Inside the Sketchbook

Study of Tree Bark, 2013, Krystal Booth

Ink on Paper, 11x8"

Nothing is as exciting as a drawing of tree bark.  Nothing.

Okay, well maybe somethings are more exciting...like the lifestyles of gypsies and plywood cut-out yard flair.

Weed or Weed Not

A photograph taken last week that I may use in a work soon -

Why do we classify dandelions as weeds?  Is it because they do not require pollination and populate in abundance?  They are actually quite beautiful - little sunshine petals on hollow stems that magically transform into unearthly soft white strands that float on air.  The design found within the structure of this seed head is what caught my eye.  It looks like a magnified sophisticated cell of some sort that would be found in our bodies, or maybe a planet protected by a strange atmosphere.  What do you think?

Dandelions represent being taught by our Mothers to make wishes and being delighted to see the seeds take flight.  They make me think of Mrs. Eattinger's dandelion jelly and playing in the yard with my childhood best friend and neighbor, Amy.  We used them as makeup by smearing them on our arms and under our chins.  They remind me of yellow polka-dotted school yards and grabbing them with our fists, wearing them in our hair, and sitting in trees and slides while pulling the petals out.  We would hold them up to our faces as we talked about boys and were so careful to only pull one out at a time.  

It was one of our first experiences of realizing how grown-ups really did have bad vision as they saw them as a nuisance. They called them ugly weeds.  We saw them as little smiles in the grass and as our favorite accessory. 

If we find ourselves having grown-up vision, we need to look closer - if only for a moment before mowing them all down.  

Have a wonderful weekend, and love to all!

What About This?

On our latest excursion, as mentioned, we took quite a few photos and here is one of the tree bark photos I took with my cell phone.  I wanted to kick myself for forgetting the camera in the car, but the photos actually turned out after all.

Matthew and I were both free from our jobs yesterday.  We were relaxed as we pretended we didn't know what work was, and excitedly made our way to the Beaverton Library on 5th, and to Blick's Art Supply store at Cedar Hill Boulevard.  These places may seem mundane to some, but we are captivated by their contents.

We were both children that loved to play pretend on our own.  He made new gadgets and tools by taping and tying different combinations of toys together.  His room was a space station.  He would fly a star wars toy around the house and pretend he was on it, but then he took it a step further by actually having the interior of the jet inside a specific location in his bedroom.  I am convinced that if he had been handed a video recorder we would have some of the most entertaining sci-fi home movies.

I enjoyed being a scientist by mixing different concoctions of shaving cream, mouthwash, and facial astringents in Dixie cups on rainy days.  The bathroom was a laboratory, though at times the experiments moved into the kitchen to include carefully eyed measurements of ketchup and mustard as new variables.  Inevitably, nothing would happen.  There were no explosions or green gases as hypothesized.  The only certainty was that they would be thrown out by my parents once the cups had sat by the sink for a few days.  I was lucky to have patient parents.

So is it any surprise that we would love bookstores, libraries, and art supply stores?  These places are where imaginations are celebrated and we are free to dream up new adventures and creations.  The main question seems to be one of considering possibilities, "What about this?"

I ended up checking out a couple of drawing books, Experimental Drawing and Lessons in Classical Drawing, and renewed David Rothenberg's Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science, and Evolution, and Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell.  I've been making my way through the George Orwell book for the past week and a half.  I am on page 74 or so, and it is a only 213 pages long.  I'm a slow reader when it comes to reading fiction from my favorite authors.  I feel as though I need to savour every word.  Iris Murdoch's books take forever.  

I would say that Kurt Vonnegut's books are the exceptions.  His pace is very fast, but I still prefer to hear his voice...or what I imagine his voice would be like if he were reading it to me between puffs off his cigarrette.

Blick's gave way to buying new materials that we haven't tried before.  I've been researching avenues of layering different elements of drawing and painting that have led me to a Faux Encaustic method using soft gloss gel, and heavy gloss gel.  I'll keep you posted on how that all goes in the weeks to come.  Currently, I've been drawing different organic forms in my sketchbook and also working on a 24x36" painting commission.  I had to break out the Turpenoid instead of the Turpenoid Natural for this one.  The Turpenoid Natural is just too oily for the thin coats of color unfortunately.  Open windows and fans are in full force. 

Surprisingly, my hopes of explosions and green gases have reversed. 

