Rainy Day

Here I am, awake at 8:30 on a Saturday morning. (WAY too early if you ask me!) Tony had to go to work this morning, and I got up with him. The kids are still sleeping and I can hear the rain ticking on the roof. The dogs are sprawled out, sleeping around me, one at my side, one at my feet, and another across the room on the pillow. It is very quiet and peaceful and I thought it would be a good time to catch up on everything. I haven't kept up with this blog like I had planned, but life just gets in the way sometimes.

Spring break is over and we are in the last stretch of school before summer vacation. We had a lovely little mini vacation during the break, the kids and tony and I took the train to New Orleans. We stayed in the French Quarter and walked everywhere. I hadn't been to New Orleans since a school trip when I was 14 or 15. It sure is a beautiful town. I don't think I ever care to travel by train again, though. (Something none of us had ever done) Probably the coolest thing about our trip happened the night we arrived. There were two movies being filmed! One was across the street from the hotel, a movie called "The Librarian 3" which is a made for tv movie starring Noah Wyle. And in the alley right next to our hotel, they were filming the movie "Cirque du Freak", starring Salma Hayek. Vinnie loves the Cirque du Freak books (I think they are about vampires maybe?) AND he wants to be a filmmaker when he grows up, so it was all very exciting for him.

I finally gave my show application to Jane at Artists on Central. I don't know when I will find out if I got it, but I am crossing my fingers! She said all of the months for 2008 are full, so it might be next spring if I am accepted, but she also asked me if I would be able to do it in the fall if someone falls through. With a couple of months notice. I told her yes. So that means I need to spend the next couple of months painting as if it were going to be in the fall. That way, if it does happen in the fall, I won't be completely unprepared. I had planned on spending the summer months working on stuff for the Cooper-Young Festival, which is in mid-September, so I am going to spend the next couple of months painting for the show. If it happens in the spring, I will just be ahead of the game, which never ever ever happens. I am one of those people who are painting the edges of those last couple of paintings the night before a deadline. It would be nice to be ahead for once in my life! I have a good start. I spent the last couple of days working on a 24X48, and I might actually be able to finish it early next week if I get a chance to work on it this weekend. I have been in kind of an art slump the last few months, just kind of working on small paintings here and there, but not too excited about any of them. Now I have a specific focus, and doing large paintings is my favorite way to work, I definitely have a different process for big paintings than for small ones. This will be a different way to work for me, really focusing on one theme instead of bouncing from one thing to another. I spent the morning yesterday planning. I have 4 paintings done for this show, another 5 paintings in progress, specific plans for several more, and tentative plans for the rest. And, I figure if I'm not accepted to do a show at Artists on Central (though I feel relatively confident that I will get it), I can just try somewhere else. I am aiming for 20 large paintings (or groupings of smaller paintings) Can I do 16 paintings in the next two months? Probably not. But I bet I can do 10, which is the goal I've set myself. That is a little more than one a week.

Another goal I've set for myself is to not purchase anything new as far as art supplies go, for this show. I have all the canvas I need. My studio is absolutely full of paper and screen and nifty found objects I have been collecting for years. I am going to resist the urge to run to Michaels or Hobby Lobby or the Art Center and wander around, filling my basket with more random stuff to bring home to my already overflowing studio. The only thing I am going to try really hard to allow myself to purchase is paint and mediums, but only if I run out of what I already have. I got my tax stuff together yesterday (I sold 28 paintings last year! yay me! and a bunch of jewelry!) and it was kind of depressing seeing how much I spent on materials versus how much I sold so I am going to try really hard not to do that this year.

I can hear the kids stirring, so I guess I will go start the day. More about the art I am creating later!