Paintings In Situ

“In situ” is Latin for “in position”. My brain is full of these helpful pieces of information, and I have no earthly idea how they got there.

These paintings, however, got to their location with great intentionality. My good friend and neighbor wanted to repaint her kitchen. She wasn’t sure how to pick the color, so I suggested that she show me some colors she was considering, and I would mix a small sample for her to try.

One Sunday afternoon I took my paints over, and together we put patches of various shades all over her kitchen walls. When she saw a certain orange that just made her feel happy, with great laughter we dubbed the color “Orange Blossom Special”.

Once her kitchen was all painted, I came over to see it. (Just call me “The Blister”  because I showed up after all the hard work was done.) The kitchen was looking happy, but it lacked some art.

We hustled back to my studio, loaded up a box with paintings that might work and tried multiple combinations until we found the right blend (just like mixing the paint!) Of course, she is only graciously storing them for me until the next show (and the next and the next, ad infinitum, which is Latin for “to infinity” or until they find another happy home).

Spring and fall, both represented here. ( California poppies by a California artist, Mr. Google!)

P.S. You are welcome for the Latin lessons.

P.P.S. It was great fun to mix paint colors and help her choose! Should I add this to my list of art services provided? (Stop thinking I should just lend out my art! She is doing me a favor by modeling the paintings AND storing them!)

P.P.P.S She said “Not to be mean, but I hope they don’t sell!”

Mineral King Bridge Painting, 3rd Layer

Branches and leaves on the cottonwoods, a pine in the right foreground, and some branches added to the red firs back by the cabins.

Sounds like a lesson in native trees of Mineral King. Might be, if I knew what sort of pine that is. Bet it isn’t a pine but is another red fir.

There is more to be done. There is always more to be done.

Sounds like a life lesson.

(Hey Mr. Google, this post is about a Mineral King oil painting, a commissioned oil painting, and I am a California Artist. Just sayin’.)

No Shopping Gene

I get to participate in a cross-cultural experience on Friday and Saturday. No, I’m not going to a Hmong festival or a quinceanera. It is the Holiday Marketplace Boutique at the Visalia Convention Center.

My idea of shopping is the Mercantile and Creekside Yarns in Three Rivers, Winco in Visalia or Amazon in my living room. My clothes come from the local thrift shop, a very few catalogs, eBay and my knitting needles. I have no idea what is in style, and shopping is the furthest thing from my mind when a friend suggests “doing something together”.

Despite my lack of a shopping gene, this coming weekend I will set up a booth in the convention center and happily accommodate those who enjoy shopping. I might even learn a thing or two about what the current fashion trends look like! (But I am NOT giving up my long floral April Cornell skirts, so there.)

Oil paintings, cards, reproductions of my pencil drawings – that’s what I’ll have available.

What If I Gave A Party. . .

. . . and EVERYONE came! The art show for my students was a HUGE success. It was elbow to elbow for almost the entire 2 hours. The work looked stunning, and if I had been any prouder of my students, lightning might have struck us all.

First, HUGE THANK YOU to Michael, Robin and Sylvia for taking charge of the food and beverages so that no one else got stuck in the kitchen and could just enjoy the show. THANK YOU!

One of my long term students, Jackie, helped me hang the show. I think she has been taking drawing lessons for around 6 years. We grouped the pieces by subject – portraits, florals, landscapes, animals. Then, I just enjoyed it by myself for awhile in the afternoon. (There is more art than appears in this photo, of course. Just didn’t want to antagonize you by showing you all 52 pieces so far away that you can’t really see them.)

The brown box is where you put your ballot after you vote for your 3 favorite pieces. The artist whose piece has the most votes will get a month of free drawing lessons!

This is Jerry – he is the husband of one of my drawing students. He bravely volunteered to be the first at the food table, and to let me photograph him “for scale”. 😎

Kirby and me – 2 different people want to buy her swan drawing! (I couldn’t get the silly happy grin off my face for the entire evening, and my hair did look better in the morning, thanks for asking.)

Kim and me – between us is her first pencil drawing, her cat Scooter. And isn’t it cool that Kim and I are birthday twins, although I am about 1 hour older which means I get to boss her around.