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!  Love to all -

Work and Play

My district manager asked how the full time schedule was suiting me.  I partially lied by replying that it was great and then changing the subject.

The paychecks have been necessary and well-earned.  We've all been working so hard at the store this summer.  The busy season of summer in a paint store is intense, but we often make sure that we have fun in between the serious-get-down-to-business, throw-these-80-gallons-in-the-shaker-and-ring-them-up kind of times.  The physical and mental demands are actually pretty exhausting.  I have problems matching faces with names and paint companies, but at least I don't forget a face or the personality behind it.

 

This past weekend was a great relief as Matthew and I had a couple of days off together.  We went to Washington Park - again.  We just can't seem to get enough of that place!  We took a trail that we had not ventured on before and ended up in a little clearing that was dominated by an owl.  Matthew spotted a couple of owl pellets on the ground and as we looked around, we realized there was not a squirrel, bird, chipmunk, elephant, or viper snake in the area.  The owl's presence was well known in the area to all others who lived there.  (Perhaps elephants and vipers don't live there normally, but maybe they would consider relocation if the owl would move away.)

We took several photos for drawing references for later of tree bark, leaves, tree branches, flowers, and any other thing that caught our eye.  We ended our park venture with a session of Ninja drawing, which is quickly turning into a favorite park pastime.  The outcome of sketches are not wonderful.  I tried to draw people that were clear across the park from us at one point and ended up with a tiny scribble of a figure that looked like John Lennon and when I tried to correct it, it just made it look like it was John Lennon as an Egyptian Sphinx (see above).  To add insult to injury, I couldn't spell Sphinx.

But some days are like that and I think it is just to keep us guessing and laughing at ourselves.  I hope that despite how busy we can get that we all seek and find opportunities to enjoy ourselves enough to keep us enlivened with energy.  A little jumpstart of looking at a pretty flower, being an explorer for a day with a loved one, or drawing people who have no idea that you're drawing them doesn't hurt!

Love to all -

Makeup and Hot Glue Guns

Anyone like lichens?  This is what I've been drawing in the sketchbook lately.

Sketchbook, lichens, Krystal Booth, 2013

After years of drawing pads, sketchbooks, and journals, I have found my favorite one - Crescent RendR No Show Thru Paper Sketchbooks.  The one I'm working out of now is the hardcover 8.5x11" version.  In terms of my excitement about this sketchbook, it can be summed up by the audience member (Amy Poehler) at 2:39 of this Oprah's Favorite Things skit on SNL.

I watched a couple of Ryan Trecartin's videos online this morning and I was certainly entertained, horrified, and completely disoriented at times.  It was as if I was watching my brain's understanding of what went on in my early twenties or what a condensed bad acid trip would be like if there were endless amounts of makeup and hot glue guns.  Trecartin made my morning coffee time seem like an experiment of the mind.  Would my brain explode if I actually made it to the thirty minute mark?  Will I go insane and never come back?

In the end, it just made me want to go play with him and his friends with costumes and wigs overflowing.

If you want to be confused, overwhelmed, annoyed, and entertained, watch these:
http://vimeo.com/trecartin/roamie-view-history-enhancement
http://youtu.be/Z5nclmEYkqk

Gumption

gump·tion  

/ˈgəmpSHən/

Noun Shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness.

Synonyms initiative

Do you have gumption?  I've been described as having it in years past - "That kid's got a lot of gumption!" but I don't really believe that it was gumption at all.  Instead, it was a concoction of naivety and hope.  It's easy to have gumption when you have ignorance as a dear friend.  I've taken unknown risks before and it was easy and exciting because it was just that - unknown.

But what about gumption when you are more aware of the risks?  When one is knowledgeable about the pursuit in front of them and is aware of the risks and decides to go for it, well, isn't that more what gumption really is?  After all, I would hope that there is a difference between bravery and foolishness, but then again, that judgement is all about point of view.

For instance, the more I learn about approaching galleries and dealers, the correct approach, the dos and don'ts, the more I have slumped away from it.  My posture has never been worse.

None the less, I am currently practicing gumption.  I used to have this down a bit better, but as time wears on all of us, sometimes we lose a bit of our feisty nature.  We can get comfortable or tired.  I've been both over the past year, but am not ready to give in just yet.  So courage and confidence are being worked on in preparation for things to come.  Small steps.

Through the Trees, 2013

Oil on panel, 16x12"

Krystal Booth

*Inspired by nature walk in Tualatin Hills Nature Park, and

my entry into the cover contest.

