Why I Make Art, #5

This is a painting of poppies on an antique window. (Thank you for asking, Carol!) You can read about it here:

April 29 May 23 June 7

Reason #5: I make art because it beautifies spaces.

Real life is messy. Artists get to clean it up in 2 ways. We can draw and paint in a manner that eliminates the cruddy stuff in the view. We also get to cover bare or ugly walls with beautiful things. That is a satisfying motivation!

Think about how the town of Exeter would look without its murals. Buildings would be empty, bare walls would contain graffiti, there wouldn’t be nearly as many good places to eat or shop, and it would be easy to find a parking place. (not that there would be a reason to park. . .)

Think about your home without anything hanging on the walls. It would echo, and it wouldn’t have much personality.

Almost makes you want to paint, doesn’t it?

Why I make art, #4

Reason #4: It shows off Tulare County.

My art provides a way to share beautiful places and moments of time with others. This is a natural thing – aren’t you just dying to tell someone or show someone or lend a book or see a movie with someone else? Me too. (You should have seen me running down the street to share the book “The Help” with my neighbor!)

And, living in Tulare County with its bad rep, I feel an obligation to share the good parts with those of us who are “trapped” here. Sharing our beautiful spots helps our self-esteem as a county. It helps our self-esteem as residents of this place (“You live there? WHY???”)

Why I Make Art, #3

Reason #3: I make art because it is my job. (Duh, hunh?)

Some people make art because they feel like it or because they can; I make art because if I don’t, there is nothing to sell.

Being an artist is a great way to earn a living, even if it is not always easy, fun or highly  profitable. My friends have heard me say more than once, “I’d rather draw an ugly house than wait tables.”

In his nonfiction book “On Writing”, Stephen King wrote, “Life isn’t a support-system for art. It’s the other way around.”

If you are thinking “what a sell-out” or “how commercial”, comfort yourself with the fact that this isn’t my main reason. Even when I had a real job, I made art. That was because of Reason #2 – I feel compelled to make art.

Why I Make Art, #2

His Other Car

Reason #2: I make art because I feel compelled to do so.

When I was a child, I would get this overwhelming urge to make something. “Mom, I feel like making something.” She probably dreaded those words. She’d send me to Highlights to find a project. We NEVER had the materials, even if the finished result was something I wanted to own, which it rarely was.

Sometimes I would get out the doll-sized sewing machine, go through Mom’s scraps and sew something sort of functional, a little schlocky and definitely slightly weird (hmmm, sounds like my knitting).

Other times, I’d draw.

Often I’d look for something to do until the urge wore off in a fit of frustration and just go read.

Regardless of the outcome, the desire to make something has never left me. Drawing, painting, making tile mosaic stepping stones/tables/steps/drinking fountain/light pole, origami boxes, tatted doilies, crocheted afghans (that was in the early ’80s), knitted anything. . . it is the way I am wired.

Since deciding to earn a living with by making something, it seemed wise to choose one method that I never tire of – drawing in pencil. Drawing brings the most satisfaction of anything I do. I think it has to do with skill level; the ability to do something well removes the frustration.

Why I Make Art

This is the first in a series.

Reason #1:

My art freezes a beautiful moment of time. The camera is my best friend, because my visual memory isn’t photographic and my techniques in drawing and painting are slow, slow, slow.  When I see something beautiful, I feel compelled to capture it, to relive it, to revisit it, to examine it and to share it.

Sharing

Late Summer, Early Morning – sold

When you look on the left side of my blog, you see something called Blogs I Follow. If you put your mouse over the list and just wait, a description appears. If you right click on one, you get the option to open in another tab. The list is there because I love to share good things.

I don’t read these blogs every single day, because sometimes I am in the Land of No Electricity (or internet), sometimes there isn’t enough time, and sometimes I don’t have a routine. However, when I return to having a bit of time (and Electricity and internet service), it is really fun to catch up.

This list gets updated from time to time. I follow a blog for awhile before deciding to share it on my “blog roll”. There has to be consistent posting, no whining (as in “Sorry for not posting in awhile- I’ve been so busy” – that makes me click off immediately, intolerant creep that I am!), good material to read, no swearing, minimal typos, good humor. If a blogger stops posting consistently or begins making excuses, I just drop it off my list.

I too am busy. We are all busy. You who read my blog have my appreciation and gratitude because 24 hours is just not long enough in anyone’s day for all our choices!

Some of the blogs are by friends, some by folks who are becoming friends, and some are by the Big Boys And Girls. These are people who are very well known and very widely read out there in Cyberspace. All of them are inspirational in their own ways, thought-provoking, and some just make me laugh.

Here are the links in addition to being on the blog roll, just in case it is easier for you (or in case Mr. Google gives the blogs a bump up in his endless list!) They are in alphabetical order, not order of favorites. Several of these came through recommendations, some through surfing the Web and reading comments on other blogs, some are people I know.

Andree Seu

artbizblog

Cheryl’s R&R

Chris LoCurto’s Blog

Colors Art Gallery

Diana Moses Botkin

Jamie the Very Worst Missionary

JanasJournal

Middleagedplague’s Blog

Nel’s Everyday Painting

Sara Kelly Art Quilts

Stuff Christians Like

The Pioneer Woman

The Yarn Harlot

I’d love to hear what you think, and if you have any favorites yourself!

