October 2013 " Hi Cindy, it's Tracey. I want to talk to you about something big, really big." Me, "Okay." "Are you sitting down?" Me, "Uh no, but I can be...okay, I'm sitting down." "We were wondering what you would say to a solo show of your pastels in November 2014." Silence..."Cindy?" Me, "I'm here... seriously?" "Yes seriously!" "You don't have to answer right away, we know it's a big decision." Me, " Wow! I'm stunned...okay, I'll get back to you, probably by tomorrow."
This is the conversation that set the course of the rest of my year. You see, I'm not a fast painter. If I paint 10- 12 paintings a year in between all of my other stuff I'm lucky. Also, there would be other people to consider, my husband, my grandchildren, then there was the expense of framing and the proper glass in order to present the paintings at their best, but most of all I wondered could I really paint 25 paintings? I had certain ideas that I wanted for this show. I wanted at least three 16 x 20 sized paintings and at least four 11 x 14 sized paintings. I rarely painted any bigger than 9 x 12.
By my mother's birthday, July 10th, I had still only painted 11 paintings, and wondered how I was going to paint another 14. The timeline I had set up for myself was to have finished painting by the first week of October, then give myself a week to ten days to frame all of the paintings and then use the rest of the time to build myself a website to be released the day after opening night. Well, mid-August I put into place the routine that helped me to achieve this goal.
First: Reference Material; I was painting the landscape and it's wildlife in an area that I had lived for over 35 years and had been plein air painting for five, so I knew my subject matter well.
Second: Daily Schedule; In the studio between 8:00 - 8:30, unplug the phone, meditate, music, tea, and paint until noon. Back in the studio at 12:30 and painted until 4:00.
Third: I always left myself a note on the easel at the end of the day, what I was thinking about trying for colour choice or adding an element to the painting. Most of the time I was able to immerse myself back into the painting from where I left off right away.
Fourth: If I was struggling with a painting problem, I would spend a lot of my evening going over my pastel magazines and looking at the work of other pastellists. This helped me to see other possibilities.
Fifth: No social life; I'm not a party person, but we like to do a lot of camping in the summer and outdoor activities. Very few this year. Saw my grandchlidren once a week and the poor boys haven't had a sleepover since February. This was the hardest.
Sixth: Some down time. Painting is hard work so your brain needs a rest. I did this by tucking into mystery novels for a couple of hours in the evening.
What came out of all of this in addition to the 25 paintings? I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I loved painting more than I ever could have believed. I learned that I was able to solve painting problems faster. I learned to trust my inner voice. I learned that I would do this all over again in a heartbeat. I've learned that this is just the beginning of something for me, rather than the end.
The first 25 paintings of my "New Paintings" page are the "Heart Wide Open" show. Please feel free to take a look.
This is the conversation that set the course of the rest of my year. You see, I'm not a fast painter. If I paint 10- 12 paintings a year in between all of my other stuff I'm lucky. Also, there would be other people to consider, my husband, my grandchildren, then there was the expense of framing and the proper glass in order to present the paintings at their best, but most of all I wondered could I really paint 25 paintings? I had certain ideas that I wanted for this show. I wanted at least three 16 x 20 sized paintings and at least four 11 x 14 sized paintings. I rarely painted any bigger than 9 x 12.
By my mother's birthday, July 10th, I had still only painted 11 paintings, and wondered how I was going to paint another 14. The timeline I had set up for myself was to have finished painting by the first week of October, then give myself a week to ten days to frame all of the paintings and then use the rest of the time to build myself a website to be released the day after opening night. Well, mid-August I put into place the routine that helped me to achieve this goal.
First: Reference Material; I was painting the landscape and it's wildlife in an area that I had lived for over 35 years and had been plein air painting for five, so I knew my subject matter well.
Second: Daily Schedule; In the studio between 8:00 - 8:30, unplug the phone, meditate, music, tea, and paint until noon. Back in the studio at 12:30 and painted until 4:00.
Third: I always left myself a note on the easel at the end of the day, what I was thinking about trying for colour choice or adding an element to the painting. Most of the time I was able to immerse myself back into the painting from where I left off right away.
Fourth: If I was struggling with a painting problem, I would spend a lot of my evening going over my pastel magazines and looking at the work of other pastellists. This helped me to see other possibilities.
Fifth: No social life; I'm not a party person, but we like to do a lot of camping in the summer and outdoor activities. Very few this year. Saw my grandchlidren once a week and the poor boys haven't had a sleepover since February. This was the hardest.
Sixth: Some down time. Painting is hard work so your brain needs a rest. I did this by tucking into mystery novels for a couple of hours in the evening.
What came out of all of this in addition to the 25 paintings? I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I loved painting more than I ever could have believed. I learned that I was able to solve painting problems faster. I learned to trust my inner voice. I learned that I would do this all over again in a heartbeat. I've learned that this is just the beginning of something for me, rather than the end.
The first 25 paintings of my "New Paintings" page are the "Heart Wide Open" show. Please feel free to take a look.
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