I have entered a cover contest for the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District Activities Guide for 2014.  They issue three of them per year.  While it is not as prestigious as winning the Turner Prize at the Tate, and I am sure that I will lose to a five year old's brilliant drawing of a sunshine landscape with smiling stick figures whose charm is irresistible, my work was submitted and I would love it to be one of the three selected images for the year.  It is definitely a step up from the Snoopy coloring contest won in the second grade.  

Surely, I did not send this paragraph along with my submission.

The submission was an attempt to get back some gumption.  Were there high risks?  Not especially - it was only a clicking of a button to submit it for their judging.  The risk is that it will not be selected and a kick to the ever-childish ego will ensue.  At this point though, who cares?  I'd rather fall on my face than not share my work.

I will be sending an initial Letter of Intent for a project grant this week.  The project is a great one for my local community and worthy of sharing.  Spoiler alert:  It is not cold fusion or time travel, but simply a series of paintings.

Hope you're enjoying the weekend and practicing the mastery of gumption in your lives too whether you know it or not.  Courage and Love to All - no form of these two are too small.

Gathering a View

I have spent so much time gathering, gathering, gathering...

House with a View, 2013

Ink on Vellum, 8x5"

Krystal Booth

I've been painting and drawing on vellum lately.  The semi-transparent quality of vellum makes it seem like it's lit from within.  The soft white sheets allow light to radiate through.  A gentle glow.  If heaven were a sheet of paper, it would be semi-transparent vellum.

There have been washes of color born on the surface, followed by charcoal, graphite, ink and more paint as I try to hone in on what works.  Instead, sometimes I find what looks horrid.  Sometimes I can turn a huge expensive property into a tie-dyed pleasure land sketch that beckons for a Grateful Dead sticker (see above).

But enough farting around.  I've been gathering visual sources for about a month or so.  Lots of photographs.  A ton of them.  My parents visited last week and so site-seeing ensued...though I believe site seeing for my parents could more accurately be described as being dragged around by their daughter and her fiance while being instructed to look at this and look at that.  I hope they enjoyed it.  Matthew and I did!

So tons of photos and a lot of writing.  Writing through ideas helps me understand my direction for the "Big Idea".  Now I can finally report to you that it is time to go for it.  I've hit the "Eureka!" state of how to use the materials for the approach, or at least enough to get going on it.  Time to raise that bar again and really push myself like I did while I was in college and then while creating the Huddleston Series.

I long for meaning and ambiguity my work.  The right amount of content and gray area.  Today I'm going to begin finding that by DOING.

Like a Ninja

Washington Park is for Ninja Drawing Sessions...

The Disadvantage of Low Rise, 2013

Krystal Booth

 

 

I felt that the second sketch needed such a title.  Low Rise jeans were invented for standing people who never want to sit down.  haha  But yes, Mom jeans are equally bad for opposite reasons.  Perhaps we are about to enter the Golden Age of Jeans, as Goldie Locks has tried both and is ready for the pair that is just right.

 

Ninja drawings sessions have been fun at Washington Park.  I try to stay undetected so they don't get self-conscious.  It's about getting them down on my paper as fast as possible.  It is an authentic real-life, real-time session of Figure Drawing on crack.  Hurry!  Hurry!  Get it down!  He's about to move - Fast - get down the angle of his arm!

Snail Mail

Good Morning from the Pacific Northwest! 

I found this little fellow on the tree outside on a tree outside our window...peeping Tom perhaps?

 

 

I've been busy working, sketching, reading, and researching.  The library has been very popular with us lately as the books pile up and I want to read them all simultaneously.  I hope all has been well with you and thank you for visiting.  I'll be posting more regularly again as I push towards the 100 Works goal and there may be another project in the works that would appreciate your input!  More on that in a little while...

 

Love to all!

 

Paint a Portrait

 

 

 

 

Commissioned Portrait (Awaiting title from Patron), 2013

Oil on canvas, 12x9"

Krystal Booth

 

 

 

It's obvious where I've been today - finally in the studio!  Hallaluiah!  It was good to get this portrait done and now I'm awaiting feedback from the patron.  It felt great to be painting this evening.  I highly recommend it!  Do what you love this weekend!

 

Love to all!