Always learning

If you’ve been reading this blog in the last week or so, you are aware that I have a large, nay, HUGE (I refuse to accept “ginormous” as a word), nay, ENORMOUS project underway. There is much to be figured out, tons, freak-me-out amounts. (Deep breaths, deep relaxing breaths. . .)

One of the things is to learn is whether it is better to photograph the drawings or to scan them. I experimented with lots of settings on the camera, keeping Kaweah Kitty from walking over the drawings,  trying different editing tricks, and comparing the differences.

Remember in the olden days when we took photos as carefully as possible, then waited an eternity for the film to come back and let us know we failed? Things are much better now, maybe. That might be a subject for another post.

This post is about showing you the difference between a scanned drawing and a photograph of the same subject. There is a distinct difference in quality.

photographed version

photographed, adjusted with iPhoto

scanned version

Whoa. Wow. Woo-hoo.

Sneak Peak

I’ve dropped a hint or two about a lot of drawings coming up soon. Here is another little preview, but I’m not ready to disclose any details yet. This is for 2 reasons: 1. The details are a little squishy and 2. If I think about it too much, I will have to go lie down from overwhelmment. Nice word, don’t you think?

A California Artist Explores Tulare County

There are 4863 square miles in Tulare County. Really! I read it on the internet, so it must be correct, right? Although a great deal of it is un-roaded mountains, there are many roads to explore. And, there are roads to re-explore, because I forget stuff.

This summer I’ve made 4 trips to Kings Canyon National Park. Although it is in Fresno County, the bulk of the travel happens in Tulare County. Each time I have taken a different route, sometimes by choice and sometimes by accident. I wasn’t lost, because I still had my sense of direction and a working steering wheel.

On my most recent trip, I tried 245 out of Woodlake. There are a number of roads that resemble one another along the foothills. They have enough variety to make it worth the effort to change my routes. Besides, I like knowing how they connect. The traffic is usually light, and mostly I see pick-ups or out of state license plates. This is because the roads look reasonable on a map, rather than the remote serpentine almost-endless routes that they really are.

As I drove, I wondered why I couldn’t remember one road from another and why they get so intermingled in my head. In addition, I had lots of other thoughts:

1. There is the road where Bob used to live. I wonder where the sycamore that he drew is. . .

Roble Lomas, oil on wrapped canvas, 14×11″, $175

2. OH! There is that stone gate and barn I painted from a 20 year old snapshot! Shoot, wish the light was better so I could photograph it again. Either they built some new structures, or I did some serious editing!

3. Hey! There is the 2-1/2 acres of avocados that Dad used to farm. Now it has a crummy looking mobile home sitting in the middle of the property.

4. That must be Baldy. Michael and I skied there. It’s not the one that slides in the winter – that is Little Baldy.

5. When did the Badger Store close? I remember getting mail there for Hartland Camp, misidentified on the map as “Hartman”. Don’t these folks actually travel to the places they are mapping?

6. THERE’s the Badger school I remember!  I’ve passed Sierra School on my last several trips. How can an area this rural support 2 elementary schools??

7. AHA! Hogback Road. I knew if I just kept trying different routes, I’d be able to find it from the lower end.

I love Tulare County, and I love exploring! Do you explore areas around your home? Do you look for differing rural routes? Do you have any recommendations? Please share!

Let Us Spray

This is what drawing student Gerald said to me when he finished his drawing. “Spray?”, you are asking, even as you read this. (Yes, I can hear you.)

Spray fixative is one method of preventing the finished drawing from smearing. Framing is another; workable fixative is a third. I’ve been told it adds “tooth” (that means texture in Artspeak) to the paper. It didn’t, but that’s another story for another time.

Early in my art career, drawing people’s cabins and houses was my main activity. One time, I finished a commissioned drawing of a lovely old home, grabbed my trusty can of spray fixative left over from some college art class and proceeded to ruin the drawing. It left little waxy spots all over the paper. They scratched off with my fingernail, and I learned a Big Fat Lesson: do a test spray on something else first.

Because of that unfortunate incident, I went off spray. Completely, cold turkey, no tapering down, no patch, just Q U I T. Go ahead and call me a quitter – I can take it. (I’m a loser too, in the true sense of the word. But I digress.)

A few years later I met a pencil artist who charged huge amounts of money for her drawings, used a wide range of pencils, and sprayed with Blair No Odor Fixative. I began using a wider range of pencils (see The Rules for further explanation) and the fixative. My prices stayed the same.

“No odor” was a lie – it stunk. I think the manufacturer meant “this smells like you can get high but don’t waste your time”, but “no odor” took up less space on the label. After several years of learning to depend on this marvelous stuff that prevented my drawings from smearing despite pulling them in and out of various envelopes, folders and picture frames, the magic spray was discontinued.

I hoarded 6 cans, and today I used the last spray from my last can.

There are other brands, other types, maybe even a Blair substitute. Ick, shopping. Add it to The List. Meanwhile, I’ll just be careful with my drawings as I complete them. There will be many. I’m not ready to tell you why just yet.

Let us spray.