Briefly...

Dec. 30,2012 

It's been two weeks.  I have one less toenail until my new one grows in (big toe, can be 12 months or more!), I am still waiting for my colors to arrive and the Ebb Tide Gallery is calling for new pieces when we have our re-opening on the 12th of January.  I have a winter scene and some hearts (Valentine's isn't that far away)   in sketch form.   Be prepared for a few new things to show here.

Closing the gallery for a week allows us  to refurbish and repaint the walls. It is when we change artists' location within the gallery and of course the time of year when hope springs eternal for our artistic well-being.  This translates roughly to "maybe I will sell something this year."

The blue angel

Dec. 15, 2012  The blue angel arrives

The left side is now appearing in all its glory.  I am still nervous because many of the pencils I will need soon are on back order and were delayed once already.  If I look for a silver lining, it has allowed me to plan a heart for Valentine's Day plus and a picture for my daughter for her birthday (appropriate for cards or prints, but she would get the original). I am also planning to do the same for her siblings, should they be viewing.

Initial planning is something I can do in the middle of the night.  If I get up and lie in bed to think, I will worry about almost anything that my poor wee brain grabs -- bills, things that need repairing, and frustrating events I really can't control for example.  However, if I get up and go over to the drawing board, I can plan and sketch, get tired after about a half hour and go back to sleep.

Look carefully at the my "image of the day". You can see that I do the entire pink ground and then put the lettering over the top.  This is a bit unusual in my work and only succeeds if you have a much darker color to go on top.  It also allows  me to outline the letters first.  In my trial runs I tried using ink for the letters, but it was so opaque that it didn't fit well with the colored pencil. This is not to say it couldn't be used in the future.  There is some irony that I didn't feel ink fit in a place where ink would have undoubtedly been used in a medieval document. Here, artistic vision trumps making a copy.

Springing into action with Plan B

Dec. 12, 2012

When I thought I had control of things, I was going to complete the left arm of the cross then work the upper left quadrant before moving to the bottom section of the picture. "So why are you proceeding with the text and picture area first?" you ask.

The answer lies with the pencils I use.  There is only one retailer that carries loose stock of the Luminance pencils in the USA that I can find (Jerry's Artarama).  I am nearly out of the turquoise, and lemon yellow which form the basis of the cross and the yellow is back ordered until January 1.  Plan B calls for me to do left side first and I may even have to start on the lower right before recommencing on the cross itself. 

 "Is that a beach ball at the upper left?" you may also ask. Nay, I say, it is a type of triskelion, a design element used often Celtic art and  found as far back as 3200BC in Greek art. Many disc designs are found in Celtic art, the triskelion having three parts, others having two or four.  But I digress. Ours is waiting for a griffin to alight on top of it to be the other protector of the list of the secret names of God which will appear below.  There is also an artist angel who will appear soon to do the lettering on our list. They will show in full color soon!

On being a faster and more efficient artist

Things that prevent me from being an artistic machine that produces work at an incredible rate:

Going to work at the job that actually gives me a steady income

Cat that jumps on drawing table and rolls over on my drawing
Writing a blog
Filling out census forms
Reading the letter that says the Census Bureau has sent me a census form in another envelope
Wondering when I should clean up all those papers littering my studio
Lack of elves to do artistic prep work, make coffee, and clean up all those papers
Figuring out how I could be an internet marketing sensation
When given the opportunity to sell my work: mounting prints and making cards like crazy
Paying bills
Answering phone calls from people who suggest you pay their bills first
Wandering around trying to find pencils I have left here and there
Wandering around trying to find sharpeners I  have left here and there
Wandering around trying to find my glasses
Eating
General Hygiene
Feeding the cats
Playing solitaire on the computer
Watching Sue play solitaire on the computer and making suggestions for her next move
Reading stuff that annoys me so I think about it instead of working on my art
Staring out into space

Chaos with a purpose

Dec. 6, 2012

In theory, this is everything you don't want in a photograph, but it is late at night and only a small portion of the cross hasn't been done before, the section beginning the left arm of the cross. It was taken with flash ("don't use close up with flash unless absolutely necessary"), and the center has therefore received light that has flattened it and made it lose its shading.

But it was that sort of day.  I started to finish some prints to give to Kris Jenott for her show in Olympia only to find that with a foam back they wouldn't fit in the plastic sleeves I had cut to size for them.  I had to use some bristol board for backing that was several dollars a sheet and it cost me valuable time.  In the end I had only three prints to give her instead of the five I wanted. Then I began the process of packing cards for show and Sue said,"Aren't you supposed to sign those first?" Of course, she was right so I signed and addressed the back of twenty cards.  The clock kept ticking and there seemed no end of details to be done.  Finally, things were packed and ready to go in a driving rain and I was twenty minutes late to meet Kris and her mother, Violet, and the house was covered in mounting boards, cut backing boards, sheets of paper printed and misprinted and other marks of chaos.

Tomorrow I shall once again become an artist and work on the picture we are following.  I thought I should give some useful advise so that you might say, "Curtis taught me something today."  So, my helpful hint has little to do with color, colored pencil, paper, or design, but rather to make you backing board 1/8th inch smaller than the mat you are cutting.  The small 1/16th inch on each side makes it easier for the novice customer to frame their new artwork.  Did I help someone, somewhere?

Tomorrow's studio

Today was a day for other works of art and the more mundane tasks of finding and buying mounts for Kris Jenott's show in Olympia and the chance to sell some artwork. She is kind enough to take some items of mine to sell but now I have the right things to send and get them mounted. It did allow Sue and I the chance to go to Hobby Lobby in Lynnwood, WA  and investigate the store there for mounts and other craft items but that and other needed errands took most of the day. Now I find myself frantically making cards and mounting prints.  How nice it would be to have a full studio with assistants or elves and say, "Run out and get me six mounts and make sure I have enough prints and cards prepared for me to deliver tomorrow for Kris' show, would you please?"  Dreams of the future.


                                                       

From whence it came

Way back when

On the left is the sketch that really began things. It measures 2 x 4 inches and shows the major elements of the final.  It dates from the first of the year.   I had discussed the concept with Kris Jenott during a meeting of the Cage Cashiers when we were both employed at Muckleshoot Casino.   My vision even then included the use of alphabetical symbols  developed by a culture whose whole development was closely connected with knotwork. Kris gave me carte blanche for the design and when pressed for something to include, only mentioned a cat or cats.

A design, no matter how large and complex, has to have a sound design base in order to succeed.  Thumbnail sketches provide this and in the case of Thus Spake the Prophets I used the first sketch I did to develop the final.  With it's ornate knotting and multiple images,  the final picture is about 15 x 19 inches but would never have happened without its 2 x 4 inch baby brother.
                                                                                                 

Remember me?  See the cat?