Metamorphosis

So I've been hiding out.  Really, I've just been busy.  Life has been shifting for the better, which I am so happy to report.  I'm about to switch from a part-time position into a full-time postion this coming week.  Also, last week I became a bit of a mechanic...real mechanics would laugh, but for me it was a big deal changing my battery.  I cringe everytime I see jumper cables, so yes, it was a big deal that I actually disconnected the old one and installed the new heavy black box of magical go-go power.  To my surprise, I did not get electricuted.  Hallaluiah! haha

As for painting, I've been working on a commission.  It's a portrait that will be finished by this Friday.  I'll be excited to share the result with you.  For now, here's a sneak peek at a small portion of it.

Sneak Peek of a Painting in Progress, Krystal Booth

 

 

Nothing has changed in terms of the one hundred works goal.  I know it will be more difficult with working more hours, but it's still on.  It's important to keep going.

So with the new full time position, I'm having to switch stores. I'm not wanting to say good-bye to my current coworkers, but it's happening. I'm hoping that we can all still get together every now and then because I am truly going to miss them. There will be a lot of phone calls to pester them. I'm looking forward to getting to know my new co-workers. Nervous and hopeful. Excited. 
 
On top of all of that, I've been trying to get my health habits on track.  Exercise, eat better, sleep, repeat.  I've been reading about alkaline and acidic foods and wondering how far I'm going to get into this.  It has been making me re-assess my coffee habit, so perhaps it's getting a bit more serious than I'd like to admit.  I've been eating mostly vegan/vegetarian since mid-December.  Documentaries on Netflix are all fun and games until you see the quotes about the pigs followed by the footage.  It was too too too much.  Now I'm trying to get more of an education about health and eating veggies from Kris Carr's Crazy, Sexy Diet. 

Right now, I'm just being open.  Trying to be as open as possible to new information and new opportunities.  Life is just changing a lot lately.  I'm holding on, and going with it where it leads the best that I can.  Cheers to change! 

Hope that the Spring season is being good to you too.  Love to all!
 

New Painting

A new drawing that served as a foundation for a new oil painting on paper today along with the finished piece.

Under Drawing of a Torso, 2013, Krystal Booth

Graphite on Paper, 18x24"

 

 

 

Condense and Disintegrate, 2013

Oil and graphite on paper, 18x24" 

Krystal Booth

 

Look up!

Beautiful evening sky in Portland on my way home tonight -

Intense orange red behind blues, gray purples, warm gold tones above with peach -

 

 

After I took the photos there was a guy with earphones across the street walking by and watching me.  I looked at him and pointed at the sky.  He looked at the top of a light post.  He glanced over at me again and I pointed again this time saying loudly, "The sky!" with a smile.  Again he looked at the top of the light post and just brushed me off.  He probably thought I was crazy and seeing imaginary leprechans dancing on the top of the post.

 

One who has not learned to see the everyday beauty all around them lives a life of true poverty.  But I guess that depends on your perspective - I was missing out on the music he was listening to afterall. haha

 

I hope you are admiring the beauty in your part of the world as much as possible.  Love to all!

 

 

100 Works: Measuring the Progress

Where am I in the 100 works goal?

Detail of a Painting in progress

Oil on paper 24x18", 2013

Krystal Booth

 

 

Right now I am to start on number 26.  A quarter of the goal has been reached.  This is good since a quarter of the year is over as well, though that doesn't even seem possible.  It was not to my advantage to think of this idea later than the new year on January 20th, but that's okay.  It won't be too much of a hindrance.

 

What has changed?  So far paint handling has loosened up a bit.  I don't feel as though I'm strangling my subject as much.  It will be interesting to compare and contrast the works from the beginning of this year to the end of the year.  It's difficult to predict, but it's an exciting prospect.

 

Have I felt rushed?  I really haven't.  I thought that I would feel a bit stressed out and frantic at times with balancing this goal with work and daily life stuff.  So far this feeling has not been felt, and I'm hoping that I don't feel that upon the finish in December.  That's the last way I would want to end this project.

 

What about materials?  The stash of 18x24" canvases has run dry, but I've solved that for the time being by working on paper.  The paper, being more fragile by its flexibility, seems to run along better with the concept behind the works anyway, so it's not such a loss.  I've had to change from Turpenoid to Turpenoid Natural due to painting more.  It's non-toxic, which is better for the workspace that is not always ventilated that great.  The dizzy spell that occurred one night was the wake up call to change products.  (oops! foolish mistake)

 

The Flake White Replacement is a sticky mess and I hate it.  I'm still using it, as the tube is practically full and I don't want to waste money or material.  It's just not as smooth or solid as the Flake White I had been using.  Maybe I'll get more used to it and change my mind, but for now, it's a disappointment and a source of mental cursing upon the palette.  Any suggestions?

