Studio Overhaul 2009 ('Before' pictures not included)

I spent the better part of a week going through my studio and reorganizing it to suit my purposes. Something that hasn't been done in about 3 or 4 years. Before this overhaul, my studio had gotten so cluttered that I could barely move, let alone find what I was looking for or painting. I had intended to clean it out this Spring, but other issues postponed it until this month. So, by the time I got to it, I was READY to get to it.

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My studio is a small in-home space, a converted guest bedroom with a bay windows and a closet. I'd put DIY shelves in the closet a few years back, but that wasn't quite enough for all my stuff, mainly my canvases. This overhaul, my first order of business was to put shelves up in the studio itself. It never ceases to amaze me how much more room you have with shelves. What a relief. Yes, it made the room look smaller, but I chose to arrange my bookcases so that I could create little cubby's between them and the shelves where I'd arrange lamps and trinkets and tuck paintings I like to display as inspiration.
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Early May I had the opportunity to pick up a gorgeous wicker reading chair for the unheard of sum of $60. I did not know where I was going to find a place for it, but I insisted that when the overhaul started, I'd make room just the same. And now I have a lovely little reading place nestled against the bay windows, a perfect location to begin and end each day. In the week since I completed the overhaul, I've inhabited that chair good lengths of time with a good book, a journal or my notepad, marking my intentions for the next day. The cats are also quite fond of this chair. It gives them a high perch for sunning themselves and for pretending to stalk the birds and lizards that dart around outside.
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My dream studio will be much larger with less "stuff" all around me, but my present studio manifests the best the space has to offer me, and I am happy to let it be what it feels it should most naturally be. Eventually I will add a TV/DVR/DVD combo to the high chest of drawers that sits next to my studio desk. For now, though it's barely visible, closed up next to a lamp, I keep a portable DVD player that does the job nicely. And I still have my stereo on the other side of the room, and my battery operated replica Caddyshack dancing gopher.
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Oh, and one other thing. No studio would be complete without it's very own Pablo Villicana Lara Executive Junk Food Drawer, containing at least 50% chocolate.

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Fun with Acrylic

"A Wedding Portrait" - 6" x 6" - acrylic on canvas

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Very recently, some friends of ours eloped to Fiji. Upon their return they held a reception at their home this past weekend. Not having given them a gift, yet, I decided to try a little acrylic painting representing them both in the form of their favorite snack foods. Spent the day on Saturday whipping this one up, then presented it to them in the evening. I'm not a natural with acrylic by any means, but I did appreciated the immediate gratification that it provides, much like watercolor. Sometimes I, too, can get a little impatient with oil paint.

Artist's Challenge 6x6x2 - June

"With the Worm" - Jelaine Faunce - 6"x6" - oil on canvas
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"The Early Bird" - M Collier - 6"x6" - oil on hardboard panel

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This month's Challenge subject is the ever-popular gummy worm. Chosen by M, this little guy proved to be more challenging than you might think. You want to be creative with a subject matter that is already very different and unique. It's harder than it sounds, for me in particular since I like to take common objects and make them a little bit absurd. And gummy worms are fairly absurd to begin with. After all my fretting and worrying, my solution was to drop it into a jug of tequila. I can say, with fair certainty, that I am pleased with the result.
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I'd like to take a moment to explain the delay between this month's Challenge posting and our last Challenge in March. As many of you may know from reading my sparse blog entries and from my Twitter postings, I have been ill the past several months, particularly in April and May. Let's just pretend April and May never happened, shall we???? But, as June approached, I began to feel my old self coming back, and am well on the road to recovery now with new tools and skills which should be very helpful for my future physical stability. I'm learning how to moderate and balance, and it feels good, kind of like spoiling myself. But that's only because my previous life patterns were along the lines of "burn candle at both ends and try to set fire to the middle as well if at all possible".
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Speaking of burning the candle at both ends, Otto is a very busy man this summer, tackling show after show after show. In between this and his epileptic dog, his time is limited, and we understand his inability to participate in the Challenge. However, to keep things interesting, M and I will continue to invite guest challengers from time to time. We had a blast with Pablo Villicana Lara and Chris Beck, and we hope to work with other artists in the future.
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Our next Challenge will not be so long in coming. We are aiming for a mid-July posting of the next Challenge subject, and I'm revealing this now to keep us from shirking our responsibilities....okay, to keep ME from shirking my responsibilities.
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If you would like to purchase "With the Worm", please click on the "Buy Now " link below to be taken to a Paypal invoice page.

Penguin Having a Vision

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Penguin Having a Vision - oil on canvas - 6" x 6" - SOLD
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Continuing on with my 2nd daily painting, I wanted to do another version of the wonderful little wind up penguin M Collier sent to me last Fall. Such a happy little face. Setting him on a table for photographing, light coming in through a window above him, he looked to me like he was seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary in the clouds above. I thought it was funny, so that's the way I painted it.

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