Getting back to the studio and getting into a creative zone is always difficult after delivering the paintings for a show. There is always a let-down after completing a big project, as well as a sense of relief and just plain exhaustion, but I have been through it so many times that I’ve developed a working plan.
First, I clean up the mess in the studio, take inventory of my art supplies and re-stock. Then I review all the projects I’ve put on hold until the show was completed. There are always some paintings that didn’t quite get completed for the show that need a few hours or days of work, but this isn’t the time to do it. Putting the finishing touches on paintings requires a special calm, deliberate and confident mood.
PROJECT POSSIBILITIES
It is too soon to start planning for a new show and I really need to start something less challenging. A client has suggested some paintings with a totally different palette of colors than I usually paint. I was sent a notice of a competition for state park paintings that I’ve been considering entering and I also need to paint some square paintings for a series of small ads. Somehow, all of these seem like homework assignments to me at the moment.
I finally settled on doing two paintings just for my family and me. I have had a bare wall over our bed for a couple of years since the last time I took away the painting for a show. I also have a bare canvas in the window of my studio that I see from my kitchen window. Right now, with the dismal weather, I really need bright paintings in both places.
CREATIVE ENERGY STARTS TO EMERGE
Just thinking about the compositions of both paintings has started getting me excited to begin and I even have the right size canvases for both projects. The bedroom painting will be 36″ x 60″ and I want a composition that will make the bedroom appear larger. I’ve decided on a landscape with a lot of distance as if I’m looking through a window at a scene at least two blocks away.
The studio window painting will be a 72″ x 36″ vertical canvas and the painting will be a portrayal of the tall vine maple tree in front of the studio, so that I will have the tree in full autumn colors when the actual tree will be bare. And both paintings will have blue skies without clouds!
Below is “Riverbank Series #2″, a 39″ x 50” watercolor that was juried in for the annual fall show at the Portland Art Museum Rental/Sales Gallery. The opening is Oct 18 between 5 and 8 pm.