 

All in all, there have been some blunders of some instantly failed works, but there have also been works that have made me even more curious in technique and concept.  This challenge has been a good one that has made me realize that I'm much happier if I've been in the studio.

 

Thank you for supporting me by reading and commenting!  It helps fuel the process, and thank you so much.  Love to all!

 

 



New Original Painting on Canvas

Here is last weekend's oil painting.

 

Ubiquity in Limbo, 2013, Krystal Booth

Oil on canvas, 24x18"

 

 

 

Ubiquity in Limbo (Detail of)

2013, Krystal Booth

 

My cold seems to have become worse over night which gave a good opportunity for taking portrait photos first thing in the morning.  It was a car crash of the face - sinus drainage...my face itself seemed draining.  I will using these as references for today's work on paper.

 

Hope you're having a good week, and thank you for visiting!  Love to all!

 

 

 

 

Spanish, German, Russian, and Being the Fish

Hola!  Que tal?  Donde esta el mark that goes over the 'e' on que en la computadora?

I've been trying to relearn and learn more Spanish now for over two years.  The Spanish for Educator's book was dusted off again last night - it's time to try again.  The problem lies in my confidence in speaking it.  It wasn't always that way.  In the factory, Claudia and I held extensive conversations throughout the day completely in Spanish, though my part of the discussion was never eloquent as the verbs were sometimes not conjugated.  I was great at that caveman Spanish, but that was more than ten years ago.

Italian is another language I have wanted to learn.  I placed it as a reward for learning Spanish - "when I learn Spanish, I will then allow myself to learn Italian" - which of course has been quite the quest.  I'm wondering if I shouldn't just study both of them simultaneously.  They are similar, and it wouldn't hurt in comprehension and getting ideas across in either language.

I have noticed that there have been a large and increasing population of readers in Germany and Russia over the last year.  The numbers are quite surprising.  I hate to confess that I don't speak German or Russian, despite my one semester of German early in college.  Everything at home was labeled with stickers of German vocabulary.  They can still be found randomly at my parent's house, at least last I knew the reusable cheese container said "der Kase" and my mother insisted that it stay on there.  It has become a sentimental artifact.

The Internet is a crazy place where we can translate words with a click of button and presto!  No language barrier (although slang can be a bit difficult).  Borders and distance suddenly seem smaller, and anyone can begin to have a conversation with anyone in the world.  That's amazing!  Something that I usually take for granted, but it is truly amazing!  I don't think that I could have ever seen this as a possibility when I was a child.  I thought ET landing in my backyard would be more of a possibility than this. haha

I am writing this at a time when it seems that North Korea is getting closer to doing something awful.  I am worried for one of my mentor professors who moved back home to South Korea shortly after I graduated.  It was sad seeing her go, but she was excited to go back home in order to teach alongside her mentor.  We have lost touch with each other, and I hope she is doing well.  I miss her terribly to tell you the truth - she was a great professor and friend who was one of the kindest and most peaceful souls I have ever met.  She was particularly compassionate, empathetic and an animal lover.

Upon our last meeting while I was student teaching, we talked with each other about our philosophies of life.  It was not a traditional conversation that one would have about what went wrong or right during the lesson that was taught to a rambunctious group of 7th graders, and I'm so glad that it wasn't.  It was much more meaningful.  At the end of the conversation, she told me that we were like salmon that swim up the stream.  We have to work very hard to hold our ground in trying to make things better.  One cannot give up even if it looks impossible.  The minute we stop, we will lose our progress.  We have to keep trying in the hope that we can make it further and be successful in making life better - making the world better by doing our part.  My mantra became "be the fish" that day, and I utter it to myself often as a reminder to push forward, despite my shortcomings or struggles.

So I will be practicing on a shortcoming yet this evening - practicing the good ol' Spanish.  Love to all, whether you are reading this in English, Russian, German, French or Arabic, and thank you for reading.

Be the fish!

 

Sleeping Man and Cat

Charcoal drawing - a new work from this past weekend.

