The Desert in Infrared

I stopped by Joshua Tree National Park yesterday afternoon. It had been driving me crazy that we've had those fun, wispy high clouds the last few days, but I haven't been able to do any picture-taking because I've been in Palm Desert working on a painting (see the "Paint-In" series below).

It's too early for spring flowers in the high desert, and the low-desert flowers are just beginning to appear. So I decided to concentrate on shooting some infrared pictures and go for the surreal look. I don't know if any of these will become paintings someday, but digital infrared photography is a great, inexpensive hobby (inexpensive, that is, after one has invested in the equipment).

Paint-In, (Final) Day 4

Getting toward the end of the Paint-In Sessions. It looks like I'm sound asleep as I'm sitting there, but I actually am painting in this view. I'm painting. No, REALLY!

I did meet lots of people (including a CEO from a print publisher). But, of course, this wasn't the most productive way to paint, with things not being setup the way I'm used to, and talking with the many people who came in to visit me and/or to look around in the gallery.

However, the whole idea of doing this was not to maximize production, but to draw people into the gallery (which it did) and for me to become a little more better known in this area. And we even sold a small piece on Saturday.

I still have a lot to do on this painting, so I'll need to finish it at home. I'll definitely post a picture of it here (without me in the pic!) when it's done.

Paint-In, Day 3

Ahhh...3.5 days down, one to go, in the series of working on a painting in the gallery.

The picture was taken around 3:00pm / 1500 hours. After the shoot, I worked an additional hour and began adding details to the ridge on the left of the piece. I should be able to come close to finishing tomorrow, with some tweaking to be done after I bring it back to the studio. Then comes the varnishing, which will add another week to the process.

Plus, a little good news: we sold one of my small paintings today, while I was there! The buyers were cute and asked to have their picture taken while holding the painting and with me IN the picture. A sale here and there during this economy is much needed.

Stay tuned for the final installment of this adventure, (hopefully) tomorrow night.

Paint-In, Day 2.5

I stopped by the gallery again today to block in some areas of the "Paint-In" painting that hadn't been done yet.

Now, I can begin putting in some foreground detail. That'll give people a chance to get a better idea of what the painting will look like when finished.

However, I'm also beginning to see there's no way I'll finish this piece before 4:00pm/1600 hours on Saturday. I'll have to complete it in the studio next week.

BTW, either the painting is upside down, or I inverted the photo and I'M upside down! =)

The Paint-In, Day 2

Here I am, painting away in the gallery last Saturday. Scroll down a little and you'll see how I'm progressing.

(The light in the gallery is funny. It looks like I have a bald spot on top of my head, doesn't it?)

Blue Sunday

Sundays can be the strangest day of the week sometimes...

Sundays often used to be dreaded because the next day is Monday -- back to the salt mines at a job I may or may not have liked, depending on where I was working at the time. If other projects didn't get finished over the weekend: oh, well. If I couldn't fit them in after getting off work, they'd have to wait until the next weekend.

Since I've been self-employed (fall of 2000), the days of the week are mostly the same to me. So what's up with Sundays?

A number of projects seem to fall on Sundays, especially toward the evening. The Wiffee and I divide most of the chores, and my chores are doing dishes and cleaning up the kitchen, helping carry in and put away groceries (one of The Wiffee's Sunday chores: grocery-shopping), cooking dinner and watering our numerous plants. On many Sundays, all of those needs fall in the evening. So if I'm panicky about not getting as far as I needed to on a painting to meet a deadline, and if I have to stop painting so I can do all these other things, I get majorly stressed. I've finished those chores for tonight, but now I'm too wound up to paint!

Another Blue Sunday. What's an artist to do?

The Paint-In, Day 1

Today was the first of four days I committed to working on a painting in one of the galleries I'm in.

I'm not used to painting in public, so I was a little nervous about the idea -- epecially if the painting wasn't turning out as well as I hoped, which does happen sometimes. At least if I'm in the studio, I can change and fix everything before anyone sees the painting.

But in spite of a few minor gliches during setup, the painting, which is 36" x 48" / 91cm x 122cm, is coming along OK. And the gallery owner seems pleased with it, as well.

The whole idea, of course, is that I'm in the front window where passersby will see me and say "Oh, look! That dude is working on a painting! Let's go in, watch, ask questions, then buy six or more of his paintings." Or something like that.

Plus, the owner sent out over 500 postcards promoting the event. So hopefully those people will show up and purchase additional artworks, including the one I'm working on.

The picture shows me cleaning a brush as I wait for a newly-applied layer of glaze to dry. (Miracle of miracles -- I managed NOT to get paint all over myself!) Three of my paintings were hung so they'd surround me and be visible through the window which is directly behind me.

More to come!!