So much to do, so little time.

Dear friends, I am busy busy busy these days, preparing for my 2 November shows. If you know me, you know that busy and I do not get along very well. It is pretty bad when I am finding myself looking forward to December to relax... I mean, who relaxes in December?

Today I am painting a little piece to be used on the LLAP Christmas cards. I thought that I would do it small to make it easier- not sure what I was thinking as this small size is needing me to be very fussy with detail. Not ready to show yet.

The other day we had an exciting day at the studio. We had a world class violinist, ballerinas and opera singers at the Arts Park. They are making a documentary film about the place. This bit of video was made by the news crew who came to document the film crew. Click for video clip

I will be in the movie too, when it is released, mixing purple paint.

View From the Door

This is my second post today. I posted about my upcoming show earlier, but this is also on my mind.
My studio holds a whole bunch of easels and a 10 foot mirror, all waiting to host a workshop. Many of you know that there was a workshop scheduled for June, but it was postponed. I am looking for painters to come and hold a workshops in my studio. The positives are that it is a great space with easy access to O'hare international airport- an airport that is easy to get to from just about everywhere. There is also a train nearby that will take you to the city, if a field trip to the Art Institute is in order. We have 24 hour access to the facility- And the coffee is great too:-)

Please send an email if you think that you might like to come to the mid-west and hold a workshop.

Driving to Boston!

I will be heading to the Boston area in a few weeks to try and sell some paintings, and make some contacts in the community. You can read about the show on the Got-Art website.

The curator for the event came all the way to my studio this summer, to scout my work and invite me to show my work. I love the mission statement of Got-Art, and I have plenty of work to bring. Look for me on November 9th at the Holliston Historical Society. I have already been the artist of the week on their webpage, but sign up for updates. Let them know if you are in the area and thinking of showing up for the show.

Here is what is on my easel today. At the moment, i think it is finished, but it has only been ten minutes, so I may go back into it. It is a crappy glare filed picture, (with the color all off too) but I felt like sharing anyway.
24x24 oil on linen on panel

Thanks for looking in on my blog :-)
Lori

Painting Poodles

I have been painting. Today I almost finished the new poodle still life that I have been working on.

Nothing much to say.... today I am thinking that painting is a solitary journey.

Which is really good if you like the company :-)

Orange

Today was one of those glorious slow studio days. No painting on the easel, but a beautiful day with good music on the ipod and good coffee in the pot. I re-read the whole color chapter in Grado's Mastering the Craft of Painting and took the poodles around the mansion taking reference pictures. And I got out my big glossy munsell book and mixed paints.

Three new colors on my color wheel, and since I painted all of my high chroma cubes using only the swatches in the student book, I have been re-painting those. Today I got the 5yr, 5BG, and 5G . I also completed tubing my greys. You can see here that the orginal 5YR was not matching the chip. The new one matches so well that I could not see it when painted on the chip, (thanks to Rob's amazing optical white). Looking at this photo, it looks like they do not match, but it is only because of the light from the window reflecting on the paint.

I guess for a slow day, I did get a lot done.

I am excited about all that I am learning about color- not sure where it is taking me, but will chug along until I get there. So far, the biggest value in these studies is how sensitive my eye is for color, and especially chroma. So that makes it worth the effort right there:-) I am working on a thread to talk about this at Rob's place. Just have not had a chance. But soon.

Being more Clear about Babel Color

It has come to my attention that my words about babel color have been mis- understood. The reason that I have been playing with bablecolor is because Richard M sent me a link to it last April and insisted that I familiarize myself with it before the upcoming color course. He is the one who told me that it is the key to the book. I have figured out how to use it, and today am really not interested in locating color in that way. I may play with it again, or not.

I am on a journey here. One that is not part of any flame war but a personal journey to learn how to paint. At the moment, I am very interested in learning the many wonders of color. What I wrote last week might have nothing at all to do with what I am learning today. As to the mine field that all this mean spirited posting is causing. I do not understand it and you will not find me participating in it.