Sleeping Man and Cat, 2013, Krystal Booth

Charcoal on Paper, 24x18"

For purchase on Etsy:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/128854057/original-charcoal-drawing-18x24-sleeping

 

(Detail)

 

Another painting was finished as well.  It was a good weekend in the studio.  The painting is so wet still that there is sheen that seems to be unavoidable when photographing it for now.  I'll try to post it later this week.

 

I hope your Monday is going well, and that you all have a very good beginning to your week!  Love to all, and thanks for looking!



 

Rothko Over Rembrandt Hair and Estes All Around

I made a new work while planning a new work!

Rothko Over Rembrandt Hair and Estes All Around, 2013

Photographic Print Series, Ink on Ivory Cotton Paper, 11x8.5" 

Krystal Booth

 
 

I printed out a photograph as a reference to hang on the easel for a painting.  My printer is running out of ink, and this is what came out.  Instant love.  I had to print out a series of five of them on good cotton paper while I could, as I couldn't do this again if I tried.  Happy little accident!

 

Due to this print out, I saw visual references to Mark Rothko, Rembrandt (his hair in a particular self portrait), and Richard Estes.  It turned out to be a good reminder of some artists that I have been fascinated with off and on through the years.

 

 

Sit Here for Three Days

"What are you going to do with three days off?"

"I don't know.  Probably paint, paint, and paint."

My boss thinks it's so strange that I could be so completely happy with painting or drawing so much.  He sees it as sitting inside the house in the same spot for a very long time.

I read a little blurb from an artist today that said that she believed that artists were a lot like cats.  We are pleased with being in one place for hours, narcissistic and have a shameless need to be loved and understood.  I would agree with a lot of that...not the narcissistic part of course, for I am lovely. haha

The truth is we have so much going on in our heads in reaction to what we are working on that we have no desire or need to go elsewhere.  We lose track of time.  We do not care that we are wearing two different socks, and our hair looks like a bad version of an Elvira 'do.  We do not realize that our leg is asleep...until we take a break and we finally acknowledge that we are still confined to these bodies of ours.  It is important to take walks inbetween sessions and be active...I haven't been exercising like I should lately.  I'm going to get back into that this weekend as its the perfect time for it.

Tonight I'll be layering gesso onto a couple of sheets of paper in preparation for painting over the next few days.  I may also pull out my last 18x24" canvas that I have on hand.  How fast it can be to go through them!  Because the canvas is ready, I will probably begin a work on that tonight.  I have decided on a composition that would be well suited for it and am curious to see how it will turn out.  It is another train image.

In the last few days, I've done some real flops.  One was a painting with oils and graphite, and the other was a graphite drawing.  Both lacked structure and energy.  I didn't stop when I should have on the painting.  These two will be great for the gallery setting of a dumpster.  Moving on!  :)

I hope you have a wonderful Friday and a fabulous weekend!  What fun things do you have in the works for the weekend?

Thanks for reading, and love to all of you!

Being Prepared and the Making of Flesh

"We'll call you tomorrow morning if you've got the job.  You'll know by around noon."

The principal did not call.  I knew I shouldn't have agreed to meet him for an interview so spare of the moment like that.  I had received a phone call the day before from a principal of an elementary school in the area who was interested in hiring a fine art teacher.  I had not applied.  He found my application for teaching art education from the previous year in the school district pool of applicants.

I was to meet him in an hour.  I rushed around frantically throwing on professional wear that had been tucked away in the back of our cluttered closet, grabbed my teaching portfolio, and was out the door for the forty minute drive.  I did not have time to prepare by researching the school other than printing out directions from Google.  It had been two years since teaching, and there was no time to review my materials.

The interview went okay, but it was no wonder that I didn't get a call that next morning.  I was a bit rusty and it showed as my brain hesitated to remember education terminology, and my confidence was incredibly lacking due to that.  If only I would have had even an hour to refresh, research, and prepare it would have made such a difference.

This happened at the end of last summer and I will not make this mistake again.

It's that time of year when the job postings begin to be posted for teachers and I have decided to re-read my art education textbook Art for Life:  Authentic Instruction in Art by Tom Anderson and Melody K. Milbrandt again, as well as revisit all of my lesson plans and remember particulars from my teaching experience.  I was thinking that it would probably be a good idea to write up a curriculum for the high school level again as an refresher exercise.  I always really enjoy creating them anyway to see how diverse I can stretch the unit while still strengthening the central theme of inquiry.