The show will be on display at the Courthouse Gallery of the Arts in Exeter until the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (because that is the last day of drawing lessons for the year and everyone will take their pieces home then.) The hours are Tuesdays 12:30-5:30, and Saturdays and Sundays 10-4.

Student Art Show!

COURTHOUSE GALLERY HOURS

Tuesday 12:30-5:30

Saturday/Sunday 10-4

You are invited to the
STUDENT ART SHOW
an exhibit of original drawings
by the students of
Jana Botkin
November 4 – 27, 2011
RECEPTION NOVEMBER 4, 5-7 PM

Courthouse Gallery of the Arts
Workshop Room
125 South B Street
Exeter, California

Hairstory

After years of having hair all the same length, pony-tails, and infrequent haircuts, this California artist decided to try a Big Girl haircut. This means layers, “product”, styling, and tools. If it doesn’t work out for my inner slob, I can always wear a cap or grow it out or both.

When I finished with my hair tools this a.m. Michael asked me if I like my new cut. I said, “Not yet, because it is doing this flip-up thing and I want it to turn under. I think flipping up is in style, but that doesn’t mean I like it.” He responded with, “It looks like you just slept on it wrong.”

This afternoon, after chiseling paint off a porch post (got about 3 square inches done. . . please pass the caustic toxic paint-stripper juice), washing my car and digging a bucket full of weeds out of the lawn (about the same level of impact as paint chiseling), he said, “Your hair looks good”.

Well, bummer. I don’t have time to fix it using that method every day. Guess I’m stuck with the Slept-Wrong look for awhile. You can see how it looks at the upcoming student art show (unless I am wearing a hat).

Mineral King Bridge Painting, 2nd Layer

Getting better all the time (wasn’t that a song by Chicago?)! Certainly isn’t a Bridge Over Troubled Waters. Long Way There is certainly correct for the road, and Long and Winding Road  is even better. Wait – it was called Getting Stronger Every Day by Chicago!!

Clearly I digress. This is about visual art, not auditory art.  Here, have a look at the painting after round 2:

It will take at least one more layer to get the colors, textures and shapes right, and then I can start the leaves on the cottonwoods. (Those are the trees on the left).

Things to be learned in drawing lessons, part 2

If you would like to see the completed piece shown in progress here, come to the student art show!

Start with simple things.

Get help on big things.

Good tools make a job easier.

Learn from others who know how.

A second set of eyes is helpful.

Sometimes you just have to do the work, no matter how tedious.

Sometimes you have to walk away and wait for your head to clear so you can get a new perspective on a project.

Good planning pays off.

Not everything can be fixed.

Ignorant gushing praise feels good; experienced honesty is helpful.

Things to be learned in drawing lessons, part 1

You can see this drawing at the upcoming student art show.

Because a show for my students is coming up soon, I’d like to share with you some of the things learned when taking drawing lessons from me.

How to see, really see.

How to break down a complicated picture into manageable parts.

Lots of little steps add up to something good.

Not everything is worth messing with.

Little tiny things do make a difference.

How to take criticism.

How to give criticism.

How to be honest and kind at the same time.

Age differences make no difference in many settings.

There are many different styles of drawing.

There are many different ways to tackle a problem.

If you procrastinate on a difficult problem, over time more will be revealed.

Mineral King Bridge In Paint

We all know that procrastination is not a virtue. However, I’d like to present a few benefits to procrastination:

1. Sometimes the problem fixes itself.

2. Sometimes new knowledge or skill is acquired so the difficulty diminishes.

3. Sometimes the problem becomes a moot point.

4. Sometimes someone else takes care of it.

I’ve been contemplating an oil painting of the Mineral King bridge for several weeks. In the meantime, I’ve made progress on my Huge (yet unrevealed) Project, finished a pencil commission, assembled a new spinning card rack, finished some other pencil drawings, prepared for the upcoming student art show, decided on and ordered covers for my display screens, completed the application for the next Studio Tour, and many other things that might bore you right off this page.

Finally, I’ve run out of excuses. The real reason for procrastination in this case is a little embarrassing: when I’ve gone several weeks without painting, I get a little fearful that I won’t be able to remember how to paint.

Then, when I begin a new painting, my fears appear to be confirmed. Sigh.

p.s. Don’t worry, CL, it WILL get better. They always do!