arty Life. Got a super surprise involving CHOCOLATE!!! Shhhh…that’s all I’m gonna say about that for now, except I’m thinking the time frame is looking more like early March. And be sure to check out the pony photos I’ve been posting on my FB page. I’m so loving doing this, taking photos of the horses every day during the morning feeding. Should’ve picked a better time.I usually feed them before I’ve showered or brushed my hair. Real glamour shots, y’know.
As always, I’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments below. And if you like what you see, be sure to share with your friends. You are, as always, my best best BEST beloved readers. Heart emoticon here.
Till next week or blog inspiration, whichever comes first xoxoxo
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Mr. Spouse, Studio |
Life is good. Life is SO good I can’t stand it!!! Yesterday I discovered Judy Wise is teaching cold wax online!!
Handsprings! Backflips! Dance break. Shake it out, just SHAKE IT OUT!
Ahhhh…much better now. I really need to cut back on the sugar.
Why all the enthusiasm? Well, let me explain. I love oil and cold wax. Love it love it LOVE IT! I did some pieces with it last year.
This one is Dunes. If I remember right it’s 2×3 feet. I sold it last October during the studio tour. You can see more of my cold wax pieces here.
Everything I did with cold wax came from being self taught, from piecing bits and more bits of internet information together. Flying by the seat of my pants. But I’ve taken a couple of classes from Judy in the past, Plaster Workshop and Hot Wax. I adore her. So when I heard she was offering this class, my all time wish list of if I could take ANY painting class this would be IT class, I signed up, just like that. And then, because the class is beginning RIGHT NOW, I ran to the lumberyard and had them cut a sheet of quarter inch birch plywood into eight 2×2 feet panels. And I bought some sticks of pine to support them.
Then I came home, batted my eyes just right and asked Mr. Spouse to lug out the chop saw. I certainly know how to use the chop saw but Mr. Spouse, in a fit of manliness, decided he would chop the pine.
So I let him.
And then I put on my Arty Life construction hat and began building cradled panels.
First I laid everything out one panel at a time. Then I squirted wood glue on the sticks, one at a time. Set the panel on top, lined everything up and shot ’em with the nail gun.
That’s when I realized men take everything about their tools seriously. Check out the name on that sucker. RIGID. I dunno, it just seems so in your face, so yo, babe check me out.
And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.
Change of subject.
Arty Life is getting a makeover soon. How much of one I’m not sure, I’ve just got these Bigger! Better! ideas roiling around in my head. Now all I have to do is figure out how to implement them. Photography! App reviews! Stuff!!! I think I’ll be rolling them out in early February. Stay tuned.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, I’ve begun photographing my horses every morning. A daily photo journal of the ponies and moi. You can check it out here.
Until next week, my sweetums. And, as always, LOVE to hear your comments. Because you are my best beloveds EV-AH!!!