Another book I've been reading is Man with a Blue Scarf:  On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucian Freud by Martin Gayford.

It has been great so far by getting a glimpse behind the scenes of one of my favorite painters.  Thank you, Washington County Library, for giving me the opportunity!  I find it understandable, admirable, and crazy how long Lucian Freud took to create his works.  I believe this particular painting took around 130 hours.  That's an incredibly long time, but by looking at Mr. Freud's amazing works, I can see why it would take that extreme duration in order to get down such remarkable observations.  The flesh, the flesh.  No one does flesh the way Lucian Freud does flesh.

What have you been reading lately?

 

Love is Sharing Headphones in the Back of the Bus

For the last few days I've been working and busy, busy.  This past weekend was absolutely beautiful in Portland - 77 degrees on Easter.  Matthew and I rode the bus to Washington Park to blind others with our paleness.  The bus ride over was so fun as we felt like school kids at the very back of the bus seat dancing when no one was watching.  And yes, the robot was definitely one of our sweet, sweet moves.   

 

I couldn't stop having a cheshire grin the whole way there!  I tried to act "cool" by being normal (aka not smiling and acting completely as if a bus ride was the dullest thing on earth to do), but that just wasn't happening...

So we made it to the Rose Garden.  We layed under a weeping willow tree and watched a crow land and take off above our heads over and over.  You know what we were occasionally worrying about.

After time spent there, we walked down to Waterfront Park and walked down the riverside.  Matthew is the world's worst icecream eater...so that was a special highlight of my day.  He had it dripping down his hand, onto his coat jacket and all we could do was laugh...and then I smugly gave him my spotless napkin when I was finished.  He called me a name and I laughed like a bastard.

I hope you all enjoyed Easter and the beautiful weekend!  Just thought I'd share my fun day with you - it was fantastic.  So fantastic that I would love to do it all over again as soon as possible.  Just maybe not eating icecream right before climbing a vertical mile on the way back.

Thank you for reading and love to all of you! 
 

Why You Will Fail

Larry Smith

 

I just finished watching an amazing TEDx talk of Larry Smith titled "Why you will fail to have a great career" on YouTube uploaded by TEDxTalks.   WOW.  If it is not a smack in the face to wake up, I don't know what is.

 

My best friend called last night and it wasn't long before he asked what number of work I was on for the year.  He cares and is holding me accountable, and I absolutely love that.  My reply was an apologetic, "Not much from when we last talked...I'm on number 16 now."  He gave encouragement by saying, "Think of it this way, that's probably 10 more than you would've done by this time."  He's absolutely right.

 

I've been thinking a lot lately about longevity.  The fact that I'm still painting seven years after earning my BFA is a good thing - a great thing.  I was talking to one of my college pals the other night and we talked a bit about having the motivation and determination to keep going even when it gets tough.  It has been tough for both of us in the last seven years, but we still create.

That in itself is an accomplishment, though I don't necessarily think that it is praiseworthy.  Art is just what I do.  It keeps me sane and I need it.  It is the only way I feel myself, and the only area of expertise that I can confidently say is an expertise after so many years of studying so many different aspects and the long history.  Without it, I would be a hollow shell...what's crazy is I don't even think I'm being dramatic.  I think without it, my zest for life would be gone completely.

Some of our peers have fallen out of love for creating as they once did.  It doesn't turn them on anymore, or they found other interests that became passions more powerful than what they had for art.  Others still enjoy visual art, but maybe are doing other things such as curating or writing about it.  It's not that those of us who are still creating art have any more determination than our peers that are now going in different directions.  I'm hoping that it's just due to their finding other interests and passion in other areas that didn't occur to them before, or are just now getting the chance to pursue.  Other opportunities may have resonated more.

I remember being warned in the first year of college that we would be weeding ourselves out through the years there and the process would still continue out in the world.  Only a small percentage of us would actually graduate in the Fine Arts field (which turned out to be true), and an even smaller percentage would actually still be creating after the diploma was framed upon the wall (which is turning out to be true).  I remember one of my favorite mentors telling us that if you could be successful and happy doing anything other than art, than do that instead.  He was warning us of the difficulties, and preparing us for what we need to have a career - consistancy and longevity.  A brew of passion and determination -  you really have to love it in order to have the diligence to keep at it through the years.

My little prayer to the universe is that we all find our passions and have the ability to pursue them.  What a wonderful and different world this would be.

Love to all!