Scratching the Surface

Yesterday I finally began my Steinway Project: Encore! Recover the Sound. This is a joint fund raiser for the Steinway Scholarship Fund and The Arts Council of Williamson County. We artists of the area were offered a myriad of piano parts to choose from to create and recreate artistic masterpieces. My choice was the hinged lid of a black lacquer baby grand piano. It has been standing in my studio since April. Yesterday I finally began the process necessary for turning it into a piece of art: I sand papered the beautiful lacquered surface. It was painful! I began to ponder how many times the hand of God has had to use a little sand paper on me in order to create or recreate me into His masterpiece. Something to think about as we face difficult times and decisions...what are we being prepared for? Just around the corner could be a masterpiece!

How About Some Still Waters?

This painting represents just what I need today....rest and recovery. It has been a long haul since I last wrote as we took to the highway and traveled to two art shows in Chicago, came home to out of town company, and a grant deadline for the Arts Council of Williamson County. Now normally, I love my full life with all of its diversity. However, there are times when juggling all of the hats that I wear can be a little exhausting. And isn't that where good art comes in? A place that we can linger and take a breath; a place where our heart rate can slow and we can take deep breaths of refreshing air. This piece (titled Still Waters) does not hang in my home, and in fact it will soon hang in the home of customers, but it symbolizes what I'm talking about. These two days off (my normal Sunday and Monday) have given me what I have needed for about a month now. Still waters and a restored soul. May you find a little in your day as well.

English Please

Just a note to say that I love the world wide web, but I am limited to reading only in English. If you'd like me to read your comments, would you mind translating them please. Thanks!

The Rest of the Story

A matter of time. A matter of timing. Recently I sold a painting to a customer who had first seen it (and fallen in love with it) a year ago. Meanwhile, most recently it had hung on my gallery wall at home and I had decided that it needed more work. So, I brought it in (it was time to rotate my gallery wall pieces anyway). The very day that I brought it back to the gallery/studio, the customer walked in. By the end of the day I had delivered it and sold it. And the piece in its new home didn't need anything else. Perfect timing!

Ribbon of Light

This is the first piece birthed in my "less is more" season. It is a re-purposed canvas which had so much texture, that I added more to actually smooth the lines out. Paint added with palette knife, the brushed with a wet brush, then removed with a damp paper towel created the base from which the rest of the painting evolved. It feels like I should call this the phoenix collection since thus far all of the canvases used to be something else. Out of the fire, a phoenix arises. Hmmmm. Someone yesterday used the phrase "fire-bird" and I immediately saw a new painting. Can't wait to see what develops.

A Matter of Time

Sometimes it is JUST a matter of time. Naturally that can be interpreted several ways as in if you have all the time to create imagine all of the painting you could get done. Or the reverse, if you had double the hours to put towards your business think of all the marketing ideas that you could complete. However, that was not what was in my mind when this phrase came to me the other day. Nor was it the point when another interesting thing happened in the gallery.

What was in my mind? I was painting, actually repainting a piece. This particular piece has gone through several transformations as I continued to see more and more clearly how to develop my vision for it. What I realized over the past several weeks was that the wrong part of the painting was pulling focus. So, back on the easel, paint brush in hand, pink became dark red, and spring green became dark olive. That allowed the bright center to shine...just where I want the viewer to concentrate. Stare at something long enough and in a matter of time, you'll know what needs to be done. Part 2 tomorrow as I share the rest of the story

What's it Worth?

There are few questions an artist has to answer that are more difficult than "What is it worth?" Pricing work is on the surface of that discussion and is so personal and subjective it seems that no two artists approach the subject in the same way. I had an amazing experience Saturday night that totally bore that out.

I sold this painting. Awesome, right? And I would agree. The rest of the story is this...

I painted "Abiding Presence" four years ago specifically to hang in out home over the mantel in our great room which is sort of the center of the house. It is in my book "Heartbeat of God" which was sort of my way of sharing its story and had prints made (8x10 limited edition) to enable others to share in its beauty. The piece however is 40x60.

So, Saturday.... A woman comes into the gallery who had fallen in love with the painting from seeing it in the book at a mutual acquaintances place of ministry. The longer we talked and discussed artistic options, the more she came back to "Abiding Presence". Here's the point. It was clear at one point that I was to offer this piece for sale when in my heart it has always been a NFS (not for sale) piece. Was it about money? Absolutely not! Rather it was an answer to my heart's cry that my artwork would break through