Makin' progress...

It ended up being a pretty productive day. I used my rotating schedule to try and touch on a variety of things that needed to be done, and early on I was able to stick to my allotted time periods.  My trip to PBSC wasn’t as fruitful; I wasn’t able to pick up my artwork. ..maybe later this week.  I spent the majority of my ‘art time’ working on the round canvas, although I did manage to complete sketching in the hair/text elements on all of the paintings.  I wasn’t sure what color to use to fill in the hair/text on the round canvas; I finally decided on white with just a hint of turquoise.  The piece is still in progress…and I started painting more on the oval painting towards the end of the evening.

(Right; 'Love', in progress... around 4:30, I had just started to fill in the text on the left side) 

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One thing that was a big inspiration to me today was the opportunity to participate in a painting session with a former student via Skype.  He had posted a piece on Facebook, I mentioned that we had both been painting at the same time and he had the idea to set up a Skype session.  What a great idea.  I haven’t used Skype since I went to Japan in 2009, so I had to install it again, find the camera…I never resolved the microphone so we had to use cell phones to actually talk.  We ended up painting for about an hour and a half, what a great experience.  One thing that is unique about making art now is that I am usually creating my work alone.  My husband may be in the other room, but I am in essence working by myself, maybe with my Ipod or Pandora playing on the computer.  There is a lot to be said about having access to other artists as you work, made me think of my time in the weaving studio, or working in my drawing and painting classes.  Yeah, I focus when I work by myself, but it also gives you certain energy to work around other artists.  What a unique experience to be able to work alongside a student that I taught almost ten years ago.   It was awesome to catch up, to talk technique, to talk aesthetic, to talk about just feeling like you have to create.  Amazing. 
 
(Check out his work; https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.schwager)

So all in all, good day.  The oval and round canvases are in progress, with the latter being close to completion.  The other four rectangular canvases have at least been sketched out, so those will be waiting for me when I am ready to start adding color. (Below; I moved the set up back to the kitchen 'studio corner'...the rectangular canvases are sketched and ready...the other two, well underway after a great painting session via Skype)