Monday, May 1, 2017

Keeping My Reluctant Resolution

Trying to earn money as an artist/craftsperson 
requires an ongoing search for display opportunities.
Since there is no financial benefit 
from being the largest collector of one's own work, 
contact with the world outside my home studio does need to be made.
While I typically ignore the urge to make New Year's resolutions,
I did resolve to apply to more shows in 2017.

As expected, 
I'm already experiencing mixed results 
from staying true to my resolution.

My lack of confidence keeps me from painting the figure,
but I forced myself out of my comfort zone 
so I could enter a recent show, 
'Body Language', 
at Chester County Art Association.
My painting,
'Monday Morning',
was juried into the show.
It didn't sell, 
but I'll view getting into the show as a positive.

I entered the maximum allowed four paintings 
into the upcoming juried show at Main Line Art Center.
All four paintings were rejected.
Ouch.

I was a bit stymied when I saw that 
Beauty Art Gallery in Newtown Square 
was having a juried show with the theme 
'The Art of Music'.
How would I capture music in a painting?
I decided to go abstract and entered two pieces.
 'One Note'
'Many Notes'
Both paintings were juried into the show
and each painting received an award.

The upcoming juried show at 
Wallingford Community Art Center
has the theme
'Pattern'.
I again decided that I might best relate to the theme 
with something abstract,
and chose to work on top of a misguided mixed-media piece 
that I began years ago.
Without any idea of where I was going,
I started by adding layers of both transparent and opaque colors.
Why had I collaged a vintage image of businessmen 
in front of a Roman aqueduct?
I don't know,
but that earlier work began to disappear 
as I thought that stripes would be my answer to the show's theme.

Using acrylics, 
I kept applying paint,
adding texture,
evaluating the balance of color and shapes...
until I felt that the individual components
worked together as an implied pattern of cohesiveness.
While the aqueduct is no longer visible,
I like how the heads of the underlying businessmen
can still be detected.

The above painting, 
along with my second study of stripes
will both be entered next Monday for jurying.

Fingers are crossed.

2 comments:

  1. Congratulations on sticking to your resolution and bravely submitting your work. I have a question: how do you know when a painting is finished?

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  2. Judie, I rarely feel like a painting is definitely completed since I can usually see where I could make improvements. I sometimes make myself apply the varnish coat to the painting so that I can stop revisiting it.

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