the spark

Artist Open House -Sunday Dec 7

Doing what we love is key. As artists doing what we love is the spice that makes work come alive; the song in our souls.  

This morning I read the new issue of Queens Quarterly that arrived in my mailbox. In it, is an article written by artist and curator Liz Wylie that elaborates on this idea.  She weighs the notion of artists(dead or alive) fame and posterity vs the artists "aliveness in that moment of creation".  She says " Our job is to live fully, and if we are artists, to bring that intensity of life to our work; we must focus on our creativity and what we are doing, not be looking over our shoulders, vying for fame and keeping an eye to posterity."  

Joy - acrylic on wood - SOLD

How true is that?! That sentence really hit a chord within me. Working in the isolation of our studios, it's easy to come off the rails, thinking we need to create for upcoming shows, a gallery, or clients. It can steal us away from our hearts desire.  The best art always happens when we are able to tap into the 'life' within us. the spark. the truth.

A Fine Day, Blue Rocks - oil on panel- SOLD

On Sunday we enjoyed a wonderful turnout for our 'Artist Open House'.  The sun shone through the floor to ceiling windows in Marga's waterfront home which we had transformed into an intimate gallery for her pottery and my paintings.  Guests mingled, sipped punch and browsed the art, and both of us had a thoroughly good time(really good sales too).  And on the topic of 'the spark in art' guess which of my paintings were the ones that sold... yep... those ones.




 
 

boathouse minis

My garden and life in general have been taking precedence to my painting this past week.  We had an absolutely wonderful long weekend, gorgeous weather, no real commitments, except Dave and I had some puttering and jobs around the house and garden...but we love that. We intersperse them with a capuccino on the deck, or a beer or a martini in the late afternoon. In the evening we have been challenging each other to games of Crokinole.  Usually Dave wins, but I can give him a run for his money! ha!  Yesterday I did get going again on painting some mini blocks (tiny oil paintings)to feed my desire to paint...boathouses, and dreamin of the coast, what else? ha.  
Another exciting thing for me is that I had a call from a client to ask for a commission...and guess what...she wants a larger version of Everything About It, But Nothing in Particular ...I'm really happy to oblige, as I love painting landscapes of the coast!