What do you have hanging on your walls?

I can tell you what I have in my home, mainly original artwork. I have a few photographs of family and friends but everything else is original artwork created mostly by me but there are other pieces created by others that I love. I have absolutely no prints made in China or elsewhere. When you look at the items you have chosen to decorate your home, can you honestly say that it was made in America? I cannot stress enough how important it is to support local artists. This is a grassroots movement beginning in your own home. How many people bellyache about all the junk made in other countries invading our nation? Change only comes when people realize that their purchases are the direct cause of the problem. I'm very picky about where I shop and what I purchase. I wish I could find more things made in the USA and particularly made in Houston. One way we can all benefit from purchasing things made at home is to keep our money flowing within the local economy. I would rather pay my neighbor than some faceless corporate entity enslaving people on the other side of the globe. The cost of slavery is what you pay. Perhaps you feel like you are not rich enough to be a collector of original artwork. I can testify that you need not be rich. Local artists do not over charge for their work. By shopping around at local galleries, art markets, and directly from local artists, great deals are waiting for you. Consider this. How much did you pay for your sofa? Where was it made? What is hanging on the wall above it? Is the decoration worth as much as the sofa? The answer is that your decoration could be worth more than the sofa because eventually the sofa will wear out and need to be replaced. With a little dusting, the artwork will last forever and increase in value. Wouldn't it be great that the next time you go furniture shopping you could pick something that would match your artwork instead of buying artwork to match your sofa? Perhaps you could find a sofa made in the USA or even one made here in Houston. Support all local industry. Art is one of our greatest commodities produced here at home. Buy American. Buy Houston.

Visitors

My cousin from Ohio is coming to visit this weekend. She had signed up for the Houston Marathon but since the weather has been so bad in Ohio she was unable to train and will probably run the 5K. I'm so proud of her. I can't run to save my life. So much self-discipline and determination goes into making a marathon runner. Even more than the making of a visual artist. Runners have physical pain while artists mainly have emotional pain, bearing rejection sometimes on a constant basis. I have found that this is probably the largest hurdle to cross, dealing with rejection. when I paint, so much of my own personal emotion is spent in the creative process that when an observer says that they don't like my work or that something is not quite creative enough or not original enough or whatever negative critique is said, I just have to lift my chin and take the punch. There is no fighting back. One thing I've learned from successful artists (meaning those selling their work successfully) is that when they show their work, the first thing they do is tell the observer how great their work is. I just love it when an artist shows me his or her artwork for the first time and they say "I just love this piece!" I have incorporated this philosophy into my own feelings and I have found that if you present your artwork in this matter, people tend to agree instead of criticize. So, before revealing your next piece, cover it up and practice the unveiling. Take a towel and place over the completed piece. Stand back and describe the piece to your audience, using only positive thoughts and words. They pull back the towel and smile. It will make you feel more confident about your creations and this really counteracts the feeling that the work just isn't good enough, therefore the artwork is great! 

Daily post

I'm attempting to write daily. It isn't so easy. Sometimes it is like painting every day. I just have to make some time. There is a book called "The Artist's Way". It is about getting over "Artist's Block". I've read the book several times but I didn't do any of the activities. I tried to start a group study but didn't find anyone interested. Perhaps one day. It is a very good program. One of the exercises is to write every day for about a half hour about anything and not read what you write for at least a couple of months. I'm not sure what good it will do me but I'm going to try it. I have been feeling a creative block recently. I never had this before but I think it has something to do with burning the candle at both ends. Once I give up some of my responsibility I might get over this. I've been very sad the past couple of days because a friend died on Sunday. I had known her for years but we recently got close and it is really difficult for everybody who knew her because she was such a wonderful person. I generally don't take death so hard because it is part of life and we just have to accept it but this time I surprised myself by waking up yesterday morning to find I had been crying. I suppose it is a natural reaction to a loss but it is unusual for me. Death just reminds us that each person only has a small window of opportunity to live. Make the most of it.

Painting with Suzanne

Today I journey out to Katy once again for my beginners' painting class. It has really been a joy conducting this class for the last 3 1/2 years. I've met some very interesting people. I love to paint, especially with others.
At first, I didn't like acrylic paint. I was an art snob. I have been painting in oils all my life and absolutely love them. Acrylics always seemed to be for amateurs, at least in my mind's eye.  I know some wonderful artists who only paint in acrylics but I never thought it was for me. Now, after using acrylics for this period of time, I'm beginning to love them.
One of the biggest differences is the drying time. This can be a positive and a negative. The positive part of it is that generally, acrylics dry completely within twenty four hours but the down side to this is that once they are out of the tube, you better use them fast. You can't save left over paint like oils. Once on the palette, oil paint can be used over and over again. Not so with acrylics. You better have a plan before squeezing the tube.
Another pro for acrylics is the easy clean-up. No chemicals needed, only soap and water. I used a paper plate as a palette and just throw it away when finished.
Something else that I have noticed about acrylics is that I don't like to mix them with water. I find that the molecules shrink as they dry and give the appearance of the canvas peeking through. It really makes the paint look weak. Acrylic mediums are lovely. You can make textures and glazes easily by using different mediums, and there are many to experiment with.
If you want to learn to paint, acrylics is a great place to start.

Daily Blog - 1-10-14

I started a blog years ago before blogs were popular but gave it up when my life changed. Now I have decided to give it another try. I guess it part of my rethinking my life in the year 2014. I always have this sense of new beginnings after the new year. I need to start painting more. Always my resolution. What I really need to do is sell more and I believe I'm headed in the right direction because in Nov. 2013 I got a job as the gallery director at The Green House Gallery & Art Center. Now I have a place to show my work on a continuous basis instead of dragging it from gallery to gallery, show to show. I'm ready for work this morning. I have my painting clothes on. My plan for today is to begin working on painting the bathrooms at the gallery. I love to paint bathrooms. My own bathroom is painted with an underwater scene. I hope to paint a jungle scene in one bathroom and perhaps a flower garden in the other one. I caulked yesterday, today I'm ready for KILZ!